July 2025

 Well it's been a minute since i wrote anything. There's been a lot of water under the bridge since May when Shana left! We are still trying to get used to her being gone. Layton often tells me, "can she come back, mom?"Yesterday he said "I wish she would come back and make butter chicken and naan one more time!"

Murphy has been hot on our tail lately. The downstairs AC kicked the bucket which is not surprising considering how old it is, then the brand new AC in the children's bedroom decided to blow hot air. So now the children are sleeping in Shana's room which they could not be more tickled about. The two faucets outside both have a steady trickle of water out of them despite the knob being in the off position, the new kitchen faucet decided to spray water everywhere a mere two weeks after being replaced. Jared said it looked like it rusted through, never mind it was supposed to be "best quality." Haha! Jared and I both have been smitten with fevers, bad colds, body aches and now an all over body rash. I told Jared it reminded me of that children's song "two little speckled frogs..." The worst thing ever was our little pal Bennett (Brian's boy) went into one of the upstairs bathrooms and turned on the hot water tap. The water heaters here aren't adjustable just off or on. Anyways, extremely hot water came out of the tap and he got horrible burns on both feet. Huge blisters immediately. Jared and I have been dressing his wounds with silver cream, and gauze twice a day. The poor boy is terrified when he sees us coming because he knows what's about to happen. He started to have more pain and just not feel well at all, so Brian and Jared took him to Evercare. They cut all the blistered skin off, bandaged them all back up and then started him on an antibiotic. He has really perked up since. He can't walk now with his bandages on, so he just crawls or scoots around. One day Jared was trying to go to the clinic, and the van ceased from its labors, the road was jammed and moving at a snail's pace, so Jared just pushed the van along with the traffic and shoved it off on the side of the road. A few hours later the mechanic arrived with a tow truck. The Lord must feel like we need another round of sanctification before we leave the mission! 

However, all that being said we have had some really enjoyable times in between all the Murphy business! Eid came and went in June. The slaughtering didn't hold the fascination that it had the previous year. The evening before Laytons friends and he went around and fed grass to a lot of the animals. The neighbors had three cows and two goats tied up in their front yard. This is an unbelievable amount. Made us wonder what made them feel like they  needed to slaughter so much? An unpardonable sin? Immorality? After the slaughtering was done, the beggars came into Pink City in absolute droves. We were anticipating this from last year's experience, so we shut the curtains and locked the gate so we wouldn't get mobbed. Someone still climbed the fence. Meat, particularly beef, is so expensive right now so it seemed like people were extra desperate. Some people bought beef hides and scraped the tiniest little scraps of beef and fat off and sold that in order to stretch the meat further. One day during the Eid holiday we went out driving into Old Dhaka. That is always fascinating. The roads get narrower and narrower. One lane pretty much. We drove along the Buriganga for aways. Somehow ended up in a humongous wholesale fruit market. Looked like the trucks were backed up where the boats would bring the fruit, then they were selling them right there. Millions of apples, oranges, grapes, pomegranates, pineapples, mangoes, etc. I told Layton he would probably never see that much fruit in one spot ever again in his whole life and certainly not at walmart! We really enjoyed seeing all the huge boats at the docks, ferries, sandbarges, boats that were hauling the fruit, little tiny fishing boats. We would have loved to go look at the inside of the larger ones but the ground was covered in "matter"from the slaughtering a day prior. As we were slowly winding our way through the market, suddenly here came a funeral procession. The deceased was wrapped in purple velvet cloth and was laying on a stainless steel bed frame. 

Clinic was closed for two weeks over Eid. The government decided this was going to be a 10 day holiday. Josna and Sumita went back to their village because there would be nothing for them to do anyway at the clinic. This meant no singing on Tuesday evenings, no Bangla meal on Wednesday and no church on Friday. We didn't mind the time of being at home but we certainly did start to get on each other's nerves. :) Friday, we meant Nathon in Uttara and he took us to Savar to see his mother's family. We really enjoyed that! He has brought his "nieces"" over before so it was neat to meet the rest of their family. We first stopped at his aunt's house. Jared and I were quite surprised at how nice their houses were. They clearly have money. These were not the little mud houses like what we are used to seeing in the villages. They were cement with tiled walls. The first house we stopped at was where Nathon's auntie lived with the nieces and their parents. THe house was huge! Had a western toilet and 6 bedrooms! The one girl is studying fashion design. I looked at one of her textbooks and was immediately intrigued. It was details on how to sew everything from pants, underwear, blouses and dresses. The dress patterns looked alot like what mennonite girls would wear. She showed me a dress she had sewn plus her sketchbooks full of clothing she has designed. These Bengali girls have such talent when it comes to drawing and painting! She showed me her sewing machine and it was quite a fancy piece of machinery. I just love seeing these girls all enthused about what they are learning in school. After consuming so delicious Bangla noodles, the girls, Nathon and us went on a two hour walk. We got our purification sweat in. We meandered around the village and stopped in at least three other houses of Nathon's family. Every house offered us mangos, jackfruit, lemonade, cha, biscuits, you  name it. Of course we politely ate abit to make the hostess feel good. Nathon kept saying ":remember supper is coming yet."  We eventually finished our rounds and got on an easy bike. It struck me so funny to see Nathon and Jared both up by the driver on the tiny seat hanging outside die to the big men they are, the rest of us squeezed in the back. By the time we got back to the auntie's house they had quite a spread ready for us. It was delicious! They told us "we didn't put in any turmeric because we heard foreigners don't like tumeric. haha! I'm not sure where they got that assumption because we think turmeric is delicious, and wondered if they got it mixed up with mustard oil. We dropped Nathon off and continued on home to Pink City. We were exhausted but it was worth it. 

We had Fellowship the 2nd week in July. Micahel and Monica hosted it in Rajshahi this year. The past several years it has always been in Khulna so it was really neat to go to Rajshahi. We always love going there. It is gorgeous and for sure now in the rainy season it did not fail to disappoint. You almost wonder where you are when you are there. There is not the filth and smog that there is in Dhaka. Everything is nicer there, the roads, buildings, etc. Michaels had rented a big Catholic facility. It had a chapel, kitchen with cooks to cook for us, a large dining room, and rooms for all the members to stay in for the night. Us missionaries were going to stay there as well, but the facility said they couldn't accommodate children for the night. We all ended up staying at Hotel X instead. None of us complained about the change in plans after we found out what soft beds they had. Layton still talks about them. He wants to go back just to sleep in the beds!!! haha! Michael is just not starting to get up and around on his feet after his fracture and operation a few months ago. He moves pretty slow, so the men would take him from the chapel to the dining hall in the van. It was quite impressive to see him having opening, leading a song or having the sermon. When we came he was so angry, disowned Franklin was trying to divorce Monica, now he is a member!!!! Sitting there watching him, I had to think to myself that there really is grace for absolutely everyone. Boli and Elizabeth from Kaligonj even came. They have never attended revivals or fellowship since we came! Boli even participated and had a song or opening I forget which. It was encouraging to see how well the members participated instead of just depending on the missionaries to run the service. I don't think any of the CSI men had any of the sermons! After 5 services in two days, the children were quite weary of church. The chapel had those old wooden school desks to sit in. Made us adults squirmy as well! 

Brian and Kaylee, Bennett (3) and Lars (3-4 months) from Roblin Manitoba arrived on July 18. Between Bennett's feet owies and Brian getting a stomach bug we haven't hit the orientation phase too hard yet. Brian has been to the clinic several times with Jared. They have started Bangla class already and are doing very well. Of course their brains are swimming but Jared and I think they are doing great! Bennett comes for a while in the mornings when they have class if he feels up to it.  We have been amazed at how well their jet lag has been! They stopped for a night in Dubai on the way here and we are pretty sure that's what helped so much! Even the baby is sleeping through the night. :) We have quite a list of things to show them and Jared has been working on showing Brian a lot of the paperwork sometimes in the evenings. It's fun to have people back in Dhaka with us! Crazy to think this is the last time we will do this! 

Best news yet, Lonnie and Doyle both got security clearances! Just waiting for their work permits to follow. Jared doesn't have one yet, He resubmitted all his paperwork when he submitted Brians to see if we couldn't get one yet quickly before we leave, otherwise we will have to get an exit visa and a fine is usually attached. The teachers are waiting to get their passports back from the embassy/consulate, so as soon as they have them, tickets can be booked and they will arrive! 

Other than that, we continue to live our normal lives here, hard to believe we fly out of Dhaka in exactly two months. 

May 2025 (In Which Our Girl👩🏼‍🏫 Flies the coop.)

Shania🩷Lately I have been thanking God over and over for her. She brings us such joy! Seeing a little girl bustle around the house with her two tiny French braids and her little bows that she loves in her hair just heals something in me that I didn’t know needed healing. She loves to pick out her dress and her jammies. She is quite drawn to the color purple! “Pettty!” And she LOVES when I let her put on some of my perfume. Been trying to get her to eat with a spoon since she’s always just eaten with her hands like the Bengalis do. It’s slowly working. Some days she gets tired of it and just piles the food on her spoon with her hands and then shoves it into her mouth. I’m trying to teach my children manners so when we come home they aren’t like total cave men. Shania was hit with a terrible stomach bug the first of the month. We tried everything we could think of…. Dewormer, parasite meds… she was so limp and pale and slept a lot. Was starting to wonder if an ER visit was in order. Finally was able to get liquid IV and Gatorade down her and that seemed to perk her up. Took awhile though before she started eating and drinking good again. She was just so worn down. Had to make games out of trying to get her to drink. I knew she was on the mend one day when she started asking for pickles. (Her favorite thing.) Her speech continues to expand by leaps and bounds. She comes up to me and hunches her back  and says “scatch scatch!” She wants me to scratch it. One day she got out of the bathtub and said “spash spash! I scared!” If it rains outside it really turns her world upside down. We often have to put her in bed with us at night to get her to calm down if it rains. She huddles up beside Jared with her hands over her ears and says “wain wain I scared.” Clearly she doesn’t remember last rainy season! 

Layton 💙 He is tickled to be done with school! He told me “mom I just want to be able to spend more time with you now.” Thought that was pretty sweet. However, 5 days into his summer “vacation” he was tearful and wondered if we could do some review sheets because he missed school. Shana has his school work caught up until middle of October. He loved school with Maddie and Jaira. Shana had a really neat art project for them where they made houses and all sorts to go with it out of cardboard. One day when he was perturbed over some menial issue that came up when he was playing with Jaira he told me “mom, I prefer being with boys over girls, but don’t worry when it comes to getting married then I prefer girls.”🤣 Been giving him more chores to do around the house now to keep him from tearing the place apart and he can be quite helpful when the mood suits.😂 We got rid of his fish sadly. I’ve had a lot of mom guilt over it. He wanted a pool to play in on the veranda now that the heat has settled in to stay. It takes an hour every week to clean the fish tank and the pool has to be cleaned out at least that often which then requires the veranda to be cleaned as well. So I said “something has to go… I’m not cleaning fish tanks and pools and verandas every week.” The lack of enthusiasm to help his mom clean said fish tank was severely lacking despite many reprimands so thus he decided to clean a pool instead. After Jared flushed the fish down the toilet Shania kept looking around for the “shishies.” 😢 which only worsened my mom guilt. Anyways…. Layton has been into listening to Boxcar Children Books. Really Enjoys those! Plus we are reading Henry and the Paper Route and any random Geronimo Stilton book. Even though he can read on his own I’m still so glad he likes me to read to him. Shana left him some extra school work to do for review when he gets bored. Some penmanship, math pages and reading. We are trying to do abit several days a week just to keep it all fresh in his brain. 🧠 Some days he loves to write little stories and make little books out of them. They are usually about Sam and Tim and Pam. Anything from Sam being in a “hree.” (Hurry) to Tim getting bit by ants on “Halween.” He has aways to go with learning to spell but that’s what school is for! 😊 

The children’s last day of school was May 8! Friday after church they gave their school program. They  had a poem they recited and they each picked out a song to sing. Layton picked out “My Homes in Montana”. That is his favorite! Josna and Sumita and Miriam really enjoyed it and clapped away when they were done. Madison thought it was more scary to give a program here instead of at home. She said since there were less people on the audience then you for sure got stared at! The Saturday after we all loaded up in the van bright and early for a “play day!” Shana had had a water balloon fight with them a few days prior for a “good behaviour award.”☺️ It was a nice warm day. 104*. But we persevered because we are strong hardy missionaries. We got to the zoo around 9 which was perfect timing. There wasn’t many people there at all! We took our time meandering from cage to cage. The snakes didn’t bring many of us joy. The monkeys were making quite a racket! The sign said such racket meant they were bonding with their families. Anyways the children were getting a-bit faint so we stopped by the monkey cage and had a snack and cold drinks. The monkeys quieted right down and we figured it was because they saw us and thought we looked like family. By the end of our two hours there we were ready to leave, hot and sweaty. We sat in the van and decided that driving the extra ways to Herfeys was better than Burger King since it would give us time to cool off. Plus Herfeys beats burger king any old day. Got to Herfeys and we were all ravenous. Layton ate a whole burger plus 12 chicken nuggets plus ice cream. Came home and we all turned on the AC and crashed for several hours! It was a fun day!  Nathon came over later on to bring some beef curry. He thought we were sure dumb to go to the zoo on such a hot day. He said “I bet even the Bengalis weren’t there.”😂 He came inside and said “I am SO TIRED.” We asked him if he was ok and he said “this heat just makes me tired all the time.” How well we know! 

On May 13, Khira Schultz flew in! She is from Scenic Ridge where Shana hails from. She has been teaching in Ethiopia for the past two years and her time was up. We can get direct flights from Ethiopia to here so she flew in here and then her and Shana will fly home together! That evening I made a wild comment that wouldn’t it be neat if Shana and Khiras other friend Sarah Shetler that’s teaching in Nepal could come too! They are all the same age and from the same congregation! I messaged Andrea Nikkel (also from Scenic Ridge) and made a joke about it not expecting much. Cautiously hopeful is the right term!  Well by the next morning the board had given approval, Jared had sent Sarah the visa things she needed and Chris had a flight for Sarah booked! To say the girls were excited was an understatement. We told Chris and Andrea and their boy Anderson they should come too but they felt best to stay at home and tend to their responsibilities which we totally understand! We were all excited! Sarah flew in at 11 pm so the girls and Jared went to get her. Jared told me later there was a great deal of squealing and shrieking going on in the van.😂 Her flight was only 1.5 hours long. I just loved being with those girls. I was ready to adopt them all on the spot and keep them for my very own.🩷 Hearing them laugh and shriek upstairs just made my soul feel less crusty and I felt quite young again! More like 20 and less like 34.😍 And oh boy… did we have fun! FUN! The girls are all mission teachers so they were not afraid to pitch in and help with food or dishes and whatnot. I told them they should just have fun together but bless their hearts they had fun AND helped! It was rather humorous, once your you’ve been in the mission you view things differently. They would say “can I use your brown sugar or is it something that’s hard to get here?” Or “should I be careful how much milk I use? Is it expensive?”😊 It was so neat to hear the differences between Ethiopia, Nepal and Bangladesh. They all agreed the humidity is worse here.😂Anyways… all too soon the 19th arrived and the final preparations were in place. I think Shana and Khira packed and repacked their bags at least 10 times and we will not say how many times they weighed them.😂 or the amount of plastic wrap involved. We took them to the airport at 9:30 pm and dropped them off. Jared hired a guy to get them in the door and get their luggage checked in. You may wonder why such an individual is needed, well there’s only a thousand (I’m not exaggerating) people milling about outside the airport. Sarah’s flight didn’t leave until the next morning so she came back for the night. I was so glad she stayed abit longer. Helped the sting not be so bad telling Shana bye knowing i would still have one girl under my roof! We really miss Shana! Keep waiting for her to come bouncing down the steps in the morning. Layton hopes she comes back soon. The kids keep going into her bedroom. But She needed Taco Bell so what can we say? We can’t stand between a girl and her Taco Bell. (Shakes head sadly.) The house is awfully quiet now without her and the other girls. We are just rattling around in this big ole house like a bag of old bones. First time in almost a year it’s just been the four of us. I told them they can all come back and live with us in Kansas if they find Ohio to be less than appealing. 

Lonnie’s moved out to Khulna May 14. Jared drove with them half way to help haul their luggage and totes then Doyle met Jared and they handed off the stuff. Sounds like they are getting settled in. How well we remember those first few weeks “on our own.” 

The government issued a report saying they will no longer be issuing work permits for foreigner NGOS if it can be proved that a Bengali can do the same job. They also said they will be deporting any illegal foreigners. We aren’t sure how seriously to take it. In the past there was a family that was deported, but Jon tells us not to worry. Others have told us they don’t think the government here is organized enough to actually pull something this large off. So until we go home in September we will just keep doing what we came here to do. Prayers would be appreciated though for paperwork to go through for “N” visas for Brian and Kaylee and Aleigha and Christina. After we found this information out we discovered my passport had expired. So we made a quick trip to the visa office to drop off necessary documents and what not. Sounds like it’s quite backed up now to get a passport renewed for the states, but the other day I got an email saying my passport was on its way here to the visa office! So at least now I will have a legal passport if we all of a sudden have to pack our bags and head home out of the blue. 

Clinic continues to go well! Nothing out of the ordinary has happened recently. Some days when it’s very hot out the numbers are definitely less! I’ve been trying to make more of an effort to hold the babies that stay at the clinic and to talk with the moms. They always love to have the white lady hold their babies. Seems like lately we’ve had more moms that want to sit in on our singing evenings and occasionally a service here and there. 

Cheesy Beef Burritos with Fries - My Grandma's Pie

Hawaiian Chicken Sheet Pan - Recipes by Nancy

Easy Mexican Tortilla Pinwheels Recipe - A Pretty Life In The Suburbs

Carlsbad Cravingshttps://carlsbadcravings.comAvocado Cream Sauce - Crema Recipe. (This is so good on breakfast tacos or any Mexican food.) Avacados here can be up to $6 USD a piece so they are bought VERY sparingly. 

March - April 2025

 Excuse the lack of a post last month… things were busy and when it came time to write my inspiration was zilch. So much water has gone under the bridge. I looked at my calendar and saw an event we had had and thought surely that had been months and months ago and here it was only the second week in March. If that tells you anything how time is around here. Seems like we pack a lot of living into our days. 

Shania turned 2 on April 2.  I think that explains her overall disposition and temperament lately. For sure since her four eye teeth are all slowly painfully making their appearances one at a time. I will say having a 2 year old girl is quite different than how I remeber Layton being at 2. He just took everything apart and destroyed whatever was in his path. Shania is so emotional but considering who her mother is... She loves for me to read books to her now! Any book with Thomas, cats or dogs, or airplanes is her favorite. She is actually sitting still through the whole book now instead of tolerating one page and then wanting to jump down and go play. She is quite obsessed with the the salt container on the table. Almost every day she climbs up there and eats salt. Seems awful to me. I’ve started giving her Gatorade everyday to see if she was lacking in sodium but the ordeal continues so I think it’s more of a fun thing to sneak and do when mama isn’t looking. Often when she sees me come around the corner she quick grabs the napkins to cover up the salt that she’s spilled.😄 She loves to on walks in the stroller and swing in her swing. She begs for “Scootie” so I put her in the carrier and we zip away on the Scootie for a ride outside of PinkCity. She wears the cutest little pair of pink sunglasses when we are on the Scootie because of all the dust and the guards just get so tickled over seeing her. At bedtime she wants “baby.” Took us awhile to figure out what she meant and here she wanted to be held Like a baby and rocked. 🤭 her thumb and blanket are her sole companions. if she happens to drop her blanket somewhere there is alot of tears and looking for “key key.” Even when we go outside she drags it along the street with her. Needless to say I’m always on the lookout to sneak it away for a good wash job.

Layton is eagerly counting the days until his 8th birthday! He is finished with first grade and Shana is doing several months worth of work for him in 2nd grade that he has plenty of time to get over his lag before he goes to school at home. He is so enthused with his school work. He keeps hoping that soon he will learn how to write in cursive. He is getting to be quite a speedy reader. Still blows my mind how much children learn in first grade. Layton has been loving audio books still. Listens to them for hours every afternoon while he plays legos or anything. If anyone has good recommendations for audiobooks for boys his age let me know! 

I’m sure you’ve all heard by now that Carl was able to find replacements for us in March! Brian and Kaylee Friesen from Roblin. He is a nephew to Ron Friesen that had revivals here! They have a 2 year old boy and a newborn baby boy. Then if that wasn’t enough excitement Darrell got two teachers! The Golpagang teacher is Aleigha Froese from Grandview and Khulna’s teacher is Christina Yoder from Henderson TN. the next morning the excitement in this country was next level. Bangladesh doesn’t always fair too well at those placement meetings so to have all this info of all these new people coming wasn’t something else to comprehend. Carl and Judith handed their field secretary responsibility to Chris and Sondra Koehn from New Plymouth! Looking forward to them possibly visiting this summer. Jared has been working on getting paperwork going for all the new arrivals! Sounds like Brian’s will come middle of July. We are hoping that means we can go home end of September. No dates are set in stone for our departure yet cuz blessed are the flexible. We are looking forward to going home but where unprepared for the emotions that come with indeed finding out we would be able to go home. When we told our friends here, Nathon said “who is going to make cabbage salad and chocolate cake for me?” I said “I’ll  tell Kaylee to make it for you!” He said “but you will be gone though!” Josna and Miriam both said they thought surely we would stay for five years. Josna was in the kitchen crying after Jared made the announcement in church. We would have liked to stayed another term but Layton is getting a little old for city life. It’s quite a feeling to look forward to going home but at the same time when this life in Pink City is over it’s done. So some days we are excited to go home and other days there’s also a lot anxiety and worry about it too. 

Some highlights from the past two months…

☂️going to Rajshahi to see Michael and Monica. Spent a day and half with them. Michael’s elderly mother passed away a few weeks ago. She was such a wrinkled stooped over old lady. Michael always said “her ears don’t work but she can see a very long ways.” The day after her passing Michael slipped and fell in the bathroom and broke his leg in three different places. He had an operation to fix it and a plaster was put on. Jared has been calling him frequently to keep tabs on him. Currently he spends his days in bed. At home he would be getting physical therapy and doing strengthening exercises. He’s a big man so hoping he’s not too weak by the time the dr tell him he can get up. The one evening we were there, several of their friends came. It was such a joy to see them have fun and chatter with their friends. Everyone piled on the bed where Michael was laying and chattered away! Jared had a service with them. I say Jared because I was in the “back 40” during said service because Shania would not stop hollering about wanting to see Monica’s goat and ducks.😂 We gave financial assistance to the wife of one of the men that was Michael’s friends. She got an infected C-section incision. They are Muslim but were very friendly. They were so so thankful for the money Jared gave them. The next morning we all headed to Michael’s again for breakfast. We got there and were welcomed with the sound of some real gastrointestinal distress. Monica was laying on the bed sick as can be. It appeared as though she had a migraine. I felt so bad for her. Marcie and Anamika bustled around making dim and ruti and matchstick potatoes. We ate and then had a quick prayer for health with them all. Hugged Monica good bye and left. The girls seemed to be quite taken up with caring for their parents and we didn’t want to be a bother. Then we started home. Started being the key word. Usually from Rajshahi to Dhaka is smooth sailing. However we were once again reminded that we live in Bangladesh. We got into Dhaka no problem and then we encountered protest after protest after protest. Sat for two hours watching them parade right beside our van. Jared thought we must have seen at least 20,000 people march by. They were all holding signs about stopping the war in Gaza, and of course they had their sticks. They were chanting “Allah akbar” and other things we couldn’t understand. Took us 2 hours to drive 2 km. Took us 9 hours to get home instead of 5! We got home and everyone hit the bathroom and then we all ate whatever we could find in the fridge. We couldn’t stop for lunch since the traffic was so bad so ate all the crackers and snacks we had along in the van for lunch.😂 Once we got on the expressway the road felt quite bare and open after being smooshed between buses and whatnot for four hours. When one is in a jam for so long you start to notice things you wouldn’t otherwise. We were stopped beside a bus and Jared noticed that out of almost every window there was a “souvenir” down the side of the bus. I will leave you to guess what that was. Decided that didn’t speak well of the drivers driving.😂 When the traffic is stopped like that there is often lots of men and boys coming through selling bags of popcorn, peanuts, chips and cold water. 

☂️ On Eid we invited Josna Sumita and Nathon to come for supper for something to do. Josna had hinted that maybe they could come over since there wasn’t any patients at the clinic. Nathon said he was hungry for cake so we told them to all come! Supper was at 6:30. I made Stromboli, cabbage salad, chocolate cake and icecream. Well Josna and Sumita showed up at 4:30. They came in the door and promptly started cleaning. Then when they were done with the dishes they wanted to go up to the roof and they wanted to clean the roof.😞 I was not happy. I know my house is not spotless but we live here believe it or not. Finally I got them distracted and we went outside on a long walk around pink city and looked at the Eid celebrations. Nathon showed up at 6 with his two nieces in tow. All three of them somehow managed to fit on his motorcycle.😂 one was 17 and one was 21. It was fun to have them join the crowd and I was sure glad I had made so much Stromboli’s. Lonnie’s came too so we had a house full. The evening was full of lots of good laughs. 

☂️ Life has been fairy settled lately. Probably the most settled it’s been for quite some time, which feels very good. I’m glad for the children’s sake we can have some semblance of routine and order. Lonnies are still in Dhaka with us, which we quite enjoy trotting back and forth! Annslie comes for the morning five days a week while her mom and dad do language class and study. It’s been so good for Shania to have someone to play with! They have their moments but overall it goes very well. 

☂️ Easter Sunday we had Lonnies come for supper. Was hungry for American Sunday Lunch so that’s what we had! Lanette made roast and the best gravy ever! I could have eaten just the gravy and been a happy little duck. She made butter horns. Layton clearly has not eaten such in many years and kept saying “can you pass the croissants?”😂 I noted that every “croissant” that he inhaled, he had poked a hole in it and stuffed it with roast beef. I told him uncle Phillip and I used to do that but we filled it up with jam. Shana and I made green bean casserole, baked apples, creampuffs with chocolate pudding, and mashed potatoes. It was delightful, but man not used to such gourmet food. Hardly had to eat the next day. Lanette and Lonnie had painted a bunch of eggs and so the children had so much fun hiding them over and over the rest of the evening which allowed us adults to have peaceful conversation!😆 

☂️ Lonnie’s went to Khulna for a week with Doyle’s the beginning of April. Layton thought school was awfully quiet and dull without the girls. Everyday he wondered if they were coming back into Dhaka because he was getting tired of 2 person tag just him and Shana. 10 steps seems to be the favorite game at the Dhaka Mennonite School. Shania kept looking out the window hollering “ANNSIE!” 

☂️Kurt and Janey Nightengale and their family (Mackie Idaho) stopped in Bangladesh for several weeks. They have been filling in at at a post in India for the past 6 months. Unfortunately they received word that they would need to leave in 2 weeks due to visa issues. The decision was made to close that post down. So they hustled and in 2 weeks had the house emptied out, vehicles sold, 3 million tracts taken care of etc. Sounded like nothing but an act of God with how smoothly it all went for them. They spent most of their time in Bangladesh going to Rajshahi (where they were many years ago when they were here as missionaries). They stopped at all the other posts as well. They spent several days in Dhaka with us too. We really enjoyed it! They can still talk Bangla lickety split. 

☂️Bangla New Year was enjoyable. I don’t remember it at all from last year, but I think it’s because that’s right when we were moving the guesthouse maybe? Anyways… once again Pink City did not fail to disappoint! They set up their big party tent, banners and flags all over. New Year’s Eve they had all sorts of food vendors in the tent. So you can imagine where Shana and I were.😂 Now we are in the year 1432. 

Anyways, I do believe I have rattled on long enough… here’s some delicious things that Shana and I have been cooking lately. We are going to starve when that girl leaves I tell you. 

Easy Beef Enchilada Recipe (Make Ahead & Tips) - Carlsbad Cravings  (the enchilada sauce that is linked in this recipe is delicious!!) we can’t buy it canned here and I think I will make this from now on. 

Taco Bell Chalupa Supreme Copycat Recipe

Barbacoa Beef Recipe {Slow Cooker} - Cooking Classy

https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/herbed-garlic-butter-naan/

https://www.indianhealthyrecipes.com/butter-chicken/

February 2025

 February is almost over! It has been a really enjoyable month. Much more relaxing than January. Of course we had our real life moments where we tell ourselves “only in Bangladesh.” Like when the air quality remains steadily on the top of “world’s worst air” list.🤢 I think the clean Kansas air will burn our lungs.😂 the smog has been really bad the past month. Sometimes I wonder if I should even hang my clothes outside to dry with the bad air and dry season dust. But I do anyways because like my brother says “we don’t die that easy.” We’ve been in Dhaka all month and it feels so good to catch up on things and get back into a routine that lasts longer than a few days. Although I will say after being gone so much in December and January it takes some getting used to being home all the time. 

Lonnie and Lanette Koehn and their three girls from Lobelville arrived February 15! We are so glad to have them here with us. Plum tickled would probably be a better description.😊 They have been working through jet lag and started in on language class. Paninna is teaching their class. So far their class hasn’t been on a real schedule because Paninna’s brother Gorge is getting married  March 1 and once the wedding is over than they will have class 5 days a week. It’s given them time to sleep, rest and get their senses in order. Which if anyone has ever been to the mission, sometimes it takes awhile to do such after arriving. Madison and Jaira and Annslie come over and spend the morning with us if their parents have language class on Saturdays, otherwise Annslie just comes during the week for all morning. It’s been so so good for my children to have other kids to play with. For sure Shania! She’s been the only pepper in the pot for far too long. Her and Annslie are 3 days apart in age. It’s been fun talking to another mom that has a wide age gap between children. Bless Lonnie’s hearts they are the first couple to spend two months here in Pink City since we moved. So there’s been a few kinks to work out at the guesthouse. Of course things decide to break right when they come. Toilets don’t flush, showers don’t work properly and then the generator switch blew one night during a rain storm then the power blinks and blinks. Guess they are getting a crash course in Bangladesh life. They haven’t asked to fly back home yet so they will be good solid stock to have around. In April we are looking forward to taking them to Khulna and showing them the place where they will be staying! 🥰One evening Doyle’s and Lonnie’s came over for supper and we had a “get to know you” evening. It’s been along time since we had one of those. It is really fun to be three couples again. Feels like a more rounded out group! It’s been such fun taking them shopping and showing them places. It’s my favorite thing about being the Dhaka couple is we get to host the new missionaries and any company that comes through. Doyle’s parents flew in the last week of this month and they are planning to stay for almost a month I think. Doyles brother Victor flew in a few weeks ago so he has been here awhile already. 

Clinic is busy as usual! Had a big girl come in for rhinoplasty. One day 7 cleft lip babies came. Jared met Dr Thaddeus May from the states one Friday when we were in UniMart. He is here doing some sort of research at the hospital where we take the children for their vaccines. Very friendly fellow!! Him and Jared message each other every so often, and he’s sent several cleft lip/palate babies to our clinic. He was very enthused about our program. It is indeed a small world, found out he is from Texas but he grew up in Kansas City. he went to Eastern Mennonite University. He wondered where we had went to college at and we told him Hesston College! Both of those colleges are like “sister colleges.” He said his friends went to Hesston! It’s rather humorous when we meet up with fellow Americans at UniMart, it’s so enjoyable visiting. Can hardly talk fast enough. 

Shania is her usual boisterous bimbo self. Her and Annslie are learning to play nice together which can be quite a chore for two toddlers. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to have twins and now I’m finding out.😂 She has definitely started talking more since Annslie came! Now she says “mom” when she needs something.l instead of just whining. She wants to spend every minute of the day outside. She loves to walk along the median and pick flowers. The pink city maintenance men have noticed this and if they are out working along the road when Shania and I come by, they stop and pick a flower and give it to her. Of course she is all grins which is just what they are hoping for! Shania would eat all day if I let her. Anything… pretzels, Cookies, tomatoes, apples. The other day someone had dropped crumbs on the floor and I noticed her going around carefully picking them all up and eating them. Good for the immunity. She is starting to get quite vocal about somethings. If things are in a disarray in the house or outside she says “MESS.”😂 Hard to believe she is almost two. She has gotten so tall the past weeks. Went to Farmgate and got more fabric for some more dresses. Thought I had had the tailor put a generous hem in her last group of dresses but next time I will need to do it abit more! When Annslie comes over we spend a lot of time outside walking up and down the streets. I get asked if they are twins. They both have blonde hair and are the same height. Annslie has big brown eyes and Shania has big blue eyes. 👀 

Layton is LOVING school with Lonnie’s two older girls. Shana did two days of school with just Madison and Jaira. She wanted to kinda get a feel for how they learned and where they were in their books. Layton could hardly stand it. He said “I bet they are having so much fun with Shana.”😆 I quickly reminded him that after two days his turn to go back to school with Shana would come too. He is really into audio books lately. Spends hours listening to them. His latest favorite was “Charlie and the Chocolare Factory.” Never mind that Shana had just read it to him for story hour. Now he is working his way through Laura Ingalls Wilder books. One day he said “mom, panthers aren’t alive anymore are they?” I smiled, because I had that exact same fear after reading those books as a child. Layton has been doing so good with reading out aloud. Been doing our best to have him read us a story in the evenings. Just proud as punch over everything he is learning in school. Him and his friends continuing to make a lot of unholy racket and do strange activities in the afternoon. The latest is using their water guns and trying to squirt the neighbors two ankle biter dogs through the fence. Sometimes I tell them to stop and sometimes I don’t. They are very annoying dogs at times😂 One day Ritou brought over light up swords and Layton and him literally spent 3 hours riding up and down the streets on their bikes pretending to be guards. Layton has tried to tell Madison and Jaira all about his future dairy he is going to have with half angus cows. They aren’t quite as enthused as he is. Haha! Layton really likes the games they play at recess. I told him this is a good taste of what Kansas school will be like. 

The weather has been so gorgeous lately. I send the children out to play and I take a walk every chance we get. Feels like we shouldn’t waste this nice weather. I tell Layton that in a few weeks playing outside won’t even be an option when it gets hot. I’ve been getting up at 6:30 and going and taking a walk and it’s still chilly that early. The other ladies that are out walking are all bundled up in their shawls and burkas and here I am in my short sleeve dress and my flips. 

Shana got her security clearance! Which means she can get her work permit. Jared submitted her application right after the government fell here. He wonders if the reason it went through so fast is because there was probably no foreigners submitting applications since most of them left the country. Not one word has been heard about Jared and Doyle’s visas. So for now at least Shana and Lonnie are legal here. Jared is getting Lonnie’s name added to all the accounts and papers before his visitor visa expires so that way it cuts back on some of the problems we have been having. 

Well ok enough blabbing… Thanks for all the messages you all send. They are always very much enjoyed! Sounds like in March they will be looking for our replacements. We aren’t getting our hopes up because there are always so many ASAP needs and not enough names. “God knows” is what I tell myself when the unknown wants to make me feel insecure. Shana plans on teaching Layton some second grade before she leaves in case we need to stay longer. 

January 2025

 January 1: we didn’t stay up late and watch the new years end. Shania and I have been sick with colds so decided to hit the hay early. This is our first year in Pink City over New Years so we weren’t sure what sort of racket would occur. We were quite surprised! There were some fireworks but it was quiet enough that most of the family slept right through them! The ones that did happen were off and on for maybe 30 minutes. At Farmgate it was a deafening roar for 2 hours! We had such fun the past two New Years Eves watching the New Year in on our Siza Court roof but this year we didn’t feel the vibe.😂 Jared got up at 5:15 am and dropped Ron and Darla off at the train station and they headed for Rajshahi. Layton and Shana had school like usual. 

January 2: Jared and Layton headed off for the airport at 9 am to pick up Darrell and Brenda. They are here for revivals with Ron’s. It was so foggy that their plane had to circle the airport 7-8 times. Brenda said they were sitting in window seats by the wing and they couldn’t even see the wing! The airport was packed. Jared had quite some trouble with finding a parking spot. The lots were full and so was the parking garage. After he finally got them picked up he hustled them to Hotel Shuktara for some much needed sleep. Shana and I got enthused about making Mexican food for lunch, so we stayed busy with that this morning. Made enough for the freezer too. Around 4:30, Jared Shana and Layton once again headed for the airport to pick up Neil and Ang and their family (Shana’s family)!🥰 This time of the day the airport was emptier and parking wasn’t such a problem. They got back to pink city around 5:30 or so. Darrell’s got an Uber and showed up at 6 and we all headed off for supper at one of our favorite restaurants here in Bashundara. It’s the one on the 13th story with amazing roof top views of Dhaka. We got there and noticed they were sitting up for a celebration of sorts. Sure enough they were having a 3 day wedding celebration. That was really disappointing! Shana and her family went to a coffee shop for supper and Darrells and us went to Herfeys. After supper we took Darrells back to Farmgate where their beds were calling them. I always feel sorry for people their first few days here. I remeber that feeling all too well. A half drugged zombie like state of extreme fatigue. Neil’s came over after we got home for awhile and that was fun! I noticed Layton was being really quiet even though Lisa had sent him all sorts of fun surprises with Neil’s and wondered if he was getting sick. Sure enough at bedtime he got quite a fever. 

January 3: It was quite a night. When Layton runs a fever, he has bad night terrors. So I pretty much have to sleep right beside him so he can relax. Does anyone else’s children have that? It’s almost like he is delirious. Last time he didn’t even know how to find the bathroom. Worries me, but as soon as his fever goes down he is Normal again. I kept him on a religious Tylenol and Ibuprofen schedule and that helped immensely. Jared and Nathon hired a driver for Neil’s. He showed up and Jared made sure Neil’s got on their way. Later afternoon Jared and Darrell went to Danmondi to have a visit with Shurov. He finally has a job now! Teaching English classes at a nursing school. The visit seemed to go ok. He doesn’t plan to come to revivals. He acts like he wants to come to church and he doesn’t even have to work on Fridays but he never shows up. The children and I didn’t go to the visit. Layton couldn’t bear the thought of leaving the house. Darrell’s came for supper in the evening and we had an enjoyable visit and time. It’s fascinating hearing about their past travels to China and wherever they have all been. 

January 4: Jared got up early and took Darrell’s to meet Doyle at the Padma bridge. Traffic was amazing and he was there and back by 10. The driver came and shuttled Neil’s around again. They got back to our house around noon. I hired Lucky to come cook a full Bangla spread for them. Chicken curry, egg curry, vegetables, dal and rice! She was quite enthused to cook again. 😀 Took it easy in the afternoon and then in the evening, the driver came back and us, Neil’s and Nathon headed to Farmhouse Burger. After a big lunch like that no one was super hungry but we ate anyway cuz that’s what we do for fun here. It took 1.5 hours to get to the restaurant but we had great laughs and conversation! Shanas family and siblings reminds me a lot of mine. A lot of loud and chaos😂 

January 5: Jared opened clinic back up. He said Miriam was walking around real slow and Jon could hardly talk because of a bad cold! The rest of us took it real easy all day too. We were wore out. Who knows why? Neil’s flew out in the afternoon. Shana came home exhausted. I told her to go straight to bed! The poor dear didn’t even want food. When she doesn’t want food I know she’s tired! The evening was very quiet. The kids and I took a walk along the river, and Jared huddled under two quilts with his jacket on and shook with the chills for awhile. Ever since he got dengue he randomly gets these weird chills now and then but the pass and then he’s totally fine again. These tropical illnesses are very bizarre. 

January 6: worked on things around the house and packed for revivals. Anytime we leave to go anywhere here, we pack at least half the house. Pillows, blankets, and sheets for everyone in the family, towels, washcloths, toilet paper, the medicine cabinet, snacks, water bottles and PB and J and bread, books and toys to entertain the kids. It’s quite an ordeal. Since October we have packed up and went somewhere 8 times.😂 

January 7:  Left the house around 9:30 and stopped and picked Josna and Sumita up from the clinic. Got to Golpagang around 2 I think. Doyle’s rented the entire Anonda Guesthouse in Golpaganj for revivals. It is very nice. All the members, all the missionaries and the ministers are staying here. Some rooms had 3-4 beds in them so the singles stayed in those. Josna and Sumita thought the rooms were “onek sundor!” So that says a lot. The guesthouse had a huge chapel too, and the kitchen was up on the roof! This guesthouse is quite new. Some of it was finished in 2023 and some in 2024. It was so so nice to have everything in one building. Last revivals we were in the Nazarene church right behind this guesthouse. There’s ponds in front of and beside the church with no fences up, so either you are on the sidewalk or you are in the pond. With small children you can imagine how a mother’s nerves handled that situation. The rest of the afternoon people slowly arrived. They were all very enthused about the rooms and staying together. Ripon hired some amazing cooks. Anyways, it would not be a revival in Bangladesh without abit of drama. A gentleman had asked Doyle if he could invite some friends to the revival. Doyle said “5 but no more.” Welllllll my friends…… 40 showed up. Most were small children. Expecting food and nights lodging. There was no room! Doyle did find places for some to stay, and then he had the cooks use the supper food to make them all lunch and Ripon went and bought new groceries for supper. However, by the next morning they had all left. So not sure if they thought we were giving out free things or what??? 

January 8: Had breakfast at 8:30. The cooks made kichuri and boiled eggs. Church started at 9:30. Doyle kept things on schedule which is quite a feat to accomplish in this country. Bobby from Kulna came to interpret. He is so amusing to watch. Very animated! Sometimes we all sit and giggle at him, you just can’t help it! After the service, everyone went up to the roof for cha. Jared bought 300 cha cups and by the looks of things we should have bought at least 300 more. A lot of Shotti’s family came, Hridoy and Pinky came, our expelled brother Lewis from Kulna came, and other random community people. The men were worried that people were going to catch wind of our revival and just show up at meal time. So Jared had bought stickers for everyone that was at the church service to put on, that way if you stayed for a service you could eat. But they ended up not needing to implement it. The guards at the door were careful. We did have to turn a few away the one evening that we had a council meeting. 

January 10: Had communion this morning! That was really special. Josna hugged me hard afterwards and said “Didi I am so happy!!” It made me almost cry. Shotti hugged me for a long time and told me something about missing Lisa. Layton had so many questions about revivals. Last time we had them he was 5 years old so he couldn’t remember all the details tha happened at such an event. He called communion “that bread and bucket meeting.” I tried to explain to him before the service about how the bread was a symbol of Jesus’ body and the grape juice was a symbol of His blood. He wondered “why can’t they drink red Gatorade instead of grape juice?” I was grappling with how to explain that and he said “well I suppose they drink grape juice because that’s how it’s always been done.” I said “yes exactly.”😂 He seemed to understand that it was a service to remeber how Jesus died for our sins. I told him that once a person gives their heart to God and is baptized then they can participate but until then they just sit and listen to the service. Half way through the service he poked me and said “bread and grape juice would sure make a good snack right about now.”😂 he was fascinated at how Jared and Doyle filled up the basins with water for feet washing hence the “bucket” name he gave the service. The communion service had quite a crowd. All the memebers sat up front and the rest sat more towards the back. During the prayer for the grape juice quite a few walked out but looked they just left for some cha. The cooks made some amazing goat curry, pilau, sobji, and pyash for lunch. We stuffed ourselves full. And friends, that completed our 10th meal of rice in a row. We packed up our van up after lunch and headed back for Dhaka. We dropped Josna and Sumita off and got back to Pink City around 6:30. It felt so good to be home. 😍 Overall, The revival was encouraging. Not all the members came, but a majority. Michael was reaccepted, Hridoy and pinky  are wanting to become members, and our expelled brother Lewis shows interest in returning. Michael’s daughter Marcie came as well! She hasn’t been to any revivals or fellowships since we came. One humorous thing was Doyle asked Bobby (the interpreter) if he wanted to have a visit with Ron and Darrell. He said “no brother! If I need to visit I will talk with you. Darrell and Ron they have machine guns straight from Heaven.”😂 

January 11, Darrell’s had a driver bring them back into Dhaka mid afternoon. They got so sick at the start of revivals. I felt bad for them! Plus they have three other countries to visit when they leave here. They looked a little better and not so washed out! Ron’s came back by bus later afternoon. In the evening Nathon and Ron’s came for snacks and coffee. Nathon wanted to hear about revivals. He was grieved he couldn’t come but he had used up his holidays over Christmas to work on his new house. It was hilarious listening to Nathon and Ron’s talk about their early years together.😂 Darrells went and did their own thing, they like to be out on the city when they are here. Brenda was in search of her favorite dessert she likes here. 

January 12: Shana and Layton started school back up again. They are having school here at our house this week since the guesthouse is full. They just do it up in our bedroom. We take our foldable table up there and it works great! Spent the morning doing mom things and playing catchup. Jared had clinic. He came home and said Miriam broke her arm two weeks ago! She was walking down the street and fell somehow. We’ve been so busy we haven’t talked to her much since clinic has been closed. She had a drs appointment so Jared and Dr Elizabeth ran the show themselves. 45 patients. Jared came home quite tickled with how well it went. He said a year ago he never would have been able to do it without Miriam but his Bangla has improved enough that they managed fine!! Layton’s friends came over mid afternoon. If we are home, They usually show up around 4. They make a fearsome racket. But I have decided this is normal boy behavior? Some one clue me in. Anyways, they got a long piece of rope and tied it between two trees, and tried to make a huge slingshot. They tied a basket in the middle and that was supposed to be the holder for things to go in. I think at least 3-4 boys were all trying to figure it out at once. Kinda look like there was maybe one brain between them all.😂 Nathon came over in the midst of the hub bub and found the situation quite hilarious! He came and cooked supper for us and Ron’s. He made his amazing beef, kichuri and tomato Tok. He put Jared Shaka and I all to work, chopping up vegetables, washing rice and dal. It was so much fun all cooking and talking together! One of those things I will always remember. Of course we had to discuss Amish😂 Shana tells Nathon that if he wants to marry an Amish girl he has to grow an Amish beard and have at least 10 children and he is now reconsidering🤣 Ron’s came for supper, and more fun and laughs was had! It was SO enjoyable. The food turned out excellent. 

January 13: Jared had clinic, and Shana and Layton had school. It feels good to have some semblance of order in our

Life again though it may be short lasting. The girls at the clinic wanted to cook a meal for Ron’s and us. Shania has been having bad diarrhea ever since revivals so Shana and I and the children stayed home and Jared ate with them when he was done with the patients. I was kinda relieved we couldn’t go because I was peopled Out. When Shania took her morning nap I sat on the couch and did not do one blessed thing for 1.5 hours. I eventually scraped myself off the couch and my soul felt renewed and ready to host and be with people again. Started up laundry and life continued on. Jared took Ron’s to the airport at 3. Came home and rested and had supper. At 9:30 Doyle’s and Bruce’s arrived at the guesthouse. At 10:15, we trotted back to the guesthouse and told Darrells bye and Jared headed back to the airport to drop Darrells off. 

January 16: Doyle’s and Bruce’s came over late afternoon so that we could tell Bruce’s good bye! It’s sad to see them leave, we so enjoyed being with them for the three months they were here! They took such good care of the Kulna house and got some things fixed even. 😊 Spent the day getting ready for Jared’s parents coming tomorrow! Later afternoon I looked outside and here the guard had a guy with his hands tied behind his back and a rope around his neck. 10 other men were escorting him down the street. No idea what he did or what happened. Jared came hope a short while later and said they had tied the guy to the pole by gate up front. Not sure if it was a case of public shaming or what. 

January 17: Bruce’s made it through immigration. An angel definitely went before and prepared the way with their visa problems. Jared’s parents flew in around 9. We found a spot in the parking garage and eagerly waited by the gate. Layton was certain they would never come. While we waited we noticed a flight that had come in from Madina. Hundreds of Muslim people came through the crowd with their white boxes that had holy water bottles in them! Wonder if it really is special water or if it is just tap water and someone is making a killing off of it.😂 

Folks in law eventually came. Jared had hired the same guy we always hire to help them through the snarl in the airport! We packed them up and headed for Pink City! 

Well here is where I quit writing.😬 Anyways… we’ve been doing lots of fun things with Jared’s parents. 😍Went to Golpagang and Khulna, Farmgate to get Wayne a suit and some Sunday shirts, showed them Badhundara, ate at our favorite restaurants, rode the metro, went to clinic several days, Jamuna Future park, etc. One night they offered to watch the kids so Jared and I could go on a date night. That was very nice! Jared’s mom has been keeping a detailed trip report so if you have more questions about they did message her and ask for her chat link.😊 I meant to do a better job detailing what we have all done but time got away from me and I figured being with them was more important then always writing every day!!! The children are very much loving all the attention they are getting, it will be a sad day when when papa and Grammy leave. Layton has already told me that he is NOT going to the airport. I said “well dear hopefully in 6-9 months we will be home for good then and we won’t have to say all these good byes.” 

Some funny things from Layton: “I wish you were like Brock’s mom. When Lisa says “we will see” Brock says that always means “yes” but when you say it it’s always a “no.” 

“Life was sure a lot more peaceful when there was just three of us instead of 5.” 

“You know my ears can hear things a lot better than yours! Yours are old but mine are newer so they work better.” 

“There is no way Santa is real because if he really was real, he would burn his bootie when he went down the chimney.”

Shania has really started talking. She says a lot of words. It amazes me that she is talking so young because Layton didn’t talk until he was 3. She isn’t even 2 yet. She is showing some interest in potty training so got her a potty seat and hope to tackle that next month. She wants to always wear shoes all the time, even to bed. As soon as I give her a bath and put on her Jammie’s she goes and gets her sandals and wants them right back on. Shana bought her a pair of purple butterfly wings that strap onto your back like a back pack and she wears those things a lot. Any thing dress up she LOVES. It brings me such joy to see her little girl antics. If she finds any hair clips or hair bows laying around she wants me to put them in her hair even if she already has several in. Everything is either “pretty” or “so soft.” She may be girlie and like girlie things but man alive can she stand her ground.😬 She can go from being happy and cute to absolute tears of madness and grief in no time at all. But then, what woman isn’t like that?