Happy Holidays 2016

Happy Holidays from the Tsai family, 2016!

Dear family and friends,

Wow! Another year has passed. We began with a surprise blizzard in January which granted us a week reprieve from work and school. Our trips included Harpers Ferry, Virginia Beach, and Utah. May was filled with concerts, recitals, and graduations. In July, we were delighted by the visits of our friends the Gerber-Kai's and the Pascual's. Megan started her first year in an extracurricular activity, which kept us plenty busy. Our oldest moved to a new house. And we even had an engagement in the family. For more details, read below. We hope you had a great year as well.

Here are our individual reports of this year.

	This fall, I was given the long awaited opportunity to teach a new class, Thermodynamics. Although I had been making the request for a new for many years now, it came as a surprise. As a result, I have been very busy, spending many hours in developing new homework assignments, tests, and projects. Future semesters should be easier. So, it has been worth the time. I am grateful for the many things I have learned this year about forgiveness and self-control. The atonement of Jesus Christ is so awesome and helped me immensely throughout this year. I am grateful for a wonderful wife and beautiful children and grandchild. My family is awesome. I look forward to a great new year.
	This year, I fulfilled one of my dreams to graduate with a degree in music from Montgomery College.  In May, I walked through commencement in cap and gown and received my diploma.  Now, I am pursuing another degree in art.  This fall semester, I had lots of fun with an art class and a photography class.  In addition, I am still teaching private piano lessons.
	One year ago, we did not think that we would be in a different house but we are! We're still in Utah but closer to Salt Lake and loving our new home and neighborhood. It's amazing how changes can happen unexpectedly but for the better. I feel that this year has taught me that Heavenly Father's plan is always better than what I planned and so we need to trust Him, even if we don't understand why at the moment. And find joy in the journey! Henry is working at Intermountain Healthcare as a data analyst and I am enjoying staying at home with Blake. He is in a joy school in our neighborhood and that has been fun for us both. As a family, we love going swimming/hot tubbing, going on walks/riding bikes, and watching movies. It's been a great year!
	I started this year with me and my friend taking a trip to Singapore, the Philippines, and South Africa. We went to some safaris and wildlife reserves, rappelled off waterfalls and swung across canyons, went scuba diving with seals and sharks, and ate a ton of food. It was an awesome experience, but we learned some less-savory things about the world that made us more grateful for the privileges that we enjoy everyday. There were some other trips as well, but I've been spending most of my year working for the LDS Church. I've had the opportunity to work with the Mormon.org team and the missionary referral service team in the development of their products. Working with such high-caliber web developers has taught me a lot about being a good programmer and being a good team-player. But for now, looking towards the future and all the opportunities that it brings. Happy Holidays!
	It's been one straight year of school for me so I can be on track to graduate within the next two years! Each day has been more or less the same - sleep, eat, study, attend lectures. Even though there hasn't been any single life-changing event for me this year, I've seen changes occur in small ways, which in the end amount to something great. I see many of my friends graduate, get married, and otherwise move on in life, but I'm grateful for the time I have now to seek improvement in myself and reap the bountiful opportunities I have been given.
	After being home from my mission, Heavenly Father has seen fit to bless me so much! I have gone back to school, and am another step closer to finishing my degree in Chemical Engineering. Right before I went back to school, I started talking to this wonderful young man who I had met on my mission. We eventually started dating and I am now engaged to him! Javier has brought nothing but joy to my life and he makes me the happiest person! It has not been easy with him living in Colombia, but we continue to put our faith and trust in the Lord, and everything has worked out so well! I was able to visit him in May and meet his amazing family. We are very excited for our future. We are getting married next year, so stay tuned!
	I finished my first  year of high school and the second year doesn't get any easier.  This year became crazy once I joined color guard and my life has been full of it ever since.  In one and a half weeks I learned how to toss a flag and a rifle. If learning how to toss flags and rifles weren't hard enough, add some dancing choreography, make up, costumes, competitions, performances, rehearsals and new tosses.  Oh, and on top of that, go run laps!  The work is hard, but the reward is sweet and I enjoy every bit of it. Aside from the pains of physical movement, I've been fighting with the homework on my two hardest classes: AP Gov. and IED.  While the content is not too difficult, the details and the amount of work can seem overwhelming, so juggling between deciphering homework and flipping flags is rather a squished but exhilarating schedule.  All in all, I am grateful for this life and wish everyone a happy new year!

We wish each of you prosperity and happiness and peace throughout this coming year.

Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year!

The Tsai family,
Ben, Li-Fang, Jessica and Henry and Blake, Jonathan, Joshua, Melinda, and Megan



親愛的家人和朋友，

猴年初始暴風雪

避雪一週家中息

春來好景四處遊

Harpers Ferry，Virginia Beach和Utah

五月排滿音樂會

夏季好友喜來訪

Gerber-Kai和Pascual

致涵開始color guard

政哲致潔遷新居

致琦擕友世界遊

致賢終年學習不休息

致慧Javi姻緣訂

明年六月十七是囍日

	今秋加新課 備課多辛苦 為家庭打拼 一切皆值得 基督贖罪恩德大 助我寬恕與自制 賜我恩愛大家庭 遵行福音得蒙福
	十年如一載 兩載夢成真 音樂學位終得手 藝術學位另啟程
	驚喜遷新居 更近鹽湖城 鄰居皆友善 祝福高天注 信賴天父計劃 因祂指導萬事 即使不能理解整個計劃 還需要相信他 而在生命中找到喜樂！ 政哲任職醫院數據分析師 全家最愛游泳/熱水，散步/騎自行車，看電影
	邀友探險遊世界 新加坡、菲律賓、和南非 逛野生動物場、野生動物保護區 瀑布、峽谷、潛水 觀海豹、看鯊魚、吃美食 一生難忘的經驗 雖見令人傷心事 因而更感激所擁有的祝福 在職於LDS教會 與Mormon.org 和傳道資訊團隊一起創作， 很感激能與這高素質的網絡開發團隊合作。 展望未來並把握機會。祝聖誕快樂！
	音樂轉成機械系 一切歸零重頭起 春夏秋冬不歇息 盼兩載行畢業禮
	傳教返鄉回學校 繼續化學工程學 遇一男孩終傾心 澳洲同期傳教士 Javi是我的歡樂與幸福 雖在遙遠的哥倫比亞 信靠救主的臂膀 長途跋涉把線牽 五月南美訪他鄉 十二月再訪訂終生 計畫明年結婚宴 敬請期待！
	高二加入校旗隊 生活變得更忙碌 學會舉旗甩步槍 編舞、化妝、服裝樣樣來 比賽、表演、還有罰跑步！(比賽成果不佳) 過程艱難但結果甜美 除了運動帶來的疲憊外， 我一直用功學習兩個最難的課程： 大學先修課程及工程設計簡介課程。 雖然內容不是太難，但其細節和工作量似乎大了些， 所以功課和校隊練習佔滿了我的行程。 但我非常高興，總而言之， 我愛高中生活，祝大家新年快樂！

祝您闔家平安！


聖誕快樂!新年快樂！

蔡家庭

格文、麗芳、致潔及政哲和彥承、致琦、致賢、致慧、致涵