Grandpa and Grandma Becky!

In the last week of August, we had a great visit from my dad and Becky!  They were wonderful enough to make the effort and sacrifice to come out and see us here at our home in Latvia!  We heard it was touch and go the last few days before they were to come because of my dad's unresolved health issues, and Becky almost came without him, but we're grateful he was able to get on the plane and come!  We've been looking forward to their visit here, but we didn't know if it would happen or not, so we feel our prayers were answered!
Bri and I dropped the kids off at the embassy Back-to-school activity and went to pick my dad and Becky up from the airport.  We returned to the embassy, and as you can see, the kids were so happy to see Grandma and Grandpa!  I forgot to get a picture with them!

After returning from the embassy activity, we settled in at home and Savannah immediately presented the gifts she had made for them--Grandma got a scarf, and Grandpa received a few bookmarks and a keychain holder.  Bri also passed a coat on to my dad that he ordered online that didn't fit.

And of course we had to give them Laima chocolates, made here in Latvia.  :)

Sunday morning we had a nice visit over a wonderful breakfast of omelettes, danishes, etc. cooked up by Bri before we headed to church.  It was nice to have them there to meet some of the people with whom we worship and to see our beautiful church building. 

Monday, August 27th we woke up and immediately started celebrating Thomas' birthday before Bri had to go to work.  Grandma and Grandpa were good enough to forgo sleeping in to join in.  And they were wonderful to bring Mac n' cheese with them for one of Thomas' presents!  He had requested Mac n' cheese for me to order, but it was too late for me to get it here in time.  So Becky was sweet enough to find some last minute for me and pack them into her weight restricted luggage!

 Bri left for work, so we took Grandma and Grandpa to our favorite park in Jurmala where they have the Tarzans high ropes course.  We didn't go to Tarzans, but we ran around the park playing on the playgrounds, doing exercises, and shooting a few hoops.  Unfortunately, Grandpa slipped on the ground as he shot a basket, so he woke up the next day with a melon sized knee that had to be babied the rest of the week.  Luckily he healed fine, and Savannah was good to help him wrap his knee every day with a wrap she had from one of her injuries in Angola! 

It was a fun way to spend the day while Bri was working.  We returned home, got lunch, and got ready to spend the rest of the day at Akvaparks.  We picked Bri up from work a little early so he could join us.  Sadly, Grandma Becky couldn't join us because she wasn't in a swimsuit, and they don't allow anyone in the park that's not swimming.  :(  Becky stayed in the car, went to a grocery store and bought a book, and Grandpa joined her in the last hour or so and kept her company.  They were both troopers!

The rest of the week we enjoyed time hanging out at home with them, going bowling, taking them to the kids' tennis lessons to watch, date nights for just the adults to go to restaurants and showing them around Riga. and even getting further out of the area to the Hill of Crosses in Lithuania, Rundale Palace, and Cesis.  And Grandma and Grandpa were even here for Thomas' first day back to school at ISL, and the girls got to tell them about homeschooling.  A fun packed week!

Dad and Becky were so easy to please.  They loved the city and seeing all of its nuances despite having traveled all over the world to pretty cool places.  They were excited to see where we lived, and they appreciated it as much as we do.  Our first night in the city with them, we did a little walking tour of our own with dinner at Lasite, a restaurant in an old Medieval venue, to fill our bellies.

 
The food at Lasite is amazing!  Everyone raves about the bread (I haven't tried it because I'm gluten free), along with the pumpkin soup.  Truly out of this world with goat cheese, dill sauce, a little oil, and lingonberries.  I don't know if it's possible to replicate that soup, but we've got to try!
My salad was almost equally delicious with vegetables along with some dill and lingonberries.  I think I'm a fan of those berries!

Later in the week, Savannah joined me to take Grandma and Grandpa to a few other sites in Riga, one of which was Central Market.  We of course ended up buying pumpernickel bread, fresh donuts, pastries, and berries to take home.

We started off with a little lunch first with Uzbek Pilaf.  I was leery, but it was delicious!  Rice, beans, and some small bits of shredded beef.

We also went to the Soviet Victory Monument.  It was built in 1985 to commemorate the 40 years since the liberation of Europe from Nazism.  However, it also serves as a reminder of the Soviet Union occupation from 1944-1991, so not everyone likes the monument.

We drove by the Latvian Academy of Sciences, which bares the nickname "Stalin's Birthday Cake" because of the Stalinist architecture given to many skyscrapers built by the Soviet Union in the Soviet Union.  We have yet to go inside, but we've heard there are great views of the city 17th floor balcony. 

We then made our way to the Freedom monument and surrounding gardens, bridges, and walkways.

Yes, Savannah is actually taller than Grandma, so Grandma stood on the curb to be a little taller.  ;)

Over a long weekend with Bri taking Friday off and having Labor Day, we headed to Lithuania to the Hill of Crosses and Rundale Palace on the way back home.  The mini-van was perfect for fitting everyone!  As a family, we went to the Hill of Crosses on our European road trip and loved it so much we wanted to take my dad and Becky there.  We knew they would love it as much as we did, and they did!  And this time we bought our own cross to add to the hill!  Becky wrote our family names on the front and everyone signed their individual signatures on the back.

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we focus more on our living Savior and His resurrection, thus we don't adorn our churches or necks with crosses.  However, we very much appreciate his sacrifice in both the Garden of Gethsemane and on the Cross.  There is a beauty in the symbol of the cross as a means of remembering the Savior's sacrifice, and seeing the Hill of Crosses, covered in this symbol of faith for so many people, is inspiring.  We wanted to contribute to the synergy of faith we felt, so we bought and placed our own cross.

We tried to place our cross somewhere we could remember, so we can go back and see it next year before we leave Latvia.  Thomas pointed out the large cross with the "Illuminati" symbol as a way to remember. ;)

I love the variety and beauty of each cross.One of my favorite crosses:

The hill was visited by large tour groups.

On our way home, we went a different route so we could stop at the Rundale Palace.  It is one of two Baroque palaces built in the 1700's for the Dukes of Courland in what is now Latvia.  There was a sculptor from Berlin and two Italian painters from St. Petersburg that did most of the interior work from 1765-1768.  Every room was impressive, especially the relief sculptures on the ceilings and walls, as well as the paintings.

 
 These relief sculpted scenes amazed me!
Baroque period clothing:
And of course, what's a Baroque Palace without its perfectly planned and landscaped French gardens with fountains, arbors, groves, and roses?

We found the grape arbors and had to give the grapes a try!
Leaving Rundale Palace as the sun was getting lower in the sky.

And of course passing by this little river, the kids had to say hi to it.  ;)
We worked up an appetite, so we looked for a place to eat on our way home.  Making our way through a little nearby city, we saw a restaurant sign in a window that said, "Sombrero" and it had a painted picture of a sombrero in the window.  Being with my dad, a true Mexican food lover (and I'm his daughter), we had to stop there; especially because it's a rare thing to find any Mexican food in the country.  As we ordered, we knew we were in trouble when we asked the waitress if they had salsa they could serve with the "fajitas," and we got a confused, blank look as she replied, "No."  Here are Rhea's and Grandpa's fajitas that ended up tasting like curry. :)
Grandma's chicken goulash.  Green beans, peppers, mushrooms, etc.

And here are my ribs that Savvy traded with me because my pork ended up being breaded. There are always beets served. ;)

 

The next morning, we set out for a medieval city called Cesis.  It's known for its medieval castle and history.

As we pulled into Cesis, we noticed a little cemetery and had to stop.  It was fascinating to see the ages on the graves, if you could still read them.

I love Latvian cemeteries--they're beautiful!

On this particular day, there happened to be a little festival with activities in the park.  Singing, dancing, games, crafts, etc.

 A worker in costume.

 The table to pick up a lantern to walk through the castle.

 Taking a breather with Grandpa.

 We couldn't get much detail on what they were doing, but there was a group of female "Hogwarts" students celebrating something at the castle.

The museum where they showcased a lot of medieval artifacts.

After visiting the castle and museum, we walked down a quiet street trying to get to the Sveta Jana Basilica, when we noticed this building.
The powerfully worded sign read:  "From 1940-1941 and 1945-1991 The Cesis District Branch of the Communist Regime's Oppressive Organization "CHEKA" was located in this building.  Here people were humiliated and tortured, and their homes, families, freedom and lives were taken away."  I'm glad we stopped and read the sign.  The reality of the Soviet Union occupation era is still very real today for the people of Latvia.

The back side of the Sveta Jana Basilica, or St. John's, is one of the oldest medieval structures in Latvia.  It wasn't hard to find evidence of the age of the church.  It was built at the beginning of the 13th century for the Livonian Holy Order during the Christianization of the Baltics.  "Cesis became one of the most important German power centers in the Baltics from 1237-1561." (latvia.travel.com).  It's so fun to see amazing architectural evidence from centuries before us!

We climbed up to the bell tower and enjoyed the view.

And here, meet The Old Man of Time, who I guess is also one of the city's watchmen.  He's holding a lantern which is one of the symbols of Cesis; appropriately so being a historical medieval city.

On our way to church the second Sunday they were here, we stopped at the Riga sign we have passed for over a year, and finally got a family picture taken!  We've said a zillion times, "We need to stop and get a picture," and finally we did with the help of Grandma and Grandpa.

After church and dinner, my dad pulled out pictures of Osvaldo, a 90-something year old convert of his from his mission to Brazil in 1969-1971.  Osvaldo has been an amazing member of the church and missionary, sharing the gospel with many, including his own family.  Two of his sons served missions as well.  Amazing man, and there's a miraculous story to go with it.  When my husband Briant served his mission in Brazil from 1992-1994, he was visiting a branch one Sunday when Osvaldo got up in Sacrament and bore his testimony thanking an Elder Buckwalter and Elder Kemmeny for baptizing him years ago.  Bri went up to him after and said, "You won't believe this, but I'm named after Elder Buckwalter and my companion that I'm here with today is the nephew of Elder Kemmeny!"  The odds of Bri being there, and for Osvaldo to bare his testimony on that day for Bri to hear, are one in a million.  Pretty cool, because of course Bri let my dad know that Osvaldo was doing well and was active in the church still 20 years later.  And here we are now 20+ years after that, and my dad got to visit with one of Osvaldo's sons over General Conference weekend in April, bringing more good news to my dad and Elder Kemmeny with whom he visited.  A tender mercy for my dad to see the fruits of his labor so many years later!

 The next day was the first day of school for Thomas at ISL.  My dad and Becky woke up early as well, and joined us in the walk to school and they even picked up the pace a little as Thomas rode his bike.  :)


8th grader this year!  Hard to believe he's almost in high school!

The girls have asked me to home school this year, which I was fine in doing after thinking about it for a few months.  I felt they could benefit from the time at home away from the social drama and bullying that was so frequent last year.  Thomas wanted the benefits of going to public school like traveling with the soccer and robotics teams, and being social generally with other kids.  We're all looking forward to this new year of learning and growth!  Thomas is in 8th, Savannah is in 7th, and Rhea is in 5th grade.

 Rhea visited with Ms. Ita, the assistant from her 4th grade class last year.

 Making new friends right away with Jayden.
 Grandma and Grandpa and dad watching and supporting!  Bri had the day off for Labor day, yay!

 Despite having just bought Thomas new shoes a few months before, Thomas asked me to buy him new shoes for the first day/week of school.  He's not usually one to care about fashion or keeping up with others, so I was surprised by his request.  I went ahead and got them, and I'm glad I did.  He said, "Everyone is going to have new shoes," and sure enough, they did!  There's nothing like having people judge you on your shoes the first day of school and continue to misjudge you the rest of the year because of it!  I can't keep up with the wealthy kids that have had better phones than me for the last 7 years of their lives (their only 14), but I can buy my son new shoes.  ;)

It was awesome for Thomas to have Grandma and Grandpa there on his first day of school!  They're two of some of his favorite people, so it meant a lot to be able to get hugs and encouragement from them that first day of a new school year!

 Savannah also had fun seeing and visiting with friends and teachers from last year.

 Clark and Zara, friends of ours.

 After the flag ceremony, each grade entered the school.

We waited for Thomas to get home to see how his first day went, while Grandma and Grandpa packed to leave Latvia that afternoon.  We were all relieved that Thomas had good things to report about his day as we sat and enjoyed each other's company a little longer.

 We were sad to see Grandma and Grandpa go!  We had such a great visit with them and enjoyed all the memories made and being able to show them our home and Latvia.  We're so grateful that Becky dragged my dad to the airport despite feeling under the weather, and that we got to see them at our half-way point here in Latvia.  Otherwise, it would have been 2 years until we would get to see them next summer.  We're grateful for their sacrifice and for their love!