Picture of the Week: Filter

The light started blinking. Our water purifier needed its filter replaced. Two guys came with a gleaming white cylinder filter, opened up the tank and this (brown, slimy, putrid) bad boy popped out. It looked like...well....stuff that is brown and slimy and you probably don't want to drink. 

Honestly, seeing this made Brian a little grossed out when he went to fill his glass. It made me happy. Our filter is doing it's job! Kinda like that rewarding feeling you get when you blow your nose. Or am I getting a little too personal now?

And for those of you (nurses, hypochondriacs, concerned parents) who are freaking out a bit about our drinking water safety: this is the first of our purifier's filtering systems; the water goes through reverse osmosis and hangs out with a UV light before hitting our glass. 

A Christmas Mix

The Stocks' Christmas are having a very merry, bright and warm Christmas. What recipe would make a prefect Christmas? 

1) A cute girl in a dress and a Santa cap

2) A Christmas party with lots of smiles 

3) Christmas cookies... Yummy!

4) New kid-made Christmas Ornaments

5) A Decorated Christmas Tree

Picture of the Week: Festivals

This picture doesn't really capture the way this country lights up (literally) for a festival. It doesn't capture the noise of the too-big-to-be-legal-in-America fireworks that go ALL DAY. It doesn't show the idols being paraded around, the pictures of gurus adorned and the cars plastered with ribbons, sacred dye and flowers.

But here is one part of festival season: the exchange of sweets. We recently had the largest annual festival, which is smack dab in the middle of weeks of other festivals. It was like Christmas...well, without the Savior and redemption part. Anyways, all our Hindu neighbors brought us sweets. And when I say sweets, I mean the South Asian variety of SWEET! Imagine sweetened condensed milk, but more sweetened and more condensed. Then add some syrupy coating and sprinkle on a few glazed nuts. There you have the most sickeningly sweet thing you've ever tasted.

We got 6 boxes like this.

I graciously shared with my national friends. We at the Stock Household split one piece. 

Halloween

No, they don't celebrate Halloween here. But that didn't stop us and our American friends from dressing up! "Any excuse to party!" as my favorite mother-in-law says.

On our way to the party!

Molly was a caterpillar. She has on 3 onesies to make it look like a lot of legs. 

Brian said, "Let's be Indians." I thought it was punny.

Our little butterfly. She decorated her shirt and wings herself.

Darth Vader, Ladybug, Panda, Cheetah...

Pumpkin painting!

Picture of the Week: Simple Things

Becky (in her pjs...sorry Becky) reading to Lydia

In our job, people sometimes assume we do great and awesome things. Honestly, sometimes I'm carried away by that expectation too!

But in the daily reading stories and chopping up fruit, there isn't much to write home about. A group of women came over from the States a to "love on us" for a week. They got to see the city and works we are doing. They also came to the Stock Household. And I put them to work, un-apologetically.

Patty coloring princesses

They started reading stories, peeling pumpkins and washing lettuce. And I thought, this doesn't seem like a big cool thing I would expect to do on this kind of trip. But truth was, from this view, it was. I felt "loved on" and they served with joyful hearts.

Picture of the Week: Sticks and Stones

It was a common question we got before we came. It was a joke...but perhaps showed the fear of the unknown.

"What will your kids play with there? I bet all they'll have are sticks and rocks."

I have to admit, I was a bit scared too. What will my girls do without 75 stuffed animals? Are two wooden puzzles enough for their fine motor skill development? The playgrounds have tetanus-infested metal slides with gaping holes. The swings are always broken (or about to be). The mosquitoes swarm. Where is my soft-surface, eco-friendly, shaded park with a paved running trail and plenty of parking? Can they manage without their play-kitchen, play-stroller, play-vacuum cleaner, sprinklers and bath toys?

Turns out we miss those things, yes. But sticks, a piece of palm bark and a stone pathway make for a great row boat in a raging river...especially with a friend.

Friends at the botanical gardens

Picture of the Week: Worms

How do you know we've been here six months? That's right...it's de-worming time! Apparently, half a year is just about the time that you want to consider ridding your body of all those little travelers you've picked up from the foot, the surfaces, from sucking on your toes (if you are Molly). Each of us got this little pill to chew up and hopefully (ahem) dispose of any hitchhikers. 



We crunched up the kids' in their yogurt. 

Just one of the pleasantries of living here. But hey, at least I have a clean slate. Now to keep Molly from sucking on her toes....

Hey Mommy...

Everyone knows three-year-olds ask a lot of questions. I spend at least half my day answering questions...some routine (Mommy, can I have a snack?), some theological (Mommy, what did Jesus save us from?), and some just plain silly (Mommy, what does it look like in an alligator's belly?). I have had all three of these, just today! Almost every question Lydia asks starts with "Hey Mommy.." so thought I'd chronicle a few here. Maybe you have better answers than I come up with. (The "Hey Mommy" is understood.)

"Can you see my foot shadow?"
"Do people eat jellyfish?"
"Do some people eat people?"
"Why would you eat people?"
"Did the forbidden fruit taste sugary?"
"Can Molly have honey (lettuce/cheese/cheerios/grass/dirt) yet?"
"Is my booty super clean?"
"Where does my food go after my belly?"
"Do the fish drown in the ocean?"
"Where were me and Molly when you were getting married?"
"Did you have a sparkly dress at your wedding?"
"When can I have a brother? Tomorrow?"
"Can I have a caterpillar pet?"
"Can we go to heaven? Can we go now?"
"Do you want to play Abby and Emma?"
"Can we be a fish family?"
"Do you want to play duckapotmoses [pretend we are duckbill platypuses]?"
"How will we dry cow-ie after we wash him? Will he just need a time out?"
"When you were a little girl did you disobey/spill stuff/push your sister/lie?"
"Did you see me wipe?"
"Can Molly and I go barefoot?"
"Do some people not have shoes?"
"Did we have shoes in America?"
"Is it ok to get naked when it's just you and Molly here?"
"Do I talk a lot?"

A small sampling. And yes, when I was a little girl...I'm sure I talked a lot Lydia. Like Mother like Daughter. 

Picture of the Week: Muffin Change

There is an epidemic in this country.

We have a change problem. It can be your auto-rickshaw driver. It may be the shop vendor. It is definitely the vegetable-cart guy. No one has change!

I buy something for 87. I give 100. "Do you have 3 change, madam?"

No, no I don't. I gave it to the vegetable-cart guy this morning.

Don't worry, though. Here is the solution. That 3 (which is equivalent to a nickel) now becomes 3 pieces of candy, a pack of gum or if you are at a bakery (which my friend and I thought was a coffee shop...due to the name being a coffee shop...but we can talk about misnomers later)...a muffin. I bought bread, two cokes (replacement for coffee) and didn't have the 5 change. "No problem," he says. "Here is strawberry muffin."

It's just a funny thing that now I have come to expect. I gotta tell you, Lydia doesn't mind. She ate that strawberry muffin (it was pink) and asks me to carry big bills all the time. 

Edit: Found!

Minutes after typing the previous sad camera-missing post, we asked Teresa (our house-helper) if she had seen the camera. She apparently has a photographic memory (no pun intended) and led us to retrace our steps once more.

It was in a random box of toys.

Hurray! Praise Jesus! Thankful for the time it was gone (sanctification?), thankful for Teresa, and thankful we have our little blue point and shoot back!

Picture of the Week: Missing

Sadly, I think we lost our camera.

Brian got it for me two Christmases ago. A cute little blue point and shoot. We remember seeing it Thursday on top of the fridge (easy access for us, not easy access for a three year old). But now, we can't find it. Here are our three scenarios: 1) It is somewhere in the house...although we have looked seemingly everywhere. 2) It miraculously flipped off the fridge, into the trashcan (flipping open the lid) and was taken out Saturday morning before we realized it's disappearance. 3) It was stolen by the man that delivers our groceries...though I kinda like him. He seems honest and I was basically watching him the whole time he unloaded the milk and vegetables.

I do not like any of these options. And therefore I'm left with no solution, no probable guess and no closure. I really liked that camera, but (and maybe it's like this with you too) losing things bugs me more than the value of the thing. I feel out of control. I feel frustrated with my lack of omniscience. I wonder why God would allow this to happen. I mean, it's not a devastating tragedy. It's not insignificant either. It's mildly saddening, middle-ground-ish frustrating and I suppose irksome enough for me to see my idol of control.

So, no picture this week. We still have our phone cameras (so, please, it's not like we're suffering here!), and we'll adjust our photography and hopefully God will use even this lost thing to find my easily wayward heart. 

Picture of the Week: Pooja

Last Saturday morning a stronger than usual smell of incense was wafting under our door. A louder than usual chanting was echoing the halls. "Is that in our building?" It was eerie. We are surrounded by the worship ceremonies of Hinduism, the "pooja", but it hadn't been this close to home, in this intensity.

The designs on the floor are worship, the fresh flowers are worship,
the idols and picture are of Ganesha (removed of obstacles)

As we left for a morning excursion, we saw the five priests leaving the building too. They donned motorcycle helmets and button down shirts, but wore the traditional wrapping (toga-like) of holy men, their faces dotted with sacred dye and smelling of charcoal and incense. Later that day I went down a floor to my friend, Hari's house. The door was open, the idols adorned with fresh flowers and a huge pile of ash was being swept up right in the middle of their living room floor. "What happened?"

Hari's mother-in-law, Lakshmi told me about the pooja that had been performed that morning. "It is for the whole building. For prosperity and longevity. Now we are cleansed." They had offered ghee, jaggery, seeds, flowers, etc into this holy fire to appease Shiva, the god of war (among other things).


I knew I would encounter this here. I just didn't know it would be so jarring. I didn't know I would be inviting my friend to a movie-night while her househelper swept away ash and burnt offerings. I didn't know I would feel so suppressed by the chanting and really really want to pray.

We are surrounded in a sense. Yet the God who made the flowers, the wood that was burnt, the jaggery, the ghee and my neighbors is much closer and much more powerful and cleansing than a pooja can ever be. 

A Capital Achievement!

It took a long time coming. Two continents and about a year later we have finished the alphabet...capital letters. Next on our list: lowercase. Then, according to Lydia, "ALL the numbers...even 17!". 

Honestly, these 26 letters have been one of the most fun projects Mommy and Lydia have done together. I have learned to let go of control (like when she colored outside the lines or wanted the egg to have a green hue!) and Lydia has learned how to use a glue stick, how to curl paper, how to follow instructions...and I suppose she has learned her alphabet. But more than purely an educational endeavor, this magnum opus has been a time of fun and bonding...from A to Z. 

And for those who wish to know: 

A: Alligator

B: Butterfly

C: Caterpillar

D: Dog

E: Egg

F: Flower

G: Grass

H: House

I: Ice Cream

J: Jump

K: Kite

L: Leaves

M: Mouse

N: Night

O: Octopus

P: Piano

Q: Queen and Quilt

R: River

S: Snake

T: Train

U: Unicycle

V: Vine

W: Watermelon

X: X-ray

Y: Yarn

Z: Zipper

Second World Problems

I don't mean this in a sarcastic way, but I like not having fitted sheets (basically impossible to find here), because in my "old life" I really hated folding them. I didn't like loosing pink princess socks in them. I didn't like how they stacked weird in my linen closet. And I certainly didn't like fighting with them to go over my mattress when I made the bed.

This thought occurred to me yesterday while I was folding Molly's sheets (fitted...brought from the States). I was genuinely grateful, ok with one of the thousands of small things we do without.

I'm happy we can't find ricotta cheese here because paneer (a local cheese) makes much better lasagna. Which by the way, you can find lasagna noodles here, but they are very expensive. So I make my own; and that's definitely better. I like the inconvenience of walking to the store nearly every day and the unavailability of easy snacks. Ok, that's a lie. I am frustrated by it. But, big picture, I'm losing weight, getting my kids outside for a neighborhood adventure, getting to know people and eating many more bananas (which has to be a good thing right?).

I like not being able to find chocolate chips, marshmallows or magazines because when you share your care packages wares with your American friends they are even more grateful. Rice Krispy treats are a big deal.

I like going to the roof to hang out my clothes. I get to meet my neighbors. I like not having a Target or Walmart. I get to know the "light bulb shop", the "fruit stand", the "contact lens solution store", the "Brian's deodorant store", and the "place to get hot dogs"...which is different than the "place to get hot dog buns".

I am not always making lemonade out of lemons (which by the way, are extremely small here and are more like limes...), but these problems, this lack, these inconveniences are coated in grace. So I fold laundry and I am thankful. I make supper and I rejoice. I pray God would continue to show Himself to me in the mundane...cheese, walks, and sheets.

Picture of the Week: Language

How do you spend your Saturday night?

I spend mine doing my language homework. Writing all the consonants with their vowel signs. Yes, there are not only vowels, but vowel signs (like vowel contractions). Apparently there are half-letters too...but I haven't got there yet.

So far in this language, I can say: "Hi. My name is Mandy. What is your name? How are you? I am fine." Also, random ones: "Fish. Cat. Boy. Beautiful girl. Princess." And my favorite: "Get away pigeon!"

Feeling very prepared for whatever this country can throw at me. 

Picture of the Week: Visa Run

Ok, sorry blog fans. We are back. We were hosting guests, then I was sick, then we went to Malaysia...no time to blog.

So here is a very cute picture of Molly. She is cute in any country, but here in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Malaysia she just seems to be having a good time. Every six months we have a built in vacation due to the nature of our visas. Just about everyone on the team was due for one and so we lumped a visa run with a team retreat and a much needed vacation. The result: 5 days in a Malaysian beach resort.

It was cost effective, fun, relaxing, team-building and well, necessary.

See bonus pictures below (as a reward for your patience). :)

The Stock Girls...in bathing suits

funny faces, cute suits

beautiful

A playground with no broken equipment, no power lines exposed, no rabid dogs...

Brian ordered a kids meal...real beef burger (He was so excited he took a picture)

Lyd and pals (Lily and Ada)

One

Hello world, 

Today, I turn ONE. 

Happy Birthday me.
Lets all smile, I sure am!
And Go Tigers!

Peace out,

molly

Picture of the Week: Something Like Lilacs

Here's a Mandy factoid: my favorite flowers are lilacs. I love them. I love the smell, the tiny bunches of flowers. I carried white ones on my wedding day. I planted pink and lavender ones in our yard in Cartersville. I feel nostalgic thinking of the huge bushes outside the first home I can remember, on a military base in Minot, ND. That bush was where the Easter eggs were hidden, where my sister and I played "store" and where I once attempted to dig a hole to China (I got about 18 inches).

Here in the tropics we are surrounded by amazing flowers...beautiful colors and intricate designs. And they are everywhere. I'm serious...there are even government workers who go around each morning and sweep up flower petals from the sidewalks. Alas, though, no lilacs.

Imagine my joy when I was loading (another!!) load of laundry in the washer and I spotted these little beauties on my neighbors awning. There are not lilacs, but they reminded me of them. And that reminded me of God's grace and how He generously gives us so many things to bring us joy even when it's not quite home.

Do you think my neighbors would let me play "store" under their tree?

An open letter to some friends

We got a huge surprise this week. A friend flew through our city on his way to work in other parts of the country. He brought a 50 pound bag of goodies, a surprise, from so many of our friends. Here's what I emailed to them.

To Jonathan and Jennifer, Daniel and Greta, John and Andrea, Jeff and Jen, Chris and Sarah, Ben and Erika, Tommy and Stacey, Larry and Ruth, Tim and Becky, Brent and Melissa, Zack and Tennyson, Micah and Lisa, Billy and Rebekkah (and all the respective kids!),

THANK YOU.

Jim delivered our surprise suitcase yesterday. We were just stunned. I still am. Lydia has gobs of princess stuff and craft supplies and homeschooling material and new coloring books! Thank you. I put some of it away so we can bring it out in stages (she was a bit overwhelmed). You know here all the coloring books are actually already printed in color. It’s a very weird phenomenon. Coloring books that you can’t really color in. She wore her apron today helping me make desserts for our team meeting. She told Molly about the Cheerios so many times I think that may be Molly’s first word. I have started a baking drawer in our kitchen full of the much appreciated cocoa, choc chips, brown sugar, etc. Brian, I think, wants to build something just to use his new gloves!

We look forward to hanging our beautiful Greta-original works of art. Wow! Sarah: I thought it was a little weird that you sent a 31 catalogue, but then I read the note on the back! Thank you! All the packing in Ziplocs and Tupperware…you wouldn’t think that would matter so much, but I am just beaming at all the new storage we have for our food! (I will still wash and reuse the Ziplocs…till they die but it is good to know I have many!) We had grits this morning. Even let Jim eat some. J

A family on our team is away this week. I will cook them mac and cheese (they have two small boys) when they return. You guys are ministering to our team. I plan on making cookies to deliver to our neighbors very soon. You guys are helping us reach our neighbors. (Here, delivering goodies always ends up with getting invited to tea, to discuss religion, to start a relationship…no kidding, we have already been invited to a wedding, to a movie night, to discussions on personal stuff.) Brownies, choc chips…well, let’s just say you are making me a better helpmate for my sweet husband!

All those little coloring books and stickers and perfect for attending churches in different languages without childcare. Thank you for helping Lydia adjust to this new (long, church service….) life. Molly will have something fun for her birthday (August 2!!) dessert…brownies? Cookies? Something with brown sugar!!!? She will be happy I’m sure, but also we are going to “use” her birthday to invite our neighbors. First birthdays are really big here (like weddings) so this will be a great way to open our home. And while a cake mix doesn’t seem all that spiritual or exciting, you have made it easier for me to be a good hostess, not stressed out mommy! Thank you (from Molly…the little evangelist!) J

We love the kids’ drawings. I can’t believe they can all do that well. I’m just seeing Lydia make people (big head, little sticks coming out of them for limbs, etc) and I look at your kids’ artwork and just get excited for my girls to be able to grow in their little expressions of art and I feel so at home with their sweet drawings on the wall.

In short, we feel incredibly loved. We are overwhelmed. I just want to be able to convey how much this stuff means to us, but more…how much you mean to us. We are very very blessed to have such friends alongside us on this journey. It is hard to live without a car, a/c, brown sugar, a crockpot, good crayons…but as I was thinking last night as I fell asleep…it is extremely hard to live away from you, our church, our friends. That’s my culture shock. It truly is. We are making new friends, We are loving our work. We are sure and firm and joyful in this calling. It is a hard calling though. And a giant suitcase of stuff has been divided up in my cabinets and when all of it runs out, it will still be a reminder in our hearts of love and partnership we have with you all. Life with you is half as hard and twice as good.

Much love and much gratitude,

Mandy (for the Stock Household)

Picture of the Week: Grandma

Lydia is getting better at drawing. Here is grandma. Notice the 4 limbs, the curly short hair and earrings. (I can never figure out how to rotate iphone pictures...sorry she's on her side).

I suppose this is not unique to living here overseas. If we were in the States, Lydia would be drawing grandma just about the same. But that's the point. Many (MANY!) things here are different. But some things just aren't. Molly is crawling, clapping, teething. Lydia is learning how to dress herself, cut paper, and draw grandma.

We got all those questions as we were moving here. "You are moving where?! And you are taking your children?!" For moments, yes I too worried that my kids might be growing up deprived, playing with sticks and constantly in danger of disease. Ok...well, that's kind of true. But there are good things here. Normal life is happening. The girls are growing, learning and having fun. They don't worry about not having TV because we have "Family Movie Night" on our laptop. A cardboard box serves as a little play house. Grandma and Nana read stories over FaceTime.

We know children adapt quickly. God is gracious in this way to parents. More pictures of our normal life to come. Some drawn, some taken but all part of the Stock Household's normal life. 

Picture(s) of the Week: Care Package

Molly with her new teething ring. Just in time for tooth #5! 

I honestly never thought I'd appreciate care packages so much. My mom has made it her new hobby to shop for, pack and mail boxes full of goodies to us. We are averaging one "Nana Package" a week thus far!Friends have spend much time and many dollars on shipping to send us good things like cereal, magazines and Twizzlers.

But really it's not so much what is in the package that makes us feel loved (although we really do value the fruit snacks and Crayola crayons) but the effort we know it takes to send a package, the love put into action and the joy we get from a tangible reminder of people who love us, support the work we are doing and have not forgotten us.

I stayed full till 2pm. My first bowl of granola (my favorite!!) in 3 months. 

We have pictures that the Falkins kids colored for us and photos of grandparents. We are savoring honey straws and Cheerios. Even today, Lydia pointed up to our picture wall to a photo of the Andersons..."They sent us a package!!". Thank you friends and family. You are making us feel appreciated, included, cared for and loved.

Her new favorite thing. Cutting with her new scissors (both scissors and Pottery Barn mag from Nana!)

Picture of the Week: Conference

We knew where we were going. It's just a kilometer or so from our apartment. But try to tell that to the auto driver.

Brian hailed one down (while the girls and I stood to the side). He told him where we'd like to go. The driver seemed convinced Brian meant another road. Our apartment security guard, Robert Alex, got involved. They start speaking in another language and bring security guard #2, Renke, over. A guy carrying a hose is walking by. He joins the conversation.

Every few seconds Brian asserts he knows the place and can direct the driver. After a few minutes, fares are negotiated, Brian has made them all believe he knows the way and we get in.

Here, you can have an address. You can have a map. You can even have your iphone tell you where to go. None of that really matters though if you 1) are white, 2) can't come up with enough landmarks or 3) don't put the emPHAsis on the right sylLABle. Sometimes that means you get ripped off, overcharged or taken the long way. Sometimes it means you have help from every and any person within earshot of your American accent.

Today it was quite funny. 

Picture of the Week: Laundry

We had to wash "Whitey" the squirrel. He wasn't so white anymore! 

It's the chore that never ends. You load, wash, take out, dry, take down, fold, put away (repeat...endlessly). I'm glad someone came up with an all-encompassing word for it: laundry. And since Adam and Eve got their first animal skin clothes, the homemaker's life has struggled to not feel like this all-encompassing word is all-encompassing her! Here, just as in America, we dirty clothes. So laundry continues on with all it's glory.

Recently a friend posted on facebook: "Only in America do we worry about how pretty our laundry room is". I suppose that might be true. My laundry "room" here is a balcony off the kitchen. It's enclosed with metal bars to keep pigeons from poo-ing in my washer (a very common problem) and monkeys from raiding.  That's right. My washer is outside. I have no dryer. We went fancy on our washer and got one that heats up the water for some special (diaper) loads. It all seemed very primitive when we moved here a few months ago. But already as we pass so many women dunking clothes in rivers, sewers, buckets, etc to clean them I see how much I really do have...which was the gist of my friends quote.

So all this to say, just as laundry still exists here, so does materialism, inequity, injustice, and (God-willing) thankfulness and joy in the daily tasks. My hope is that I never worry about how pretty my laundry "room" is nor do I pride myself on how spiritual I must be to do-with-less. But that I do laundry (cold or hot water, inside or outside, pigeons or monkeys or just the cool breeze)
for the glory of God. This is the day (full of laundry, dishes, diapers and dirt) that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it! 

Picture of the Week: Flood (and Hot Dogs)

Brian loves hot dogs. Give him a dog loaded with slaw, onions and mustard and he's pretty happy for a while. So, for Father's Day we took him to one of the few places in town that serves a legit Brian-approved hot dog (though we had to bring our own mustard).

But this is Asia. And you don't just go out and get hot dogs without some sort of adventure. Just as we were finishing up our yummy lunch, water starts flowing up from a drain near our feet. Then, it starts flowing out another. Then, it's gushing and we are picking up purse, diaper bag and toys that had settled on the floor. We all lift up our feet as the waiters rush around with squeegies and mops. And well, we continue to eat. The  flood subsides and I look at Brian and say "Happy Father's Day"...always an adventure.

Oh, and don't worry, for our trouble the manager insists he'll give us a good deal next time we come in. So I suppose we'll venture out another time for a free hot dog. Hold the flood. 

Picture of the Week: Market

It was kinda like going to Sam's Club or Costco. It was a big market that had everything bigger better cheaper!

Ok, it was nothing like Sam's Club, but we went to this big city market...mostly to see it and take photos. It is "very National Geographic" as my friend said.

Everyday-ish I go to a market (a fruit stand, a meat stall, a grocery store the size of your living room) and they are all on a small scale like this picture. I wasn't trying to be artsy here. But this captures so much. The guy carrying a huge amount of some vegetable on his back (yes, see that daily). The skinny frustrated boy guarding the produce (usually they speak English better than their parents, so I deal with them a lot). The man feeding the other guy something (ok, don't see that everyday, but I have seen it). The bananas still on the stalks, the garbage, the reused cans and boxes and baskets. And coconuts. Coconuts everywhere.

Here is where I shop. The color, the filth, the bartering, the community. And I don't even need to show my membership card to get in! 

For Michelle

This post is for my friend, Michelle. Last week she called, surprising me since it was so late in the morning (for me) and definitely late at night (for her). She couldn't sleep. We had a great conversation but one thing she said was "Mandy, you're killing me here. One picture a week on the blog is not enough!"

So, here Michelle (and everyone else who wants to see more pictures of life here, Lydia and Molly and whatever else is on our camera). Here you go. Hope these pictures set you at ease. And anytime you can't sleep, call your friend who will be finishing up morning snack.

Lydia playing at the fountain. 

Laughing at my attempts to get her to eat solid food. 

Pre-Ballet class (singing in a parking garage)

Me, in everyday garb. I don't like wearing my scarf like that...but that's how you do it here. 

Lifting flaps.

That silly smile (also wearing "ethnic" garb).

Molly at the zoo. Very impressed with the animals.

Taken right before a random lady pinched Molly's cheek so hard she cried. 

I feel like I will show this to her one day and say "See we were in South Asia."

Finding her shadow (or an ant...not sure). 

Both adorable in person...but not the most photogenic.

Pig and Whitey...ready for a trip.

Dyes in the market.

"Lydia, go stand next to that huge pile of beans."

Asking for a flower necklace. 

Blurry...but having fun (wearing bangles, coloring in the van back from a trip). 

"Say hi to Mia for me ok Aunt Michelle?"