Christmas Letter 2023

These days, weeks, and months just continue to fly by.

Here’s a few highlights from the Mischnick family from 2023.

Ethan is in the midst of his final year in elementary school; 2024 will mark his transition to middle school (yikes!).  We are impressed by how much Ethan has grown and matured since third grade, and we also are aware that middle school will come with its own set of challenges and jump in responsibilities.  Here’s to enjoying 5th grade while it lasts!

Ethan’s 2023 year included a recreational basketball league, summer mountain biking club, piano lessons, beginning to learn how to play the cello and recorder, 4-H activities, his first communion (in November), diving deeper into computers, video games, and programming, lots of neighborhood friend time, playing and creating board games, and a developing love of logic puzzles.  He continues to be our boy with a huge heart who thinks big thoughts and feels big feelings.

Our kids’ fair projects tend to be a good reflection of their personalities … Ethan’s Dane County Fair submissions included a short Python program, brownies, a slideshow about how to complete a Rubik's Cube, and an original piano/guitar piece.  The musical piece earned him Grand Champion in the communications department for his age bracket.

Kate started her freshman year at McFarland High School this fall with flying colors.  She was more than ready for the independence and learning opportunities that come with being in high school.  Kate enjoyed a couple of online writing courses in the winter/spring of 8th grade, was the winner of a local essay contest, and was awarded Reserve Champion in her age bracket in the communication department for a writing piece she submitted to the fair.  Although she is no longer in the school orchestra, she continues to take viola lessons and looks forward to times when she can play with and for others.

The summer included Kate’s first real job working at a local strawberry farm.  She earned the reputation of being an incredibly hard worker and has money in the bank to show for all of her early morning hours of picking strawberries. She is also embarking on a jewelry making small business and sold her first two pairs of felted earrings just before Christmas.

In addition, Kate’s identity as a runner has continued to grow.  She had a successful 8th grade track season running the 400, the 800, and the 4 x 400 meter relay.  She cut off some good time from her races and ended the middle school running years feeling primed for the next stage … high school cross country.  Kate made excellent strides as a freshman on the girls cross country team, enjoying the time with friends and the ability to set reachable goals.  She is motivated to work even harder in preparation for next year’s season.

Kate’s fair submissions included a couple of writing pieces, two chickens (Blue and Paprika), three foods (breadsticks, brownies, and oreo truffles), a vet sciences poster about poultry lice (Grand Champion), another poster about puzzle feeders for cats, and a few art pieces, one of which was chosen to advance to the Wisconsin State Fair.

Sara’s job continues to bring much joy to her life.  Now in her third year, she has had the opportunity to work with some students for three years in a row.  The relationships built and continued challenge of finding ways to meet the needs of these students provide many opportunities for Sara to use her creative, problem-solving brain as well as many opportunities for laughter and smiles.

Outside of work, Sara has been pleased with the continued development of the local 4-H club, after working through the tough COVID years.  The efforts of the last few years seem to be paying off as we watch more youth take on more responsibilities, growing in their leadership skills while helping others around them.  Who knew that 4-H would be such a big part of our family’s life 16 years ago when our first child was born?

Sara’s time in the last year has also been spent helping support various efforts at church.  After successfully extending a Call to a family ministries director in the spring (she’s great!), we are still currently in the midst of navigating the transition from our long-time pastor to whatever comes next after his retirement.  For anyone familiar with Call processes, you understand how time-consuming and difficult this stage can be.

Matt keeps plugging along at Trek, even in the midst of the post-COVID biking slump.  He works hard to positively affect his team, and finds success in solving mechanical problems, both big and small.  The family decided to join him this year for the Trek 100, with everyone riding a solid 19 miles on a beautiful Saturday in June.  Our family raised over $5000 for the MACC fund in memory of Anna and in support of all kids forced to deal with cancer treatments!

In addition to his beloved tinkering projects, Matt has stepped in to assume responsibility for many tasks at home as the work, 4-H, and church aspects of Sara’s life have taken up much of her time.

Other fun news from 2023 …

Mischnick Chili finally won the annual chili cook-off at church!

We got 6 new chickens in June!

(They have been slow to start laying, but look very pretty :)

We had our main bathroom completely remodeled this fall, after almost 20 years of telling ourselves we could just make do with what we had.

The garden gave us loads of good produce, most notably pears, peapods, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and watermelons.

Somehow in the midst of all of this we also went to Camp Luther (winter and summer), South Dakota (spring break and nephew’s wedding in December), went camping in June, vacationed in Bayfield County in July, and weekended in early August with the Colba family near Road America.

Through this journey we call life, we strive our best to keep our priorities in order ... faith, family, love.

Tubing at Camp Luther

That day when only 4 boys on the team showed up for a double header.  They were exhausted by the end, but they won their first game that day!

Ice cream on Anna's bench ... a good family tradition

Mounting biking trip to Waterloo

On our way to the Trek 100 ride

Picking strawberries with mom (a.k.a. NOT paid by the pound)

4th of July vacation up north

Showing chickens at the fair

Two Mischnicks with big, fancy ribbons in the communication department

Frisbee golf at Camp Luther

1st day of high school for Kate

Grandpa and Grandma watched Kate run her personal best at the conference meet.

Ethan and his piano teacher

Ethan's 1st communion celebration at church

2022 Mischnick family updates

Time for the Mischnick updates from the 2022 calendar year!

Ethan finished his third grade year at Waubesa Intermediate School in June and slid into 4th grade with ease.  His top school activities include socializing with friends and interacting with technology.  His attention is also sometimes directed towards academic pursuits, when they pique his interests.  At varying times throughout the year, he has become absorbed with books, math puzzles, art projects, and creative writing.

Outside of school, Ethan has a diverse scope of passions.  This year he has enjoyed neighborhood friendships, piano lessons, mountain biking club, basketball camp, Nerf gun battles, tinkering with Matt, legos, complex paper airplanes, model rockets, creating his own board game, and beginning to learn Python coding language with Sara (as part of an online course in which they enrolled over the summer).  Ethan also participated in the Dane County Fair in 2022, showing an original piano piece he composed, a small engine display, and a model rocket.

Kate is working her way through her final year at Indian Mound Middle School and is more than ready to embark on the adventures of high school next fall.  Unlike a number of middle school students, Kate enjoys learning much of the academics her school has to offer.  The learning highlights of 2022 (based on the extra work she chooses to do and the dinner conversations she initiates) include 7th grade Social Studies, 8th grade science, Foods, Art class, and a couple of online writing courses she was eligible to take.

In addition to participating in cross country as an 8th grader this fall, Kate joined the track team in the spring, choosing to run the 400 and 800 meter races, and the 4 x 400 meter relay.  We have enjoyed watching Kate set personal goals with her running and work diligently to meet those goals.  Outside of sports, 7th grade included participation in Destination Imagination for Kate and a few of her classmates, culminating in a 3rd place state-level ranking in their division.  Kate is continuing to take viola lessons, and spends plenty of her free time writing.  Thankfully, much of this writing has a purpose at school this winter.

Kate showed a number of projects at the Dane County Fair this summer, including written pieces, artwork, and her first time showing live animals.  Blue, the chicken, weathered the experience well, as did Kate.

Anna is remembered each day in our home, but more notably during the significant milestones of the calendar year.  We find comfort in visiting Anna’s bench (more often in the summer with ice cream in hand or during a bike ride around the lake) and talking about the things that remind us of her.

Sara has continued to find value in her half-time position as the resource teacher for advanced learners at the local K-2 elementary school.  She enjoys her students, her co-workers, her lessons, and how she can enrich the school environment in a variety of ways.  A half-time position suits Sara well, with the other responsibilities she has chosen to undertake.  In addition to leading the local 4-H club, she has also stepped in to help lead the confirmation program at church after the retirement of our church’s long-time Family Ministries Coordinator, until a suitable replacement can be found.

Sara still finds joy and fulfillment in growing plenty of tasty things to eat, although those pursuits do not have the same priority as they once did.  This year’s produce bounty was dominated by apples, beans, and potatoes, with a lesser showing from the peaches, pears, and peapods, and a downright pitiful showing from the cucumbers and squashes. The sweet potatoes would have been in the first category, if it weren't for all of the varmints that nibbled the tubers before they could be harvested.

Matt celebrated his 3rd year anniversary of working at Trek in December.  The COVID bike boom lasted well into 2022, but has started to subside in the later months of the year.  This waning boom was reflected in Matt’s work-related travel, which included a number of trips (to California, Texas, Colorado, and California again) in the first half of the year and zero work-related travel since June.  He enjoys the ability to identify, test, and diagnose different issues that arise in the field; he also loves being able to design parts that can be put into production and used in the field (which all happen on a much faster timeline than at either of his previous engineering jobs).

Outside of work, Matt is still a garage-tinker, an avid (though not competitive) mountain biker, movie watcher, and homebody who likes hanging out with his family.  He finds ways to do a variety of projects with both Kate and Ethan, from partitioning off a section of the chicken pen with Kate to protect her “show chickens” for next year’s fair to working with Ethan to repair a variety of things that need maintenance around the house.  Matt also trained and participated in the Trek 100 again this summer in memory of Anna.  This was the first year since he began that the ride was in person!

Our family managed a handful of memorable trips this year, including: a Spring Break adventure to northern Virginia and Washington, D.C.; traveling up to Augusta in April and July to visit family; a weekend trip to South Dakota in May to witness the oldest nephew’s graduation from high school; a trip to Colorado to celebrate Sara’s parents’ 50th wedding anniversary; a few weekend camping trips in the summer; and a handful of day trips to surrounding locations throughout the year.

Life has a different pace to it for us than it has had in the past, but our focus remains the same.

Faith, Family, Love

Stopping by Anna's bench on a bike ride around the lake

Can you see the SR-71 Blackbird AND the space shuttle in the background?

It was a chilly day for a visit to Shenandoah National Park!

But the sun came out eventually!

A couple of crazy kids visiting the grandparents' home

Kate and company at the State Destination Imagination Tournament

Kate starting the 400 at one of the few "decent weather" tracks meet of the spring.

Exploring a Lock and Dam on the Mississippi River just before the storms began during our first camping trip of the summer

We biked back to the campsite in the midst of a torrential downpour.

Bringing projects to the Dane County Fair

Mom and kids field trip to Devil's Lake State Park

Matt and his brother-in-law after finishing the Trek 100

The Colba family in Colorado while celebrating Dave and Barb's 50th wedding anniversary

The Mischnick family while in Colorado

1st Day of School (best photobomb of the year)

"Elbow fights"

2021 Mischnick Top Ten

Below are, in no particular order, ten of the most notable events of 2021 to share from our family.

10.    Ethan finished up his years at the primary school in McFarland in June and jumped into his third grade year at the intermediate school this fall without looking back.  He will tell you that his favorite times at school are recess and gym class, but we think he's a pretty good reader, writer, and mathematician, too :)

9.    Ethan took guitar lessons again over the summer and has kept up with piano lessons during the school year; both opportunities have continued to feed this boy's musical pursuits.  Ethan also soared through a few levels of swimming lessons during 2021 in addition to participating in a summer mountain biking club during the month of June.  Ethan enjoys anything related to technology, playing games, and goofing off with friends.  We always take pleasure in watching Ethan's various passions grow and develop.

8.    Kate rounded out her 6th grade year with a couple of months of in-person schooling before the big transition in the fall to her first "typical" middle school year as a 7th grader.  Kate joined the cross-country team this fall and made great strides (pun intended) with her running endurance.  She continues to play the viola and has also participated in a variety of clubs this year.

7.    Kate's first passion is writing, and 2021 included a number of opportunities to share her written pieces with wider audiences.  Kate competed in a state level scenario writing contest in 6th grade and earned the opportunity to compete at the international level.  Kate also entered and won a 4-H sponsored "Pullet Surprise" writing contest, coming home with everything she needs to show her two new fair quality chickens (aptly named Meatball and Drumstick).  Our young author rounded out her literary career of 2021 by writing our church's children/youth Christmas program.

6.    Anna was remembered by her school and classmates at the 8th grade recognition ceremony in June with a bouquet of white roses.  Her smiles, laughter, and love are still remembered and missed in our home.  We continue to make space in our lives for the memories of our oldest child and sister.

5.    Sara's big news of the year included her transition back into the world of (paid!) educators.  She worked in April and May as a building substitute teacher, which indirectly led to being hired as the K-2 Resource Teacher for Advanced Learners.  This half-time position has been a wonderful fit for Sara personally and professionally, and the transitions within the family have gone as smoothly as possible.  So far, the rhythm of the position has allowed Sara the time and energy necessary to continue preserving the bountiful harvest of the growing things in the yard.  2021 included bumper crops of much produce, filling up all of the canning jars, both freezers, and the other places we store squash and root crops.

4.    Matt is finishing up his second full year working as a mechanical engineer for BCycle within Trek.  The position continues to be a good fit for him, and he has helped to shape his team in a positive way (by recruiting former co-workers at GE for open positions on his team ...).  In spite of a nasty shoulder injury in early June, he managed to get plenty of miles logged biking.  Although Matt participated in the Trek 100 again in honor of Anna, he much prefers mountain biking on trails through the woods (even if those outings sometimes cause nasty shoulder injuries ...)

3.   Our family headed up to Camp Luther in Northern Wisconsin twice this year: once for a winter weekend getaway and once for a summer camping experience in Fort Village.  We also managed a road trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, during spring break to visit family and enjoy the warm beach weather.  A few trips to visit the Colba Grandparents in Augusta offered a more relaxing retreat for the kids and parents than our camping trips of the summer, although those were memorable in their own way.

2.     Traveling to South Dakota in August to celebrate Mark and Marge's 50th wedding anniversary with extended family was a highlight of late summer.  Spending several days with grandparents, siblings, and cousins provided opportunities for many good memories to be made.

1.    All 13 of our animals (10 chickens, 2 cats named Rusty and Dusty, and Kate's gecko named Cow) brought us joy and laughter this year, but not as much as our continued time together as a family.

Winter trip to Camp Luther

Spring Break trip to Myrtle Beach

Anna's flowers

Camping at Governor Dodge State Park

The library re-opened!

Mischnick cousins - Aug. 2021

Back-to-school haircuts

The homemade go-kart got a make over this summer.

Kate and Sara volunteered at the Henry Vilas Zoo this summer.

We attended the WI International Poultry Festival to collect Kate's prizes

Christmas Letter 2020

Merry Christmas!

Since our contact with many of the people in our lives has been relatively limited this calendar year, here is a snapshot of what the Mischnicks have been doing in 2020.

Matt began working at Trek just prior to Christmas 2019 and has found it to be a good fit for him.  His first three months of work included a trip to Florida (in February!) to help with the installation of new parts for the BCycle set-up there.  The rest of us confined to Wisconsin were jealous of the beautifully warm weather he was experiencing.

Since March, Matt has worked in quite a variety of locations, including but not limited to:

Ethan's bedroom (which was the first make-shift "office space"),

the garage (we had a number of BCycle e-bikes stored there over the summer months),

the driveway (sometimes with co-workers and sometimes taking a meeting while riding around on an e-bike),

the parking lot of the Town of Dunn town hall (that time when the internet/phones went out on our side of the street and Matt had to lead a meeting ... the hotspot by the town hall was a blessing that day),

his office in Waterloo (rarely),

the parking lot at Trek (for testing new parts), and, most recently,

the reconfigured basement "office" set-up.

We are all thankful that his engineering skills are being used and appreciated after his first year in a new job.

Matt has also spent much of his time this year on his various bikes.  He trained for and participated in his first Trek 100 (at the 64 mile level) in honor of Anna this year, learning a lot about the country roads around us in the process.  His chosen route ended with a pass through McDaniel Park where the kids and I were waiting for him on Anna's memorial bench.

With Ethan becoming more and more interested in mountain biking this year, the two boys have found enjoyment in jumping their bikes on ramps in the driveway whenever the weather permits.  I am a little embarrassed about the sheer number of bikes that we own these days ...

I thoroughly enjoyed the rhythm of my life during the first three months of the year.  My weeks included substitute teaching a few times a week, volunteering in Ethan's classroom, weekly Bible Study, leading the 5th/6th grade Sunday School class at our church, and the rest of the organization of our family life.  Since March, the need for substitute teachers, classroom volunteers, in-person Sunday School, and in-person Bible studies has dropped precipitously.

My time has thus been spent doing different things, much of them outside tending growing things in the yard, but also initiating some window painting projects with our family.  (The last three images here are for the kids' respective birthdays, with Kate and Ethan's including message from friends, family, and adults in their lives.)

It took awhile, but I have also found new and different ways to help and encourage those around me, even if I can't do them in the same way as I did a year ago.  Somewhat notably, I have had a few writing pieces published in a quarterly Christian women's magazine, The Holy Hen House.  In addition, I have been invited to present information about childhood cancer to a handful of different audiences, everything since March virtually.  I have also stepped up as the organizational leader of our 4H club, doing my best to keep our members connected and engaged even though we are unable to see one another in person ... yet.

Kate turned 11 in May and started middle school (in virtual mode) in September.  At parent-teacher conferences in early March, she was doing very well as she rounded out her time in elementary school and she has done amazingly well with all of the transitions and differences that 2020 has brought.

Thankfully, the weekend just prior to quarantine, a few of Kate's close friends joined our family on a trip to my parents' place for "Maple Syrup Season".  This group of girls had a nice stash of memories to keep their spirits up during the early weeks of quarantine.  They were able to stay connected safely throughout the summer and fall, much to their well-being and their parents' delight.

Kate's favorite activities are still reading, writing, and sometimes playing (depending on who is involved).  She has continued to take viola lessons and needed a new instrument this fall since she outgrew her initial viola size.  Speaking of growth, when Kate finally emerges into the world of people again, I think many will be surprised at just how much this middle schooler has grown ... and she hasn't shown any sign of slowing down yet.

Kate expressed interest in joining cross-country in 6th grade, but since school sports were very limited this fall, the school cross-country team was not an option.  Instead, Kate and I began running together in early September and have kept up our routine with good consistency since that time.  Fortunately, this is an activity that gets her out of the house at least a few times a week ;)

Ethan is an energetic, inquisitive 8 year old who thinks big thoughts and feels big feelings.  He was doing very well with 1st grade life prior to COVID and had a more difficult adjustment to quarantined life than his sister, perhaps because he is a more social kid and perhaps because the age/gender gap between a 7 year old boy and an 11 year old girl is a noticeable one.

Quarantine brought out Ethan's passion for reading, which occupies his time when he is not interacting with music, tinkering with technology, building something, riding his bike, or playing with his neighborhood buddy.  These two boys learned quickly in the summer how much fun it can be to spend hours outdoors doing whatever it is 7 year old boys like to do (which often includes a lot of noise and dirt).

Ethan took a break from piano lessons (which turned virtual in March) over the summer, but opted to take some guitar lessons instead.  Some of the guitar lessons were even able to take place outside on our patio instead of virtually!  Once September hit, Ethan switched back to piano, but he will still sometimes pick up his guitar to make music.  Ethan's musical interests include (in no particular order): Slugs and Bugs; Jack Hartman (well, not so much anymore); Leo Moracchioli; For King and Country; Brothers of Metal; the soundtracks from Sing, Trolls World Tour, and Hamilton (thanks to Kate for introducing him to this); Power Classics; and a few songs from the following various artists from an old mp3 player of mine that he discovered this year ... Garth Brooks, Allison Krauss, and John Denver.  At least we can say that he has been exposed to a wide variety of music genres in his younger years.

When Ethan's school entered a hybrid model in mid-September, he and I decided to ride our bikes in to school a couple of days a week.  Ethan would only ride IN to school since the 4 mile ride is mostly downhill from our house to McFarland.  He's not quite up for a 4 mile ride uphill after a morning of school ... yet.  We were able to keep up that routine into November, thanks to some warmish mornings and proper layers.

The number of animals/pets in our family doubled since last year at this time.  Last Christmas we welcomed a new kitten, Dusty, into our home (thanks in part to a persuasive essay Kate wrote one morning before school titled, "Why Rusty Needs a Friend").  Dusty has indeed proved to be an excellent friend to his older brother and a much loved addition to our family.  His extremely loud purr, his propensity to play with bouncy balls, and his desire to chew on everything has added a fun dimension to our lives.

We also added to our chicken flock in 2020, doubling the number of hens from 4 to 8.  For the first time since we began this chicken experiment, we did NOT end up with any roosters.  The new chickens took over the responsibility of providing us with fresh eggs this fall and have been very consistent at their job thus far.  The "summer project" this year was to build an upgraded coop inside the pen that would be a better fit for 8 birds.

In spite of the restricted traveling protocols, our family was able to get out of the county a few times to make some "change of scenery" memories together this year.  In addition to the trip up north for maple sugaring, the kids and I visited my parents in the summer for a few days.  Our family also did a couple of camping trips over the summer months and even stayed in the Ark Village at Camp Luther for a modified family camp weekend.

Those moments away from home added to the many memories we made over the course of the year in our home and around our neighborhood.

All in all, we have navigated this different kind of year with our best efforts to be patient and flexible  We have striven to remain connected to each other as well as to God’s message and presence in our lives.

 And, just for the fun of it, here are a few of our Christmas photo out-takes ...