Good bye old Year

 This year has flown by on the wings of speed and growth and memories made. In January our littlest was still drinking from a bottle. Now he is a very opinionated 2 1/2 year old, talking up a storm and stating his rights :)  

February and March were quiet months for us- except that we got to celebrate Janis' 40th birthday, though the whereabouts of those photos in beyond us. We had a lovely family celebration in my charming cafe (where I work). 

 In April we celebrated Karl's 2nd birthday and Amelija's 4th birthday which was of course a princess party :) 

 In May we had a fantastic visit with my parents and I was so happy to get to spoil my Mom for Mother's day! 

In June we celebrated Daniel's 6th birthday with a huge rocket/space themed party. Complete with rockets that were launched. The kids loved that !

He also lost his first tooth! 

And we had a nice Midsummer celebration complete with making our own cheese and photos in my national costume from my Grandma. Not to mention getting our new puppy :

) 

In July we had our hottest days and on one of them we took a day trip to the palace to walk around the gardens. LOVELY! 

This year Amelija overcame her hysterical fear of dogs when we got our puppy Lassie. She is the child who takes the most effort to train her and really likes her :) 

 In September the kids started their kindergarten lessons, which they attend once a week and Amelija started going with Daniel. Daniel also started taking violin lessons at music school. (This photo is Sept. 1, when everyone goes back to school/kindergarten)

 We also went on a short family vacation to Lithuania! 

 In November I met my sister in England and we had a great Mom-cation :) I LOVE YOU SIS! 

We also had a fantastic visit with my cousins and it was fun to get to show them Latvia a bit and get to know them better! 

December was a month much different than I had planned. I had wanted to make it simpler this year, but had hoped to do my traditional baking for friends. But God had other plans and I ended up having an appendix operation and spending 4 days in the hospital. 

I am so thankful for God's provision for our family and it is great to be home and on the mend. We had a quiet Christmas with our family and so enjoyed Daniel preforming for all of us with his new violin skills. 

 Looking back on this year I feel overwhelmingly blessed by God's favor. I pray that each of us would seek HIM first in 2015 and that we would know HIS nearness day by day as we walk this world. 

With love from our family to yours!