Tsai Family of the Parklands

December 31 is a special day of the year.  We celebrated with the kids back from college by eating dimsum at New Fortune.  In the evening, friends came over for a pizza/movie dinner night.  Mike Cunningham, our friend and pizza chef, taught us how to create the pizza extraordinaire.  Scrumptuous!  We surprised our daughter on her birthday and relaxed the rest of the evening by watching movies.  Happy New Year!

Dearest family and friends, We hope you had a great 2012 year.  For our family, this year has been one of change and joy. In this dragon year, we have had three graduations, 1 mission call, 1 wedding, 1 new freshman, and 1 new middle school student. Our three girls all graduated, one from elementary school, one from high school, and one from college. Joshua received his mission call earlier this year after his musical tour to Europe, entered the MTC on the 4th of July, and started his mission in Australia in September. Another big highlight of the year was Jessica's engagement and marriage to Henry Lin. Henry and Jessica came to Maryland in June to hold an open house in honor of their engagement. Then we traveled to Utah for their beautiful wedding in the Draper Utah Temple and for their wedding reception. With the start of a new school year, Melinda began her freshman year at BYU this fall, while Megan is beginning her first year of homeschooling under the tutelage of her

Upon meeting the fiercest storm of the year, Maryland was unscathed compared to New Jersey and New York.  Yet, there were three evidences Sandy did graze our area.  First, the tree branch snapped in our front yard.  Luckily, the very next day the tree cutters came and cut down the branch and towed it away.  That's a rare display of efficiency.  Second, our basement flooded a little through the walk-out door.  The drain was clogged, so we placed buckets to catch the rain.  Third, the strong winds ripped our tarp for our grill.  So, the storm did come.  Fortunately, the damage was very minimal.

Tim & Puti traveled half way around the world to visit us.

On a very frigid autumn evening on the lake of Black Hills Park, we embarked on an amazing adventure on pontoon ride.  Equipped with a tour guide, binoculars, and an animal brochure, we rode for one a half hours on the lake searching for creatures.  We spotted eagles, beavers, and other inhabitants of the lake.

We participated in the Washington Night concert at the Washington DC Temple Visitor Center.  Four choirs (Columbia, Yellow River, Huaxia, Washington Chinese) sang a few songs, along with the featured choir, China Shenzhen Qunsheng Choir.  For the finale, all choirs were on stage to sing Mo Li Hua.

On one of the field trips, Megan was able to learn about owls and eagles at Meadowland Nature Center.

On a free day, Mom and daughter broke away to Ocean City.  Nice day with the seagulls at the beach.

We spent an enjoyable evening at the Rio.  Dinner at Guapo's was first, followed by a swan paddle boat ride.  The elders also joined us there.

On September 8, we were privileged to attend the baptism of Ethan Yamashita in Hagerstown.  we were very fortunate to have Ethan and his family as part of our branch for a few short years.  Although Ethan was confined to a wheelchair, his smile and happiness in life were very evident and contagious.  Congratulations, Ethan, on your baptsim.

On the way home from Utah, we stopped by the Winter Quarter Visitor Center.  Inside, we heard the story of the brave pioneers and their sacrifices for us.

In the wee hours of August 12, our 25th wedding anniversary, we drove to the Salt Lake City Airport and parked our car.  Then we flew in separate flights to Los Angeles airports.  I rented a car to travel down to San Diego.  We dropped in on two families, who were old college friends, before checking in at the downtown convention hotel.  On Monday morning, we visited the Mormon Battalion Visitor Center, the San Diego Temple, and Balboa Park.  Later we visited the harbor and strolled around.  We thank our wonderful kids for their support in giving us time for our silver anniversary.

On our second to last Saturday in Utah this summer, we decided to go the beautiful Manti Temple.  We were able to walk around the majestic castle walls.  It was our lucky day, because one of the workers gave us a special tour of the towers.