Miss Becky's Blog

GROWING OLD ...

My sister, Sue, sent these quotes to Ken for his SEVENTY Birthday:

Old age isn't so bad when you consider the alternative. -- Maurice Chevalier

You can't help getting older, but you don't have to get old. -- George Burns

Don't worry about middle age: you'll outgrow it. -- Laurence J. Peter

They tell you that you'll lose your mind when you grow older. What they don't tell you is that you won't miss it very much. --Malcolm Cowley

I look forward to being older, when what you look like becomnes less and less an issue and what you are is the point. -- Susan Sarandon

How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are? Satchell Paige

Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.

If you die in the elevator, be sure to push the UP button. -- Sam Levenson

THESE ARE MY FAVORITE . . .

Here is a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished: if you're alive, it isn't. -- Richard Bach

The greatest use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it. -- William James

Wrinkles should merely indicate where the SMILES have been. -- Mark Twain

Happy Holidays!!!!

I'm writing to you from my Father's home in Provo, Utah (on December 3rd) as we watch a special Christmas program on TV. It's coming from New York City -- Christmas at Rockefeller Center. This is a traditional program for almost 75 years where they turn on the lights of a huge Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center ... it was started during the depression when some on the construction workers on the Rockefeller Building put lights on a small Christmas tree to give people hope. There are 100,000 people crowded in the streets there in NYC to see the program and the lighting of the tree AND thousands more across America are watching it on TV.

Two years ago I took my daughter-in-law and two grand daughters to NYC during the Christmas season and it was soooooo wonderful. We went ice skating at Rockefeller Center under the huge Christmas Tree and we saw the traditional Christmas show at Radio City Music Hall which is located at Rockefeller Center. It was a wonderful experience to share with those I love.

Happy Thanksgiving

Last week Americans officially began the CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY SEASON by celebrating THANKSGIVING ... a special time for families to be together and give thanks for the many blessings we have. (The story of the FIRST Thanksgiving in America is told in the following article -- or click on the Holiday category to find it.)

I have soooooo much to be THANKFUL this year, including the peaceful passing of my Mother after years of poor health; the miracle of modern medicine in saving Ken's life; the joys and challenges of family life including all our special children and grandchildren; and the opportunity to care for and spend lots of time with my Father. He will be traveling with me to Aronzia next week -- I will be caring for my daughter's three little boys while she has some minor surgery AND my father will have some dental work done by my son-in-law who is a dentist.

I'm so very GRATEFUL for FAMILY -- I'm blessed to have had good parents and great brothers and sisters and wonderful children. I'm very grateful for all our special friends in America and China who have enriched our lives so much ... In fact I feel like we are all ONE FAMILY -- MANY HEARTS!

I'm also very grateful for all the THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of good people who have lived on this earth and many any contribution that has left the world a better place --- today we enjoy so many wonderful things and opportunities because of the faith and efforts of those who have gone before us.

Merry Christmas

Millions of people around the World will be celebrating Christmas this month ... there will be lots of TV programs, stories and books about Christmas; many family celebrations and traditions carried out; many parties with friends and family; lots of gift giving AND there truly is a special feeling of love and kindness in the air .... everyone seems more friendly, happy and willing to do things for others. Our family always does a special service project at Christmas time, usually it's being Santa Claus (providing Christmas gifts and dinner to a family in need). We are doing that this year.

The SUNSHINE Project started as a Christmas service project of the Nanjing University 4-H club I had organized there, but as you know this project continues thru the year and brings out the most important thing about Christmas:

Christmas is more than a day at the end of the year,

More than a day of joy and good cheer.

Christmas is really God's pattern for living

To be followed each day unselfish giving.

Then peace on earth will come to stay,

When we live Christmas every day.

I'll post more articles about Christmas in the coming day.

This is a busy but most wonderful time for me ... I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!

Miss Becky

WORLD KINDNESS DAY!!!!

November 13th was World Kindness Day all around the globe. To encourage my Grandchildren to join people around the world on this day and commit random acts of kindness, I sent them the following famous story (Aesop Fable) to read and learn about KINDNESS:

There are many simple ways to celebrate World Kindness Day. Read the list below. Choose one thing you could do. Draw a picture or write a sentence about the action you pick.

* Be generous with your smile!

* Give 10 hugs in one day!

* Start a conversation with a new student or someone who looks lonely.

* Smile at people who look sad.

* Write a nice note to someone.

WHAT IS THE LONGEST WORD IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE???? __________________________ (The answer is SMILE, because there is a "mile" between the first and last letter.)

KEEP SMILING and always have a happy song in your HEART ... it's so easy to be KIND to others when you are feeling happy yourself.

WALKING -- JOGGING -- HIKING!!!!

Walking is very enjoyable exercise and is not only good for your physical body, but good for you mentally and emotionally as well.

I LOVE walking, jogging and hiking during the autumn time of the year. I've been able to do around 180 miles in the seven weeks of preparation for SMILEY's FUN RUN. I LOVE being outdoors and the fall time of the year is so beautiful in Logan, Utah. Here are a few pictures so you can see what it's like in my hometown during the fall time when the leaves begin to turn into pretty autumn colors.

This tree is right in front of our house, which Ken calls "Fort Smiley".

This is the same tree from the street side, our house is behind the tree. Some parts of our home are covered with natural wood, but most of it is "yellow." When we purchased our home, many years ago, it was a gray color. We chose to paint the house "yellow" because it is such a "happy" color. Ft. Smiley will be the finish line of SMILEY's FUN RUN here in Logan, Utah.

This is the tree lined, street we live on (700 North). I like to walk up toward the mountains. Utah State University in located at the top of the hill. The mountains in the background are not far away. We live in a valley, meaning that it is surrounded by mountains. Logan is located very close to the mountains on the east side of the valley. It only take about 5 minutes by car to arrive in the mountains.

It's FUN to walk through the fallen leaves. My grandchildren love to play in the leaves. Last week they raked all the fallen leaves in the neighbor's yards and brought them to our front lawn so they could make a huge pile of leaves to "play" in.

Since August, I've spent a few days each week at my father's home in Provo, Utah helping him. His home is also very close to the mountains.

When I'm at his home in Provo, I like to drive about five minutes to the mouth of Rock Canyon pictured here ... it's a great place to hike.

The trail can be very rocky in places, but it the rocks and trees are beautiful and and the trail is a steady incline so you get a good workout.

Rock Canyon is a good name for this place -- see all the rocks on the trail. The fall leaves add to the beauty of the season.

It fills my heart with JOY and makes me SMILE everyday to live in and enjoy such a beautiful world. I LOVE the mountains and University campuses, as I've lived near them both all my life!!!!

TOP SECRET ADVENTURE - WEEK TWO REPORT

WEEK # 2 . . .

It has been exciting to "communicate" with several people (both Chinese and American) regarding our TOP SECRET ADVENTURE and many have committed to participate.

Here's the miles that have been done so far that I know of. Notice that the 1st week's total has been changed as reports came in after I had posted the numbers last week. Here's the latest:

AMERICAN TEAM -- with participants in the states of Utah, Arzonia, Nevada, California, Oregon and Minnesota reporting a total of 514 miles.

1st Week -- 201 miles

2nd Week -- 313 miles

CHINESE TEAM -- Only one person has reported mileage so far, but many people have responded that they will participate. There have been some problems in communication and getting my e-mail messages through, but I'm confident that now these special friends know of the project, they will adding miles to help us reach our Goal of 7,000 Miles.

Right now there are 35 Americans participating and about 25 Chinese people who have said they would participate.

Let me introduce you to one of the newest recruits, PINGLE, our son's family pet dog. She is very friendly and likes to be with people. Since our son's family has moved to our home, she mostly sleeps at the side of our bed (Ken and I). Pingle loves to follow Ken around the yard when he is working out there ... if he stops for a few minutes to do something, she will lay down and wait for him to go again.

Pingle LOVES to go walking/jogging with me ... here we are on the sidewalk in front of our house in Logan, Utah. She seems to know when I'm getting ready to go for a "run" and she will come and stay right with me until we go. At first she would pull very hard and want to go faster than I wanted to go, but now we've become quite a team and go the same pace. The law requires that the dog by on a lease (or type of rope) to keep her under control. I will record the miles she does with me each week now! Last week she "jogged" 10 miles with me .... go Pingle!!!!

Since our Chinese friends use a different system to figure distance, here is information for you to convere the distance you "walk/jog/run" to miles:

One mile is equal to 1.609344 kilometers, or roughly 1.6. One kilometer equals 0.6214 miles, and of course, 1,000 meters equals one kilometer.

400m = 0.2485 miles (~1/4 mile)

800m = 0.4971 miles (~1/2 mile)

1000m = 1km = 0.6214 miles

1500m = 0.9321 miles

1600m = 0.9942 miles (~1 mile)

1609m = 1 mile

3000m = 3km = 1.8641 miles

3200m = 1.9884 miles (~2 miles)

5000m = 5km = 3.1069 miles (~3 miles)

10,000m = 10km = 6.2137 miles (~ 6-1/4 miles)

Marathon = 26 miles, 385 yards = 42.1950 km

50km = 31.0686 miles

100km = 62.1371 miles

So for Chinese friends to "walk/jog/run" 7 miles on October 21st, you will need to do 11,263 meters OR 11.263 kilometers!!!!

Please report your weekly distance in MILES ... send report to me at: missbecky@xmission.com (you can click on my name [Becky Mitchell] at the end of this article and it will automatically come to me at that address.

Thanks so much for your willingness to take on this project AND for keeping it a surprise for Ken/Smiley ... remember it's TOP SECRET!!! Have a good week and enjoy your workouts!!!

Love and Hugs,

Miss Becky

A Special Anniversary Celebration

The following letter was written by Smiley and Becky on September 11, 2001

Dear Students and Friends,

Today, September 11 is a special day for Smiley and Becky... it is our 37th (sun-shrr-chee!!) wedding anniversary!!!!!!!!!! We were married on September 11, 1964 -- 37 years ago.

This picture was taken that day at the wedding celebration. The wedding ceremony had taken place in the Salt Lake Temple earlier that day.


Here is a picture of Becky on her wedding -- she had made or sewed her wedding dress and she looked beautiful.

In our culture weddings are very important -- it's the start of a new family and we celebrate that day each year -- it's called a wedding anniversary. It's a good way to express and celebrate our love and remember that special wedding day. We don't know if you do that in China, but we want to tell you how we celebrated this wonderful event in our lives.

(By now you know about the terrible terrorist attack on the World Trade Buildings in New York City which occurred this morning at 6:40 am our time, 8:40 pm your time... it made us very sad for all the people who died and their families... so, our anniversary celebration wasn't as happy as we'd like. Many of you know that our son, Brady, is a missionary in New York City... he is ok... his apartment is about 8 kms north of the attack. He called this morning to tell us he was ok... he said he and his companions went to the roof of their building and they could see the smoke from the attack.)

Our anniversary... Over the years we've done some unusual things to celebrate the anniversary... gone to musicals, gone to a mountain town for the weekend, gone to Hawaii on our 20th anniversary... and sometimes just do more simple things... This one was a very simple celebration but a very unique and wonderful experience. Yes, this was Becky's idea and it was really special!! She prepared different types of food that we have enjoyed over the years... the best being a Mexican dip which we used to eat a lot... now we don't because it's fattening... then she cooked a Chinese dish (we don't know the Chinese name!!!) which has chopped up chicken meat, peppers and nuts to be eaten with rice. It was really gooooooooood!! THEN, she had prepared MY FAVORITE dessert... it's called Cherry Delight but is a lot like a cheese cake... I can eat the whole thing without stopping... but I didn't... but, I know I'll add some kgs to my weight from all this... we just "pigged out" and enjoyed it!! Now we must trim back to control our weight!!

Becky started the evening by putting on her original wedding dress... again she was beautiful in it... it was very special to her to be able to wear it after all these years... because she had controlled her weight she was able to wear it, and it fit just like 37 years ago!!



(Ken took this picture of my that night wearing my wedding dress and holding the roses he had given me. This is in the front room of our home where that special celebration took place.)

When Becky served another food dish she would change into another dress from some special occasion in our life... it was great!! When she served the Chinese dish she put on one of her Chinese dresses!! We ate by candle light... I got her two big red roses... Some men think you have to buy a dozen (12) roses... I think the number isn't important... it's the meaning... to me, two roses means two lovers together (am I right?)!! (And, roses are very expensive in America... if we were in Jinan I would have bought 37 red roses!!)

Last year we were in Jinan on our 36th anniversary... We remember we went out to find a Pizza restaurant... finally ended up on the top floor of the Simpson Hotel where the chef (a guy from Long Island, NY) made us a pizza... we became friends with him and associated with him for several months. Becky can remember so many things (why is it women can remember so many details and men don't?!!) about our years together... I can only remember the scores of ballgames!!! I really enjoy hearing about the things we did and the places we went... one was a football trip to New York City where our Utah State University played the U.S. Military Academy (Army)... we stayed in NYC and went to a Broadway play and went out to eat at a famous restaurant called "Mama Leonne's." We both agree that it is still the best restaurant dinner we've ever had... we "pigged out" there also!!

For background music she had a CD with the songs, "You Light Up My Life," and "The Rose." It was really beautiful. Some of you have the words to the song, "The Rose." We sang it with you in some classes. It is so beautiful. The words to both songs are as follows:

YOU LIGHT UP MY LIFE

So many nights I'd sit by my window
Waiting for someone to sing me his song
So many dreams, I kept deep inside me
Alone in the dark, but now you've come along.

And you light up my life
You give me hope, to carry on
You light up my days
And fill my nights with song

Rollin' at sea, adrift on the waters
Could it be finally, I'm turning for home.
Finally a chance to say, "Hey, I love you"
Never again to be all alone.

And you light up my life
You give me hope, to carry on
It's can't be wrong, when it feels so right
'Cause you, you light up my life.

THE ROSE

Some say love it is a river, that drowns the tender reed.
Some say love it is a razor that leaves your soul to bleed.
Some say love it is a hunger, an endless aching need.
I say love it is a flower, and you it's only seed.

It's the heart afraid of breaking that never learns to dance,
It's the dream afraid of waking that never takes the chance,
It's the one who won't be taken, who cannot seem to give,
And the soul afraid of dying that never learns to live.

When the night has been too lonely and the road has been too long,
And you think that love is only for the lucky and the strong,
Just remember in the winter, far beneath the bitter snows,
Lies the seed that with the sun's love in the spring becomes the rose.


Now from Becky . . .

It was a very special, romantic evening and I'm so glad we did it last night. I surprised Ken and prepared things while he was at a meeting on Monday and told him when he returned that since it was September 11th in China by that time, we could start our celebration!

Along with the roses, Ken gave me a beautiful card that has some very special words that I want to share with you. It reads:

FOR MY WIFE,
Thanks for the Wonderful Memories . . .

"A marriage isn't magic that 'just happens'
It's something built with time and love and care.
It's made of laughter, tears, and understanding.
Of loyalty and simply 'being there.'
A marriage is a bond between two people
That's stronger than the sum of all its parts,
A beautiful, rich tapestry of living
That's woven of the love between two hearts."

Thanks for the wonderful memories that add so much joy to this day...
Memories of all the kindness you've shown in your warm, loving way.
Memories of help that you've offered and dreams you've been happy to share,
Memories of how you've stood by me and shown me how deeply you care,
Thanks for the beautiful moments that passing time only endears...
Thanks for the wonderful memories, thanks for the wonderful years.
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

I loved it -- the words were very meaningful to me and the card had roses on it -- roses are the flower of LOVE and I've always LOVED roses!!! There is nothing that brings more JOY and HAPPINESS than TO LOVE AND BE LOVED. It is our hope and desire that each of you will find a special person that you can love and build a successful, happy marriage with -- a relationship that can be deep, meaningful and fulfilling for both partners. For those of you who are already married, keep the magic of love alive by understanding "the Seasons of LOVE" and how to nurture love's special needs. I'm soooooooooo thankful for our marriage and the special things that we have shared over these 37 years. It has not always been easy, relationships have to be cared for just as a garden: watered regularly, new seeds planted and weeds remove and even after all these years, we have to continue working in the garden! But it's all worth it -- because Ken really does "Light Up My Life."

Love and Hugs to all,

Smiley & Becky

Remembering September 11, 2001

It was five years ago today that the attack on the World Trade Center occurred, changing life in Amercia and effecting the entire world. At that time, Americans all across our country united to help support the victims and do whatever we could. There was a great spirit of love for our country and the freedoms we enjoy, along with great sadness that there are so many people in the world with hearts full of hate and want to kill others.

Many, many Americans starting displaying and flying the American flag after September 11th, not just on holidays, but many are flown all the time.

Here is a picture of me with a "rag" flag that I made from small squares and strips of fabric after September 11th and we display this flag several times during the year. Today my "rag" flag will be displayed along with our real American flag to honor all those who lives were so tragically affected that day AND to recognize the many thousands of others who have given their lives to protect our freedoms, not just of Americans but others in the world as well.

This picture was taken on September 10, 2006 on my front porch, my "rag" flag in the background.

TODAY ... September 11, 2006 -- It has been a special day, the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks five years ago in New York and Washington D.C.

Today, thousands of Americans came out to honor those killed 9/11. In New York City, at the 16-acres where the WTC Towers stood and which is still mostly barren, the names of each person killed were revently read most by tearful loved ones holding photos to their hearts and blowing kisses to the sky. In Washington, D.C. at the Pentagon, and windswept Pennsylvania field, and in simpler, quiet moments in airport security lines, at churches or by themselves, Americans paused to reflect on the worst terrorist act on U.S. soil.

In New York City tonight there are two columns of light from "ground zero" reaching up into the heavens ... a haunting reminder of the World Trade Towers that once stood there. President Bush spoke to the nation tonight on TV ... just like he did five years ago. I thought it was a good talk and expressed the feelings of most Americans. I'll try to get a copy of his speech and post it on my block.

Another impressive thing today was the "Healing Field" in the city of Sandy, Utah, where I lived and attended school. Sandy is just south of Salt Lake City a few miles. The "Healing Field" is a big green lawn area where 3,000 American Flags on eight foot poles were place in row upon row, one flag for every person killed on September 11, 2001.340 It's a very impressive sight. The flag flown there is a very special one, with the name of each person killed on 9/11, all 3,000 printed on the red and white strips of the flag -- see picture. Thousands of people visited the "Healing Field" touching the flags, reading the names on the flag, walking up and down the rows and not only remembered and paid honor to the victims of 9/11 but to ALL the men and women who have fought and given their lives so we Americans can enjoy the freedoms we have today. The idea of the "Healing Field" started here in Sandy, Utah in 2001 when 3,000 smaller flags were placed in a green field right after 9/11. There were only 3 Utah people killed that day, however all Americans felt the pain and reached out to help our fellow Americans anyway we could. This type of place, with all the flags really touched people's hearts and "healing" began. The idea has spread to many other American cities. Visiting a place like this not only helps those who have lost love ones, but it's also a good way to teach children and young people that "freedom isn't free" and we owe the gift of FREEDOM to the many sacrifices of others.

This week I'm posting articles and stories about September 11th including what happened in our life those days; a special LOVE story from victims in New York City; and an update regarding how people have tried to rebuild their lives during the past five years.

There is another reason that September 11th is an important day in my life . . .

It was on September 11, 1964 that Ken and I were married in the temple in Salt Lake City. For various reasons in 2001 we had a wonderful, unique anniversary celebration the night before on September 10th. We were so glad that we celebrated early because after the events of that morning, we did not feel like celebrating, our hearts were very sad and hurt.

We celebrated our anniversary early again this year. Last Saturday evening Ken and I took our son, Jason and his wife, Missy, to a special dinner/show called "Celebrate America" ... the food was good and the show honored all our military people. Ken and I really enjoyed the dancing to the "Big Band Music" (we had done a lot of dancing while courting, before we were married).

In the picture below I'm wearing the necklace that Ken gave me on the day of our marriage, 42 years ago. It has my birthstone set in a small heart ... the stone is blue in color, so it was the "something blue" I wore at my wedding! The picture is of a Temple, like where we were married ... this picture hangs just inside our front door.

This is also a special anniversary for us this year, as it's the first one that we have been together since 2002. In 2003 I was in Las Vegas welcoming a new grandson to earth; in 2004 I was in Baltimore, Maryland on the east coast of America, caring for our son's children while their mother had a medical procedure done; and in 2005 I was helping our daughter, Kara, move to Boston to start work on her PhD and I visited our son's family in Maryland.

This picture was taken on September 11, 2003, with Amy's three boys in Las Vegas ... from left to right is McKay, the oldest, baby Gavin and Jack holding the ball. See the flowers Ken had sent to me for our anniversary -- they were so beautiful -- roses, the flower of love.

Today, September 11, 2006, Ken and I had lunch at our cabin ... the mountains are so beautiful at this time of year as the leaves are turning different autumn colors.

It's been a good day, full of memories, love of family, gratitude for my country, and pride in my fellow Americans.

TOP SECRET ADVENTURE . . .

Would you like to be a "Secret Agent" and help us carry out an exciting ADVENTURE to recognize and honor Ken (some of you know my husband as "Smiley") on his 70th Birthday, which will be on October 26, 2006.

Our mission will be to WALK, JOG OR RUN 7,000 MILES IN 7 WEEKS TO SURPRISE AND HONOR KEN/SMILEY AND TO RAISE MONEY FOR OUR SUNSHINE PROJECT IN CHINA.

You may not know that Ken had a "heart attack" last May ... he's OK and we are very grateful for the MIRACLE of modern medicine and the doctors tell us he should have several more years to enjoy on this earth. (The complete story is posted on this BLOG in the article entitled: "Smiley's HEART Miracle" and can be found by clicking on the category "Miracles" or "My Family".

We are very grateful that Ken is doing really well physically, he was back to golfing less than a week after the "heart" experience. He's done some jogging, lots of outside work in our backyard, some "hoops" and is now busy officiating American high school football games. This experience has made us more grateful than ever for the blessing of healthy bodies. I know he would not have done so well, if he had not been "jogging", playing "hoops" and staying activity the past several years of his life.

To encourage better fitness and heart health in our family and among our friends, we will celebrate Ken's 70th Birthday AND raise funds for the SUNSHINE Project that we started in Nanjing, China in 2003 (complete information and pictures of this ongoing project are also posted on my BLOG ... go to the category "Sunshine Project.)

TOP SECRET ADVENTURE--is the name of our project, because Ken doesn't know anything about it ... we want to SURPRISE him ... so PLEASE DO NOT SAY OR WRITE ANYTHING TO HIM ABOUT THIS. Please reply to this e-mail address only: missbecky@xmission.com

THE EVENT: We are planning a special running/jogging event called SMILEY'S FUN RUN, here in our hometown of Logan, Utah. It will be on Saturday, October 21, 2006 and we'll Walk, Jog, or Run seven (7) miles. For "fun" we are using the number 7 because Smiley will be 70th years old! Ken does not know anything this. One of his friends will make a "golfing" date with him that day and when he arrives at the Golf Course, a number of friends and family members, will be waiting to "surprise" him. We'll begin SMILEY's FUN RUN there and other family members and friends will join us along the way. We'll "jog" past many special places in Ken's life including the high school where he coaches basketball now and the university where he worked for 30 years. The "finish line" of the "run" will be at our home for food and celebration with friends, family and neighbors!!!!

It will be very meaningful to Ken/Smiley to have so many of the people he loves participate in this physical fitness activity, because he KNOWS how important regular exercise is to keeping your heart healthy...especially now!!! Also, recent research has concluded that the NUMBER ONE thing you can do to keep your brain healthy, young and smarter, is to "Move It" ... get regular aerobic exercise. (See article on my BLOG entitled "Seven Ways To Make Your Brain Smarter" under the category: "Art of Living".)

You do not have to live in Logan, Utah to participate in this event ... you can select any seven mile route and Walk, Jog or Run it that day. Those of you near a university campus could use the track at the sports field (four laps around equals ONE mile). Not all of our family or friends will be able to come to Logan, but they are planning to participate where they live, for example our daughter, Kara, will run in Boston, K.C.'s family will run in Las Vegas and friends will be running in Provo and California.

THE SUNSHINE PROJECT -- It is common in America to raise money by getting donations and participating in special running events or marathons. We have had family members and friends do this in the past. We'll raise money for the Sunshine Project, by inviting friends and family to make a finanial donation to the project as a Birthday Gift to Ken. Each participant in the FUN RUN will pay a "registration fee" which will also go to the project.

TRAINING MILES COUNT -- Now is the time to begin training and preparation for this event ... it's SEVEN weeks away. When Ken and I ran a marathon, which is over 26 miles, we trained and prepared for over three months. So if you start this week, you can be "ready" by October 21st to do SEVEN MILES. Remember you don't have to RUN the whole way ... a combination of walking and jogging is best AND you can even WALK the entire way if you want, but it should be fast walking to get your heart rate up!!!!

It would be so AWESOME to have American and Chinese people BRIDGE the huge ocean that divides our countries, and come together, "heart to heart" bringing SUNSHINE into the lives of these special deaf children. If we were to build such a BRIDGE, from American to China, it would be about 7,000 miles long. Our GOAL in this project would be to meet in the middle of that imaginary bridge by counting all the "training" miles each individual does, along with the 7 miles of the FUN RUN! That means the Americans need to total up 3,500 miles and the Chinese need that same amount. Working together WE CAN DO IT!!!! Start this week with your preparation and record the number of miles you are able to do each day ... if you did 10 miles a week by the time of the FUN RUN you would have done a total of 70 miles!!! Our group goal will be to do 7,000 miles in 7 weeks!!!!

YOU are INVITED to participate in this TOP SECRET ADVENTURE in any or all of the following ways:

* E-mail me your Birthday wishes and thoughts for Ken/Smiley, giving an update on your life and what you are doing now and send a current picture of yourself. I'll print it out and put in a special Birthday Book we are making for him. Please send to me at: missbecky@xmission.com .... do not tell Ken, this is part of the "secret".

* Register to participate in SMILEY's FUN RUN, by sending me an e-mail message (missbecky@xmission.com) with your Chinese name, English name, correct e-mail address and the location (city or area) that you will be in on October 21st to do your "running". I will e-mail you back giving you the name of the contact person in your area. You will need to pay them your "registration fee" which is your "donation" to the SUNSHINE Project. The amount of the fee is whatever you can pay from 7 to 70 RMB. (In honor of Ken's "70th" Birthday, we use the number SEVEN as offen as we can!) People can give any amount they can that ends in seven, for example 7 yuan, 17 yuan, 27 yuan, etc. This "donation" or registration fee tells us they are committed to participating in the FUN RUN. All who successfully finish the seven miles that day will earn a prize.

* Begin your TRAINING now, by "jogging" each day ... except Sunday. We've found that a day of "rest" is really good for the body and I run much better on Mondays when I've rested my body on Sunday. Research also shows the same health benefits for those who do six days of aerobic exercise and those that do seven days. It is also good to "rest" your body the day before the race ... that's what runners do when they run marathons. Record (write down) the miles that you do each day.

* EACH SUNDAY REPORT YOUR TOTAL MILES FOR THE WEEK TO ME ON E-MAIL at: missbecky@xmission.com. I will post an UPDATE each Sunday on my BLOG giving the total number of MILES for both the American and Chinese teams, so you can see what progress we are making toward the Total Goal of 7,000 MILES. Be sure to check my BLOG each week to get the latest information on this project! When you go into my BLOG, go to the listing of Categories on the right hand side of the screen and click on ADVENTURES -- TOP SECRET ... that will be the best way to get the latest update on the project.

* After, finishing the FUN RUN, on October 21st, REPORT the total miles you "ran" that day to me on e-mail OR to your contact person.

* You are welcome to invite other friends to participate, sharing the opportunity and blessings it will bring.

By your participation in this project you will be giving a special

* GIFT to Ken/Smiley, a

* GIFT to the deaf children in Nanjing China, and a

* GIFT of better health and fitness to Yourself.

TOGETHER WE ARE MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER, HAPPIER PLACE -- KEEP SMILING!!!

P.S. ... Remember to keep this a "secret" from Ken/Smiley

Smiley's HEART Miracle!!

Smiley's HEART Miracle!

On May 7, 2006 my husband, Ken, who some of you call "Smiley" experienced a "heart attack". Thanks to the "miracles of modern medicine" and his otherwise healthy, strong, active body, he is fine now and the doctors say he has at least 15 more years of life! Here's the story, if you're interested.

It was a Sunday evening. I had gone to Provo that afternoon so I could drive my Dad to the airport early the next morning. Ken/Smiley stayed home that day and was resting since he had been busy the last couple of days at a basketball camp for his high school team. Around 6 or 7 pm he felt some tightness or discomfort in his chest. Thinking it was indigestion and since he had not been moving that day, he went outside in our backyard, did some walking around, hit some golf balls for an hour and a half. When he came in the house, the pressure in his chest was worst, so he went to the computer and looked up the signs of a heart attack on the Internet. He had only read the first paragraph and realized that, yes, he was experiencing all the signs of a heart attack, including shortness of breath now.

Since I was not home, he called our son, Jason, who was at his office that night doing some work, to come and take him to the hospital. Jason was only about 10 minutes away and he could tell from the sound of Ken's voice that he was in trouble. Ken went out on our front porch (just outside the front door of our house) and laid down there, as it was easier to breath, to wait for Jason. (Jason's wife found Ken there and thought he was dead!! She told me that we just about had another heart attack that night -- we laugh about it now, but at the time it was very scary for her. Ken had not told her his problem because she was busy caring for their three children, and he did not want to scare them.)

Jason arrives and takes Ken to the Emergency Room at the Hospital, which fortunately is only five minutes away. They begin working on him, giving him some drugs to open up the clogged artery. Soon he is feeling somewhat better, trying to sit up and joking with the medical people. But, they life flight (sent him on a medical helicopter) to Ogden, a larger city about 40 miles away. There they have a Cath Lab where they immediately take him for tests to determine which artery is blocked.

Jason called me on the phone and explained all that was going on. I called my brother to take my Dad to the airport the next day. My father and I had a prayer together and I drove to Ogden, about a 80 mile drive from where I was. It was late at night, so the traffic was not bad. I had a very peaceful, calm feeling come over me. I felt the presence of my mother, who had died two months eariler, and had the strong feeling that everything was going to be OK. Jason, drove down from Logan and met me at the hospital in Ogden. It was about 2:00 am in the morning when we got there and we were the only ones in the waiting room outside the lab. The nurse, kept coming out and telling us what was happening and assured us that Ken was doing well. She gave us the computer picture of his heart showing the artery that was blocked and said that a special doctor was inserting a "stent" into that artery to open it up.

Here's more information about the procedure the doctors performed:

After the procedure was successfully completed, Jason and I were allowed to see Ken and he looked pretty good. There were lots of tubes, etc. going into him, but he was not experiencing any pain. We went with him to his room in the caratact intensive care area ... after getting settled into his bed, we talked with him for a while. Then he encouraged Jason to go home, as he had a presentation he needed to do at his work the next day. Jason left and I stayed with Ken through the rest of the night, sleeping in a chair in his room and we slept for a few hours.

The next day Ken had to stay still and flat most of the day. The "stent" was put into place using a catheter that was in a sheath that had been inserted into an artery in the groin. That sheath was not removed until late the next day -- that was the most painful part of his hospital stay. Ken felt good, was hungry and ate everything they brought him to eat. The medical people did LOTS of different tests that day, physical therists came and worked with him and we got a big binder full of nutrition information. Family members and friends called through out the day and a couple friends going through Ogden even stopped by to see him. That night he was even able to get up and go to the bathroom himself. He felt good but tried. After I got him already to sleep, I drove home (almost an hour drive) and slept well in my own bed.

The next morning, I returned to the hospital with some things that he wanted and we spent the day seeing different medical people and getting the results of all the tests. The Doctor told him that there was very little damage to his heart, because the medical people in Logan were able to open up the artery so quickly AND because he was in such over-all good health, living an active life-style. He was doing so well that the Doctor let me take him home that night.

He has to take several medications each day and the Doctor said told him to take it easy, but to do what he felt like doing ... but not to play "hoops" for a while. I brought him home on Tuesday night and by Friday that week he was on the golf course.

He did go to cartica rehab a couple of times and found that he knew several of the people there who had suffered different type of heart problems, one man had had eight heart by-passes! Max Peterson is one of the people he saw there. Max and his wife had taught English on the Shandong Medical University campus the 2004-2005 school year and lived in the same building that we did. After they returned from China, Max had a heart attack, when to the Logan Hospital, was flown to Ogden and had a stent put in there ... their stories were almost the same. It's interesting to note that the "life flight helicopter" often flies right over our house ... now when we see or hear it, we are reminded of Ken's experience.

Ken perferred getting his exercise doing the things he likes, such as golf, jogging and hoops. He has also done a lot of outside work around our house this summer. And he takes naps as he needs them. It has been my job to help him by providing "heart" healthy meals and he has lost some weight and wants to lose some more.

At the follow up visit with the Doctor in Ogden, we were told that the artery that was blocked affects 70% of the heart, so it could have caused major damage to his heart. Again we are so grateful for the "miralces" of modern medicine, that it happened when and where it did so he was able to get medical attention quickly AND we are especially grateful that Ken is doing so well and looking forward to many more wonderful years here on the earth.

More about the SUNSHINE Project

An UPDATE on the SUNSHINE Project:

Visit to the School:

On Saturday, April 19th, over 20 NanJing University students, along with some NJU teachers, family members and friends of Ken and Becky Mitchell, the BYU China Teacher at NJU that year, traveled by bus to the Gao Chun Long Xiao School for deaf children.

We took with us a student with computer skills to connect the printer and scanner that we had purchased for the school. He also serviced the computers and promised to return to provide proper care for the computers, on a volunteer basis.

The deaf children led us on a tour of their school and classrooms, we put name tags on all of them, and the University students paired off with the students, communicating in writing and body language.

The deaf students performed for us, and we for them:

We shared lunch, played a variety of games, including baseball, made “rainbow” bracelets with the children and the older children accompanied us on a short field trip in their town.

The above students were some of the ones that we sponsored ... they could not have attended the school without the money we donated to the school.

At this time we discussed with the Director of the school other needs. We were given information sheets on ten deaf children who will not be able to return to the school the next year, unless we could get the money to pay their fees. These fees include their board and room as well as school costs. We also discussed their need for some projectors in the classrooms.

Both the deaf students and the university students had a WONDERFUL experience on April 19th. Before the next Saturday, five of the deaf students had written letters of appreciation to the University students, who have replied and sent pictures, etc. Future visits were being planned.

SARS Prevents Visits . . . Due to the SARS problem, both the NJU and Deaf School campuses were locked down and no other visits were permitted. The students and teacher hope to resume regular visits when the fall semester begins. But the following things have still be accomplished:

Library Started . . . NJU Teachers purchased and sent several new books to the school to begin a little library. Other books will be added at others times:

Ten Students have been sponsored: NJU Students, Teachers, Friends and family members from America and Hong Kong have sent the money to pay the fees for 10 students to attend the school for the next school year. The cost is $175 or 1400RMB.

Future Plans . . .

· After the SARS problem was over the NJU teachers delivered the money and other items, clothes and school supplies, that we had collected to the school. They are continuing to find and purchase some audio-visual equipment for use in their classrooms.

· They will plan with the NJU students future visits to the school for activity days and perhaps bring the older children on a fieldtrip to Nanjing, etc.

· Will continue to communicate with the school director to plan for and purchase needed audio-visual equipment for the school to use.

Our goal: Bringing more SUNSHINE into the lives of these special children.

SUNSHINE PROJECT VISIT -- 2004

SUNSHINE Project Visit – March 13, 2004

Return to China -- In February 2004, Miss Becky and Smiley (Ken) Mitchell returned to China to teach for one semester in Beijing at Peking University. One of the things that make this such a wonderful experience was the opportunity to meet and visit with many of our former students and friends in China.

Visit to Gao Chun School -- The wonderful Nanjing teachers (Hua Wei, Jin Jian, Yang Jinghong, Gao FengHua and student leaders organized a special visit to Gao Chun School in March of 2004. Ken and I took the night train from Beijing to Nanjing and had a wonderful reunion with many special students and friends there. Several helped us prepare materials to take to the deaf students, including puppets and “snowballs.”

Here deaf student shows one of the puppets that the NJU students made and presented to the school.

Here are the 18 students that our project supported this school year -- without the funds we provided, they would not have been able to attend the school this year. Adult and student project leaders are also in the picture.

Note in the picture that many of the students are giving the "sign" for "I Love You". There was lots of LOVE and Sunshine shared that day!!

One of the Teachers demonstrated the projector that our project purchased for the school this year. The teachers all loved it and found it a great teaching tool.

One of the highlights of this visit was getting the school, ONLINE. The NJU computer students got them connected and we paid for DSL service. As you can see here, the students LOVED it. Many of them have continued to communicate via e-mail with their NJU student friends.

(See hand "sign" for "I Love You" on the back wall. Some of the students performed and . . .

The students from a middle school in Nanjing who joined our group performed as well as. This group had raised money and collected clothing to bring to the school.

Everyone liked the performances.

One of our NJU graduate students arranged for a TV station to send a filming crew to cover the story of our visit and the SUNSHINE Project. Here they are interviewing one of the oldest, most talented boys, who is using "sign language" to communicate -- he can speak a little.

This is the entire group of students and visitors.

It was a WONDERFUL day for everyone. We played games, (the students especially liked UNO), did some crafts, played some sports, ate lunch, communicated one on one in writing and made some special friendships. It was the first time for some of the visitors to come to Gaochun school. They were very impressed with the school, especially the children and teachers and many promised to continue to support our project. A special THANKS to all the NJU students and teachers who made this special day possible ... TOGETHER we are able to "make a difference" in the lives of these special children.

Several of the NJU students expressed to me how good it felt to share "sunshine" with others. One of the NJU students who had visited the school the year before, decided to volunteer once a week in Nanjing at a school for deaf students close to her, so it did not take as long to get there. She plays with and "loves" a five year old deaf boy and they have become good friends. She told me, "I feel good when I make someone else happy."

That's the secret of HAPPINESS ... to forget about ourselves and love, serve and care about others ... then HAPPINESS and JOY will come to us!!!

Foreign Teachers Seeded SUN PROJECT

SUNSHINE Project visit to Gao Chun Long Xiao School for deaf children, March 13, 2004:

This Nanjing University journalism student, holds a flower made by the deaf students which was presented to her and the name tags that we used ... note the "smiley face". She wrote the following article about the SUNSHINE Project and our visit for a Chinese Newspaper. She also did the English translation for us, which follows:

Foreign Teachers Seeded “Sun Project”

The Gaochun Special Education School was in the sunshine on Mar. 13th. The students were welcoming the “Sunshine Deputies”, including American teachers Ken Mitchell, Becky Mitchell, Mr. Nielson, Mrs. Claton, and the staff and students from Nanjing University and Nanjing Foreign Language School. People gathered and held a party in the school hall. On the stage, children were singing Seed A Sun by sign language: “I have a wonderful wish, wish I could seed a sun.” Off the stage, the “Sunshine Project” has seeded the sun of love and hope here.

“Sunshine Project” was initiated on Christmas Day, 2002. Associates of “China Teachers Program” of “David M. Kennnedy Center for International Studies” Mr. Ken Mitchell and his wife Becky Mitchell, Mr. Richard Criddle and his wife JoAn Criddle with their Chinese students discussed about doing something for the Chinese children. They raised an amount of money and donated it to the Gaochun Special Education School with the help of NJU teachers Hua Weina, Yang Jinhong, Jin Jian and Gao Fenghua. This benevolence was named “Sunshine Project”. Thanks to the project, over 50 thousand Yuan and some educational devices such as projector, copier, and scanter have been donated to the school; a little Reading Corner has been built up to facilitate the students’ study; 18 students who were initially too poor to go to school could go back to the classroom again. Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell, Mr. and Mrs. Criddle also called for help from their relatives and friends after they went back to U.S.A last year. And now more and more warm-hearted people gathered into the “sunshine”. Liu Cui’er, a Hong Kong doctor and many students of Nanjing University and Nanjing Foreign Language School have participated into this activity.

Li Xin, a student majoring in Business Administration at Nanjing University, drew 200 yuan from the National Scholarship she has won and contributed it to the “Sunshine Project”. Zhu Guang, from the Mathematics Department at Nanjing University, has come to the school for the third time. He and his classmate Kong Linhong helped the students set up ADSL to facilitate their surfing the Internet. The students in Class 10, Grade 2 at the Nanjing Foreign Language School has brought lots of books and 400 yuan, and also with their well prepared entertainment programs.

In the hall, every student was wearing a card printed a smiling face and a smiling face ring, which were both made by Miss Becky. She hoped the students could communicate by smiling. Beginning with smile, “Sunshine Deputies” brought out their gifts such as candies and books; their partners presented their self-made Lucky Stars and Paper Roses. When the party reached its peak, Miss Becky played snowballs with the children. The children were so happy, smile on their checks, and sunshine in the hall.

“I love children very much,” said Miss Becky with a smile, a colorful hand made necklace around her neck and several paintings and calligraphic works in her hands. Those were all gifts the disabled students made for her. Miss Beck said, “I will continue to help them till they graduate and become a person useful to the society.” She showed the photos of her family to the students Yang Hui and Lv Xiaohong and said, “I have seven grandchildren, and now I have the eighth and the ninth child. You are the members of our family.” Yang Hui and Lv Xiaohong received the photos and happily took photos with their “foreign grandmother”. Yang Hui expressed “Thank you” and “I love you” by sigh languages. Yang Hui, 20, once wanted to enter the high school but quitted because of financial problems. Now she fortunately became one of the objects of the “Sunshine Project”. She smiled and told her wish, “I want to enter the Nanjing Special Education college to major in designing.” Her dream is to become a fashion designer.

The “Sunshine Project” not only sent sunshine to the disabled students, but left sunshine in the heart of the participators. Zhou Yin, a Politics major at Nanjing University who’s kept in touch with Yang Hui for almost a year, said, “They seldom communicate with the outside world and lack confidence. I hope to spend more time with them and help to build up their confidence.” Wang Jianni, from the Nanjing Foreign Language School said, “I think this activity is meaningful. It makes you learn to help others when you live under a relatively normal condition.”

Mr. Ken also expressed his admiration to the students, “If I could not speak and listen, I would not know what I should do. But they are all so happy and active. I truly admire them.” He expected more people to participate into this project, “I’m happy to see so many students come this year. Maybe there will be more next year. It’s true that every city and every place have this kind of need and we can’t help everyone, but it’s better to help one than to do nothing.”

The “Sunshine Project” has seeded a sun in the Gaochun Special Education School, more care and help from the society are expected, as was sung by the children in the Seed A Sun, “It’s enough to seed one sun, one sun is enough; it will grow many, many suns. And every corner of the world will become warm and bright.”

Update on My Life ...

Today, July 19th, 2006, I'm at our small cabin in the Logan mountains, just about a 15 minute drive from our home. I do not have internet here, so I'll have to post this when I return home in a couple of days.

This has been a very busy month for me:

* Drove to Montana to attend a memorial service for a special friend who died in June. A friend drove with me and we listened to some tapes about the medical advances in treating mental illness that have come about in the last decade. This was very interesting to us, as our friend who had, died had struggled with a mental illness for years. This information was helpful in understanding mental disabilities better ... now doctors are treating the brain as another organ of the body and we know that chemical imbalances in the brain can cause illness for people and there are a variety of things that can cause those chemical imbalances. The good news is that there are now medications available to assist in the treatment of these illnesses.

* Took care of the three grandchildren that are living at our home for four days while their mother was leading a group of young women in a summer camping experience. It was a busy week getting them to all their summer activities, which included summer camps at the Historic Farm, 4-H Adventure camps on the USU campus, and supporting Baylor's baseball team as they played in and won the end of the season tournament -- this was all in addition to preparing meals, washing clothes, reading stories, etc.

* One weekend, I drove to Boise, Idaho (about a 5 hour drive) where my son had just moved a couple of weeks ago. He called and asked me to come help, as they were having to move to a different house because the one they were living in had mold and a water problem in the crawl-space under the house that could make his children ill. So I drove up early on Saturday morning and tended the children (two little girls) while they moved everything on Saturday. I stayed until early Tuesday morning helping my daughter-in-law get things organized and tending the children while she unpacked.

* When I arrived home, my brother’s two children, Kayla (10) and Jake (9) were at my house … I had invited them to come to give their parents a week to themselves to celebrate their wedding anniversary. My brother’s wife has an older son who is a drug addict and has problems with the law. He finally is in jail now and we are praying that it will help him to overcome his addictions. This has been very hard on his mother. These children are near the ages of our grand children that are living with us now, so they had a great time playing together…. Kayla and my granddaughter, Britt, attended a 4-H Adventure Art Class on the USU campus each afternoon during the week. Jake and my grandson, Baylor, had a great time shooting bows and we only got two arrows on the neighbors roof. All the children loved playing in the water and sand in my backyard. They all went tubing down the canal, saw a new movie; had a cook-out, watched the video, "Iron Will" and slepted-over at our cabin in Logan Canyon, where we also made and decorated pinewood flutes. I helped Kayla and Britt sew some matching pj’s and I made them small bags out of the left-over fabric … I also made matching pj’s for Gwen, who is too young to use the sewing machine yet. It was a busy and fun week.

* Also the same day I arrived home from Idaho, friends of ours from California arrived. They have an RV (Recreation Vechile) they had driven to Alaska and back. The RV contains a bathroom, bed, kitchen, etc. They parked it in our driveway and stayed for three days. They had been pullling a small car in back of the RV, which they would use to get around places after they arrived. The car was having some problems, so Ken took it to the man that works on our cars and he was able to fix it for them for a lot less money than it would have cost them in California. Bob and Sherry are really great people. Bob and Ken when golfing two days, I took Sherry sight-seeing in Salt Lake City as she had never been there before. Did you know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has the world's largest Family History Library inb the world in Salt Lake City?Sherry put her grandfather’s name in the computer and on a website, we found LOTS of his ancestors, some as far back at the 1300’s. We printed off 30 pages of names for her. She is really excited about that and wants to do more family history. They took us to dinner one night and on the way we stopped at a cemetery where several of Bob's ancestors were buried. Sherry took photos of all the headstones we could find with the information she needed. The last night they were here, they cooked out at the cabin with us and all the kids.

* Also, last week, with the cooperation of my husband and daughter-in-law to take care of all the kids, I made another trip to Salt Lake City on Friday to attend a court hearing for a lady that I've been working with for almost a year. I met her in the class that I taught at the county Jail. Since the first of the year, we have become closer friends thru visits and letters. She has been transferred to another jail and asked that I be there for her in court. It was good for me to learn more about the charges against her and to see the justice system in work!!!

* Our Chinese friend, Zhai Wei, who has been living with us for the last three years, decided to move to another apartment, to make more room for Jason's family as it looks like they will be with us for several more months and she needed a change of environment. I hope this will be a good thing for her. I think she wanted to be more independent of us. Ken and I have spend hours this month helping her move, driving her to the airport to take a trip to Florida to visit friends and picking her up and taking her calls in the middle of the night when she has had problems in the new apartment.

* I've also made some trips to Provo to check on my Dad, who continues to have a variety of health problems. My niece is living there for a month and Dad is really enjoying her little boy, who is two-years-old. While she is there, I do not have to go down as much.

On top of doing all these things, I've suffered a bad cough since the first of the month. It has kept me awake at night so I've not slept well, the cough medicine helped a little, but I was just too busy to take better care of myself. So Monday, I went to a doctor and found that I have a sinus infection, and some problems with my stomach. The doctor gave me four medications to take and I have to drink lots of water and rest. So that day I packed up my things, got food for the week and headed to our little cabin in Logan canyon, where I’ve been staying ever since … doing lots of RESTING and sleeping and trying to get better.

Love to all ...

Miss Becky

P.S. I was not able to get this posted earlier because I had a problem with my computer and it had to be sent away to be repaired. I've spend the last couple of weeks getting better and cleaning and sorting things at our home to make more room for our son's family.

I can't believe that the month of July has passed ... Ken and I will fly to California on Saturday (August 5th) to visit family and friends and Ken will be playing golf with his friends from his high school years. Hope you all have enjoyed a great summer.

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY . . .

Today, America celebrated it's 230th birthday!

(I wrote this late on the 4th so used the term "today", but it was not posted until July 5th!)

It was on July 4th 1776 that AMERICA was born with the signing of our Declaration of Independence from the rule of England. That was just the beginning of a most important effort, to bring forth a new, unique democratic form of government, "of the people, by the people, and for the people." It was not easy and required much work and effort to bring forth a country where freedom and liberty would be for all, that all men and women would have equal opportunity to live and worship as they please.

Americans come from all different countries. I have family members from England, Denmark, Wales and a great grandmother who was part Native American (Indian). Some of them have lived in America since it's beginning and I have a grandfather who came to America in 1914. We have many Americans from Chinese origin. Today, thousands of immigrants became American Citizens in special ceremonies across the country. This usually takes about five years, however, those who serve in our military can become citizens faster than that. The news noted tonight that applications for US citizenship have increased over 15% this last year.

Following this entry is an article I posted, entitled "FREEDOM IS A WONDERFUL THING" --- stories about real people who have recently immigrated to this country. I think you would find it interesting reading.

Ken (Smiley) and I have had a quiet celebration here in Logan. This morning we went to a traditional Boy Scout Breakfast (pancakes, eggs, ham and fried potatoes) along with our friends and neighbors. (For your information, Boy Scouts of America, is a youth development organization for boys and they learn lots of different skills. Each year on the 4th of July, our Scouts, hold this breakfast to raise money for their program, it helps pay for them to take camping trips, etc. My sons were involved in this when they were scouts and so we always support this effort.)

It was especially nice at the breakfast this morning to sit across the table from a couple that we had not seen for a couple of years. In fact we met them when we were taking a Chinese class at Utah State University the fall of 2001 after we had taught for a year in China. They met each other in the class and fell in love, married, finished college, worked in Washington, D.C. for a year, have a two year old little girl and are expecting another baby next month. It was sooooo fun to visit with them and find that they now live close to us.

We spent the rest of the day working around our place, eating some Chinese food, and watching some great American traditional programs on TV. Jason and his family, who currently are living in our home with us, are in Yellowstone for a five day vacation and all of our other children are living away. So it was just Ken and I here today and it was nice! Our daughter Kara living in Boston, which was a major place for much of the beginning of our country shared in some interesting celebrations. We watched some of it on TV. I'm posting an article for you to read about the different celebrations across America today .... it says that there were about 500,000 people watching the fireworks in Boston .... they were great on TV as well. It tells of other things happening in Boston that our daughter participated in ... read if you are interested.

Another TV program tonight was a special program from the Ford Theater in Washington, D.C. This was the theater where President Abraham Lincoln was shot and later died. It's still a theater today and has the original seats. There is a flag draped from the box where President Lincoln sat that night and no one ever sits there now, in honor of him. There is an interesting museum about his life in the basement of the theater. I've been there to the museum as well to see different theater productions or shows. It's a small and wonderful theater. Tonight the program ended with a reading of President's Lincoln's famous Gettysburg Address (which is the MOST famous of all our presidents speeches) and with all the performers joining together to sing a very popular song, "God Bless America."

You may be interested in knowing that after Lincoln had given his short, simple speech at Gettysburg, he thought it was a failure, because people just got up and left. It had not been a long speech like the person before him. But a newspaper reporter asked for a copy of it. When it was printed, others read it and recognized the powerful, simple declaration of just was this country was all about. I had to memorize it when I was in school. Here it is,

Delivered at Gettysburg on November 19, 1863 by President Abraham Lincoln:

"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that "all men are created equal"

"Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of it, as a final resting place for those who died here, that the nation might live. This we may, in all propriety do. But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow, this ground -- The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have hallowed it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here; while it can never forget what they did here.

"It is rather for us, the living, we here be dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that, from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here, gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve these dead shall not have died in vain; that the nation, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people by the people for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

I believe that challenge, from President Lincoln, should still be apart of the heart of each true American. We need to "dedicate our lives to the preserving and sharing of freedom" to all people of the world. God did not create America just for Americans, but to bless the lives of His children all over the globe. I hope that my efforts to be a good, honest citizen of my country and to help others were I can, will strengthen that effort. I'll share more later about a responsibility American citizens have, to serve on juries in our court system. I had that opportunity last January and it was a great experience.

I LOVE AMERICA ... Just as you love your country, I love mine. To share my LIFE and LOVE with you, I need to share my country with you as well ... I'll post more articles about America and Americans in the future. HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA . . . I LOVE YOU!!!!

Miss Becky

P.S. Other events today, included North Korea shooting a missle toward America and America launched a Space Shuttle to go to the space station --- more about both these things in following articles.

TASK OF THE TEACHER

TASK OF THE TEACHER

No printed word nor spoken plea

Can teach young minds what men should be

Not all the books on all the shelves

But what the teachers are themselves.

BYU Students Returning to Jerusalem Center

Brigham Young University (BYU) is very close to our hearts. My father was a student there and later in his life worked for the BYU Alumni Association. It was at BYU that Ken and I meet as undergraduate students, fell in love, married, graduated and began careers in areas that we loved. Both our daughters have earned degrees from BYU. It was the BYU China Teachers Program that brought Ken and I to China. Brigham Young University is a private university owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The BYU motto is: "The World is Our Campus" and "Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve".

BYU has developed one of the BEST language training programs of any university and attracts many foreign students because of it. One of the unique features of their program is requiring the students majoring in a language, to live in that language house ... for example the GERMAN HOUSE. There would be a native speaker of German living there to help the others and all the students living in the house are required to speak GERMAN totally in the house, where they live, prepare meals, eat all together. There are houses for Spanish, French, Chinese, Japanese, etc.

There are many students on this campus with great language skills because they have served missions for the Church. These young men and women have learned the language by living and serving the people in different countries all over the world for 18 to 20 months. In that length of time most of them become fluent in the language because they HAVE to use the language as they live and serve the people. It's hard at first but most do really well if they continue to study and work hard. Three of our five children had this experience ... one served in Norway, one in Portual and one in Germany and each became very fluent in those languages. One son served here in the USA, but was assigned to work with Spanish speaking people. He did not become as fluent as the others, mostly because he lived with English speakers and did NOT have to use Spanish as much.

This is why we encouraged the "Give Me Five" program in our teaching of English is China ... the more you use a language (listen, speak, read, write and think) the more fluent you will become.

BYU also has established several "study abroad" programs. Our daughter, Kara, was able to spend a semester studying in London, England and had a great experience studying English literature there.

One of the most unique BYU "study abroad" programs takes place in Jerusalem, where the University and Church built a very beautiful facility on the Mount of Olives facing the old Jerusalem city. My daughter, Amy and I visited Jerusalem in 1993 and had a wonderful experience there. Classes cover ancient and modern Near Eastern history, Near Eastern languages and cultures, and the Gospels in the New Testament. Students live at the Jerusalem Center, study and travel to historic sites.

BYU sent students home a month early from a semester at the center in 2000 after violence in Jerusalem's streets made it unsafe to remain in the area. Here is the article announcing that BYU will start up the program again this fall. I'm happy to see this....

BYU STUDENTS RETURNING TO JERUSALEM CENTER

By Autumn Linford

Deseret Morning News

PROVO — Brigham Young University announced Friday that students will return this fall to the school's Jerusalem Center for the first time since 2000, since the program was interrupted due to violence in Jerusalem.

Brigham Young University will resume student programs at its Jerusalem Center this fall.

The decision to hold fall semester classes at the center, located in east Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives, was made after consulting with government and leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which operates BYU.

Administrators had hoped to provide the study abroad program at the center since the program was interrupted in 2000 due to violence in Jerusalem, said Jim Kearl, BYU assistant to the president for the Jerusalem Center. "We always wanted to return, of course," he said. "Having it closed denied a whole generation of students a marvelous opportunity to study in the area. For young LDS members of the church, the Old and New Testaments just come alive when you study them in their historic and geographic setting. Now looked like a good time to go back."

The announcement to reopen student programs this fall came somewhat as a surprise because Israel remains on the U.S. State Department's travel advisory list, which cautions U.S. citizens to carefully consider the necessity of traveling to the area.

Kearl said that despite the advisory, BYU feels it is safe to bring students back to the Holy Land. The advisory applies more to the West Bank and Gaza, rather than to Israel proper, he said, and the BYU program will limit its travel to the safest areas. The program might include visits to Jordan or Egypt, but BYU has not yet made a decision.

Kearl said the program will also be more tightly structured this year than in the past. Students accepted for the fall 2006 program will live at the Jerusalem Center and travel to historic sites but will have less free time to wander the streets and will spend more time under direct supervision of center personnel, he said. Classes will cover ancient and modern Near Eastern history, Near Eastern languages and cultures, and the Gospels in the New Testament.

The center will be staffed this fall by two BYU faculty members, the executive director of the center, an Israeli and the associate director, a Palestinian.

The structure of the program will also be slightly different than in the past. Only about 40 students will be allowed in this fall, whereas more than 150 were selected before the closure, and only BYU juniors and seniors will qualify to apply.

Kearl said BYU set the limitations mainly for safety and staffing reasons. By limiting the numbers to 40, the center can take all the students in one bus.

"Part of it is the logistics of getting a program together by fall, and part of it is about being cautious," Kearl said. "Things have changed a lot in the Holy Land in the past 5 1/2 years. We need to relearn how to do this."

The program will expand if there is interest.

BYU sent home 174 students a month early from a semester at the center in 2000 after violence in Jerusalem's streets made it unsafe to remain in the area.

The students had been kept inside the center for more than a month before being sent home.

Kristy Bott, who was a BYU student in Jerusalem that semester, said even though she saw a bus explode and violence, she never worried about her own safety while in the Holy Land.

"There's always trouble over there, and I don't know if anyone would ever think it's a perfectly safe thing to be there (in Jerusalem), but I was never scared," she said. "When we were there, it got worse and worse, but I felt completely safe. I knew they (BYU professors and Jerusalem Center administrators) would take care of us. Maybe I was completely oblivious, but I was never scared. I was just so excited to be there." Student programs have remained suspended since Bott's group was flown back to the United States in November 2000.

It was the second time the program shut down since its opening in 1987. It was closed once before in 1991 during the Gulf War.

Despite the closure of the student program, the Jerusalem Center stayed open, hosting concerts, workshops, tours and visitors. Bott said she had no doubt students who applied to this year's program would be kept far from harm's way. "Honestly, as long as they follow the rules and only go to the places where they're supposed to go, they'll be fine," she said. "It's never going to be completely safe, but if they trust the faculty and people with them, they'll be kept safe. I think the more people who get to go and experience it, the better. I'm jealous. I want to go back."

BYU officials expect the announcement will create some excitement around campus. This summer is the first time applications have been accepted since 2001, when BYU stopped taking names for future enrollment at the center after the 9/11 attacks. "I just have to figure out a way of going without my girlfriend getting mad," said Jonah Barnes, a junior at BYU. "Of course it's not going to be as safe as the United States — nowhere is. But to experience the Holy Land, to really see the place you talk about so much in church—that would be awesome."

The future of the student program will depend on the political climate and events in the Middle East, Kearl said. If things go well, it is possible the program will again expand to its previous size.

Hello from Boston ...

Ken and I arrived in Boston, MA yesterday afternoon. We left our home in Logan, Utah last Sunday (May 28th) and have been driving our daughter's (Kara) car across America to bring it to her here in Boston on the east coast. She has been living here since last August and is working on a PhD in Education at Boston College.

Kara just moved to a new apartment closer to her university, but not near the subway or "T" as they call it, so it takes her about an hour to get to school, as she takes two or three buses. She also needs her car to travel to some of the public schools in Boston where she will be doing some teaching and research projects next year. Kara had left her car at our home this past year and used public transportation. Ken drove her car while he was living and coaching in Las Vegas last fall and winter. It also costs more to have a car in Boston, but at her new apartment there is room to park a car (at the old apartment she would have to pay $150 a month for a parking place).

So, Ken and I drove Kara's car to her. It was a nice, interesting and long (almost 3,000 miles) trip.

It was cold the morning we left Utah as we had been having a lot of rain and even some snow in the high mountains. We drove through the canyon in the mountains just east of our home, through the corner of Wyoming (a neighboring state) and then back over the state line into the north eastern corner of the state of Utah. There we stopped for a couple of hours so I could visit with a lady that I've been working with who had been transferred from the Cache County Jail (in Logan) to the Daggett County Jail near the Utah border. I had not seen her for about five months and we had a good visit, while Ken reorganized some of the things in the car that we were bringing to our daughter, so he could see out of the back window better. He also did some walking and sleeping!!!

The rest of that day (Sunday) was spent driving to Denver, Colorado where we spent the night at my sister Sue's home. Did you know that Denver is called the "mile high city" ... because it is a mile high, over 5,000 feet. In getting there we drove through some very high and beautiful mountains ... the highest elevation was over 9,000 feet above sea level At that point we experienced a snow storm. That day my sister's daughter, Anne, went into labor giving birth to her first child five weeks early. Anne's husband was out of the country on business, so my sister went to the hospital with her and stayed with her for the birth. Ken and I arrived at her home that evening before she and her husband had returned from the hospital. All is going well for the mother and baby, which weight over five pounds -- good for a pre-mature baby.

The next morning Ken and I stopped to visit with my youngest brother, Brad, who lives near Sue in the Denver area. It was neat to see them and I especially enjoyed learning more about my sister-in-law's little home business ... I promise to do a article on it and post in the future. After getting gas, we were on the road again.

Monday, it was different driving. There are are freeways all across America. A freeway is a highway or major road that has no stopping on it ... there are no traffic lights or stop signs. There are places where you enter the freeway and places were you leave or exit the freeway, but there is no stopping, so you can travel at rather high rates of speed and can get places much faster than driving on roads where there are more cars, traffic lights and stop signs. That day we drove on a freeway across the rest of the state of Colorado and all across the state of Kansas (the landscape was lots of agriculture land, fields, farms, very flat with no mountains or hills) to Kansas City which is located on the border of Kansas and Missouri. We stayed that night in a hotel on the Missouri side of Kansas City.

Ken did most of the driving and I enjoy reading and sewing (cross-stitch embroidery), listening to music and sleeping as he drives. When he gets tried, I drive and he sleeps or checks the road map to find the best way for us to travel, and sometimes he reads as well.

On Tuesday, we travel across part of Missouri to the city of Columbia, the location of the University of Missouri, where one of our Chinese friends is a graduate student. We stopped at that campus and tried to locate him, but were unsuccessful. We continued across the state of Missouri (all on the same freeway that we had traveled on from Denver) to the city of St. Louis which is on the border of the state and that border is the Mississippi River ... the largest and longest river in America running from north to south (starts near the Canadian border in the north and runs the length of America to the Gulf of Mexico in the south). We took another freeway now and drove south, crossed the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers and entered the state of Kentucky. This is where my husband, Ken, was born and lived until his family moved to California when he was 15 years old.

Ken was born in an old family home on Bizzel Bluff, a very rural area of the southern most western part of Kentucky. Paducah is the largest city, near his home area. We drove through there, got some dinner and then drove to his cousin's home for the night. She had gone to North Carolina for her sister-in-law's funeral, but had told us we could use her home, which is located on "Mitchell Road". This area is very beautiful, green, rural and quiet. You can not see the nearest neightbors' home from her house. The second night we were there, I was unable to sleep, so decided to get up and read for a while. As I got out of bed, I noticed lighting in the sky and looked out the window to see many fireflies or we also call them "lighing bugs" ... they have a "light" in their tail section that goes on and off and in the dark night all you see is the light going on and off. A couple of these bugs had even gotten inside the house and their lights were going on and off in the dark room. It was so beautiful ... like a fairy land ... I just stood and enjoyed the sight. I had never seen such a sight -- very unusual for me because we do not have this type of insect where I live in Utah. Our climate is too dry for them there. I've only seen this type of insect in the east and southern parts of America.

Wednesday morning, Ken and I took a long walk over the country roads that he had walked as a child ... the only difference was that the roads are paved now and when he was a child the roads were all dirt or gravel. It was beautiful, green with rolling hills and soooooo quiet ... a very nice experience! The rest of the day was spent visiting and talking with several of Ken's relatives and friends. One of his cousins, who was like a brother because Ken spend many summers at his home as a boy, is still working ... he's over 70 years old and has worked for this company for almost 50 years!!! I always enjoy coming here and listening to the people talk ... I always learn more about Ken and his early life.

Thursday morning, we left the Paducah area and drove north east across Kentucky. This is a very beautiful state ... many hills, lots of green forests ... both sides of the freeway. There are also lots of horse farms with green meadows, miles of white fences and nice barns or stables for the horses. We also saw lots of very nice homes. We arrived in Lexington, Kentucky early in the afternoon and met one of our special Chinese friends from Jinan. Her name is Dong Bei, some of you will know her. She has been at the University of Kentucky for a few years working on her PhD. When she arrive in America, she came to Utah and visited us at our home on her way to Kentucky. We had been able to contact her ahead of time on our cell (mobile) phone so we met them at the Medical Center on the U of K campus. It was great to have lunch with her and meet her husband, who is a very fine Chinese man she met here. He was a student at Shandong University at the same time that she was studying on the Shandong Medical University campus, but they did not meet until here at the University of Kentucky where they were classmates and both working on PhD degrees. They returned to China in June of 2004, met each others families and married there. Now they are expecting the birth of their first child in August. Her mother will come to help care for the baby the first six months so Dong Bei can continue her research work and his mother will come the next six months. It was soooooo great to see her again and share in her joy and happiness at this time of her life.

Late that afternoon, we left Lexington, driving north east toward Boston. Just outside the city there was an accident on the freeway and all the traffic stopped for over an hour. We stopped the car and got out ... Ken visited with the man whose car was in front of us and I took the opportunity to take a walk. I walked down the road pass all the cars in front of us, as we could not see what that problem was. I walked close to a mile and got to a point where I could see the road ahead where the accident was. I talked to some people there and then started walking back to Ken and our car. On the way, I talked to several people who asked if I had been able to see the problem, so I told them what I had seen. Soon after I returned to our car, the traffic (all the cars) started moving ... it was really slow for a while, but once we got past the site of the accident, we could drive faster.

From Kentucky we drove northeast across part of the states of West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and into the state of Massachusetts where Boston is located. Thursday night we drove through some mountains ... not as high as the mountain in our home state of Utah, but very beautiful and green. We chose to drive most that night. About 2:00 am Friday morning, we left the freeway, parked the car and slept in the car for about three house. Then, I felt rested enough to drive and drove while Ken slept some more. Three hours later, we stopped for breakfast and to get gas and then Ken drove the rest of the way. We arrived at our daughter's apartment that afternoon just in time for her to drive her car to the campus for a summer class that she is taking!

After Kara's class, we went out to eat and then she took us dancing ... she love "swing" dancing and it was fun ... bought back lots of good memories for Ken and I, as we did a lot of dancing when we were dating and courting. There was a "Big Band" playing for the dancing and it was so fun to see Kara dance ... she's really a good "swing" dancer. This summer she tells me that she is planning to take a "tap" dancing class with a friend. Kara's really a fun person, great teacher/student and really loves to learn and try new things.

Kara and I both slept in late this morning (Saturday) and it has been raining here all morning as well. So Kara has been doing some studying, I'm writing this message. Ken has taken one of Kara's roommates to get some things she had purchased since she does not have a car and he will be taking Kara to get a new chair as soon as we have some lunch. I hope that the rain will stop by tomorrow so we can do some sightseeing here in Boston, as Ken has not been here before. We are planning to visit Kara's campus on Monday, which is really a beautiful campus and looks a lot like the campus of Oxford in England. Then on Tuesday, Ken and I will fly home to Utah.

It has been a good trip and nice to be with Ken ... our life has been so busy and we have been separated most of it during the last couple of years, so now we need to get reacquainted!!!

I LOVE Life!!!!

I’ve just returned from my morning jog. It’s a beautiful spring day here in Cache Valley Utah. Logan, the city I live in, is located very close to the beautiful Rocky Mountains which I walk toward, until I arrive at Utah State University. I walk across the most beautiful part of the campus, by a fountain and across the tradition "Aggie Hill". Then I like to jog downhill around the Temple (a very special place to me) and pass many houses back to my home. The grass and trees are all so green at this time and there are many flowers in bloom.

I thank God everyday for the beautiful world He created for us and for allowing me to live in such a wonderful, clean place. I've been so blessed in my life and when I returned home today and saw this quote on my computer, it was just how I felt:

"I always danced when mere walking would have done, so glad was I of life, so full of health." --Josephine Demott Robinson

I always feel so good after jogging and my heart is full of gratitude to God for His many blessings to me and my family. Have a GREAT DAY, I'm going too!!!

Welcome to My BLOG ...

Welcome to my new, updated BLOG! I'm looking forward to communicating more with all of you. I hope you'll visit my BLOG offen to practice your English, think about some new ideas and share our lives. I'll post a variety of essays, poems, news items and stories about my family. You are invited to e-mail me at: missbecky @xmission.com to share your life happenings and stories.

Since leaving China in June of 2004, my life has been busy helping and supporting different family members; teaching a Sunday School class in my Church and serving as a volunteer teacher/facilitator for an addiction recovery group for women at our local county jail.

My husband, Ken (Smiley), has spend the last three years serving as a volunteer basketball coach at Centennial High School in Las Vegas, Nevada; where he was close to two of our children who lived there. This was living a "dream" for Ken. It was his goal in college to become a high school teacher and "coach", however he ended up working for 30 years at Utah State University in the Altheltic Department in a variety of jobs and really enjoyed his work ... much of what he did, he would have done for "free" because of his love of sports. He's had the great opportunity of being able to work as the assistant coach of the Freshman team for two seasons and last year he was the Head Coach and had the best season ever. This year, he led the Freshman team to the Championship (they lost only one region game). He really had a great group of young men to work with, one was a Chinese boy who had only been in the USA for a year.

We are both home in Logan, Utah now and Ken has started working with the Logan High School basketball team. He has already started taking some of the student/players to "camps" where they play games with other teams for practice and to learn more. He excited to be able to "coach" at the local school, as he LOVES living here in Logan ... and two our children who lived in Las Vegas have moved to different states.

Since we left China, we've welcomed two new grandchildren to our family; I lived with my son's family for four months to care for their two little girls while their mother finished teaching school that year; I've traveled to my son's home in Maryland several times to care for their children while my daughter-in-law had several medical procedures for a heart problem; I've helped move and support our daugther, Kara, to Boston where she is working on a PhD in Education -- in fact, Ken and I will be driving her car across country to her the end of this month; our son, Jason, has taken a new job in Logan, Utah and his family is living in our home now; I've spent a lot of time helping my parents who both have had health problems; my mother passed away on March 4th and I've taken my father to my daughter's home in Then just last Sunday evening, Ken (Smiley) suffered a heart attack. He is OK, the miracle of modern medicine saved his life and he is already home from the hospital and recovering well.

I promise to share more details and information about our lives on this blog and hope that you'll also share your lives with us, because YOU are part of our "extended Family" ... the family of "mankind" ... LOVE to you all ....

Miss Becky