Tsai Family of the Parklands

On our last evening in Utah, we invited all of our relatives to the Spoonful of Yogurt to thank them for all of their help and support while we were there.  We had a fun time talking, taking turns holding Blake, and posing for the group photo.  Thank you, uncles and aunts and cousins and children and grandchild.  See you next time!

Jessica's childhood best friend, Victoria, who lived near at Purdue University, was married today.  We attended an informal backyard reception in Salt Lake City.  Victoria's sister, Rebecca, arranged the reception, which included a dress-up photo opportunity.  Congratulations, Victoria!

We got a taste of the MTC by volunteering to talk to missionaries for their TRC on Saturday morning.  Joining with Jonathan, we met at the MTC and talked to two sets of missionaries within an hour.  I was visited by two Mandarin Chinese speaking sisters going to the San Diego Mormon Battalion Visitor Center.  Then, two elders heading for the Taiwan Taichung Mission came to minister to me.  These experiences helped me more than it probably helped the missionaries.  I learned a lot from their humility and the sincerity of the messages they shared.

We ate with an old friend at the Fortune Buffet in Jordan, Utah.  All of our kids came with us.  We enjoyed a fun evening of talking and laughing.  Afterwards, we crashed in on the rehearsal for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in the Conference Center.

Taking advantage of a new barbecue pit, we enjoyed a barbecue at our daughter's home in Lehi.  Besides the 15 Tsai's, Lam's, and Wang's, about 30 other folks from our Montgomery Chinese Branch in Utah also joined us.

For the first time, we made the pilgrimage to the Manti Temple to witness the Manti Pageant.  Set against the backdrop of the temple, the pageant depicts the pioneer heritage of the those who settled in Utah and especially in Manti, through the eyes of one of the early forefounders of the area.  It also beautifully interweaves stories from the Book of Mormon.  Despite the chilly evening weather and the commute, the Spirit was especially strong.

After a grueling 2 months of cleaning and packing and moving in Maryland by myself, it seemed like paradise coming out to Utah to be with my family.  Sunday, June 16, was a very fulfilling day for two reasons.  Our grandson, Blake Lin, was blessed by his father, Henry, in Sacrament Meeting at the Chinese Ward.  A couple of our Montgomery Branch family friends, the King's and the Baxter's, attended the blessing.  After church, we enjoyed a quiet dinner in our condo with the children and little Blake.  Cousin Joseph and his dad joined us for dinner.  Then we had a fun time taking photos.  My children gave me a framed collage of photos and reasons why they loved Dad.  My dearly beloved gave me a Granddad teeshirt, which I proudly display.  This is one of the best Father's Day celebrations I can remember.  Thanks, family!

While in Utah, Megan enrolled in a week long choir group sponsored by BYU.  The culmination of this camp was singing 5 songs at the first part of this year's InterMuse Concert.  Their repertoire included "Crawdad Hole," "Fourth Day of July," "Campfire Song," "Hotaru Koi," and "Isabel and the Bear."  In addition, we heard numbers by the adult choir and a special organ treat by Professor Bush from BYU.  He rendered "Old MacDonald" in about ten variations.

Early this year, we awoke one morning with the realization that this year was the year to move to a location closer to work and church and to move to a smaller house.  Event after event set in motion further events, which facilitated the search for an appropriate new house and the preparation for selling the old house.  Finding a location for a new house started a chain of events that would become irreversible. With the assistance of able realtors and a professional stager, we prepared our house to be fit to sell.  We changed most of the carpets, cleaned out the basement, and created an immaculate, much leaner and cleaner house.  It was a feast for our eyes and a pleasure to live in. After an open houses, many visits from perspective buyers, and much haggling and negotiation, we emotionally sold our home of 12 years on June 7 on a rainy, memorable day.  In the end, the ceremonial handing over of the keys and garage door opener was a soothing rel...