Bri was helping to entertain an FSI employee, Hilary, that was in town visiting the embassy for language purposes.  Being Jewish, she wanted to visit one of the few Jewish synagogues that survived the Holocaust.  It was beautiful and made me miss my work at the Temple Rodef Shalom Nursery school in Virginia and our weekly Shabbat celebrations and frequent visits to the Temple.

Before entering, Bri was required to put on a Yamaka.

Hilary also wanted to go to the Occupation Museum where we learned more about the 51 year Russian "occupation "of Latvia that overlapped as well with WWII.  Many Latvians were killed during this time.  The anger toward the Russians is still here today.  They do not like to speak Russian with you if you speak Russian.  The only time Bri can use his Russian is if they feel weaker in their English speaking skills and then they'll speak Russian with him.  I've got a lot to learn about the complicated history of this country.

Thomas got home from soccer practice, which was in the rain, after which he rode his bike home.  In. The. Rain.  He was shivering and was feeling so weak he just layed on the floor in the mudroom.  Savannah layed with him to try to warm him up and comfort him because she had ridden her bike home in the rain too an hour earlier and was feeling empathy.  I put him in a warm bath where he began to come back to life again.  ;)

Our second HHE shipment arrived on Labor Day, so Bri and I spent the day receiving our boxes for most of the morning (the poor guys had to carry exercise equipment upstairs and put wheels back on our 5 bikes!).

The afternoon was unpacking, and for Bri, that meant putting a zillion IKEA bookshelves together.  He's an expert now!

At this point, he's wishing we hadn't gotten rid of our shelves in Angola.  ;)

Thomas at least tried to help dad put together the 4x4 shelves that were going in his room.

And then one more set of 4x4 shelves to go downstairs.  With only one closet in the entry mudroom of the house, we need shelves and bins to hold everything!

Lo and behold, the shelves are up!  Good job Bri!

The next day we had the fun time of filling them with all of our books and knick knacks.  For the first time in 17 years of marriage, Bri let me integrate the knick knacks with the books.  He's very possessive of the book space and wants it to be pure books, but this time we bought a couple of extra  smaller shelves so there would be more space, so he said "I see the potential of having our stuff mixed in with the books, but I get to decide what goes where."  Okay boss.  ;)

"Have you seen my fish?"  That's a question Bri asks us all frequently.  He loves this fish he bought in Angola and reminds us of it often.  ;)

Now we just need to get clocks and artwork hung up on the walls to finish the nesting and help complete the feeling of being home again!

 The RSO (Regional security office) planned and held a Safety Awareness day for all the kids.  It was a fun day, like 4 or 5 hours of fun, with learning for the kids.

First we got to see some police dogs and their "masters" and how they have trained the dogs.  It was amazing how focused the dogs were on their masters despite the crowd standing just feet away from them that could have distracted them!  Obviously an important skill to have as a tool in law enforcement.Rhea was picked to help reward one of the dogs with food.  The other dog was actually fed out of a can with a spoon!

The kids got to "shake" hands with the dogs afterward, and the dogs seemed so gentle with the kids.  This dog kept reaching for Rhea's face to give kisses.  Rhea loved it of course.  :)The next part was Savannah's favorite, getting to see horses that are involved in law enforcement.

 For the younger kids, the marines put together some of their gear to show the kids and let the kids try on.

For the older kids, the marines put together an obstacle course or "boot camp."  They loved it!

And then of course, what is a safety day without fire extinguisher training?!And lastly, the younger kids met and talked about stranger danger and not being fooled into taking candy from strangers or being lured into helping someone "find their pet."  I think this is one of those topics that has to keep being talked about since the younger kids have a hard time getting it (as we found out through role play)!The older kids met in a different room where they got to beat up on John!  Haha, he was a trooper letting the kids practice some "escape" moves if anyone tried to kidnap them or hurt them.

 Avo also talked about internet safety and not communicating with strangers, along with cyber bullying, etc.  A very useful topic for these middle schoolers!  A fun day and I think the kids learned a lot!  I was grateful for the efforts of the RSO team--it takes a village to raise our children!