Tues. Oct. 28

 Back to Evercare, where we were told the hearing Dr. was on Sick Leave. They would call us when the Dr was back seeing patients again. And at the vaccination office we were told newborn vaccinations were given on Mondays and Wednesdays.

Stopped at Apon on the way home for fruit and veggies, etc

Lucky came to clean today✨

We had the leftover “Texas Tamale Pie”😉aka meat in cornbread squares that Kaylee had sent home with us last night.

4:30 left for Singing at the clinic with the Sisters. After the 2nd verse of one of the songs. Sumita tried to tell us something. But, alas, our Bangla was not good enough and her English vocabulary not large enough… we tried Google translate. But, it came up with “Another fat pig” which sent Sumita into gales of giggles🤣 We eventually got it figured out that the song was pitched too high for her!

Maddie got a scootie ride with Brian to Herfy’s for supper. Kaylee pointed out a fellow customer’s T-shirt. It was advertising for LEE company, Salina KS! Jaira and Annslie got a scootie ride back to Pink City with Brian.

Mon. Oct. 27

 A lovely day at home again.

The girls had school.

I put away laundry, bathed baby, made Chicken Creole over rice for lunch.

Lonnie went back to Square hosp. to go over Gentry’s blood test results with the Dr.

Kaylee invited us for supper. These folks are really out doing themselves/completely spoiling us with all the suppers cooked for us!!💖 Lonnie got back from the appt. in time to sit down with us🤗

Sun. Oct. 26 🏥 a big day of appts and waiting 🏥

 Gentry and I both had follow up appts for this morning scheduled for 10:30 and 11:00, or so we thought..!.. when we went to check in. It was discovered that Gentry’s appt was actually put into the system for tomorrow morning🤦🏼‍♀️ But, “would you like to go ahead and see his pediatrician today? She should be available in an hour.” So why not hang out for an hour and go ahead and get it behind us… When the hour was up, we asked how long til we would be able to see the Dr. “More than 1/2 an hr.” was the reply…We did have an appt. time for 5:30 pm so we opted to go on to the next thing on our agenda and come back, instead of waiting for an opening. And of course, we got to the other side of the city and received the phone call that they were ready to take Gentry for his follow up appt. We said we’d be back in a few hours…

We went in to Square hospital to see if they had local anesthesia option for circumcision instead of sedation. They do, so we made a consultation appt for that evening yet, and headed back across the city.

North end lunch and back up to Gentry’s follow up appt. We didn’t have to wait long this time. 

But then we needed to get his hearing test done. So, back out to the waiting room. After awhile I asked the receptionist how long till his hearing test. She went to check…. “Not today, not tomorrow.” Well, That’s sure nice to know!!

Back across town to Square hosp. for consultation with the Dr for Gentry’s procedure and then blood test in preparation for Thurs. morning appt. 

We stopped at Domino’s for supper in the tower where we had parked.

We made it home by 9:00 that night! Whew. What. a. day!

Sat. Oct. 25

 Back to school for the girls after a 3 day break with the homecoming of the baby brother.

Syed Ali was by to sweep the yard and driveway and wash the van. 

Lonnie left at 11:00 for the 2nd of his 4 appts for his root canal.

Brian came by inviting Annslie for a swim in the pool with his 3 yr old Bennett. She was very enthused to go do that🤗 

Jaira was mostly done with her school work, so she came and helped me with lunch prep😌

I was a little unsure of how nap time for Annslie with Gentry on my hands, Lonnie not back yet, and the girls in school, was gonna go. But miraculously, Annslie didn’t put up a fuss, Gentry stayed sleeping, and I was able to catch a few zzzs also!! I feel like that was possibly a very rare occasion🤷🏼‍♀️

When Lonnie got home he said he was going out for some “fresh air” aka a walk up and down the streets of Pink City. He was looking for Babu to say “Hi” to. He didn’t find him, but he did stop and help some men cut up a tree. The sporadic physical labor he does usually lets him remember it the next day, like a blister from using an axe, etc

A big bowl of salad, with some beautiful green leaf lettuce I found at Apon, for supper.

Fri Oct 24

 I woke up this morning feeling Soo much better! I think this recovery process is taking another step forward👏🏼

We sent the girls with Brian’s to church and brought Annslie with us a minute later in our ride. The Sisters were very happy to see and hold the brand new boy🤗 We had a good message on Rejoicing.. Psalms 33:1. Remembering what we came from, rejoicing in what we have now, and looking forward to the future with peace in our hearts. Thoughts on trusting in the Lord were also shared. Proverbs 3:5.

Josna, Christina, Maddie, and Jaira went with Kaylee to drop off some sewing at the tailor. Lonnie and I opted to take Annslie and the baby and go home for a lunch of leftovers and a nap. The rest had(airport) Chef’s Table lunch and went UniMart shopping.

The girls got back around 3:00.

Since I was finally feeling up to it and the need was getting more and more imperative. We made a run to Apon for “fruit n veggies”. This is a relatively new store and just a 10 min. easy drive. It is large, spacious, clean, modern, and getting real close to Walmart with selection of things available😅 lol. Also one of those places where one usually finds more than they went in for😉 https://maps.app.goo.gl/nJ32UD67Ne5FGQTx9?g_st=ipc

Kaylee messaged and wondered if Christina wanted to go for a scootie ride with their family for the evening. So we dropped her by their place on the way home. Annslie was sure she needed to be dropped by also for a scootie ride with Brian🙃

We played a couple rounds of Rummikub and Golf and made quesadillas.

Gave the baby boy a bath and put him into his one Newborn size sleeper. But it is just too small, his legs can’t straighten out in them. Oh, and point of interest, his birth measurement, I found on his discharge paper, was 21.65 in. We brought him home from the hosp. in a 0-3 month outfit. But for all that, he is still just a little, itty baby, and he has little scrawny boy legs😅 and if it’s an outfit that doesn’t have feet, he can still wear NB size…

Streamed in to the Southern District School Mtg. And listened for awhile until it was high time to be getting off to bed. It was good to hear those familiar people getting up and sharing about school and could just imagine the setting… our hearts were there.

Thurs. Oct. 23

 Pannina was here at 8:00 having language class with Miss Christina. 

Some of us didn’t make it downstairs till after they were done🙃 Annslie did tho, calling to her as she came down the stairs in her jammies, “Pannina!“, “Pannina!” 

Scrambled eggs and banana muffins from the freezer for breakfast.

Lonnie left to find a dentist that could do a root canal for him

The girls didn’t have school today and enjoyed lots of time to hold baby brother😌

Christina, Maddie, and Jaira got lunch on the table for me💫 

Lonnie didn’t make it home til almost 3:00, But his day was successful with finding a dentist and getting the 1st step of his root canal done👏🏼

He put Annslie down for a nap and went for a haircut.

Naton came to help Lonnie with getting an E -SIM for Miss Christina’s phone. Then he went with us to Brian’s for supper. Brian had last minute invited one of the Pink City employees also, Sahel?

After supper, all the men took the 2 toddlers and went for cha(hot tea).

When they got back, Kaylee made some choc. syrup to go with icecream. Peanuts and sweetened fried coconut pcs were optional also😋

Wed. Oct. 22

 Miss Aleigha left this morning before we made it downstairs. Her Gopalgonj responsibilities were calling and Lonnie was back to watch Annslie.. The plan was for Brian’s to meet Doyle’s halfway, at the Padma bridge. We are getting quite indebted to all these folks here!! Hopefully we’ll be able to return some favors or pass them on😌

Christina made us iaplots for breakfast💛

The power went off. When the generator did not kick on, we finally decided the bill needed to be paid!.. 

Syed Ali came by and met Gentry then worked on sweeping and cleaning the yard and drive. 

We gave our little man a “bath”. Got him all sweet smelling and put a little NB shirt with soft overalls on,  sent from Grandma Koehn🤍.

Lonnie went to pay the electric bill and get our power back on. 

At 12:30, he took the girls to the clinic for lunch with Brian’s, made by the Sisters, Josna and Sumita. Bringing a plate home for me.

Brian brought a beef roast over that Kaylee had cooking in the crockpot for us✨

4:00 Pannina came and had language class with Miss Christina

The big girls enjoyed playing with the neighbor girl, Alishbah… she’s just older than Maddie. Often comes calling at the gate for the girls to come take a walk. There is a badminton court right across the street from her house and today they played badminton and tag. 

Tues. Oct 21 discharged🤗

 We all had a very good night!🤗

And we had a good day of rest and recuperation😌

Lunch that was brought up was better than any of the previous! … fish curry!🤗 a nice sized, thick filet of flaky fried fish with rice and vegetables! 

The afternoon was spent preparing for discharge, with Dr Nargis coming by to check on us, baby’s pediatrician, lady helping with birth certificate process, etc.

By 4:00 we were headed home to the girls in Pink City at the guesthouse😊

Of course, the rounds of everybody getting their turn to hold baby brother💙 Brian’s came over to meet our baby, bring supper, and take the teachers with them to singing at the clinic. 

And then it was just our little family together for the evening. We started by celebrating with sparkling cider, Thanks to our fellow missionary wife, Krystal, from Gopalgonj✨ who had fixed up a bag of lovely things for over the different parts of this time of welcoming our newest member of the family💗 then we sat down to the supper that Kaylee had made for us❣️

And then the “romantic“ part was over🫢🙃 and we had a toddler on our hands again that had been away from her parents for the last 3 days, a mom recovering from the experience, etc….

When Brian’s brought the teachers back, they stayed for awhile and held the baby and visited… we are so glad it worked for us to be here in Dhaka over this time! We have sure enjoyed all the side benefits!

Note on our little Gentry: He has dimples!! One in each cheek when he makes certain expressions!?! Lonnie and I don’t know where they come from!?.. didn’t know that was in either family!?! Maybe some relative that reads this, can clue us in! Or maybe infant dimples don’t always stay!?

Mon. Oct.20 Baby boy arrives!🤍

 Back down to labor and delivery to get started again. Once more asking for our private room, which was granted! 

Read the next part at your own risk 😅

Labor and delivery!

Round 8:00 or so. My Dr Nargis came by and discovered my baby had had a bowel movement already and was in distress! Maybe I’ll insert here, Sometime this morning, she commented, “I thought all night about what I would do this morning!”  She said she needed to go to OT and would be back in 30 min. If things hadn’t progressed significantly we would be going for a c-section! The I.V. drip was upped. Things went into high gear. No epidural, the Dr wanted me to be able to physically help all I could, if we could pull this off!😳

It was probably more like 45 min. when my Dr. returned, things had miraculously progressed! And she says, “I will take the risk. No, other Dr would. But you will have to (work hard!!)” and so work hard I did!!! Beyond what I thought was humanly possible!!😭 At 9:45 our baby boy arrived!!!! Praise the Lord!!! He cried a bit right at 1st so I felt like he was going to be ok, but his head was quite blue! They whisked him away to suction, clean, assess. Lonnie went with the baby, While cleanup commenced in my room.. Eventually my baby boy was brought back to me🤍 a healthy, stocky, chubby little fellow with just a nice little covering of dark hair. Looks like he fits right into the family😌

And after a few hours? We were taken up to a our comfy room on 10th😌 

Brian dropped the girls and teachers by shortly after 4:00 

Oh, I don’t think I mentioned… Doyle’s from Gopalgonj, let us borrow their teacher, Miss Aleigha, also while we were we were away at the hosp. To be a one on one for our toddler.💗 Miss Christina would continue school with the big sisters, etc. and fellow missionary Mom would make lunches and suppers! This event is definitely a joint effort!!

It was an enjoyable couple hours here with the girls. Lonnie brought up hot beef and cheese croissant sandwiches from the coffee shop on ground floor. Everybody got to meet and hold the new little brother🥰

Our families on the other side of the world finally started waking up!😅 So we did video calls with the grandparents and let our siblings know🤗 

Then Brian came and picked the girls up again so we could rest and continue the recuperation process.

 Lonnie came back up with a surprise for me! A big yummy chocolate chip cookie from the coffee shop(that I’d been hankering after) and a delicious coffee!!💗

We continued to sharing our news with the rest of our family and friends😊

Our little man has continued to do well! For which we are thankful!! 😌 

Sun. Oct. 19

A beautiful sunrise over Dhaka city out our 10th floor windows😌

Back down to labor and delivery to get induction started. We had to insist on our ek(1) bed room again!

A day spent hooked to a drip line, 5?c. of warm chicken broth brought by! Didn’t want to see another cup of that stuff!😅 but they wanted me on a liquid diet.. playing Lonnie Rummikub on our phones helped to pass a few hours of the day! By evening, when my Dr. Nargis came to check on me, only a very small progress had been made😏 so everything was shut down so she could go home and maybe I would progress on my own now..?.. But plan to be started once again in the morning. They tried to get me to return to the 3-bed ward! Saying, “if we have emergency in the night we will need this room!” I said, “I would be glad to move then! And maybe there would be no emergencias tonight!?!”. A little later, my Dr. Nargis tried, saying, “come, I will show you good bed!” And she took me to the 3 bed ward again! “See, isn’t this a good bed?” And started listing the pros of it. I said, “No!” She patted my cheek and left and I went back to our ek bed room! Lonnie went up to our room on tenth to shower and go to bed. As things were not continuing on their own for me, I asked if I could go up to our cabin and get a good night’s rest in? They miraculously agreed without much insisting🤗 and soon took me up to our comfy quarters where I got a lovely shower, comfy pajamas, and a good sleep in 🛌!

Sat. Oct. 18

 Lonnie grilled up a bunch of chicken for me, mostly for the freezer and we had chicken sandwiches for lunch. 

Washed our bedding.

In the evening, we took Annslie over to Brian and Kaylee’s we hung out for awhile til Brian got home.. he’d taken Bennett on the scootie to go check out the fire at the airport.. then we left her there for the night. Let me tell you, that was the hardest thing I’ve done since coming to Bangladesh!!… leaving my high maintenance toddler for the night😭

And we headed to the hosp. for a scheduled induction to welcome the baby brother, who was a couple days past his due date.

Upon admission, we paid for a package. . Normal delivery and care and deluxe “cabin” on 10th floor.

Then we went to the labor and delivery on 2nd floor. We were taken to a 3-bed ward with scanty privacy curtains and family of fellow patients coming and going😳 I knew, without a doubt, that this was a place I would not be staying if I could at all help it!! So, I began asking each person if they had a room we could go to with only 1 bed!??! Eventually they obliged and took me to a delivery room with only 1 bed and privacy! Relief! They did some tests and hooked me up  to a monitor for awhile. Then took us up to our “cabin” for the rest of the night. Our room up on 10th is very comfortable, complete with microwave, fridge, couch, comfy armchair, bathroom with shower, clean✨

Fri. Oct. 17

 Annslie has been having a runny nose, but last night it developed into a barky cough also. We sent Christina Maddie n Jaira with Brian’s to church.

We did 3 loads of laundry and looked after a cranky toddler… 

The girls didn’t get back till 3 or so since they’d had dudh cha (milk tea) after church at the clinic, then hit Chef’s Table for lunch and UniMart for grocery shopping.

Jaira and Lonnie worked on a stack of dishes while I mixed up white Bbq sauce and got 4 kg of chicken into it.

Maddie and Annslie went for a walk with the neighbor girl, Alishabah and her little sister.

Then I worked on making a half batch of salsa/a few jars.

Lonnie Maddie and Annslie made a run to Neela Mkt for the size XXL, super thin “tortillas”. Then Lonnie fried up the quesadillas to go with our salsa for supper.

After supper we played a couple rounds of Rummikub.

Thurs. Oct. 16 we say goodbye

 Jared’s checked out of their hotel home of the last 2+ weeks and came here to the guesthouse to send their last loads of laundry thru. 

Brian showed up to finish up his tree trimming project in the front yard.

Miss Christina went to Brian’s for an in person lang. class with Paninna.

Lonnie, Annslie, and I made a run to UniMart. Then back home to put on a ham sandwich lunch. Jared’s went to Herfy’s one last time. Then to Brian’s for nap time. 

Jared’s showed back up to finish up their laundry, do a final check on their luggage weights, and go thru the shower. Brianna helped the girls with cleaning up the kitchen and the children got some more playing in.

Lonnie got a couple more maintenance projects accomplished: a new water pump installed and a broken driveway tile replaced. Eggs and icecream picked up from the dokan for me.

Then everybody was at Brian’s for a last supper with Jared’s. Naton came also. Kaylee made a most delicious Bbq pork sandwich supper with homemade buns and slaw, a fruit salad with sauce. I took Apple Pie Bars and icecream for dessert.

9:30 after a farewell prayer. We said our Goodbyes and Brian’s took Jared’s to the airport. Thus ends Jared’s time in Bangladesh. And life back in their Hesston, KS home awaits them. Life on the field here will be different, we will miss them!!

Wed. Oct 15 Jared’s exit visas!!🥳🥳

 Lunch at the clinic with Jared’s and Brian’s😋

Jared was s’pose to be back at government office at 2:00 And this time he actually got their long awaited exit visas!!!🥳🥳🥳

We had them and Brian’s down for a celebration supper that evening ✨ Mashed Pit was the menu. …a stack up with “Sweet potatoes”, we used grilled chicken in place of pulled pork (cause that’s what I had on hand), jalapeño lime slaw, tomato/onion vinaigrette, BBQ sauce. Chunked mangos for a fruit side and flan for dessert. The ladies and girls All helped me prepare and get it on the table… definitely a joint effort🤍

Tues. Oct. 14

 Syed Ali was here all morning doing yard work. 

Lonnie snagged the man that was running a push mower locally here and had him cut the little corner of grass in the yard here.

I mixed up a batch of sweet roll dough and made butter horns and cinn. rolls.

“Ham” sandwiches in butterhorns for lunch.

Singing with the Sisters at the clinic, took Kaylee and her boys with us, as Brian was still there.

Just before we left, I was coming down the stairs, stopped just before I reached the bottom to quickly reply to a message. And then didn’t realize I had one more step to go and just caught the last step which landed me on the floor slow motion. But really strained a muscle in my right foot😏 not exactly what I was looking to deal with at this point in time🤔 slathered some good muscle ointment on (that we’d brought from home) and went on with our evening plans.

After singing, we went to the Takeout at the Jamuna mall for smashburgers. Then sent the men for an item at Kid’s Paradise while us ladies picked up a few things at Wholesale Club. Jaira caught a ride with Brian on the scootie back to Pink City😊

Mon. Oct. 13

 Another appt. Not to my due date yet, but sure was hoping I wouldn’t have to go all the way!🙃 my Dr. says it doesn’t look like this baby’s in any hurry, “Must be scared of those 3 big sisters!” 😅

Stopped for a large blended coffee, extra shot for Lonnie at the North End on ground floor of the hosp. And the cashier once again couldn’t resist gifting the white toddler, this time a hot choc. She happily, quickly drained it in the amount of time it took them to make Lonnie’s drink 😅

Brianna messaged just as we were leaving, wondering about doing laundry again today, Just In Case their paperwork would finish going thru and they wouldn’t have to postpone their departure date again! We told her we could just come pick her and the children up from the hotel since Jared was at the government offices again today.

 She helped me get a late lunch on then. And Jared actually showed up in time to sit down with us also.

Btw, they did postpone their departure date, again…

Mixed up 2 recipes of flan. Figured we needed to have that one more time before Jared’s left😉

Lonnie went to get the blanket from the commercial washing place, but they’d had some issues and hadn’t got it done yet.

 The girls and I went for a short walk and had cold cereal for supper.

Then we all played a round of Golf with the Skyjo cards and a round of Cover Your Assets.

Sun. Oct. 12

 A big laundry day.

Lonnie was busy with overseeing maintenance projects. He had a couple guys fixing the gate, welding it back together so it would close nicely again. And then had them paint it. Syed Ali was scrubbing the front wall and digging up stumps in the front yard. 

Lonnie, Annslie, and I went on a little excursion after nap time finding a comercial washing place for a large blanket that didn’t fit in our machine.

After a quesadilla, veggies and dip, and fruit supper we all went for a walk. We were just gonna go to the dokan for eggs but decided to go ahead and walk the loop around the canal on the nice walking path. Then got our eggs, garlic, and icecream bars on our way back past.

Sat. Oct 11

 Slept in.

Lucky had arrived to clean before we had brunch, so she joined us for biscuits and sausage gravy.

Then we picked up Brian’s and went to the big Aarongs in Gulshan. When the van load was asked where the next stop was, Annslie piped up, “Norf End”! Brian had mentioned it earlier, trying the North End where they have the coffee roasting set up. They had their own small parking garage and then you had to take the elevator up. But the facility was Very nice and Very spacious with a glass wall separating the dining area from the coffee roasting area. They were not roasting today but we could see their stacks of coffee bean bags and equipment in a very clean and aesthetically pleasing environment ☕️ 😌 https://maps.app.goo.gl/o1W8sn9tnEVdq7n58?g_st=ipc

…A very enjoyable, rainy, Sat. morning with friends😌 

Bout the time we got home and got Annslie down for her nap, Jared’s showed up. Brianna had offered to make supper for us and needed to do laundry also. Made sure she had what she needed, then Lonnie and I made a run to Apon and enjoyed a leisurely shopping experience All by ourselves!✨

Brianna went ahead and made us up a most yummy supper. Bread bowls with a most irresistible cheesy, ham and potato chowder, seasoned up the bread pcs from the insides of the bread bowls and baked them up nice and crispy😋 veggies and dip, apples n grapes, and what I would call “Trail Mix” Bars for dessert. Wow. What a lovely spoiling experience💝 She said she wasn’t able to make meals for us after the baby arrives so she wanted to do it now💛

The girls helped Christina clean up the kitchen for us🥰 

Fri. Oct. 10

 Picked up Brian’s and headed to church at the clinic with the Sisters, Naton, Miriam, and Jared’s. We are really thinking this is Jared’s last Day of Worship with us as their last trip to the government offices there was a step forward!! Their current tentative departure date is the 15th. 

Lonnie took care of Annslie for me. She is really going thru another tough stage😣 I s’pose all the upheaval with moving back up to Dhaka for the month probably doesn’t help matters..?..😏

Brian opened the service and Lonnie added to his thoughts. I’m not remembering who all said what, but  the message was on being in the midst of child training reminds us of how much God loves us.. “whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth”. Like Job, we “shall come forth as gold”..

It came up a good rain shower so Naton was gonna just hang out at the clinic til it stopped since his mode of transportation is motorbike. We told him to just jump in with us and go for lunch and maybe the rain would be over when we got back. We went to the Danmondi Chef’s Table/with UniMart below. One we hadn’t been to yet! We frequent 3 others. It doesn’t cease to amaze me what all Dhaka has!! This Chef’s Table has 2 levels of dining options, but the play area is not free access.. Naton bought tokens and got a stuffed “creature” from the game machine, gifting it to Annslie, of course she was delighted🥰 This whole little outing she was quite interested in Naton!.. while driving, she kept tabs on his whereabouts from her spot in the trunk with Maddie and at lunch tried to make conversation with him, etc. 😅

Anyways, our family enjoyed lunch from Kebabs and Curries again. Grilled chicken kebabs, naan bread, fries, and we also tried their dhal which was made with black lentils, the description said. It turned out to be really tasty, reminding us of a Mexican bean dip, and we enjoyed it on rice and dipped our naan in it😋 

And then we went down to shop UniMart. This UniMart has At least 3 levels which is a bit unhandy especially since we were not familiar with how it was arranged..

Dropped Naton back off at the clinic and Brian’s at their place and home for naps, a little snack, and a round of Golf with the Skyjo cards.

Then Brian messaged and told us to come for games and the evening. Kaylee had her Grandpa John Wipf’s obituary paper hanging on her bulletin so that brought on them telling us about their Hutterite background. 

Kaylee mixed up a pan of brownies to go with ice cream cups.

Brian and Lonnie played Stock Ticker for the rest of the eve. Lonnie had a different theory to try..

We visited and kept the toddlers out of trouble 

Thurs Oct 9

Came downstairs this morning to living room lights that wouldn’t go on and a fridge that the light wasn’t turning on when we opened the door🤔.. a breaker that needed to be replaced and Lonnie tended to that right after our French toast breakfast.

Baked up a batch of loaf bread.

The van was returned after its service job yesterday.

Syed Ali showed up with suckers for the girls.

Later, Syed Ali took Brian, Bennett, Lars, Lonnie and Annslie for tea in Dumni

After a little supper of leftovers we played several rounds of Blokus and Golf with the Skyjo cards

Wed. Oct. 8

 Doyle’s offered to go to our house there in Khulna and tend to the fridge/freezer with spoiled contents. They found out that the deep freeze had thawed also. The report was that the stench was pretty bad!!😝Bless their hearts for taking care of our CDR project!!💛 a breaker had flipped causing the issue.. and I was glad for any of the prepared food I’d brought to Dhaka with me!

I guess I was on a cooking strike today.. Lonnie went to Dumni for dim n ruti for breakfast. And lunch was at the clinic prepared by the Sisters. We keep getting these extra special meals cause we never know when it will be Jared’s last “clinic” meal 🙃 Today was thick fish fillets fried crispy😋 and murgi(chicken) in the dhal

Went on a walk with Annslie. While we were admiring this beautiful black Cocker Spaniel in somebody’s yard, the maid noticed us and alerted the lady of the house. It happened to be the French lady that’s married to a Bangali😊 I hadn’t known where she lived! She invited us in, so we visited a bit before she needed to go back to her job that she works at from home. She said, her maid had told her “‘one your kind’ is at the gate”!  The French lady (she says you pronounce her name like “Oh really”) asked her maid if that was positive or negative 😅🤷🏼‍♀️ She commented that she didn’t really think we were the same kind as I come from America and she from France. But, we are both white skinned, don’t have black hair, and speak English. And that does make for some very important similarities to each other in this land! She was very easy to visit with😊 In addition to their beautiful dog they also have 6 cats🙃 She wanted to know if I could speak fluent Bangla. Says she’s been in the country 15 yrs and has tried 3 different times to learn the language!! I asked her if she had ever tried Pannina the lang. teacher that we use. Yes, she had and she liked her.. was nice and smiley etc. but still didn’t learn the lang.😏 She knows French and English and has taught her 10 yr old daughter French also. Back in France, she would’ve known Spanish and German also, but says she has not kept those up. Her Bangali husband speaks English so that is how they converse..

Jared is still going most every day trying to make progress with the overdue exit visas🙏🏼

The van was sent in for a service job

Lonnie went on a scootie ride with Brian, stopping for cha.

Later in the eve Lonnie, Maddie, and Annslie walked to a dokan at the Pink City gates for a couple doz. eggs.

Brian came to get tracts 

And I called Mom. Cam showed up and visited some too😌

Tues. Oct. 7

While still at the breakfast table, Syed Ali’s wife dropped another jug of drinking water by, on her way to work. We have no idea why they have all sudden started bringing us big bottles of drinking water!?! This makes the 3rd jug.?.

 Lonnie took Annslie with him, shopping for a new water heater. He found some but they were quite a bit more expensive than what he’d found in Khulna. He returned home without. 

Made Chicken Creole (Tried And True cookbook) over rice for lunch. 

Habib found a water heater in Dumni so Lonnie went to pick him and the water heater up. He installed it for us. Lonnie commented how he could crouch, folded up, there in the crawl space in the ceiling, while he worked!?!

Tried another recipe with my basic cake mix (Kitchen Treasures), choc cream cheese sheet cake.

Layton showed up to play with the girls since his dad and mom were at Kaylee’s using the printer and doing laundry. 

We all left at 4:30 for singing at the clinic with the Sisters. Traffic was Crazy!! Like as in Way more than usual for a Tues afternoon!?!

There were several mommas with babies there..

To the “airport” Chef’s Table for supper then everybody came to our place for cake and icecream and the rest of the evening.

We got word from Khulna that our maid discovered a warm fridge at our house😣

Mon. Oct. 6

 In the afternoon, went for a little walk here in Pink City with Lonnie and Annslie. It didn’t seem quite as hot as some days.. Jared’s had stopped in at Brian’s so I told Layton he should come ride bike with the girls. Brianna and Shania popped over for a minute too then.

A “Drip, drip” was discovered coming from the ceiling where one of the water heaters is. 🤔 another maintenance project to look into.

I pulled out leftovers for a little supper. Then Lonnie went to Dumni for a prearranged mtg with Habib at 7:00. 

Kaylee told us we could come over since Jared’s had ended up staying for supper and the eve. But about the time we were gonna head over, Annslie video called her A. Sheila and we ended up visiting awhile. 

We did still make our way over to the neighbors but Brianna was out taking a scootie ride and Kaylee and Bennett were taking a walk. So we all ended up walking for awhile and visiting😌

After we were back home and the girls were goin thru the showers, Lonnie returned from his visit with Habib. Last month they found out their baby, 6 months gestation, no longer had a heartbeat… she is currently still carrying this baby with an appt. Wed. for her procedure. Habib has to come up with 3 pts of blood for the appt. He currently has 2 donors.

Sun. Oct.5

 Lonnie went with the 3 other missionary men to the Government’s Home Ministry office as the effort continues to get exit Visas for Jared’s so they can go home. Their original departure ticket was for Sep. 29. They are currently living at a hotel as their departure tickets continue to be postponed. Prayers for those involved are petitioned. Patience and courage for the family in the hotel room waiting to go home and for the government officials that are in power but are in a bit of a situation after the fall of the government last year and a temporary government in position currently til election..

Lucky came to clean

Aleigha(Gopalgonj teacher) came over for lunch and the rest of the day. She started on dishes and helped me finish getting lunch on. Bbq meatballs, mashed taters, green beans, apple slices, and Puppy Chow for “dessert”. 

The men still weren’t back from the morning but Lucky joined us for lunch. A chance to practice Bangla and she taught us what the words for thunder and lightning were as that’s what was going on. Then Lucky washed up all the dishes for us😌 

Miss Aleigha joined Christina and the girls for recess and story hour, worked on her Bangla homework a bit, then offered to make cookies for us/our freezer🥰 She made a double batch of Snickerdoodles with Jaira lending a hand rolling them in cinn. sugar.

In the eve, spur of the moment Brian and Lonnie decided to play games. So Brian’s came right over and him n Lonnie got started playing Stock Ticker. I pulled grilled hamburger patties out of the freezer and mixed up some 30 min rolls. Aleigha started macaroni salad and Kaylee made baked beans. A couple trips to Kaylee ‘s kitchen and we had supper on by 7:30 I believe!

After supper, the men continued their game. After the kitchen was cleaned up, us ladies and children gathered in the living room and sang round songs by memory. We even got the men in the dining room to join us on a few! Then pulled out a few books and sang a bit more. Meanwhile, the clock ticked on.. past 10:30…, the fellow missionary man playing the board game in the adjoining room was getting less and less inhibited, reminding me of my next older brother with his goofy antics😂 

We sent the school girls up to bed and soon ended the evening

Sat. Oct. 4

 A good day at the house😌

1st thing in the morning Lonnie alerted us to the monitor lizard (guishop) outside the window in the back alley! So that was a nice bit of excitement😊 A 1st for our family seeing one in the wild.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_water_monitor

Lonnie grilled up a bunch of hamburger patties for me. The girls scrubbed the gate.. it was quite green with mildew?

Jared’s came again in the afternoon to do laundry.

We all went to Brian’s for supper😊 Kaylee had made white chicken chili and cornbread (with cornmeal from home), veggies and dip, I brought lemonade, and she served icecream for dessert with homemade choc. sauce, banana slices, peanuts, and fried coconut (which is the closest thing to sweet flake coconut that’s been found over here to buy) it’s bigger pcs, crispy in texture and sweetened.. absolutely amazing on the icecream😋

Fri. Oct 3 Day of Worship

We were a full house at this morning’s service at the clinic with the 4 families, 2 teachers, 2 native Sisters, and Naton our interpreter.😊 Daryl(field secretary) had messaged Lonnie that morning and wondered what we were gonna do with all that concentrated inspiration😅

Annslie has been a Real handful again these days at times and this service was one of those times😏

To Farmhouse Burger with everybody for lunch.

Brian’s and us shopped Gulshan 1 UniMart.

Made Ranch Party Mix and Puppy Chow.

Doyle’s and us went to Brian’s for the evening. Ended up with some good singing and we even got Kaylee to yodel a song for us😉 🎶 

Thurs. Oct. 2

 After school and Miss Christina’s lang. class we went to the Jamuna Future Park mall. First stop  Mr. D.I.Y., which is like a glorified Dollar General, we found a nice selection of treasures😊 Then down to Wholesale Club where I shopped groceries and cosmetics while the rest went to Slash(coffee shop).

Back home, Lonnie went to Dumni with Syed Ali and the girls and I had a supper of toasted cheese sand. 

Wed. Oct. 1

 We invited the whole crew(BD missionaries that are all currently in Dhaka) for supper. So the day was spent preparing for that in one way or another. Jared’s came after afternoon naps to use the washing machine. Lonnie grilled drumsticks and thighs. Roasted potatoes and green salad, Kaylee made her yummy chunked cinn. apples and I made a pumpkin yummy dessert.. starting with baking a misti kumra(our pumpkin sub.) and making a basic mix to make a cake mix from scratch. I was happy with the final product even if it didn’t have exactly the same textures as I was used to “back home”.🙃 The ladies all pitched in and helped get the food on and then cleaned up after. “Many hands make light work”.

Tues. Sep. 30

 Doyle’s came up from Gopalgonj. They booked an air bnb and their teacher is staying in Pink City with Brian and Kaylee.

So we were a nice crew at the clinic for singing in the evening🥰 and on to Chef’s Table for supper.

Sun. Sep. 28

 Complimentary breakfast at the hotel then took the girls to Brian’s/the guesthouse for school with Miss Christina. Brian’s were having lang. class so we watched their boys and hung out till it was time to go to my appt. 

After my appt, which was uneventful, we stopped at Apon, a new grocery store close to Pink City. We were very impressed🤗

We picked the girls up and went to Takeout for burgers. Dropped the girls back by the guesthouse to finish up their school day.

Back to the hotel with Annslie for naps.

Brian’s invited us to come for supper💗

Yummy meal of chicken tacos. Brian and Lonnie went to Neela Mkt to pick up these freshly made, size large, super thin tortillas😋 Kaylee also made some Delish! Chunked, thickened, cinnamon apples🤗

Mon. Sep. 29 House Swap

Packed out of the hotel.

 Got the girls to school/guesthouse but 9:00. 

Today was the big moving day/house “fruit basket upset”… Jared’s (who have finished their term) moved to the Golden Tulip hotel ‘til their departure, Brian’s moved to Jared’s house, and we moved into the guesthouse! Brian was already loading the van when we got to the guesthouse.

Lucky came to clean around 10:45?, which couldn’t have been more perfect✨

We were done by lunchtime. Lunch was put on by the Sisters at the clinic at 1:00 which was also the most perfect thing for the day💫

In the evening, we ran to Apon for groceries.

Jared’s came to Pink City with legal documents that needed signed etc. so Brianna and the children hung out with my crew while the men took care of paperwork.

Sat. Sep. 27 To Dhaka 🚙💨

 Breakfast, ice chest packed, van loaded and on the road shortly before 7:00. Uneventful, no road blocks🤍. Stopped at Brianna’s 1st for the bathroom and we knew Brian’s were still having lang. class. Then over to Brian’s at the guesthouse when we figured they would be finishing up lang. class. The teacher, Pannina and Miss Christina finally got to meet in person after having lang. classes via WhatsApp for a month!😊 

We unloaded our ice chest and helped Brian’s clean out the office. Then we set it back up for school and brought in all the schoolbooks etc.

To Herfy’s for lunch with Brian’s and Jared’s.

Then to the Golden Tulip to check in and nap for Annslie. 

We stopped at North End for sandwiches before dropping Christina off at the guesthouse with Brian’s. She’s moving in there already while we stay at the hotel till the big “fruit basket upset” with the housing happens. 

Fri. Sep. 26 worship day

 After the 1st  S.S. here in our Choygaria village, I stayed at the house. While everybody else went on to Chakrakhali S.S., I worked on lunch. Got the potatoes cookin, cut up a salad, and mixed up some biscuits to go with our drumsticks. 

Kobid announced at both Sun Schools that this would be our last S.S. for a month/til we got back from Dhaka.

We started packing, the girls packed their school books, etc.

4:00 church service was good attendance.. Shamir was down in Cox’s Bazaar with his coworkers and Lewis’s wife and dau. stayed home due to a family member with a newborn in the hosp. 

After church, Pinky was asking for a drink when we got to our house again. We told the whole fam. to come in. Shotti wanted Pinky to see the baby bed she’d seen set up last week. Lonnie, Shanto, Rhidoy, and Antoor played “crum”(that’s how everybody here says carrom!😅) I pulled out the Ranch Party Mix and sweet tea. That party mix was a new one for them! Ranch flavor is something you don’t get here. And what does the name Party Mix mean? Espondant didn’t think they had a word for party in their language.?. Shotti pulled a good one, real Bangali style, and put her party mix in her sweet tea!!😅 …they dip their “biscuits” (crackers) in their hot tea so I guess she thought this would be great too! Which, she continued to do it, so it must have met her palette approval! Pinky wanted the recipe.. but 2 of the 4 ingredients in the oil mixture come from America🫣 And I had used a box of Chex in the dry mix that I’d picked up in Dhaka on our last trip up! Anyway they cleaned out the whole bowl of mix. And Shotti wondered if I’d teach her how to make cold sweet tea. She’d tried to once but said it did not taste right! So we had a Sweet Tea making session and I sent it home with her since we would be leaving in the morning.

Then it was time to finish up our packing.