Dear Friends,

Greetings from mid-Michigan! It is two days before Christmas now, so I am making progress in terms curing of procrastination (in 2003 I had it done on the New Years Day).

The biggest thing for 2003 is obviously that our parents finally joined us, as shown in the above photo. They arrived in US rather late (Sept. 10), but still managed to have a tour of the pretty campus (photo 1, photo 2, photo 3). They recently (3 days ago, Dec 20th) moved into their own apartment and they are now very happy to have their own, private, space. My brother Zhiyi is living with them.

Zhiyi graduated with his 2nd Associate Degree in December and has applied for Practical Training. May God show His Mercy on him and grant him a suitable job for him. Zhiyi lived independently from us since May 19th, but now enjoys being with mom and dad.

David is now 16 and is planning to find something to do this summer. He continues to play trombone in the marching band. Melissa spends a lot of time on the 'Net and reads fan fictions (www.fanfiction.net) and posts her own writings there frequently.

Joyce continues the same part time job.

A couple of memorable moments here:

Melissa at the Airzoo (April 11).
Zachary practicing "flattering a horse" at the Meijer garden (April 12).
Zach and Joyce at the patent celebration party (May 14).
Zachary with the large dog fish he caught (July 5).
Joyce with a large mouth bass (July 6).
Mom and kids in King's Island (Ohio) (July 13).
David and Melissa ready for the roller coaster in King's Island (July 13).
David with grandpa and grandma (Sept 19).

I cut down much of my travelling in 2003 to concentrate on the tenure preparation (e.g. no trip to China). The mitezapper patent was approved. I attended a few local meetings here and there. The biggest hurdle -- voting by the department -- is passed, thanks to Lord, unanimously recently (Dec. 5 I heard the official news). If you are really curious, about half of the material is available on the web.

Now comes the patient wait of 6-7 months -- decisions by the college Dean, then Provost, and President and finally the Board of Trustees, I believe.

If your winter is any where close to MI (no sun, and cold!), check some bee photos (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) here to brighten your day (taken the same day I was showing my parents around the MSU gardens, Sept 21). I have added many bee photos to my photo collection, which seems to be extremely popular. Also, here are some orchid photos that I took in 2002 and in 2003, for your enjoyment. If you want to know what I have done academic-wise during 2003, please check the lab report for 2003 (which might take another a few hours to complete :).

We pray that all of you will be healthy, joyful and abundant in His Blessings in 2004.

Happy New Year and God bless!

Zach (aka Zhiyong), Joyce (aka Guijie), David (Yanglong), and Melissa (Shanmei)