Reflections upon the past year

With today being my birthday and Easter Sunday, it gave me reason to reflect over this past year of life. It has been an eventful period for us in 2009-2010:

• I took a job in Doha, Qatar after being unemployed for five months in the U.S.
• Our son, Erik, returned home after his faithful two year LDS mission in Tokyo!
• I changed jobs in Qatar after six months here.
• Our daughter, Natalie, married a great guy named Jeff (with a name like that, he must be good)!
• My wife, Susan, eventually joined me in Qatar after getting kids, house, and wedding settled.
• My mother, Mary, passed away peacefully after a wonderful and long life.
• Shortly after returning from my mother's funeral (and playing tennis for 2 hours straight) I suffered Angina Pectoralis, drove to the emergency room at the hospital in Doha and had an emergency angioplasty!                             

But other than that, it has been a uneventful year for the Mayer family!  Seriously, Susan and I can see that the year has been both full of celebrations and tribulations, but feel we have been blessed in the midst of it all!

It has been a time of wonderful growth for both of us and our children. For much of the year we have, as a family lived in 3 different states and eleven time zones away from one other. With the help of modern communication - skype, phone, and text - we have stayed in touch and unified as a family. We have counted much on faith, prayer and a Heavenly Father who loves us and guides us, no matter where on the planet we live.

We acknowledge and thank all those who provided the support, friendship and sacrifice that has sustained us in a most remarkable year!