Christmas Greetings - 2014

2014 has been a blessed year for the Meyer Family: We began the year in Shanghai, China and will close it out in Minneapolis, Minnesota - where we moved in June.  While we miss so much about our life in China, especially our dear friends, we are thankful for God's faithful provision to return to the U.S.  We are still adjusting to life here, including Joab looking for a new job after being laid off in September.  Overall, we have been encouraged to see how everyone is building more connections here.

Adjusting Well to the US: A lot of people ask us how the kids are adjusting to life in the USA. Truly, they are doing great: School, Church, Neighborhood and Time with Family - they love it all!
- Miriam and Asa: Our big kids attend a local Chinese Charter Immersion School - Ying Hua Academy.  This has been an amazing way for Asa and Miriam to continue in their Chinese studies. They both have made some great friends and love being a part of such a great community.
- Salome was fluent in Chinese when we left this summer and now has forgotten most of her Chinese. This makes us sad, but hopeful she can gain it again next year when she goes to Ying Hua for Kindergarten.
- Silas is talking more and more and when you ask him his name he replies "Elmo" just to see you laugh! He brings a lot of laughter to our home.

Prayers Answered and Fulfillment Awaited: I (Emily) had three prayers for our move to the USA: That we would find a house that feels like a home, a church that feels like a family and a job Joab loves. Truly the first two have been met as we are renting an incredible home in North Minneapolis near the kids school and in November become members of Sovereign Grace Church! Now we are just waiting on God for the job! God has answered so many prayers and we are eager to see Him do so again!

Leaving China: Leaving the place we called home for seven years was probably the hardest thing we have done as a married couple. It was not easy to leave a land and community that we loved. But have learned a lot, grown a lot and by God's amazing grace have seen God provide time and time again.  Below are some highlights from the last year.  As always, we would love to hear from you - either through posting on the blog below or e-mailing us (joabandemily@gmail.com)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Cutting the Christmas Tree

Halloween Costumes

Carving Pumpkins

First Day of School at Ying Hua Academy

Exploring Minnehaha Creek in South Minneapolis

Moving Into our New Home in North Minneapolis

Leaving Shanghai: Boxes and Goodbye

Summer Trip: Visiting Our Friend's Family in the Anhui Country Side  

Final Party with Local Chinese Friends

Spring Trip with American Friends (the Bowmans) to Nanjing

Ringing in the Chinese New Year with Lights in Downtown Shanghai

Happy Birthday Miriam!

Last year we started a tradition that I would take Miriam out on her birthday for a special "Daddy Date".  This year was extra special because we were on a family vacation in Penang, Malaysia. 

 

I took her to Hard Rock Café Penang where they not only gave her a special birthday cake and had the entire restaurant sing her happy birthday, but they also gave us a commemorative Hard Rock photo.

 

This is Miriam blowing out the candle.  After the server left she quickly noted that she didn't like cake and would much prefer "Monkey Bread" :) !  Oh, Ms. Miriam, always so direct about what she wants!

Our dinner conversation was a delight that covered a wide range of topics.  What a delight to have such a daughter who is incredibly beautiful - inside and out!

After dinner we returned to the apartment we are staying at and a friend of ours took these professional grade photos that are an absolute treasure!

 

 

 

For this beautiful outfit we have both Nei Nei (Emily's Mom) and Christy Grandma (my mom) to thank.  Nei Nei helped Miriam pick out this special dress this summer and Christy Grandma helped pick out the high heels and the necklace.

 

 

Here is a close up of the high heels - this was her first time wearing high heels!

Daddy's School Visit

This past Wednesday (May 22) I joined other parents in visiting Miriam's class and it was a treat to get a glimpse of what her day typically looks like.  After the visit, I was even more proud of both Miriam and Asa for how well they are doing in this challenging environment.

The morning started with a flag raising ceremony.  Can you find Asa in this picture?

This is a picture of Miriam's homeroom; you can see the parents lined up on stools in the back of the classroom.  The first class was Chinese and they read a story about famous Russian poet; I honestly understood about half of what they were talking about.

The next class was music class music class  that started with the kids sing as the teacher accompanied them on the piano.

The piano-led song soon was soon turned into a "rap" that the kids danced to and ended with a "peace sign" salute!

When we returned to Miriam's homeroom there was a break between classes and it was a delight to see how much Miriam enjoyed talking with her classmates.

Before the next class (English) there was a song that blared over the loud speakers to lead the kids in their eye relaxation exercises.  You will note that Miriam is not participating as we actually found the exercises gave her pink eye and other nasty eye related illnesses!

The next class was the foreigner taught English class where Miriam was definitely the most active in class room participation.  Her teacher is a New Zealander named Ben and he did a great job of building a lesson that was interactive.

The main focus of the English class was an egg drop experiment where they were required to break into small groups.  Here is Miriam intensely discussing what their group should be called.  They decided to call their group "sweet"!

Next was an English class led by a local teacher and then lunch, which I was able to enjoy as well.  It is actually not that different than the cafeteria food in my office complex and the kids all ate at their desks.

Finally, before leaving I stopped to see Asa's classroom.  Here is Asa getting ready to leave class to go to play practice.  Miriam and Asa are both staring in a play that is part of a district-wide public service announcement contest; I hope to be able to have a video to share on this soon!

Miriam's 15 Minutes of Fame

As we posted here in October 2011, a picture of Miriam at an art contest in the Spring of 2009 was turned into a propaganda poster near our home. The poster reads "Children are the Future of the Motherland."

As we drove past the poster this afternoon, it was clear that the poster was coming down in the near future, so we had to capture the picture close up.

Seems in China, you never know where pictures of your kids might end up!