Happy Snow Day to our friends in Lebanon! We were glad to have the chance to talk to the little girls and my mom for almost an hour today!
We have had a good day today! Isabella even said when we were walking in to the apartment "I like today!" We left about 11:00 and walked to the train station, which took about 30 minutes. We walked down the main road, which passes by the President of Latvia's house. I asked the girls who the president was and they told us. I asked if he was nice and they said "no". Why? "Because he make one toy too much money for the people." After looking for something to take home to the little girls, I would have to agree, things are a little pricey around here! So, we made it to the train station where we met Andrea and then we all headed to Jurmala. The train trip was very smooth (although I was reminded of an episode of Criminal Minds where a psycho guy was holding everyone hostage because he thought the government had implanted a chip in his arm to keep track of him, but luckily nothing like that happened :) ) It took less than half an hour to get there. It was very cold, but we made the most of it and walked through the town and down to the "beach". Andrea has been there in the summer, so she showed us about where the water starts. We tried to dig down and see the sand, but all we found was ice! When we walked far enough out, we found the frozen waves, which were really cool. Tim pretended to surf for a great Kodak moment! Becca is scaring us all with her Evil Knievil ways. She was blazing her own trail most of the day, even though the rest of us preferred to stick to a path. She loves to slide on the ice and she jumps up on snow covered things, like park benches and looks like she is on a skateboard. That girl has no fear! I told Tim we should start a poll and have people guess how long it will be before we are in the ER with her. I love her enthusiasm for adventure, especially since I have next to none!
Isabella was so happy to see many, many fat cats around Jurmala! She tried to get a picture of every single one and there were tons! She loves animals and loves taking pictures. We went to Double
Coffee (a chain, like Starbucks) to warm up and have lunch and had a great time visiting and eating a wonderful and very normal meal!!!! Yeah! We walked through the town and went in a few shops, but didn't see anything we just had to have. Then took the train back to Riga. We stopped in the grocery store to get a few things (you can't buy a gallon of milk, so we get a liter at a time, which goes fast with 4 of us). Then we took a taxi back to the apartment. It was good to be gone all day and be able to know we are another day closer to being home.
We have been working on the puzzle some more. Isabella does so well and is so proud of herself. After quite awhile, they both got frustrated (along with Mom) and decided to take a break. They have colored a ton of pictures, which are hanging all over the apartment! They went all day with no MP3 players until now and they asked very politely. They haven't mentioned Cartoon network at all, so I feel like they took our talk to heart. They really are good, sweet girls. They are very willing to help and they keep their things so organized and tidy. Isabella is folding her clothes right now. Tim says that's worth $36,000! I am wondering how he knows, since I do all the laundry, but maybe he gets tired of hearing me complain about it!
Tomorrow we are going to the photo place to get their visa pictures taken, since it was closed yesterday when we went. We need to clean up a little bit for our visit on Wednesday. Pray that we can find a way to come home early. Enjoy the pictures!
Monday, February 15, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Another Day Down
Thanks to everyone for the kind words and prayers for the frustrations and struggles we are having. My bad attitude from yesterday was contagious and now Tim is feeling discouraged and frustrated. It is so hard not to compare this adoption trip with Reagan's and we find ourselves saying "Well, in China..." followed by how much better that experience was. I feel guilty that we are not enjoying Riga more, since our daughters are from here, but honestly, I can see why they want out. Nothing good has happened to them here (until now!!) and since they have had a taste of life in America they are ready to leave. I think it is putting us all in a bad mood. The girls get restless, and for good reason. No matter how much stuff we brought to do, staying in an apartment all day long is torture!
We walked to the store today, it was very cold. The wind just cuts through you. The rest of the day was spent working the puzzle Andrea gave us, coloring, watching Cartoon Network, and some laundry. I really miss my dryer :( We have strung a clothes line up in addition to the drying rack that was here and every towel bar is also being used. I am learning to appreciate my appliances at home. The dishwasher doesn't work here (only the one named Kristen) and there is only one tiny sink in the kitchen, so I have to wash everything and leave it in the sink, then drain the water and rinse everything. It's a pain and literally a pain in the back because the sink sits nearly in the corner of the counter, so you have to stand at a weird angle to use it. I know things could be so much worse, so I should really suck it up and move on...
We had a talk tonight with the girls about a few issues we are having. The first is that they threw little tantrums today when we told them (after a few hours) that we were changing the channel to something besides cartoon network. It is such a fine line of letting them do what they want and keeping some kind of picture of what normal will be like. We do not let Ryleigh and Reagan watch tv all day, so we want to limit that here, plus it is so, so, so annoying to listen to Russian cartoons. The girls mumble stuff in Latvian and walk away when they are mad. Instance #2 was at 10:45, we told them that bedtime was going to be 11:30, so they had 45 minutes. They didn't understand and thought we meant right then, so they stormed out of the room, mumbling something (probably cuss words). Tim and I talked about it and decided it was time for a heart to heart. So with the help of our dictionary, we talked to them about appropriate ways to show emotions when you are a part of a family. We tried to explain that there will be times that we make them mad, but they can't be disrespectful and that we will always love them, even if they are in trouble. We told them that Ryleigh and Reagan have rules and when they don't follow them they get in trouble, but we still love them. I hope that they understand.
We talked with them about not having their MP3 players on all the time because that is not helping them learn to talk to us. We are not letting them take them tomorrow to Jurmala. I think there is a time and a place for those gadgets and we should have been smarter about setting rules.
Their English is improving every day and we want to keep encouraging them. I know that it is hard for them, in fact, I can't even imagine the difficulties!
We had a great, long talk with the little girls, my parents, sister, and niece today. There was a very clear connection with the video and audio. I love seeing Ryleigh and Reagan, I felt like I could reach out and squeeze them through the computer! They are having tons of fun and we are thankful for that. I can't imagine them being here, too, it would be even harder than being away from them. Only 10 more full days here! Thank God.
I listened to last week's sermon on the SHCC website and that made me feel much closer to home. Terry even mentioned us! I wish I could have heard the music, too, I miss hearing Ryan lead worship! It's so weird to be away from all the normal things in life. I hope everything is running smoothly at Bright Beginnings! I haven't heard otherwise, so I will assume that things are going well. I miss everyone so much! I am so used to seeing the same group of people everyday, it's strange to not know what is going on with everyone... especially the ones who are not on Facebook (Bridget) or don't ever post anything (Trisha)!
Tim and I had some crazy laughter earlier, I am talking rolling on the floor with tears in my eyes laughing. He was on FB and Caleb Alwardt had posted something about teaching Sunday School next week. Tim was reading what they were saying back and forth and I made a grouchy comment about "following God's will gets you to Latvia where you get food poisoning from meat jello." One funny comment led to another and we were dying laughing. I think we are going slightly insane here, but it was nice to laugh so hard. The girls just stared at us and rolled their eyes!
Well, I better sign off for now, it is late and hopefully we have a big day tomorrow. It would be nice to be gone ALL day and eat some normal food and see something unique. Thanks again for "listening" to all my whining! (Now we know where Ryleigh gets it!!!)
We walked to the store today, it was very cold. The wind just cuts through you. The rest of the day was spent working the puzzle Andrea gave us, coloring, watching Cartoon Network, and some laundry. I really miss my dryer :( We have strung a clothes line up in addition to the drying rack that was here and every towel bar is also being used. I am learning to appreciate my appliances at home. The dishwasher doesn't work here (only the one named Kristen) and there is only one tiny sink in the kitchen, so I have to wash everything and leave it in the sink, then drain the water and rinse everything. It's a pain and literally a pain in the back because the sink sits nearly in the corner of the counter, so you have to stand at a weird angle to use it. I know things could be so much worse, so I should really suck it up and move on...
We had a talk tonight with the girls about a few issues we are having. The first is that they threw little tantrums today when we told them (after a few hours) that we were changing the channel to something besides cartoon network. It is such a fine line of letting them do what they want and keeping some kind of picture of what normal will be like. We do not let Ryleigh and Reagan watch tv all day, so we want to limit that here, plus it is so, so, so annoying to listen to Russian cartoons. The girls mumble stuff in Latvian and walk away when they are mad. Instance #2 was at 10:45, we told them that bedtime was going to be 11:30, so they had 45 minutes. They didn't understand and thought we meant right then, so they stormed out of the room, mumbling something (probably cuss words). Tim and I talked about it and decided it was time for a heart to heart. So with the help of our dictionary, we talked to them about appropriate ways to show emotions when you are a part of a family. We tried to explain that there will be times that we make them mad, but they can't be disrespectful and that we will always love them, even if they are in trouble. We told them that Ryleigh and Reagan have rules and when they don't follow them they get in trouble, but we still love them. I hope that they understand.
We talked with them about not having their MP3 players on all the time because that is not helping them learn to talk to us. We are not letting them take them tomorrow to Jurmala. I think there is a time and a place for those gadgets and we should have been smarter about setting rules.
Their English is improving every day and we want to keep encouraging them. I know that it is hard for them, in fact, I can't even imagine the difficulties!
We had a great, long talk with the little girls, my parents, sister, and niece today. There was a very clear connection with the video and audio. I love seeing Ryleigh and Reagan, I felt like I could reach out and squeeze them through the computer! They are having tons of fun and we are thankful for that. I can't imagine them being here, too, it would be even harder than being away from them. Only 10 more full days here! Thank God.
I listened to last week's sermon on the SHCC website and that made me feel much closer to home. Terry even mentioned us! I wish I could have heard the music, too, I miss hearing Ryan lead worship! It's so weird to be away from all the normal things in life. I hope everything is running smoothly at Bright Beginnings! I haven't heard otherwise, so I will assume that things are going well. I miss everyone so much! I am so used to seeing the same group of people everyday, it's strange to not know what is going on with everyone... especially the ones who are not on Facebook (Bridget) or don't ever post anything (Trisha)!
Tim and I had some crazy laughter earlier, I am talking rolling on the floor with tears in my eyes laughing. He was on FB and Caleb Alwardt had posted something about teaching Sunday School next week. Tim was reading what they were saying back and forth and I made a grouchy comment about "following God's will gets you to Latvia where you get food poisoning from meat jello." One funny comment led to another and we were dying laughing. I think we are going slightly insane here, but it was nice to laugh so hard. The girls just stared at us and rolled their eyes!
Well, I better sign off for now, it is late and hopefully we have a big day tomorrow. It would be nice to be gone ALL day and eat some normal food and see something unique. Thanks again for "listening" to all my whining! (Now we know where Ryleigh gets it!!!)
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