June 24, 2015!

I'm sitting here in Montrose Pa looking forward to a visit this week from Eli and Linda and family.
My two grandchildren, Ezra and Indigo, are now 4 and 1/2 and 7 1/2 and there is also a new grandchild due September 4th.

John and I arrived back here about two weeks ago after a great spring in Florida.  During that time we
took a trip to France and also to Israel where we met our newest granddaughter, Shaya, who turned
four months old two days ago.  We also got to see Ethan, Adi and Emma.  Emma will be two next month on July 17. 

At the end of May we returned to PA via an overnight visit with Phoebe and Greg where we got to see their beautiful new backyard fenced in and gorgeous including a built-in tornado shelter.  They will be coming to Oswego, NY around July 4th for the summer.  Then on to Winona Lake, IN for a
final visit in Winona Lake with Kandace and Andrew and grandchildren, Evangeline and Malachi.
They have since moved to Grand Rapids MI where Andrew has begun a new job at Eerdmanns
Publishing.  Evie will be four years old Sept 25 and Malachi will be two years old on October 28.

Then we visited my sister Pam and her husband, Darrel, in Lanbertville MI.  We had not seen them
for eleven years.  Hard to believe.  Darrel has retired and Pam hopes to at the end of October.

Anyway it is great to be in PA.  I have not done any writing but I have helped a friend, Martha Cuomo, by giving her feedback on the book she is writing and also by encouraging my husband,
John, to finally complete The Blood Of Three Worlds.  This is the sequel to his book Earth Is Not
Alone.  He has finally finished it but it is being read and edited right now.  That task along with
writing his blog three times a week has kept him busy.

Anyway summer  is here and we are happy to be here and looking forward to appreciating each
day God gives us this year!

The first picture is at my sister's house in MI and the second is the wild roses blooming in my yard here at Heart Lake.

PC TROUBLES....

     John and I are hoping to leave FL for PA tomorrow and are right on schedule except that my computer crashed and I took it to the Apple store.  Now we can't leave until they contact us!
I was actually hoping to put a picture of another grandchild on her  because I have put Ezra and then Emma so wanted to have an up-to-date photo of each one.

     Today in Florida is overcast and hot but when we get to Pennsylvania, it will most likely be
chillier than here so even though I am going back to "summer," it will most likely be almost like
returning to spring for a month or son.  Part of the reason we stay confused but then again, it was
nice to miss this particular winter.

     The hardest thing for me in leaving is using up all my food and deciding what (few) clothes
to take.  But the food thing overshadows everything.  My frugality comes out and I end up not wanting to leave without having used it all up.  This year I have succeeded as I will make bacon
and eggs and sausage and cinnamon rolls and that should be it!  Plus a couple of items down
the disposal....

     We are always a little sad and a little happy when making the change!  We love both places and enjoy the differences. 

EMMANUELLE (Emma and Us)

                                                                  Emma....

     This is a recent picture of our ten-month-old granddaughter, Emma, who lives in Beersheva, Israel.  We always hear that (like her father) she is already fascinated by "screens."  The thing that has recently surprised me is to learn that as of yet, Emma has no teeth.  I have not thought too much about this but was surprised since we had recently visited IN and two of our other grandchildren including six month old Malachi who already had two teeth.  Anyway I keep reminding Emma's father to let me know as soon as she gets her first tooth!  Yes, the above was a rabbit trail...

     It is way off the subject of this particular blog...  In January of 2014, Emma and her parents had visited us in PA for Christmas.  They then came to Florida for a visit and because John and I wanted to see them one last time before they left for Israel, we packed up our house in two days in PA and drove to FL in another two days in order to see them for three days before their flight back.

     That was not a problem at all.  Yet here we are in Fl  preparing to return to PA.  The problem is, without an Emmanuelle to inspire us, we have kept putting off the date of returning.  We have all sorts of reasons (valid and not-so-valid) for delaying.  But today we decided to wait to leave until next Tuesday...our rationale being it gives us a few extra days to use up food and also we can put out the trash and recyclables one last time!  So that is our new (and hopefully last) goal....

       PA here we come....next week!

                                                                          

                                                       Back from Tanzania...

     I love the picture above....it is my six-year-old grandson, Ezra, on his last morning in Tanzania in 2014.  Each year he goes with his family to Iringa, TZ from January till around May when they return to the States. As my daughter-in-law, Linda, noted "he is already a TCK."  She should know since she was born in Sierra Leone.  Of course, Ez's sister, Indigo, is also a TCK.  Ez is six and has already been to Africa five times.

   I have another granddaughter, Emmanuelle (Emma), who lives in Beersheva, Israel.  She has already made one trip to visit John and I, (her grandparents) in America and she will only turn one on July 17th!  Will she come to American enough to visit that she will be considered a TCK?  Most likely not...

     But my other two grandchildren, Evangeline (Evie) and Malachi, just like my own children were born in the good ol' USA.
 
     My daughter, Phoebe, and her husband, Greg, have applied to adopt children from Colombia but are still waiting.  If that does happen, I will have grandchildren who are TCK's...

     All four of my children were born in Oswego, New York and never did I imagine that my children would leave Oswego for "far away places..."  But I truly believe they are living where God wants them so a deep joy comes from that.  And a gratefulness for the times when I do see them!  And now I know that just because Evie and Mal were born in Maryland and Indiana, they could still end up in upstate NY!  God is always full of surprises:)






     

     

    

Phoebe's gift to me...

May 23, 2014

     Although the beautiful planter above has a Thanksgiving theme, it is just one example of the beautiful planters my daughter Phoebe makes and sells.  If anyone reading this would like one for a gift and will be in Oswego NY this summer or Nashville, TN the rest of the year, she would be happy to sell you one!  I think they are gorgeous...my most recent one from her of course had an Easter theme!

     I know Easter has come and gone and so has my time in Florida!  A week from tomorrow we (my husband John and myself), plan to head north to PA.  But it will be with mixed feelings (as always)...whichever place I am I seem to settle in.  John is about 9 weeks from having hip replacement surgery but even that did not seem to inhibit our joy during these months.  And now, as he sees improvement each day, he is definitely happy he decided to have it. 

     It has been a busy time.  Tomorrow we will go pick up our taxes and mail them in since we took an extension.  Another thing to cross off our list.  During these months John has kept up his blog www.ADozenSeconds.com which has kept him busy.  He publishes it three days a week.  And right now we are sifting and sorting papers and trying to use up food.  Some friends from here will actually be visiting PA this July which will seem strange to see them out of their natural habitat.  

      In 2012 John's book for children A Pillar of Pepper and other Bible Rhymes was republished both as a kindle book and a hardback book and the interesting thing is that I am seeing to my surprise that the hardback book is the one people still seem to want ....for their children and grandchildren.  It is rather expensive so I was not expecting that to be the case.  I thought the kindle would be more popular but maybe with children, people still like a book they can hold in their hands!

      January to May....in Florida.  We'll be leaving "Summer" to go back to "Spring...."

It is Sunday, December 15, 2013 and John and I are working feverishly to get ready for Christmas!
Last year we had a wonderful Christmas with our daughter and son-in-law in Tennessee.

But this year it is our year for most of our family to come here for Christmas and I am almost ready.
Right now we are decorating and I am making food to freeze so that I don't have to cook much when
people are here.  Our tree is up and almost decorated.  It is the prettiest one we have about ever had.
Not one bad side.

John has the manger scene up.  This Weds we go to Newark to pick up our son and daughter-in-law
and meet our new granddaughter, Emma, who are coming from Beersheva Israel.  Our youngest son
and daughter-in-law are also hopefully coming from IN with their son and daughter.  We have never met Malachi who was born on Oct. 29 and have not seen Evie since last June so we are eager.

Then our middle son and daughter-in-law will be here from Houghton, NY. with their six year old son, Ezra, and three-year-old daughter, indigo.  So it will be a busy time and we have tons of snow right now!

After the new year, we will pack up and go to Florida.  John is publishing a blog called www.Adozenseconds.com and also has two books out, A Pillar of Pepper and other Bible Rhymes
and also Earth Is Not Alone.  I have just begun writing again after not writing for four years.

I am praying that the real meaning of Christmas will be in my heart as I celebrate the birth of Christ this year and thank the Lord for all of His Blessings!  PTL!!!

FASCINATING ( to me and hopefully YOU) INFO

Happy Day after Valentine's Day...February 15, 2013!

John and I had a wonderful Valentine's Day beginning with breakfast out and ending with a great
dinner and party here in Grand Isle where we live.  The decorations were beautiful and the food was good and we were together (thankfully) after all these years.  Speaking of that, John has a new blog that I find fascinating (and not because he's related to me) but actually full of interesting info and it is time efficient.  It is supposed to take only 12 seconds a day altho' you can go deeper. 

You can find this AMAZING site at www.ADozenSeconds.com -----try it and see if you don't want to thank me:)  I particularly liked yesterday's post called PERFECT WEDDING.  If you read it all the way to the end, you will see why.  But maybe you would prefer today's post which is called LOST DAYS.  It is very intriguing.  And informative...are you hooked yet? 

If you know me, you know that my blog in the past has been hit or miss and every time I have gotten
on lately, I have said that now I will restart and be faithful.  This time I will not say anything and see
if I keep it up.  I'm planning to blog every few days ...I am starting this again because I have not done
any writing for a few years and now I am beginning that again too!  We shall see!  We have now been in Florida since the end of December and I have gotten a lot of the painful things out of the way (except for taxes) and have to admit that it has been a really special time this year. 

A Pillar of Pepper and other Bible Rhymes

November 27, 2012

Finally I'm back and I hope to stay back!  One day after my granddaughter, Indigo Rae Knapp, turned 2 years old.  We had a great Thanksgiving in Houghton and it was really special as we were able to see Eli and Linda's new home.  They have only lived there a week but it seemed like they had been there for a very long time.  We got to initiate the new dining room table with a party for Indigo!  Her panda cake was soooo special.

On to a new subject!  The book seen below is now available in ebook form or hardback!! Any of you parents or grandparents who want a fantastic Bible teaching FUN book for your grandchildren read the reviews on amazon and see what you are missing.  I'm partial but even so it's true:)  This book won the C.S. Lewis medal in 1983 and was sold in Sears Christmas catalog.  People have been asking about it for years and due to the new technology the time seemed right for John and I to bring it out not only in hardback but as an ebook available for the ipad, nook, or kindle fire.  If you want that perfect present for you child or grandchild  you won't go wrong.  But check it out for yourself!  Just remember Christmas will soon be here and this is both educational and FUN!

I'm so glad to be blogging again and promise not to disappear again:)  It's too early for the new year but this my New Year's resolution!

Florpenn returns to PA...

Today is May 19th and I have been in Florida since January. It has actually been a wonderful four months but now the time I dislike has arrived. We have to actually pack up the house and leave for PA...and "the tower" which we have to finish. We are actually looking quite forward to it. We have had a busy time in Florida and a lot has happened that I have not written about it. We were blessed to have our two grandchildren, Ezra and Indigo, as well as our daughter-in-law, Linda, stay with us for one month while our son was in Tanzania. And now we are excited to find that we will become grandparents again in September or October as youngest son, Andrew, and his wife, Kandace, are expecting a little one.

As far as writing goes, we have downloaded Earth Is Not Alone to an ebook on both
kindle and barnes and noble. Now we need to get A Pillar of Pepper in digital form and get it into an ebook. I have also been published in a book entitled Deliver Me
that is available on amazon and in which I have a small article about the Carenet Center of Montrose PA...

More later...have to work and start packing for PA...

The Kindle is here....

As I mentioned in my previous blog, I got my husband a kindle (ebook reader) for his birthday! And I think he is finding it fascinating...as am I. He is already reading a
book on it and learning the ins and outs of navigating it. What a difference it will
most likely make in the world. We have books falling all over in our house and soon that
will not be the case. And for the younger generation I guess they will have virtual books except for a few. I keep thinking that I wish in one way I was younger because it boggles my mind to think how so much of our society is going to change including education for our chilren. And colleges and tuition. So much will be so different...

John will most likely have his ebook "out there" by the beginning of next week. That is
quite mindboggling. This will not affect just books but already is affecting newspapers and in a strange way, even mail delivery. So much like ebooks are being done online....just like this blog...which enables regular people to connect with readers in cyberspace that we may never meet or know in person.

A TOWER.....looms tall....

Yes, it is a mystery but one I will share in a few months! Summer is ending in the
beautiful Endless Mountains of PA but I enjoyed every second of the day that I was awake....

Let's just say that I was frustrated when I woke up much later than I had planned. It's soooo quiet here in the woods:) But the rest of the day went well. Except for
the ending of the Notre Dame-Michigan game....my youngest son got me watching their football games and of course ND lost on the last play in overtime. Why do I submit myself to such?!

Oh, this is a blog about writing so I will say that John (my husband) almost has
his book Earth Is Not Alone ready for ebook format....and the kindle that I have ordered for him as a birthday present is due to arrive on Monday (he thinks it will be
much later.) I'm eager to see how a Kindle works also and am wondering if he will really use it. He has always been one to like the feel of a real book in his hands...but he frequents restaurants every morning and this seems like a great traveling companion so time will tell.

Montrose Christian Writer Conference....

The Montrose Christian Writers Conference is over for this year. It is always nice to have a writers conference in one's hometown ...it serves to get the juices going if they are lagging. The final session today was quite a way to end it as Grace Fabian spoke. She is a graduate of Davis College (old Practical Bible in Johnson City) and her husband was killed while translating I Corinthisns 13 as a Wycliffe Translator. We have our plans of serving God and then the unexpected happens. Suffering is something we don't expect to happen to us....but sometimes it does. As you can imagine it was quite a message. Aferwards many people wanted to tell of blessings during the week.

I, too, felt God working in my life this week. For now I won't go into those. But I will sum up by saying it was a week that I think God will use in my life. As far as writing goes, I have gained some new knowledge and realize the times are changing. I'm trying to help John as he searches out putting his book into e book form. This is new to us and quite interesting. More and more people seem to be reading books on Kindle. And I may be wrong but I think recently for a month ebooks outsold published bookds. I need to check if that fact is correct.

EARTH IS NOT ALONE by John Knapp II

Newly discovered love must face a puzzling prophecy, a Christian minister, an atheistic teacher, the breaking up of one world, and the breaking into another.

for more...read Ch. 1 and Ch. 2 at

http://www.johnknapp2.com

or visit www.amazon.com

Cu[ of Comfort Book of Bible Promises

In March 2010 Cup of Comfort Book of Bible Promises was published and in it on page 303 is my story "New York Calling" ...it is a little history of God's leading in my life to take me from Ohio to New York via Kentucky and Texas.
First I lived in Greenpoint in Brooklyn and then in Briarcliff Manor, NY while working in the city and then in Yorktown Heights. After I met John on a trip to Israel, we later married and moved to upstate NY (Oswego) where John taught at the State University for almost thirty years and we watched our four children grow up and begin life on their own.

Anyway I said all that to say that I like this story because it documents a lot of my life and my love of living in New York. That was also where I first began writing!

And they are in.....!

I'm not talking about articles although I like that idea too!

I'm talking about taxes....I've been waiting on my husband to complete our taxes so we could take them to our tax man....and my husband has been waiting on some papers from the bank so he could do his "figuring".... Finally we got them. Today we have an appt to turn them in....I love getting those kind of jobs completed.

But I also love turning articles in....even IF I have to wait to hear that they are accepted.
One really small article that I wrote for a book about six years ago is hopefully going to
make it in. The editor wrote last month and said she has gotten the go on the book and once
she makes contact with all the authors and gets their signed okays....the book will forge ahead.
That's really nice after all this time....and the article has to do with NE PA where I'm heading....
which is also nice.

I also did send in an article for a possible book (although I won't know for months)
and I'm hoping to complete one more before we leave for Florida. My family and friends won't believe it....especially my immediate family....but I am actually setting goals now for how much
I hope to accomplish each month. We'll see how that works.....I'll let you know!

On the go......!

I'm still in shock as I reviewed my last three posts and realized I have rarely blogged during the last six months! In one I was leaving PA to come to Fl. Then I was here and commenting that I
sent an article in and talking in general about life in Florida. Now we are getting ready to return to PA soon! As I said before, I'm always sad whenever we leave either place.

There has been a lot of drama lately though. My middle son and his wife and child returned from Tanzania for a little over a week. They were ill during that time but Eli (my son) had to board (or got to) board a plane for a month in Sierra Leone. Actually he was looking forward to it but at the same time sad to leave his family for that long of a time. My older son, Ethan, in Israel said he would visit for two weeks in August so I'm looking forward to that. And my youngest son, Andrew, is finishing up three years of classes at Johns Hopkins,( received a small surprise grant:) and watched is wife, Kandace, complete a marathon! Now they are going to WA to visit relatives and then take a 5th anniversary cruise. And my daughter and son-in-law in Nashville have survived the flood that hit that city although Phoebe lost a lot fo days of work due to it. John and I are always happy not to have drama in our lives at our age.

More on my next post.....!

Spring is almost here!

I have been in Florida a month and a half and the time has flown.
Actually I've loved it. I'm a person who loves change I think....usually
I'm quite content wherever I am...Florida is slightly different because
I don't know as many people so John and I can be more isolated....sometimes I enjoy that. As the years have passed however we have made more friends and acquaintances so that is not as true as it was.

I received good news today in that my youngest son received a grant to study in Israel this coming summer at Hazor. And he's happy because his intramural basketball team won its' championship. All of us Knapps
(except my daughter) love basketball. My oldest son just turned 36...he is finishing up a week of vacation in Israel. My middle son and his wife are in Tanzania for another week and a half and my daughter and her husband are coming to visit for two weeks next week. So life is not stagnant.

Earth Is Not Alone, my husband's new fiction book, has kept him busy
and just recently Cup of Comfort Book of Bible Promises (an anthology)
was published with my story 'New York Calling' included.

Happy 2010!

Here it is January 2010 and we had a wonderful Christmas and New Years. God blessed us by enabling us to

finish a room on our cottage so that we had places for our family to sit and it was so much fun to be able to share

it. I will post a picture hopefully....anyway now John and I are finishing up in Montrose after a very busy few months.

It was wonderful because our son Ethan returned from Israel for Christmas and also our two other sons and their wives

as well as our grandchild were here. Only our daughter and son-in-law did not make it. But hopefully we will see them

soon. John advertised his book in a Susquehanna magazine and in many ways God enabled him to get Earth Is Not

Alone known to the public. Now we are getting ready to go to Florida.

Our time has been good but there has also been sadness with the earthquake in Haiti. It is wonderful to see

Christians responding. I wrote an article which has been on a website over December called The Lights In The

Snow. It's been nice to have gotten some writing accomplished and I'm looking forward to the Spring.

And it's in....

For the last few days I have been working on an article for a possible anthology book. Today I decided with the hecticness of Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up that I would finish it and...then email it in. It amazes me how much cheaper and faster and quicker this is that the old
way of snail mail and then wondering if they received it. Within minutes I had an automatic message telling me that the article had been received!

Wow. I have a lot to do with the holidays coming as three of the four of my children will be here ---
it kind of boggles the mind when I think about it all. And last night I became very ill suddenly. I've been slowly recovering today. Finally the weather is turning cold ....until now November had been very mild and beautiful.

John is also busy doing some publicity on his book Earth Is Not Alone. He and our daughter, Phoebe, made a trip to Florida last week to see his mother/her grandmother. It was good they could go. I stayed here and went to the quilt retreat where I visited with friends from Oswego, NY and made progress on my quilt! Now thankfully I've been making some progress on my writing also....

GREAT DAY!

Today is a day of birthdays! I know two people celebrating today!
And I'm celebrating also. I'm just very content today. Some days are like that. I'm trying to be more appreciative of all my blessings and I have had a lot. I know they came from the Lord and even the hard times have been allowed (though they are not easy to deal with....) I think one thing we don't do as Christians is really let our brothers and sisters who are going through hard time grieve the way they may need to. We can still know Christ as feel really sad as many of the Bible characters did. We know we have hope in the end but in the meantime it is hard to understand.

But today I have to choose. And today I'm trying to make the most of the time. Last night I did submit an article for an anthology even though I won't know for a while. Another article I submitted a while ago has not been chosen for a series although since it has not been returned YET there is a possibility the editor could be holding it for a later book. Doubtful but yet possible. And I'm working on another article....so I have plenty to do. As well as try to finish my fall quilt that is in about its' fifth year ....it's now or never!