Happy New Year as the first full week of 2012 is now in the books ..

We hope everyone had a great Christmas, time off for the Holidays and a happy New Year! We enjoyed time here in Cedar Rapids, Iowa over the Holidays! We spent time over the New Year's holiday up in Omaha to visit with family and friends.

Our thoughts and prayers are with all who are battling with health issues as we welcome 2012!

Christmas was very memorable this year. We enjoyed a beautiful Christmas Eve service at St. Paul's UMC here in Cedar Rapids. It is always a joy to spend time with friends and family. Many in the family had to work over the Holidays, but we had plenty of time with both friends and family.

It was a good Rotary year in 2011 in Cedar Rapids. During the Christmas and New Year's holidays, the Rotary Club of Cedar Rapids was dark, with no meetings. We will enjoy our first meeting of 2012 on Monday, January 9Th with the University of Iowa' Provost P. Barry Butler providing our program. What exactly is a provost?

Over the years, our family has enjoyed relationships with Grand Island College, Coe College, Creighton University, the University of Iowa, the University of Nebraska at Omaha, the University of Northern Iowa, Kirkwood Community College, Drake University, South Dakota State University and a couple of the University of Wisconsin campuses. I enjoyed a brief week with the University of Memphis and GlobalEd studying International cultures with a representative from FedEx.

Currently, family and extended family have recently attended or are now attending the University of Northern Iowa, Indian Hills Community College, Tidewater Community College, Pima County Community College, Creighton University and the University of San Francisco. Education is one of the most important aspects of any society. We must not forget the value of learning from birth to our final years of life. It is an important aspect of our Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness for our Republic.

I am proud that decided to attend a Jesuit Catholic university for four years. We are also proud to be Panther parents with the joy of watching our children gain an education experience in biology, chemistry, anthropology and international studies.

Over the Holidays, we enjoyed a couple movies at the theatre. The Iowa-Oklahoma game at the Insight Bowl was enjoyed at DJs on the big screen in Omaha, near TDAmeritrade Park and the CenturyLink Center Omaha. The company was better than the outcome. It was nice to see Creighton and Iowa enjoy some good road wins in basketball over the Holidays.

This past week, we enjoyed returning from our trip to Omaha. New Year's and New Year's Monday were enjoyable. The Rose Bowl went to the Pac 12 this year. The Big Ten has some work ahead in the coming year. It was nice to see ten programs reach a bowl game, which was a conference record. On Iowa!

On Tuesday, I had the pleasure to participate as a Precinct Chair at CR45 with 211 of my neighbors in holding our local Iowa Caucus. What a historical vote, with the closest vote in the history of the Iowa Caucus. Now, onto New Hampshire and South Carolina with the GOP enjoying primaries in those two states. At our Caucus at Erskine ES, neighbors spoke for Huntsman, Gingrich, Paul, Santorum and Romney. My actual voting precinct CR41, Bethany Lutheran enjoyed a strong turnout, as well. I have enjoyed the past four years serving as a central committee chair for my precinct here in Linn County.

At the same time, our daughter enjoyed a dress rehearsal for Washington High School's show choir and I heard she did an outstanding job on her solo. Her first competition is Saturday at Linn-Mar. Show choirs competitions will be throughout January, February and March.

On Wednesday, we celebrated a birthday in the family, with a lovely dinner out at Cibo Fusion. It was nice to see the Iowa basketball team win back to back road games in the Big Ten for the first time, since January 1998. Then on Thursday, we enjoyed a family dinner, as Carole's sister and family visited, while returning home from Omaha. It was a great visit for all.

Well, the holidays have clearly concluded. Our daughter in college has left for another semester. We have enjoyed a couple new family favorites lately. Red Mango when visiting Omaha and Orange Leaf here here in Cedar Rapids. We look forward to the new east side location.

It will be a busy year in 2012 and it is off to a fast start. Happy New Year everyone!