It has been a long time since we have had the chance to be in touch with you, and we want to take a moment and share with you what has been happening in our lives in the past year. We would also delight in hearing from you, if you have the time to drop us a line.
June 18, 2008, at 2:04 P.M our lives forever changed as Daniels Aksels Grinbergs entered this world. He was born at home, after a very long labor. He was born small, 5 lbs. 7 oz., but energetic. It was a delight to be able to tell my husband the glad tidings that he had a son, an heir. He was surprised and of course pleased over this news. We didn't know whether we were expecting a boy or a girl, but we had come up with several girls names we liked and weren't in agreement over a single boys name. We had to quickly decide on a name for our little guy and I think we are both pleased, though Janis (my husband) thinks 2 names are a bit unnecessary (not many people have middle names here, though it is gaining popularity)
These past 6 months we have gained enormous amounts of experience in parenting through both trial and error. Every new parent has their expectations about what their baby will be like and what their new life will be like. It has been hard of course, but God has sustained and given us wisdom along this new path, we have been so totally dependant on Him!
Early on we discovered that Daniel had a hernia and when he was two months old he had surgery for that. That was a scary ordeal for us, especially for me (Elizabeth). Having never spent a night in an American hospital, being in a Latvian one was even more frightening. I spent 4 days with him in the children's hospital prior to and following his surgery. We are thankful to report he is doing fine since then, and has had no further difficulties in that regards!
Daniel is at such a cute age now. Since he is not yet crawling I don't have to worry where he is. He loves playing on his activity mat and is so full of joy and laughter over such tiny things. It is such a pleasure to have him grin and laugh with delight just because he caught a glimpse of me, after my being out of sight. What a lesson to us of the relationship that God, our Father wants to have with us. Daniel is continually illustrating to me how my relationship with our Father in Heaven ought to and needs to be.
This summer we also had the opportunity to be in the States, it was Janis' first real glimpse of America. We went on vacation with my family to Glacier National Park, then on to Yellowstone National Park. Janis really enjoyed hiking in the mountains, this was his first time to do that and he loves telling about all the bears, buffalo and other wildlife he saw! We also were able to visit some of my college friends and spend some time in my parents home in Iowa. I loved having my Mom, Daniel's Grandma available as babysitter, and having my family get to meet our little son was very special. My parents are Daniel's only grandparents and so every little moment with them was special.
God has been incredibly good to us this past year, we have been able to continue to remodel some rooms in our house. We are currently working on the guest room, so we will be ready for any of you who would like to come see what life in Latvia is like :) We are very blessed by the fact that the Latvian government financially supports young families. Because of this Moms can stay at home till their baby turns one and half years old, and still receive a "salary" from the government.
We had our first "real" garden this year, Janis put up a green house for me. I had a nice crop of cucumbers, actually I had way too many cucumbers, The tomatoes did ok, not as well as we'd have liked. But our fruit trees this year had bumper crops. The cherries produced unheard of amounts of cherries! Janis picked apx. 50 lbs. of cherries from just ONE of our trees. Janis spent lots of time making jams this summer, as I couldn't help much having just had Daniel.
As we approach the New Year- I want to wish you the best. . .
Not the best as this world sees it, but the best as God sees it. I hope that this day, this week, the rest of this month and the year to come will be filled with the closeness of God. May you be drawn irresistibly closer to Him and grow more in his likeness. May you come to understand more of the desires He has for you and desire more fully to walk in His path.
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