February 2007

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!!!

Dear Chinese Friends . . .

You all have been in my thoughts as I've prepared to Celebrate the Chinese New Year with my family. Celebrating Chinese New Year (Spring Festival) in China was a very special experience for Ken and I ... we really learned a lot about Chinese culture AND now I love sharing that with our family, especially the grandchildren. In fact some of our grandchildren celebrate the Chinese New Year in their schools.

Each month I send stories and books to my grandchildren that live in other states to read with their parents -- I call it NANA'S BOOK CLUB. This month I sent them the story of how the 12 Years were Named and a calendar so they could figure out what animal they are. I also sent a few Chinese Folk Stories, some "red couplets" for them to color and cut apart and put on their doors, along with other decorations and New Year's Prints AND a small red envelop with a silver dollar and Chinese treat for each of them.

Tomorrow, February 18th, your New Year's Day will be Sunday. We'll have a special Chinese Family dinner, including Jiao zi (which is Ken/Smiley's favorite Chinese food). Our son, Jason and his family who live with us and our youngest son, Brady, will be here with us.

I plan to read some of our Chinese books to the grandchildren and we'll play MahJong with the adults. We may also watch a video I taped from the TV, an excellent documentary entitled: "China From the Inside".

Since Spring Festival is such a special time for Chinese families, I want to share with you some pictures of some of our family members.

This is our son, K.C., his wife Holly and two little girls Savanah (3) and Allie (1).

K.C.'s family lives in Las Vegas, Nevada. Our daughter, Amy and her family lived there for a couple of years, but now live in Arizona. Amy has three boys and they often return to Las Vegas to visit family and friends. The pictures below were than there a couple of weeks ago when Amy's boys went on a hike with K.C.'s family.

Here's Jack (5), Savanah (4) and Gavin (3) -- they really do LOVE each other and are great cousins!!!!

This picture shows the beautiful desert landscape in the Valley of Fire, near Las Vegas, where they were hiking.

Here are all four of the children. Savanah is hugging her little sister Allie, who is 2 years old now and our youngest grandchild.

Allie, the littlest one, gets a ride from her Dad. Gavin (3) was able to walk the whole way!! These are the kinds of things that our family like to do.

I hope you'll have a wonderful HOLIDAY with your family. I would love to hear from you to know how you celebrated the New Year!

Our best wishes for a WONDERFUL and HAPPY New Year to you and your family.

Love,

Miss Becky

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY . . .

February 14th is always VALENTINE'S DAY in America . . . It's a special day to recognize the people in our lives that we love.

THE STORY OF VALENTINE’S DAY . . . .

On Valentine’s Day we give cards, cookies, and candy to the people we like. In school, children decorate their classrooms with red hearts. They give valentines to their friends.

But do you know why we celebrate Valentine’s Day?

Long ago, in the city of Rome, there lived a man named Valentine. He was kind and all the children loved him. One day, the King of Rome made a law. He said, “All young men will be in my army. They cannot ever get married.” The young men and women were very sad.

Valentine tried to help the young men and women and married several couples in secret. The King became very angry and threw Valentine in jail. The children were sad to see Valentine in jail. They made cards and wrote letters and sent them to Valentine.

One little girl, who was blind, brought food to Valentine. He thanked her and prayed for her. Then a miracle happened. The little girl could see! Valentine sent the girl a letter and signed it, “From Your Valentine.”

On February 14th, we remember Valentine. All over the world, people send cards called “Valentines” to celebrate this special day.

On VALENTINE’S DAY we show our LOVE for our friends and family with gifts and cards. And, like Valentine and the children of Rome, we remember that ALL GOD’S CHILDREN should LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

I believe that the POWER of LOVE is the greatest POWER on EARTH. My "valentine" to you will be some poems and song lyrics about LOVE that follow ....

LOVE YOU,

Miss Becky

The ART of LOVE

The story of love is an endless story and love as a force is an inexhaustible power.

The love story of the universe is written by the simple acts of millions of characters. The compassion of visiting a sick friend. The joy of playing on the floor with a small child. Doing an act of kindness for a person who is having a hard time. Remembering a birthday with a surprise. Reaching out to help someone in need. Making a sacrifice for a good cause.

The great love story is not fiction, but fact. It is a huge book full of the goodness of people loving people.

LOVE IS LIKE MAGIC!

Love is like magic and it always will be,

For love still remains life’s sweet mystery.

Love works in ways so wondrous and strange

And there’s nothing in life that love cannot change!

Love can transform the most commonplace

Into beauty and splendor and sweetness and grace.

Love is unselfish, understanding and kind,

For it sees with its heart and not with its mind.

Love is the answer that everyone seeks…

Love is the language that every heart speaks.

Love can’t be bought, it is priceless and free,

Love, like pure magic, is life’s sweet mystery!

SHOWER THE PEOPLE YOU LOVE WITH LOVE

You can play the game and you can act out the part but you know it wasn’t written for you

But tell me how can you stand there with your broken heart ashamed of playing the fool,

One thing can lead to another it doesn’t take any sacrifice,

Oh father and mother and sister and brother, if it feels nice don’t think twice,

Just shower the people you love with love, show them the way that you feel

Things are gonna work out fine if you only will, do as I say

Shower the people you love with love, show them the way you feel

Things are gonna be much better if you only will.

You can run but you cannot hide this is why we know

What you plan do with your foolish pride when you’re all by yourself alone

Once you tell somebody the way that you feel, you can feel it beginning to ease.

I think it’s true what they say about the squeaky wheel always getting the grease.

Better to shower the people you love with love, show them the way that you feel

Things are gonna work out fine if you only will, what I like to do to you,

Shower the people you love with love, show them the way you feel

Things are gonna be much better if you only will

Shower the people you love with love, show them the way that you feel

Shower the people you love with love, show them the way that you feel

Shower the people you love with love, show them the way that you feel

Shower the people you love with love, show them the way that you feel

Shower the people you love with love, show them the way that you feel

Shower the people, Shower the people, Shower the people, Shower the people…..

Native American (Indian) Marriage Blessing

May the fires of your love

Keep you happy and warm;

May the strength of your love

Keep you safe from all harm.

May the light of your love

Guide your pathways together.

May the joy of your love

Keep you happy forever.

Started by a Woman . . .

WORLD’S OLDEST NEWSPAPER NOW ENTIRELY DIGITAL

For centuries, readers thumbed through the crackling pages of Sweden’s Post-och Inrikes Tidningar newspaper. No longer. The world’s oldest paper still in circulation has dropped its paper edition and now exists only in cyberspace.

The newspaper, founded in 1645 by Sweden’s Queen Kristina, became a Web only publication on January 1. It’s a fate that may await many of the world’s most venerable journals.

“We think it’s a cultural disaster,” said Hans Holm, who served as the chief editor of Post-och Inrikes Tidningar for 20 years. “It is sad when you have worked with it for so long and it has been around for so long.”

Queen Kristina used the publication to keep her subjects informed of the affairs of state, Holm said, and the first editions, which were more like pamphlets, were carried by courier and posted on note boards in cities and towns throughout the kingdom.

It had a meager circulation of only 1,000 or so, although the Web site is expected to attract more readers.

From The Herald Journal, Tuesday, February 6, 2007, Logan, UT -- This is the newspaper that I read each day ... it's delivered to our home early in the morning and reports local as well as national and international news.I'll continue to share with you articles from this newspaper.

How Did We Ever Make Progress ???

SO MUCH FOR THE EXPERTS

1. "Computers, in the future, may weigh no more than 1.5 tons."

-- Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949.

2. "I think there is a world market for, maybe, five computers."

-- Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943.

3. "I have traveled the length and breadth of this country,

and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that

data processing is a fad that won't last out the year."

-- The editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall, 1957.

4. "But what is it good for?"

-- Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip.

5. "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."

-- Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp.,1977.

6. "This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication.

The device is, inherently, of no value."

-- Western Union internal memo, 1876.

7. "The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?"

-- David Sarnoff's associates in response to his urgings for investment in the radio in the 1920s

8. "The concept is interesting and well-formed. But, in order to earn better than a 'C,' the idea must be feasible."

-- A Yale Univ. management professor in response to Fred Smith's paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service.

(Smith went on to found Federal Express Corp.)

9. "Who wants to hear actors talk?"

-- H.M. Warner, Warner Brothers, 1927

10. "I'm just glad it will be Clark Gable who is falling on his face and not Gary Cooper."

-- Gary Cooper on his decision not to take the leading role in "Gone With The Wind".

11. "A cookie store is a bad idea. Besides, the market research reports say America likes crispy cookies, not soft and chewy cookies like you make."

-- Response to Debbi Fields' idea of starting Mrs. Fields' Cookies -- a VERY successful business in America (Debbi Fields lives in Utah and I've met her.)

12. "We don't like their sound and guitar music is on the way out."

-- Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962

13. "You want to have consistent and uniform muscle development across all of your muscles? It can't be done. It's just a fact

of life. You just have to accept inconsistent muscle development as an unalterable condition of weight training."

-- Response to Arthur Jones, who solved the "unsolvable" problem by inventing Nautilus, which is equipment that you can use to exercise ALL the muscles in the body.

14. "Stocks have reached what looks like a, permanently, high plateau."

-- Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics, Yale University, 1929

15." Airplanes are interesting toys, but of no military value."

-- Marecha Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy, Ecole Superieure de Guerre.

16. "Louis Pasteur's theory of germs is ridiculous fiction."

-- Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology at Toulouse, 1872

17. "The abdomen, the chest, and the brain will forever be shut from the intrusion of the wise and humane surgeon."

-- Sir John Eric Ericksen, British surgeon, Surgeon-Extraordinary to Queen Victoria, 1873.

and finally.......

18. "64K ought to be enough memory for anybody."

-- Bill Gates, 1981