I have really enjoyed being able to be more active in the kids' school here in Latvia!  I felt so out of it in Angola with being far away from the kids (not in distance but in traffic), and it being such a huge production to get to and from the school.  At least a half day "excursion" for a 20 minute parent teacher conference.  So being just a few miles away, I feel like I have more freedom with what I can do and how to involve myself in the school.  After a few months of being here, I decided to start substituting as well, which gets me on campus even more.  This has been important to all of the kids, but Rhea has been the most vocal about it.  With some friend troubles (4 of the 8 girls in the only 4th grade class that started out as her friends, started bullying and excluding her for a month and a half).  Rhea appreciated being able to give me a quick hug in the hall, on the playground, or cafeteria and allow her to check in with me to tell me how her day was going.  I love it too--this girl is a bottle of sunshine and I love being able to make her happier when I can!

Here we are in a bus getting ready to go see a movie for a field trip (what mom doesn't want to go on that field trip?!  No chasing kids around a museum!).  We saw a movie called, "Swallows and Amazons."  Cute film, and it related to their unit on media and the influence it has on us.  It was in English so that made it even better.  ;)

Rhea's classmates:  Ashlyn and Emily

 Celeste and Rita
Lev and AndrewGundega
The Splendid Palace in Riga:
 I've also gotten to substitute in Rhea's class about four times now.  So fun to see first hand what she's doing, how her class is being run, who her classmates are, and what the classroom dynamic is like!
 On this particular day with Ms. Mikyla, the kids had to create an airplane that would travel a certain distance and then troubleshoot as to why it didn't work (if it didn't).  They did some research online and used youtube videos to help teach them how to make them.

 Another day of substituting, Ms. Mikyla was gone so I worked with Ms. Ita.  The kids were being challenged to bake a moving car out of recycle parts.  That was a challenge!!  They spent hours and hours trying to work with imperfect parts like water bottle lids for wheels, water bottles for the bodies, rubber bands, a hot glue gun, etc.  Definitely frustrating for not only them, but for me and Ms. Ita!

Sandra

 We also took the kids outside for a communication activity and the kids had to work together to pass around a hoola-hoop while holding hands.

And the last day subbing that week, we took the kids to a Retro car museum.  Not your typical large museum with concrete walls.  It looked like multiple houses and garages where everything was kept.  First we got to see old bikes, motorcycles, etc. used here in Latvia since the early 1900's.  Very cool!

Here's Ms. Ita with a bike that looked like one she had growing up.

Then we moved on to old cars.

 Our tour guide was the first woman racer to ever win a race here in Latvia!
I loved my time substituting in Rhea's class!  I don't know if I'll have the opportunity again, so I'm grateful I was able to do it then.  It was great to see her working so hard and trying to get along with her classmates.  And I'm grateful I was there when the bullying situation seemed to be at its worst.  After I mentioned the situation to one of the other moms, she talked with the other moms (because she knows them), and one of them went and talked to the school administration as well, and the four girls were pulled out and talked to.  Things have been wonderful since then over the last two weeks, with the girls apologizing to Rhea and being nice to her.  I know this seems to be the age when girls get mean and possessive of their friends (it happened with Savannah too in Angola), so I'm praying she'll make it out of this year alive.  ;)  It is a learning experience anyway and has provided a lot of opportunities to discuss relationships, how to treat others, how to forgive, the dangers of gossiping, excluding others, etc.  Hopefully things will continue to be good, but we've advised her to make friends with the other girls in her class and to not put her eggs all in one basket.  So far, so good.  :)

Halloween was a lot different for us this year compared to the two we celebrated in Angola.  First, the embassy hosted a Halloween trick-or-treat party the Friday before Halloween which was amazing!  The embassy sections went all out with decorations and even spook alleys in their halls to make it more exciting for the kids.  And of course, there was no shortage of candy handed out!  Here are the kids with their school friend Saanvee that wanted to come.  Rhea had fun being Pocohantas with a Jean jacket because she was cold (she actually looked more like a hippie than anything else), Savannah was the Queen of Hearts (but her crown fell off before the picture), and Thomas was Frodo from Lord of the Rings.

Carl, Zeke, Thomas, _____, Saanvee, Elise, Savananah and Ella.Rhea went and had some face painting done for her costume along with her friend Celeste, the cat.Briant and I surprised our kids by dressing up this year (it's been a while), as pirates.  We had fun acting the part with our "Argh matey" together.  ;)

Here's Melo and his bloodiness, and the cut off hand lying on the floor could have only been put there by his dad, Avo (whom we love!).Here's Briant in his section that he and his office decorated.

Thomas with a few of his best friends Carl and Zeke.

The health unit decorated ironically in dead, bloody bodies.  ;)

Some fun costumes:

 

 

After trick or treating, we gathered in the marine house for a potluck and movie.  The marines turned on a Halloween themed movie called "Hocus Pocus."  We decided to leave and go home to watch a movie of our own.  We watched "Honey I Shrunk the Kids," an oldy but goody.
On Saturday we decided to carve our pumpkin since we were getting close to Halloween on Tuesday.  The kids helped plan the design and then clean the pumpkin out.  Rhea wasn't very excited about the "guts" of the pumpkin.Bri did the actual carving so the kids wouldn't cut themselves.  Nice job dad!Another 10 year long tradition that we have at Halloween is making ghost cookies.  Nutter butter cookies dipped in white chocolate with little mini chocolate chips for the eyes (except for a few of the Obama years when we did an honorary chocolate edition).  Sooooo simple and yummy!  Luckily we were able to order them and have them delivered in Africa and now again here in Latvia!A few hours before the trick or treating festivities began on Halloween, the Elders texted and asked if they could stop by for a few minutes.  We had our regular Elder Yost, but this time he was on splits with a brand new greenie, Elder Wright from England.  They brought homemade sugar cookies decorated with skulls!  They were so sweet to think of us!  We went and picked them up, brought them home and fed them, and sent them off with a few pieces of American candy.  We love the Elders!  Elder Yost texted later and said that Elder Wright told him, "That was the first time someone has treated me like a human since I have been in Latvia."  I had to laugh out loud because I know exactly what he means!  You feel like an alien far from home when you first land in a foreign country especially when people stare at you or look at you differently because you don't speak their language or look like a local.  It's hard for the locals to treat you like "one of them" and it's such a culture shock.  I'm glad that we could help him feel "normal" for a night!

So we didn't know what to expect for trick or treating here in Latvia, but soon learned that there are a few areas around the main international schools where non-Americans have adopted the holiday and join in the festivities.  Here in Pinki there were about 20-25 houses decorated and participating in trick or treating, so we had plenty of door knocking to do.  They're mostly Russian and Latvian, with a few Canadians and Americans in the area participating.  We had to hurry up our goodbyes with the Elders because Savannah was "picked up" by her friends from school to go trick or treating.  Georgina, Polina, Madara, Casey, and Matea.  Savannah came back home after a few hours and said she had a blast!Rhea went trick or treating with me while Thomas caught up with Carl and Zeke and his dad.  Rhea has had some sad drama with girls in her class, so she and I went out together and had fun.  We actually ran into Celeste and Ashlyn from her class, so they trick or treated together at a few houses before we walked them home and they counted their candy together.

I've never seen a pumpkin with holes poked out all over--I loved it!

And here at the end of the night, we have to count what's left of our candy after eating while trick or treating (and after dad took his dad tax).  ;)  A fun night and holiday all together!  Not what I expected coming from Angola where we trick or treated at 4 apartment doors of embassy workers that lived in the same apartment building.  We were very spoiled here this year with a pretty normal American Halloween!

We arrived back from Sweden on a Saturday instead of Sunday Oct. 22, because Elder Nelson, the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, was coming and speaking here in Latvia (at our church building)!  We were excited to hear him speak, and take advantage of the opportunity since he is getting older.  He's 93 now, which is so impressive that he's even making trips like this at his age!  He may even become our next prophet. 

So we got to church early so we could get a "good" seat, and prepare for his arrival.  Elder Nelson was actually in the basement of the church speaking to the missionaries with his wife before they came up and addressed the congregation.  A long day for them, especially because they had to move on and travel that same day.  Here we are killing time.  ;)

 Thomas had fun taking the Latvian hymn book and focusing on a part of the word that spelled "Riga."

 We didn't have awful seats, but to really get a good pic, you can't have anyone in front of you.  This is as good as I could get.  It was nice listening to his message in English!  He spoke about a lot of different things including reading the Book of Mormon, but I remember especially that he admonished us to teach our children about God and the Godhead so they know they are loved by a Heavenly Father and a Savior that lived and died for them.  The messages of the prophet and apostles are using simple in nature, going back to the basics that we need to be reminded of.  I appreciated being in the presence of an apostle of the Lord, with my family, here in Latvia!

 His wife actually spoke before him, along with a few other general authorities, Elder Karen and Elder

 We were all hoping of course to be able to shake his hand, but being 93 and having other things he had to do, he waved and blew kisses at the congregation before leaving out a side door.

We brought back two of the Elders, the ones that have "adopted" us, for dinner.  Elder Yost and Marziale are wonderful and so good with our kids.  They gave a wonderful hands on lesson using water, soap, and pepper.  The kids stuck their fingers in peppered water and the pepper stuck to them.  Then they put soap all over their fingers and put them back in the peppered water, and this time the pepper didn't stick.  The soap represented the Holy Ghost.  If we have the Holy Ghost, the temptations of the world won't stick to us because we'll make good choices with his guidance and help.  We'll be able to say "no" to those temptations that could bring us down and lead us on the wrong path.  Great object lesson that totally stuck with the kids (no pun intended). ;)  We love our Elders!