Tsai Family of the Parklands

Despite a drizzling evening, Melinda and Megan decided to brave the weather and join their friends, Emerald and Isaiah, at the Kentlands neighborhood. Starting before sunset, they strolled the streets, trick-or-treating, collecting candy, and admiring the diligently installed decorations of goblins, spiders, and monsters. At the end of the evening, in the comfort of home, the sisters engage in their tradition of sorting and trading their gains of the night. Happy Halloween!

In October, the Brown family came to stay at our home for a week before moving out West. We had so much fun with them while they were here. On the last night before they left, Evelyn and Megan camped out in the house. We sure will miss them. Good luck, Brown's.

This summer we have been busy adding a family to the back of our house. Here is a review of the progress over the last 4 months in pictures.

At the end of the summer, we were privileged to be visited by the entire Theodore clan, including the cute Oliver. They stayed at our home for a few days while house hunting. Before they left, they insisted on making a dinner for us, which was very delectable. Thank you, Theodore's, for sharing this time with us.

After visiting the Hershey Chocolate Factory, we drove straight to our friends, the Wang family, who had just moved to Pennsylvania. We had not seen them for one or two years. After dinner, we celebrated a double birthday for Jessica and for I-Ming. Although it was a very short visit this time, we thoroughly enjoyed the time spent together. Welcome to the East Coast again, Wang family.

No, we did not go to Hershey Park because we already have been there. But we decided to surprise Jessica on her birthday by driving up to the Hershey Chocolate Factory. To our surprise and satisfaction, the free tour was pretty amazing and fun. We rode in an amusement style car that fit our whole family of seven. With multimedia presentations and lively displays, we learned how chocolate is made from the bean to the bar. At the end of the tour, everyone received 2 Hershey's Kisses. We also had a chance to buy a photo of our ourselves while on the tour, the kind of photo from a roller coaster ride only a lot slower. It was so fun that we rode it a second time. Of course, after the free ride, we entered the enormous gift shop and sauntered around for a while.

In July, our family was treated to a delightful visit from Felipe & Petra Chou and their 4 children. As part of their whirlwind cross-country US history and Church history tour, they honored us by staying at our home for a few days. As such, they shared with us the celebration of the birthday of their daughter, Jesse. We shared with them the call letter for Jonathan. On Saturday, July 4, our families went to the National Zoo together in the morning. Since it was their anniversary, we took their kids to NIST to watch the Gaithersburg fireworks, while they went to the National Mall to watch the fireworks. On Monday evening before they left, we shared a memorable Family Home Evening together. Thanks, Chou family, for leaving us great memories of your visit. Come again! Tsai family.

Having travailed through an extra week of lab tests and physician affidavits, his mission papers were submitted one week later than his sister's. Nevertheless, the official white envelope did arrive in our mailbox yesterday. After work, Jonathan took a somber walk to our mailbox. When he started to scream, we knew it came. Nevertheless, out of respect and consideration for her sisters and mom, he exercised patience in waiting until today to open the envelope. After the caravan returned from Girls Camp, Jonathan pulled out the envelope. Again, the cameras converged upon the prospective missionary. He opened the envelope and read, "Elder Tsai, you are hereby called to labor in the Australia Melbourne West Mission for a period of 24 months. You are to enter the Missionary Training Center on September 30, 2009." Again our hearts are swelled with gratitude for these mission calls for Jessica and Jonathan, for the opportunity they have to serve, and for the preparation ...

When we came home from work today, we were pleasantly surprised by the receipt of a distinct white envelope from Salt Lake City. Although we were exhausted from the day, we could not wait to hear the news. We gathered in our living room, freshly filled with new sunlight from an additional bay window. Two cameras converged on the family, especially upon the reader of the letter. She opens it carefully and reads slowly but distinctly. Jessica reads, "Sister Tsai, you are hereby called to labor in the Colorado Denver South Mission for a period of 18 months. You are to enter the Missionary Training Center on September 2, 2009." We all cheered in excitement. Deep down in our hearts, we are so grateful that Jessica can have this opportunity to serve full-time as a missionary when the Lord wants her to serve.

How great and bountiful are the concerts our family has participated in or attended in the last two weeks! Let us count the ways (concerts). May 2 - ASCYO (Academy of St. Cecilia Youth Orchestra) performance at The Weinberg Center for the Arts in Frederick, MD. What a beautiful traditional theater. Joshua and Melinda participated in this ASCYO concert and in the next 2 ASCYO concerts. May 3 - Melinda's ballet recital was held at the Cedarbrook Community Church in Clarksburg, MD. This is a picture of her with her teacher. May 7 - Poolesville Middle School. At the last moment, Melinda was asked by her flute teacher, Mr. Fogleman, to substitute as the flute player for the 2nd annual Spring Concert in the Poolesville Youth Symphony Orchestra. Jessica, navigated by Jonathan, drove Melinda to the school at 4pm to start rehearsal. Luckily, food was provided. May 8 - ASCYO performance at the Olney Theater Center in Olney, MD. This was a more modern theater. Joshua was first clarine...

My cousin Larry came to visit with his wife and daughter from New York on April 25. Larry's parents, my aunt & uncle, came with them as part of their visit to the United States. They were attending Larry's graduation. Here is a group photo.

Last night, after long moments of anticipation, Mom and Jessica welcomed Jonathan back from BYU. Megan was too tired and did not make it to the airport, but she was up early the next day, excited and pumped up. After a handsome haircut, Jonathan came with Jessica, Megan, and Mommy to join Dad and Joshua and Melinda for lunch in the NIST Cafeteria. Besides being lots of fun, it marked a historic first time for all members of the Tsai clan to be at NIST at the same time. Well, the house is now full again, but we can handle the load and the happiness. Just like the good old times! Welcome back, Jonathan!

On Tuesday, the long awaited day came for our family. On Tuesday at midnight, we sent an entourrage of three highly qualified personnel to pick up and carefully chauffeur the extremely jet-lagged BYU Study Abroad student from the BWI Airport back home. Technically it was Wednesday morning when Mom, Joshua, and Melinda welcomed Jessica home at the airport. The rest of us were slumbering in a deep sleep. Jessica probably did not have much time when she arrived home to enjoy and appreciate the creative welcome home banner made by Megan. Each of us wrote on the banner which now hangs from our second floor stair railing in the front foyer. Being the thoughtful daughter and sister that she is, Jessica spoiled us with gifts from The Land of the Long White Cloud, most noticeably delectable of which is the highly nutritious drink called Milo. She also showered us with things Aotearoa, such as kiwis (the bird, not the fruit) and, of course, tee shirts. We are grateful that Jessica is bac...

Yesterday morning after Melinda's flute lesson, our family picked up Grandma to go to the Rio. We gathered at the designated dining destination. Joshua chose Guapo's, a Mexican restaurant. We enjoyed our delectable meals of chimichangas, huevos rancheros, steak, chicken, and nachos. As an added surprise, the restaurant staff came out with glass of ice cream and a maraschino cherry on top. They gave Joshua a sombrero and sang Happy Birthday and clapped. Then they took a nice photo of him in a sombrero and the lighted candle on top of the ice cream and gave a printed copy for him. Last night, Megan gave Joshua a puppet show that featured rhyming words with the "oo" sound. Here is the poem she made up: Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Joshua! Happy birthday to you! Say oo! "oo!" Switcharoo, kangaroo, peek a boo, lulluroo, Kalamazoo, aaaawwwwwwooooooooooooooooooooooo!! Hhhhhhooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!...

This is Jessica reporting from Auckland, New Zealand. It is currently 73 degrees Fahrenheit on March 17, 2009- Happy St. Patrick's Day! Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be such a big deal around here, at least not at the school I'm teaching at (Ranui Primary School). But Amy and I (Amy is my roommate, also from BYU) dressed in green for fun because Americans just like to dress up for fun. Anyway, looking back on this semester, I feel like I've accomplished and learned so much about life and teaching. The first month here we squeezed all of our BYU courses and we were taught by New Zealand professors, as well as our director who came with us from BYU (Dr. Jacobs, we call him Papa J). So from these courses, we got more of an idea of how to teach in the primary schools (that's what they call elementary schools here). After taking the BYU courses, we took a 2 week holiday to the South Island (Queenstown and Christchurch) and then to Rotorua. For a more detailed a...