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.