2023 Season's Greetings from the Tarns

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to our family and friends.  

Since the pandemic was over, we started to do more traveling.  We also started to workout at local gyms, to do ballroom dancing, and to do regular daily walk in our neighborhood.  

We were extremely happy to be able to spend a lot of time with Jeff and Jason’s families.  Particularly, we are enjoying to spend time locally with Maisie and Talia, and seeing them growing up.

Benjy and Lucy spent 3 weeks in the summer with us in Houston, then we traveled to California along with Jason's family to have a family reunion.  Had wonderful time in Bodega Bay and at Jeff and Jennifer’s new home in Berkerly.  

Highlights of this year's event for us are:

• Maggie and Isaac’s wedding in Houston
• Antelope Canyon, Az and Escalante, Ut Trip
• Fei’s girls only vacation in Tuscany, Italy
• Family reunion in California
• France and Ireland back-to-back land tour
• Ski in Beaver Creek with Jason’s family

March 2023 - Maggie and Isaac’s wedding in Houston

Our niece Maggie married Isaac in Houston, March 2023.  They held their wedding at Houston Arboretum & Nature Center.  It was a cozy wedding with a lot of good foods and happiness.  We got a chance to see Jia-sun and Alfred.  Jeff also flew in from California for the wedding.  We all had a wonderful time.

May 2023 - Visit Antelope Canyon and Escalante Canyon

Antelope Canyon has been on our bucket list for quite a long time. We finally made it in May, and we also added the Valley of Fire State Park and Escalante canyons to this itinerary.  We flew to Las Vegas first, spent a few days there to revisit Las Vegas, had self guiding tour of the Valley of Fire State Park, signed up for a tour for both lower and upper Antelope Canyon, visited the Horseshoe Bend ourselves, joined a canoeing trip in Lake Powell, and had a couple of private tours for visiting canyons in Escalante. 

We also had a chance to visit Tony’s cousin and an old friend in Las Vegas.  

It was an eventful 11-days trip with a lot of excitements.

May 2023 - Fei’s Girls only trip to Tuscany, Italy

This was Fei’s annual girls only trip.  Normally, they just go to somewhere in the US for this annual event, however, this year they decided to expand their scope to visit Tuscany, Italy.  After several months of planning, they finally got to Tuscany, Italy and had a pleasant 11-days self toured trip in the beautiful Tuscany.

June - July, 2023 - Family reunion

Benjy and Lucy stayed with us, and joined the tennis camp in Houston from June 25 to July 15.  

Then, we traveled along with Jason’s family to California for a week of family reunion.  Jeff and Jennifer rented an AirB&B in Bodega Bay for several days. Hiking, beach playing, and horseback riding were some of the activities.

Then, we all stayed at their new home in Berkerly. Jeff and Jennifer spent about 2 years to remodel their new house and the results are the most comfortable house with a lot of their dream designs. It is truly a nice home!

We had a wonderful time visiting Bodega Bay and an exciting time at their new house.

September - October, 2023 - France and Ireland Trip

Fei and Tony joined Trafalgar’s "The Best of France" 13 days tour and "The Amazing Ireland" 14 days tour.  A total of 27 days back-to-back tours was the longest away from home we have ever had.