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Utah Trip

It was like magic, or perhaps a theatrical dream. One December 22, we left Maryland with nice weather and not a drop of snow all year. Then we arrived that evening in Utah and were welcomed by a decent snowstorm. In fact, the whole time we were in Utah, snow remained our white, powdery carpet on the ground. With our friend, Qun Wang (or Elder Wang who served faithfully as a full-time missionary in the Montgomery Chinese Branch), and his friend, Brother Hung from Taiwan, our family went to the Mount Timpanogos Temple together. On Christmas Eve, we had to jump on the bandwagon to witness the debut of the 7th Star Wars movie, “The Force Awakens.”

Christmas Day was the day we had been waiting for a whole year. Henry and Jessica were starting their Christmas traditions. Before attacking the presents, we sang joyfully a few Christmas hymns. Then we spent the rest of the morning in the ceremonial opening of presents, engaging in fun board games such as Bananagrams and Spot It, and eating lots of chocolate. On Christmas evening, we enjoyed a delectable Christmas dinner, followed by back to back showings of “Back to the Future” I and II.

We attended church with Jessica and Henry. I even helped augment their choir by singing with the bass section. Megan spent one morning with her cousins, and I spent one morning on BYU campus. On Monday night, we shared a most memorable evening in a Family Home Evening, complete with an uplifting message and extremely fun humorous games. On our last day there, our family ate out together Chinese style at a favorite rendezvous. We then toured the City Creek Mall and Temple Square in Salt Lake City. We arrived back in Maryland in time to ring in the new year and watch the Apple fall in New York City.

It was a very delightful, enjoyable in every aspect. We came back to Maryland, in the same nice weather in which we left, cool with no snow in sight. Although frigid to the bone, we enjoyed our short time with our children, all together for the first Christmas in a few years. Happy new year to all!












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