2009 Year in Review

(Our Christmas letter as told by Aaron)

Wow! We have not had a year like this roller coaster ride before . . .
Hannah turned 4 in February and is as cute as ever! She and Joshua are like two peas in a pod. She is the best big sister any brother could ever ask. Hannah stays busy at preschool, story time at the library and just started AWANA, a church program. I participated in AWANA when I was her age and still cling to my old 3-legged race record - sadly my highest sporting achievement to date.

April turned out to be a very important month for the future of the Meier’s. I was let go from Maritz after 9 ½ years. Maritz was my first job out of college and was the only company I had known in my professional career. I have so many fond memories of my decade there that one page wouldn’t do it. I met Julie there, traveled all over the world, went to the Masters and brought home over 3,000 bottles of shampoo & conditioner from hotels!
The summer saw a flurry of travel for us. We went to the always fun and festive Murray Family vacation in Destin, FL. We spent a week in the sun, beach & ocean. In July, we headed north to MN to see the Meier’s, a couple of interviews for me, and for Julie to work a Maritz program. Julie also experienced her first taste of having hot chocolate on the Fourth of July! That’s right, since fireworks don’t start in MN until late into the night, because it stays light so long, it became very chilly. So from the beach in FL in June to hot chocolate in July!
My unemployment experience lasted long enough and I landed a great job with Edward Jones as a Financial Advisor at the end of July. I was extremely excited to roll up the sleeves and get to it and that is exactly what happened. Lots of work was required to be licensed and I can proudly say that Aaron H. Meier is open for business!
This year has definitely had its share of ups and downs. We found out we were pregnant on Julie’s birthday and couldn’t have been more excited. Just as we finished telling everyone about our great news, we found out at 12 weeks that we had lost the baby. We were devastated, but we know that God will use this hardship for good.

But on the upswing a few highlights from 2009 include:
• A January trip to Colorado Springs to visit the St. Clair’s and meet our new nephew Levi. Stayed at the famous Broadmoor Hotel. Met up with our old Maritz friends Brian & Gina, & Julie was even able to hit the slopes one afternoon.
• Julie experienced her first “friends” trip to Kiawah Island, SC. Julie said the house they stayed in made the Biltmore Estate she visited in NC earlier that year look like a fixer-upper.
• Watching the US World Cup Soccer qualifying round at LP Field (the USA won!)
• A boys only trip (Joshua and myself) traveling to Los Angeles to see cousin Matt & Gwen get married
• Hannah dancing on the big stage at her first dance recital.
• Our 3rd annual successful Sew Much More project blessing little girls across the world as well blessing the over 100 volunteers that made it happen. 374 dresses were sent to Africa, Brazil & Mexico.
• Julie & the kids flying to MN for cousin Robert & Brooke’s wedding.
Joshua just turned two in December and is really coming into his own and flexing his “independent” wings by memorizing the word no for every question asked of him by his parents. He is all about sports and especially loves his new basketball hoop where he can already beat me in 1 on 1.
We have had an eventful year but in the end nothing has changed . . . God sent His Son to be born into a manger for our eternal salvation and for that we are forever grateful. Wishing you & yours a very Merry Christmas.
Love, The Meier’s

Missouri Time

Our schedule just seemed to work out perfect. We were in Missouri for Thanksgiving, had Joshua's birthday party and then Aaron had training in St. Louis the entire next week (Nov 30th-Dec 4th) so me and the kids stayed in Desloge for the week. It was jam packed with fun.

The biggest news is that Aaron achieved his Can Sell Date and became an official Financial Advisor on November 30th. I am so proud of him-it's been a tough journey and I know we are still at the bottom of the mountain climb but it's a huge accomplishment to have made it this far!

Me, the kids and mom had a big week (dad was traveling for work)we went to the Science Center, Elephant Rocks, bowling, go-carts and sat on Santa's lap plus a Christmas parade in there. At Elephant Rocks we found Hannah's calling: rock climbing. For as timid as she is in most activities she was an adventurous rock climber!

Joshua's 2nd Birthday

Joshua turns 2 on December 1st, so we just had his party on November 27th while we were still in Missouri so lots of family could come. The theme was Frogs & Snails & Puppy Dog Tails. It turned out SO cute and the adults played along with all the games, so we had a blast.

Thanksgiving 2009

Another Thanksgiving and another year full of blessings. Although this has been a tough year and full of changes for us, we still have so many blessings God has poured out on us. We traveled to Missouri for the holiday and having just had surgery on Monday, I was quite sore for the trip but happy to get to see family. We had a great day of food and cards (a Murray tradition) and Angela and I did the whole Black Friday starting at Old Navy at 3am! We had a blast. It was great to see all the kids play together they have so much fun and of course I made them a few outfits!

Pre-Thanksgiving Activities

Hannah is keeping us busy with all her Thanksgiving activities. She was a Native American for AWANA on Sunday, November 22nd. Then her preschool had a little program on Tuesday the 24th. I ended up having to have a second D and C Monday (the 23rd) so I didn't get to go to her school program. But Aaron was great enough to take photos and video.

Job 1:21

"Blessed be the name of the Lord." Job 1:21

Last week at church we sang that song and even though it is one I've know my whole life for some reason it really spoke to me. It says,

When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say
Blessed be the name of the Lord

When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be'
Blessed be Your name

On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name

Sometimes all the world is as it should be & sometimes the darkness is closing in and both times we still have to praise His name. I think Aaron and I have been through a lot this year some really great blessings and some expereinces we wish we wouldn't of had to live through. But at the end of the day, God sent His Son for us and that always has to be enough because He is Lord and even His name needs to be blessed.

Here we are 8 weeks after the miscarriage and still having a few health issues. I have never stopped bleeding so I've been to the Dr. for some testing and we were thrilled to find out last week that I don't need a second d and c. We are really praying for healing before next week otherwise I will have to go back for more testing.

Aaron's job is going good, he is currently in week 5 of 7 weeks of meeting new contacts (also known as door knocking), more training, and he just finished getting his insurance license. He goes back to St. Louis for more training the week after Thanksgiving and will be legal to sell financial services at that point.

I've been busy keeping up with the kids and sewing. Sewing is going good, I was a part of another church sewing event last week and as the holidays are approaching I'm hoping for lots of hannah's house orders. http://www.hannahshouse-hannahshouse.blogspot.com/

This weekend Gina Russo is coming in from Colorado and I'm so excited to see her. It will be so fun for a little girl time.

Halloween 2009

This year we had all kinds of events for Halloween. On Wednesday, Hannah's good buddy Hailey invited us to her church's Trunk or Treat. It was great, they did a Bible lesson first then let the kid's trick or treat in the parking lot from each person's trunk. Hailey was dressed as Dorothy & had a real puppy for Toto & Hannah was a lion, so we had a cute picture (above). At the church they had all the kids who were animals come to the middle and sing a Noah's Ark song. Hannah went right up and "roared" into the microphone every time they said lion-it was adorable.

On Thursday, Hannah had her class party at school. Then on Friday I took the kids to the library for Ghost & goul, where they had snacks like witches fingers, kitty litter cake & mice. On Saturday we trick or treated 2 streets in our neighborhood then took the kids to Chick Fil A for free kid's meals & playtime it was great fun and lots better than candy! You can see Joshua's "with eye patch" and "without" look-he was hilarious he LOVED dressing up. He would go get his outfit and put on his hat everyday after I took his p.j.s off in the morning-so he is a fan of Halloween.