Dear family and friends,
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair."Charles Dickens in "A Tale of Two Cities" was describing the disruptive state of affairs in 18th century England and France, but in a different way these sentences also seem to describe with vivid accuracy the pandemic year of 2020. In a very real but painful manner, COVID-19 disrupted our "normal" lives. Initially, many activities were canceled, including Chinese New Year parties (of which we were in the midst of intense preparations for two such parties), musical concerts, choir rehearsals, and travel. In a more intimate sense, even in-person school, work, and church were basically canceled and transformed into a virtual reality of Zoom and Webex and Meet and Teams and Bluejeans and Slack. Those of us who are a bit older were struggling to catch up on the technology learning curve in such a short time. And yet, the silver lining in the cloud is that the change for the most part was a good useful and remedial transformation. We all needed this huge reset button sent from above. Since March, we all had to adapt to the new reality and to find better ways to live our lives and carry out our activities and goals. And so we will remember 2020 as the year things changed dramatically and we entered a new "normal", again. Individually, our lives continued forward.
Best wishes for the new year.
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This year, we began online teaching at Montgomery College with Zoom and teleworking every day at home. All choir activities ceased. At church, my calling was changed to an elders quorum president. Our youngest just left for full-time missionary service. The Washington D.C. Temple Open House and Rededication were "postponed until large public gatherings are deemed safe." |
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In March after taking care of my parents in our home for about six months, we drove them to Utah to their apartment. I have been studying very hard full-time at the University of Maryland. It has kept me very busy. |
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There is honestly no better time to quarantine than when you have a newborn, so overall this year hasn't been too bad! Yes, we miss traveling and seeing family and friends but for the most part, it has been so nice to not worry about extracurriculars and just focus on family. It has been such a blessing to have Grace in our home. She is crawling everywhere and trying to stand and walk, and loves to take all the books out of the bookshelf. She loves noodles and cheese just like her brother and mom, but she also loves rice like her dad. Blake loves to play and take care of Grace. She is a reminder to all of us that God loves us and hears and answers our prayers! |
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Despite the eventful year, my year has been quite uneventful (though I suppose this could be considered a blessing). Work has shifted to a remote environment which enabled me to move back to Maryland with my parents to enjoy some time with family. This has been a positive and somewhat therapeutic shift in this time of social distancing. Wishing everyone the best as we look forward to a new year! |
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I presented my research at a conference back in February and planned to quickly get my degree, but the pandemic soon arrived and I had to do some replanning. Since then, I've been working hard on finishing up my thesis. Life's full of surprises but I'm excited for the next one to arrive! |
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Sofia has grown so much. She now sings all the time, with some of her favorites being "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", "I am a Child of God", and the Alphabet song. She's graduated out of her crib, no longer takes naps, and loves to play. It was a bit of a transition to have Javier start working from home but we absolutely love it. We all get to spend a lot more time together and Sofia especially loves to see Javier all the time!
With the oncoming of COVID, many trips and plans were canceled, but Javier has been able to work a lot on his side businesses. His business, Engin.AI, has been growing really well and we're excited to see how it continues to grow. Melinda has been learning new recipes and baking delicious desserts, as well as teaching Sofia different songs and games. We're also excited to be expecting a new baby girl! She's due in March 2021 and we are looking forward to welcoming the new member of our family. We were also privileged to participate in two media events in preparation for the Washington DC Temple Open House, postponed probably until next year, so look out for us in some of the videos/pictures! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! |
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There's no way it's December, but ahh! I still remember enjoying BYU campus, hearing rumors about a virus. Just a few weeks later, we were encouraged to go home. By then, I was still waiting for my mission call which I received at home. I was assigned to the Taiwan Taichung Mission! I reported to the MTC on September 2. I am currently in my reassignment in Kaysville, UT, serving with my trainer, Sister Ceballo, hoping for a white Christmas. But come what may :) Merry Christmas and Happy New Years! |
We wish each of you prosperity and happiness and peace throughout this coming year.
The Tsai family,
Ben & Li-Fang,
Jessica & Henry & Blake & Grace,
Jonathan,
Joshua,
Melinda & Javi & Sara Sofia, and
Megan
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