Discovery launch t +1:03

Space Shuttle Discovery

This is a screen shot of the inside of the shuttle Discovery at about T -1:25.


You can find it at: http://www.spacevidcast.com/live/

I just spoke with Mom and Dad

They just crossed into Arizona and intend on being back in Palmdale tonight. Yesterday they drove for 11.5 hours, so if they keep that up, they'll have no problem.

Home Decor

We also spent some time improving our home decor. We have had two of these dining room chairs since we were married and decided to reupholster them. Our selections in McPherson we very limited but we were able to find a cute color patter to match the rest of the living room.

Before

After

I also thought it would be fun to make some of my own wall hangings. I had a lot of fun making these beautiful pictures for my walls and fireplace mantle.

I have a few more vases to pick up and then the mantle will be completely accessorized. I'll post a picture once it is completely finished. The family tiled I made a while ago at a super Saturday, the tall paisley prints are what I made this morning before mom and dad took off.

New Lights!

Well we have had too much fun (video coming soon) and now it is time to work! We started with the outdoor lights. All three of our outdoor lights were brass and so we exchanged them for black wrought iron lights! I think they look beautiful and one more thing to help modernize our cute home!

I'm going to learn how to paint this someday.

This is John Singer Sargent's Rio dell'Angelo.

Computers are a tool of the devil!

I have an 'extra' computer...a backup computer that my bosses of different years insist that I have, and I insist too, since if my active PC breaks, the whole company could potentially come to its knees, though not as bad now as before. So, you'd think I could take a computer that I was using for a year and a half as my regular computer and that after a year I should be able to fire it up and all would be well.

I can barely get the stupid thing to work. I wanted an 'ax' that James could use, but I can't get anything to work or connect. It's amazing! I'm laughing at Toshiba's superior intelligence.

It hasn't been that long. I was using it full time last June when we made the deal on our St. George house. I got my new one after that. Prior to Mars, my machine was replaced every 18 months or so, or whenever somebody needed a new one so that the newest and best was always mine.

With Mars, replacement computers are 2 yr old refurbished Dells, so I want this computer to keep on going...you know, the energizer bunny thing.

Cross your fingers...I'm going to war tonight. There's nothing on it I need or can't replace, so I will go to any length. That thing is going to work whether it wants to or not!

Root Canal....can you say OUCH?

Jonathan received an air soft gun for Christmas. Shortly thereafter, our neighbor shot him in the face (faces were supposed to be off limits). He chipped a tooth and had to get a medicated filling as the root was exposed. They would reevaluate in 6 months. Well here we are 3 months later and over the weekend the tooth started to hurt again. We have two LDS dentists in our ward. Dr Johnson is a new dentist, having graduated (thank you navy for paying for school) from Loma Linda School of Dentistry, than doing his stint for them and now settling down in the family dental practice. (His father and two of his four brothers are dentists and all practice together.) We were fortunate to get an appointment for today and Jon ended up with a root canal. He is very uncomfortable at the moment and probably will be until tomorrow. We are waiting on the pain meds to kick in again. Poor kid. Remember cousins, there is a reason for protective gear and if you don't wear it, you AREN'T protected!

Hello

New pics on the Smith Blog. I changed the comment options, so you guys should be able to comment on the smith blog if you want to. if you still cant let me know and i'll mess with it again. Happy Memorial Day.

Blogging is ok

So, I told myself that I would never chat, blog, or hang on the computer like I did before my mission. Well, this blog would not count in that category, though it is hard to remember considering my stand. Life is just dandy, considering the "load" of time that I have. Thankfully, attending church, having the Haralson's over, and some ponder/study time helped wake me up to the sense of repentence. Repent in Chinese has two characters. The first character has two radicals or parts that make it the character it is. The second character has two radicals, but we will not talk about those this time. In romanization, it is Hui Gai . The first character, ( Hui ) has a 'heart' and 'everyday meaning' within its two radicals. The ( gai ) means to change. So, repentence in Chinese Mandarin means, Everday change heart. Which is exactly what it teaches from the scriptures, Mosiah 4:10; latter-day prophets, and the Savior. I made a more "structured" plan for myself, thus helping the days go alot easier.
I need to have my dental work done which will start with a visit to the dentist. We need an estimate of cost and a treatment plan. Than we will know if the Church can help cover it. As for school, the August date has been very stressful since I do not yet know if they will accept me as a "Utah resident." So, if they do... I might still start in August, if not... I will move it to January and work at New Skin till than. The job at New Skin is looking very promising. I will enjoy it alot and just need to apply, interview, and move. A mission was so much more simpler than what life is right now, but it is also limited to the amount of joy and happiness one can experience. True, preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ brings happiness most have never experienced, but the world has so much more that holds a part within the Plan of Salvation. So, life goes on and the work never stops.
So, that is my little update. Thank you all for your prayers and insights. When the Haralson's came over and we sort of had a "fireside" with me being the speaker... it brought back the fire I much missed. I do not want to lose that. I love you all!

-James

Arlington Cemetary Changing of the Guard

YouTube - Arlington Cemetary Changing of the Guard


The Sentinel's Creed

My dedication to this sacred dutyIs total and wholehearted-In the responsibility bestowed on meNever will I falter-And with dignity and perseveranceMy standard will remain perfection.Through the years of diligence and praiseAnd the discomfort of the elementsI will walk my tour in humble reverenceThe best of my ability.It is he who commands the respect I protectHis bravery that made us so proud.Surrounded by well meaning crowds by day,Alone in the thoughtful peace of night,This soldier in honored Glory restUnder my eternal vigilance.

Baseball Shocker!

I was flipping thru the standings today and can you imagine my surprise when I noticed that both Florida teams are at the top of their divisions, and that not only that, the Marlins are tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks as the best teams in baseball? It's especially comical when Alex Rodriguez's salary is mentioned. He personally makes $5,ooo,ooo more per year than the entire Florida Marlins team....and the Yankees are currently 4th in their division, five games back of the Tampa Bay Rays! I know that Jen, the leading baseball fan in the family, would be thoroughly amazed to learn this and I rushed to post this at my earliest opportunity!

:)

Ah! I got pulled over!! =(

so I was leaving my friend Tim's house about and hour ago and go to switch lanes and look in my rear view mirror and AH! there is a cop!! so I pull over and thought to turn down the radio a bit but remembered my mom telling me once upon a time to keep your hands on the stearing wheel. So I did. He walks up and knocks on my window, funny thing is, the driver side window doesnt work, so he talks to me through the back one. =) lol...and NO I wasnt speeding, gosh family how could you think that. hehe. he just informed me that the light for my license plate was burnt out so I needed to get it fixed. How kind of him to stop me in the middle of the night and scare me to death to warn me right? lol. I thought so. =) It was quite scary. The whole time I was thinking I wasnt speeding, I know I wasnt speeding so what could be possibly be pulling me over for.

I survived though, now how do I go about getting that light bulb replaced???

Sorry family I have been a slacker about getting on here, I shall try and be better. =D
Have a super night! and day and weekend and memorial day!!!

Fun Filled Day

Yesterday was the first full day with Mom and Dad and we sure filled it up! We sent Jason off to work with a hug and a kiss and we left for a fun filled day. We started our day heading up to Salina. We went shopping at a couple of the stores we don't have in McPherson.
Paisley got a backpack that will become her 72 hour kit/flight kit. It has wheels so she will be able to pull her things in case we have to leave after an emergency. It ended up seeming very appropriate that we bought it yesterday since we had a tornado watch for 9 hours yesterday evening until early this morning. All who have been to Kansas know how well I handle those kinds of situations (not very well, for those of you that don't know).

Then with the help of Mom's GPS we headed to a local park for a picnic. It was a very nice park with a couple cute bridges and nice picnic tables. We had a very fun time at lunch.
We then continued northeast toward Abilene Kansas. There we first stopped at the Russell Stover Chocolate factory and outlet store. It was an incredible site. There were thousands of boxes of chocolates for crazy prices like 4 for $9.99. Probably needless to say we bought a few.
We ended our day in Abilene at the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum. We checked the movie of Dwight D. Eisenhower's life and presidency. Then we toured his childhood home. It was all very interesting. We sure like Ike!

We had a great first day with Mom and Dad. Today as soon as Jason gets home from work we will jump in the car and head off for a fun Memorial Day weekend in Omaha Nebraska. Stay tuned for some fun highlights of that trip!

It's time to say Happy Birthday to Mialee

Happy birthday, Mailee. You're so cute! Keep up the good work of cuteness. I hope you have a very nice day!! Be sure to ask your wonderful mom to post a picture of you and your brother.

Love,
Uncle Lew

A lesson in self-reliance

When faced with the likelihood of being eaten by an Anaconda, employ the following strategy:

1. Duck your head.

2. Curl your torso as tightly as possible.

3. Leave your legs straight to encourage the Anaconda to being devouring you feet first.

4. Relax comfortably while being eaten.

5. When you have been devoured up to your knees, unsheathe your sharp knife.

6. Slice open the Anaconda along the sides of its mouth as far as possible.

7. Extract yourself from the Anaconda.

8. Eat the Anaconda to let it know who’s boss.

Packing....Moving....UGH!!

I am in the midst of boxes and belongings. I am unpacking and trying to make us comfortable for the time we will be here and determining if and what I want to truly pack again in January. Needless to say, I don't think half of what we brought with us here is going where ever it is we will be going. I am NOT moving half of this stuff again. I refuse. Nothing like moving to make you dejunk and clutter. My problem isn't so much junk/clutter as much as it is decorations I love but don't have any present use or place for but have been unwilling to let it go because we might in the future. That also goes for other stuff. I have appliances I haven't used or used only once or twice (ie. rice cooker, food processor etc). I just had to have it, but NEVER use it, alright almost never. I am not packing them again. Our neighbors have a yard sale almost every Saturday and so I am planning on putting my stuff out and taking advantage of their advertising. Yeah!! Hopefully we will sell some of it and donate the rest of it. We have a brand new portable basketball hoop (the kind you put sand in the base), not even out of the box. Santa brought it and noone wanted to get it out of the box and assemble it. This house comes with a basketball hoop in the ground. Just think of all my stuff becoming someone elses treasure.

Bring Taiwan to America, muhahahahaha!

Hello family!

So, I am still becoming accustomed to spending a little more than a hour on a computer. It has served as an important tool in helping me apply to college, look for jobs, contact friends, and listen to music! My current plans are to start Aug. 27th at Utah Valley University and study towards an AA while studying every Mandarin class available. Than, I will transfer to BYU and finish a major in Mandarin Chinese/Minor in Business. I than want to apply and study at a MBA program focusing on International Business. As for a PhD, that is something I have not yet pondered or sought out revelation.
Now, my mother has informed that it will take around $500 + to enable me to get up to Utah, down payment for an apartment, gas, food, and other essentials (car insurance, cell phone bill, etc.). So, the next hurdle within the race is finding a job that will allow me to stay on for a few weeks. At the end of June, New Skin will be having a job fair where I will more than likely have a job as a Mandarin speaking Sales Agent along side my long time good friend and old companion, Bronson Dameron. He has been a big blessing at being a middle man with items such as work and an apartment in Orem.
So, this morning, I looked at some internet sites of companies, fast food, and other items within the area. My first thought was to hit every Subway since I would require little training. But, it did not seem quite right to me. My mother and I ran a 5 mile run and doing so, I received some inspiration that we discussed in dealing with a good friend in Hacienda Heights. Last week, I had called her up and spoke to her for around 30min in Mandarin. It was one of the best activites I had, :-) . She had offered a room to spend the night and visit the area/ Mandarin speaking ward. I was impressed that I could find a job down there alot faster than up here, plus continue to improve my Mandarin, as well as start friendships/ relationships with men and women who could potentionally help out when I am finished with my MBA school and start looking into a job involving China or Taiwan. I called her up today and asked if I could live down there and work till I had enough to head up to Utah. She had no problem at all, but would still discuss it with her husband. I also thought it would be a good opportunity for their son and I to build up our friendship and help him get on his mission.
So, we are down to praying UVU accepts me. I can move to Hacienda Heights. Upon moving down there, I can find a job which will help. Than, I can be accepted to work at New Skin and start studying up in Utah. I am grateful for the planning, working, and effort into it. It has helped me stay... hmmm, well. It has been quite a culture shock living back in America, but thankfully... it is nothing which I and the Lord can not overcome. I am grateful for all of your prayers, cards, and love as I served in Taiwan. I love that place. I miss it so much. Though, I am happy and excited to move on to the next chapter. Be strong. And know that God answers prayers. He loves us and will always look out for us. His work will not end. And it is up to us to be faithful, true, and anxiously engaged, thus allowing Him to use us for good against evil.
Be strong!
-James

New Carpet

We had a very fun surprise of a project today! A few month's back some friends re-carpeted their daughters room. Since the carpet they were getting rid of was still relatively new they gave it to us. We have been storing it in the garage waiting until we were ready to have it installed. Today I decided to call around and just get an estimate of what it would cost to have it installed. I found out that it wasn't very expensive and one of the places said they could do it this afternoon, so we said ok!
We cleared out Paisley's room and got one last picture of the blue shag carpet. This picture does not do it any justice.
This is the new carpet all installed. It is so pretty! Tomorrow we will have it cleaned and then Paisley can move back into her room. For now her stuff is partly in the living room and her crib is in the guest room. Paisley loves her new carpet and can't wait to dance all over it!

Allow me to share my joy with you!

Home Sweet Home, for now at least

Alright, Daniel got here first, then Lewis and Jon and the rest of us pulled the truck in around 5pm pacific time. We took a minute to finally get out of our church clothes and unloaded half of the truck so we were all sleeping on mattresses and NOT the floor. I went to bed around 8pm and was the first up this morning, matter of fact its almost 8am and the only person I know that is awake is James (doing his morning study). If I can find some running clothes, I will see if I can get him to run with me (he can do it easily, problem is that he is STILL faster than me and he is sacrificing to stay with me). We hope to get the rest of the truck unloaded sometime today. Hopefully, Lewis will talk to Michael and we will find out what our future is going to be.

Stay tuned.

AMAZING!

So I come home after the fireside and my two roommates are there. I havent really talked with them much so I started too. I go change for bed and guess what!?!?! they start cleaning!!! now if you have talked with me before, you would know that my roommates are pretty messy...but they cleaned! talk about a tender mercy of the Lord. I not only talked with them and joked around but they really cleaned!! The church is true, no doubt about it. =D and...my apartment is lemony fresh!! Im not talking just dishes cleaning either, they mopped and washed down the stove and swept under couches (i dont even think you have to do that for room check lol) a tender mercy and an answer to prayers indeed. =)

I love you all. Thanks for your prayers on my behalf of me living on my own. =) Heavenly Father is watching out for me. I love you all, and hey, I can do this. Dont worry mom and dad. =P


LOVE YA!!!

(YAY FOR CLEAN APARTMENTS AND LEMONY-FRESHNESS!!!)

Happy Birthday, Taryn!!

I hope you have a wonderful day and eat lots of cake!!

Love,
Uncle Lew!

Totday is the big day for moving.

In less than an hour, the ward is coming to help us finish loading. Actually, they're going to do the loading since I can't. It's been a pleasure to have James with us again. He us so actively engaged in doing good for us. He assisted with a missionary lesson with the sister missionaries yesterday and speaks in Stake Conference tomorrow. I'm attaching pictures of Chinese artwork he brought back as well as other things.






The dark colored necklace....the large stones are magnetized.



His MTC companion made this for him while he was in the field. He has it laminated, but I don't know the significance.





This is his testimony to be attached to the new triple combination given to his most recent convert. It took him 40 minutes to produce this. Many of the elders do not spend much time with the characters, but he progressed so quickly and well in Mandarin, that he was able to learn this. Even now, he studies characters on flash cards when he is not busy. I believe there are 30,000 characters in the language.

He has not decided what to do yet, though he has spent much time with Tracy going over school options and with me considering majors and subsequent careers for which he will be qualified. He is leaning now towards starting at UVU in the fall with a major in Mandarin and a minor in business, with the anticipation of immediately enrolling in an International MBA program such as one offered at Thunderbird, in Phoenix.

The new fence!!

Here is the new fence!!!

We haven't had a gate since August when we took out the pool, so we are very happy to have our backyard enclosed once again!

Now on to our next project: a back lawn!! We are in the process of getting the lawn started. We will be so excited to have grass and be able to play in the backyard and have BBQ's and parties! Our home and yard are definitely a work in progress.

Caitlin's Bridge!!

Caitlin decided to take a physics class this year. She was the youngest student in her class and while she did struggle, she ultimately survived and even learned something. Above you see her submission for the Bridge contest. She kept forgetting the kit in her locker and ended up remembering in the night before the bridge was due. She spent 3 hours on it. Isn't it an engineering wonder?!!
This was her physics teacher submission.
As you can see from the scale, Caitlins bridge held 18.8 pounds of sand before breaking. In contrast, her teachers (who went first) held 94.6 pounds. Holy Cow....or should I say Holy Sand!!!!

Learning is such fun.

Elder Whelchel Returns!!

This is the first picture we got of James, he is on the left escalator at the top, we yelled his name and I started to cry upon seeing him again. He looked like James and we had to restrain ourselves to wait until he got to the bottom where we could get to him.
This is Elder Van, one of James old companions and you know everyone else.

Yes, he is still officially Elder Whelchel, our Stake President changed his mind about waiting up for us and is meeting with Elder Whelchel this morning at 9am, so he is still a missionary.

Thought you might enjoy some pictures.

Taryn's Birthday!

I am so glad that Sadurday May 17 is my birthday! I am finally going to afficaly 11 years old! Well, for my early birthday celebration with Grandma, I got a lady-bug cake and a cool and fun game called "Speed Stackers." Hopefully you have heard of it. I have been playing it for the last three days, Sunday, Monday, and today! Well I can't belive how many years of "life" I have been through already. I wish I couldn't say a kid. Well hope to hear from you all on the blog! Anyway,why aren't people posting on the "note section on the main page?"

Love ya,

Taryn

Dress up time!

Paisley and her friends are very into dressing up. At all her friends houses they are giant tubs full of pretty princess dress up clothes and here we have nothing! So we have started our own collection of dress up clothes. We bought a pink and purple set of tutus, necklaces and bracelets. Now she and a friend can dress up in this outfit. It is pretty cute. For her birthday we are planning on getting her a couple princess dresses with special shoes. We sure love to dress up!

Track James Flight

Here is a link for a flight tracking website. Tomorrow morning around 5am mountain time, James should be boarding his flight home. His flight number is EVA 12. Put that in and you can watch his plane cross the Pacific Ocean and land in Los Angeles.

What fun!!

http://www.flytecomm.com/cgi-bin/trackflight

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

Hi Mom, 

I thought I would be the one to start the Happy Mothers day post today since I am the favorite. :) You are a great mom and we love you.  One question, when I called today and you were in church, why did you answer ;).  Busted.  I hope it didn't ring, if it did I am sorry.  Have a wonderful day. 

Love 

Layne and Jen

FINALLY!

Hello my dear family, guess what!?! I finally am going to blog...hurray! Yeah, I am not quite sure why it took so long, but, better late then never right?

As for news for my lovely life =) I have officially moved out! if you havent guessed by the name, this is Lauren. It is quite exciting, but also not so quite exciting. I love it! =D

I hope you are all well, I will try and be a good blogger and be able to blog with the best of ya!! love you all!!

Iron Man!!!

GREAT MOVIE!!! Caitlin, Jon, Lauren and I went to see this and absolutely loved it.

Before and After

Alright, one of the biggest things that has been hanging over my head is our carpets. Due to dirt, light colored carpets and a dog who sometimes chooses carpet to tile when forgotten about, they weren't looking too good. We have a good deposit riding on getting the house in rental shape so I headed to Albertsons to rent a Rug Doctor machine. Big mistake. Only good news is that its pretty inexpensive. The machine stopped working after 3 swipes and after 3 calls to their 1-800 help number, they suggested I take it back and try another machine? Are you kidding me? I ended up calling Prestige Carpet Cleaners. The proof is in the pictures.

Unofficially, he is staying at Nutro

Lewis had a conversation with his boss who had a conversation with someone else and unofficially he is staying. We are all breathing a sigh of release.