Tsai Family of the Parklands

 Washington DC Temple Open House and Rededication

Baby Trey received his baby blessing from his father.

On a very hot summer day, we arranged for a picnic at Splash Park.  This was a fun opportunity to reunite with our relatives whom we have not seen in a while.

Our grandson, Blake, was baptized on July 1.  Afterwards, we celebrated at his home.

On Memorial Day, we decided to take a stroll to Brookside Gardens.

Our dear friends, now part of our family, came to visit Maryland.  Our daughter's friend met us at Wootton's Mill Park to take family photos.

 On March 11, Evelyn Claire was born at Shady Grove Hospital.  Here is our 4th grandchild at 1 month old.

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...

At 3am on November 3, we all arose to accompany Sister Tsai to the BWI Airport.  It was a solemn occasion.  We will miss her as she dedicates her life totally to serving God for the next year and a half.  Have a great mission!

On a beautiful autumn day, otherwise known as Halloween, we took an excursion to patronize the Philadelphia Temple for Megan to participate in the temple before she departs for the mission field.  The peace and spirit of the temple permeated through us while we were there.  Afterwards, we enjoyed the famous Philly Cheese Steak sandwiches in our cars before going home.

On October 30, my mom treated everyone to Firebird's for dinner in honor of Megan's mission call.  We enjoyed the delicious food, of course, in the comfort and safety of our home.  We took occasion to take family photos and a photo of a future harpist (after she has grown a foot or two or three).

The official mission call for Megan came on the week of April 15.  On the evening where we surprised my Mom with a birthday call, Megan surprised all of us with her mission call, announcing that she was officially called to the Taiwan Taichung Mission.  Everyone, especially Megan, was super excited for her mission.  On August 30, she was set apart as a full-time missionary by President Nathan Sheets at the Potomac Chapel. On September 6, she entered the virtual MTC (Missionary  Training Center), engaging in all of her missionary training at home. The Branch organized a special farewell fireside for he and for Elder Richard Huang (called to the California Arcadia Chinese speaking Mission) on October 24.  During fireside, slideshows about each missionary in their youth and videos from two families were shown.  Several teachers and leaders spoke to and for the two missionaries.  In addition, their mothers and the Branch President spoke.  Finally...

Our family was able to participate in the first ever virtual Montgomery Branch's Moon Festival party.  The festivities included a video of previous Branch Moon Festival parties, a scripture Bingo game, 3 family video messages, an animation of Chang E, and a Chinese flower paper cutting demonstration.  The Tsai family presented one of the family video messages.  Despite the COVID crisis, it was to engage with family and friends on this Moon Festival.

On Labor Day, we decided to take advantage of the nice weather and walk around Seneca Creek State Park.  I was joined by Li-Fang's nephew, Lester, Melinda & Javi & Sofia, and Jonathan.  We arrived around10 AM and parked in the free parking lot at the front of the front entrance.  So we had to walk into the park.  We explored the Pines picnic area and walked around the lake and around a little bit. We came back home by noon to a generous lunch prepared by Li-Fang.  It was fun to relax and enjoy a little bit of nature.

On a very nice morning in June, we decided to get some physical exercise and hike up Sugarloaf Mountain.  We commenced our trek early in the morning, thinking that less people would be there.  Wow, were we mistaken.  Little did we know that everyone in Montgomery County thought the same way we did.  OK, not everyone thought that way, but by 9am, there were over 100 cars.  There was literally wall-to-wall hikers walking to and fro.  Despite the traffic, it was a very nice day to go outdoors.