Tsai Family of the Parklands

Our lives changed again in a major way on April 29, 2013.  This was a tsunami event.  While at church, I received a call from my son-in-law announcing that our daughter was in the hospital two weeks early.  We could hardly concentrate on anything at church, for our hearts were filled with so much excitement.  The next morning at around 4am, we were awoken to a phone call from our son, announcing the arrival of our new grandson, Blake Lin.  And that's the way it began. Being a father is a momentous event in one's life, and I still remember the 5:30am wake up from my wife when our oldest was born.  From that time forward for the next 20 years, I never quite caught up on sleep or privacy or anything else.  But today is another monumental event.  I did not lose sleep, but I can feel something different in my life.  This event has made all of my efforts in life worth living.  All of my energy and strength and love I have invested in my fami...

In our first semester  in the Mormon Choir, we were privileged to participate in 4 concerts: the Service Fireside at the Annandale Stake Center on January 20, the Black History Concert on February 23 at the Visitor Center, the Easter Concert at the Washington DC Temple Visitor Center on April 13, and the Easter Concert at the Fairfax Baptist Church on April 14.  On March 23, we also sang a couple of songs for the BYU Management Society Dinner at the Crystal Gateway Marriot in Arlington, VA.  Although we will miss the next 3 Independence Day concerts, these 4 concerts have been a great baptismal experience learning fromm and singing with this amazing choir.

From oyster pies to egg omelets to little cute baby Rachel, homeschooling this year has taken on new meaning.  Megan toured NIST with a son of Elder Hanks, when they came into town. At NIST, they learned about metal detection at airport scanners, a Michelsen interferometer in action, semiconductor clean rooms, and why zebras have stripes.  She also viewed and breathed in the smell of the cherry blossoms in DC.  She made fish pancakes, a decorative birthday cake for a friend, and a white-feathered peacock.  For her studies, she has an electronic globe and a microscope.

Sporting our true zodiac mascot, Megan and I displayed our matching shirts, new from the Mall of Lake Forest.  We are the only snakes in our family.  At the Chinese New Year party, Megan and Mom were a pair in the fan dance.  For more details and photos, go to the Chinese New Year party web page.

On the way home, Mom & Megan were in the silver car coming home on Woodfield Road near Log House Road, when all of a sudden a small short deer jumped in front of the car.  The sudden swerves and maneuvers were not sufficient to avoid the deer.  So the poor deer collided with the car and was knocked down to the road.  After returning home, we called the Animal Control department of the police department.  They came to take care of the animal.  Our car insurance was very helpful and generous in helping us fix the front hood and bumper of the car in a very timely manner.

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.