Riga, Latvia...Wednesday

Wednesday we visited a beautiful town called Yurmala. We walked down a street with lots of little shops and stands of people selling things. One thing we noted almost immediately (and we knew this because Christa will often shop here in the states and not there) was that the prices for things were A LOT more expensive there then here. WOW! After Yurmala we went to a beach on the Baltic Sea, relaxed on the beach and walked in the water. After that we found a great place to grill. They have 'portable' grills there...they are SOOO cool! You can grill on them and once you're done you throw them away. It's a tin pan with small legs, coals wrapped in kindling and a tin grate...we took a few of them back home because they were such a simple design, but such a great idea!!! Then of course…NERTS!

Riga, Latvia...Tuesday

Tuesday we visited a Soviet Bunker...I expected that it would be interesting but I had no idea how interesting, how HUGE and how elaborate it would be. Very interesting...for my history teaching husband it was FABULOUS, but he wasn't the only one that enjoyed it...we were all blown away. There were only a few areas where we could take pictures, but I'm really glad we took the time to find this place and tour it. After the bunker we visited the Cesis Castle and an old windmill. Tuesday was a full day but we had a great time!!

Riga, Latvia...Thursday - Monday

We're BACK! We had such an AMAZING time in Latvia and we can't thank Christa & Vitaly enough!! Each day was a filled with interesting places, a new adventure, great conversation and lots of fun. To fill you in on the whole week in one blog seems impossible so I'm going to share a few days at a time...ENJOY!

Thursday July 9th we dropped off the kids with grandparents and headed to the cities to stay with dan's brother and sister in law (Joe and Chrystal), they were also joining us on the trip.

Friday....T....R...A...V...E...L...it took a long time, but it went well. We would have been a day late, but God took care of even the small details and because we were at the airport so early, we were able to make the earlier flight to Chicago because our original flight was already set to be delayed. Had that not happened we may have missed our Chicago flight, been late for our flight to Poland and from Poland there is only one flight a day to Riga and we would have for sure missed that one. HE took care of us...no doubt about it!Saturday...we ARRIVED in Riga, Latvia!!!

Sunday we were able to fellowship and worship at Christ and Vitaly's church. What a blessing! It's a very small body of believers and so after church we were all going to go out for lunch together but the place they normally go had had a fire that day and so instead we enjoyed grilling at C & V's house. We had a great time and great conversation (they all spoke english)!! That evening we went and toured the sites in Riga from C & V's past....where they met, previous places they've lived, where Vitaly grew up, various landmarks...very interesting and a great way to ease our jeg lagged bodies into the week. We ended the day as we did each day...with a game of Nerts...it's multiple player solitaire. It's a family tradition to play this game whenever we're all together. FUN!!!

Monday we started by visiting where Vitaly works...what a nice place!! Then we headed to Old Riga and saw some gorgeous buildings, ate some great food and walked in an area that was originally built between the13th and 16th centuries...you don't find that here in ND!!! Then of course...we ended with Nerts!

Prayer...

We are super excited about our trip!! The kids have been asking for days when it will be time to go to see their grandparents...we can't wait to visit Dan's sister and her family to see life from their perspective and to travel and be 'tourists'!

We would truly appreciate your prayers for safe travel, safety at each of our destinations, for great conversations, for our kids, for the grandparents...Thank you!

"Mom-my"

I LOVE hearing this word!!! I got used to "mom", but it's not nearly as precious as hearing the word "Mom-my". Hearing that precious word is definitely something I will miss while we're gone....

Riga, Latvia

In just 4 more sleeps we will be "leaving on a jet plane" and heading to Riga, Latvia to visit Dan's sister Christa, her husband Vitaly and their 2 boys Alex and Erik. We are SUPER excited to get to see 'their world'. We aren't going alone though, our travel companions will be Dan's brother Joe and his wife Chrystal. We have 3 kids and they have 4...we are very thankful to all the grandparents for helping out so that we could enjoy this trip (the kids are just as excited to have grandparent time and we are to have adult time)!!! We have known about our trip since Christmas and our excitement to go has been building!!! Where is Riga, Latvia??? Check out the map and you'll see....I sadly admit that if my sister in law did not live there I probably wouldn't know where it was.

Soon enough there will be pictures of our journey and stories to share!!

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A Great Day!

We had a great day! Our 5-Day Club finished today (it was only 4 days due to the 4th of July) and so after that we went and spent some family time at Thunder Road and enjoyed the bumper cars, go-karts and Seth rode the 3 wheeler. We were surprised to meet up with friends when we went out for supper which was a lot of fun and when we got home we set up the tent and the kids (minus Seth) and a friend from the neighborhood are camping in the backyard tonight with dad. After I'm done blogging I'm going to enjoy an evening of painting my toe nails, watching HGTV, and reading a book!