Our "Tour"

Wow! Another wonderful, but exhausting day. We spent the majority of our day with Viktorija's foster mom and dad (whom will now be referred to as Maria and Arlis). They picked us up from the hotel around 10:30, and Arlis drove us to several special areas of interest in Viktorija's life within the past 10 months that she has lived with this family. Since living with Maria, Viktorija has had her confirmation in the Catholic church. This seems to be extrememly important to Maria and her family who are devout Catholics. We saw the church where Vikorija was confirmed, and then another huge Catholic church where she took a pilgrimage in August,after she returned from the US. This pilgrimage is taken by many Catholics throughout the world. People come from everywhere to pray for 2 days. The churches are beautiful. You can tell the people take much pride in their places of worship. At this second church, Maria knew a priest who speaks English and he gave us a tour of the entire place. Much history. Maria asked the priest to ask us what our religion is, and would Viktorija be able to complete the 12 sacraments. I told the priest we were "Baptist", that we believe in Jesus, and that we would be certain to teach Viktorija of Jesus' love for her. I don't know if that satisfied Maria, but we got no more questions about it.

Maria and Aldis were wonderful to spend their entire day with us. We got a lot of history of the area, and of Lativa. We went to a World War II museum, and a "bread museum". We were taught about how they make their bread, and then treated to an authentic Latvian meal. I seem to have a few things in common with Latvians....they love their dark bread---I, too, like bread. They love their cheese---I, too, like cheese. Can you see that this common denominator could be a little challenging in regards to the healthy diet I have chosen? :-) That's not going to be happening while in Latvia, apparently:-) I must say, the food is good. I can't really tell you what it was for certain....potatoes, sausage, cheese, sour cream....do you see what I mean?!?!? I chose to put small amounts on my plate, and Arlis took the bowls and started piling copious amounts of cheese and sour cream on top! Well, I ate it all with a smile on my face:-) After dinner, we danced. Yes, I did say dance. The lovely lady who was serving us grabbed Mike and took him to the middle of the room to dance with her. The next thing I knew, we were all dancing! What a wonderful memory to share with our daughter, and our new friends.

Latvia is such a poor country. Many people have left this country to find work anywhere they can. Nobody looks happy. Mike asked our attorney yesterday if we looked like we were from America. She said, " you look like you're from somewhere other than Latvia. You look too happy." That really struck me. We are so blessed in America! I can't tell you the appreciation I have for EVERY thing in my life. From the littlest things. I am going to be doing laundry the old fashioned way while we're here (in the sink). That in itself makes me appreciate home! We were told they had laundy facilities here. That means they will do your laundry for you...for a stiff fee.

I can tell you I wouldn't trade this experience for anything, but I will be happy to get home with our daughter. As a good friend said, "This is a big adventure". And, it really is. Unforgettable.

Please continue to pray:

1) For our witness to others as we are here.

2) For Viktorija--she is already worried about school. We've been doing school work here, and it's evident that she is frustrated. We're starting from the alphabet.

3) For our safety

4) For our 2nd court date on 2/25. We have 2 scheduled social worker visits in the nexk week.

I'm now going to watch a movie with my family before bedtime. Love and hugs to all.....