Xin Nian Kuai Le!

Happy Chinese New Year and welcome to the year of the Water Dragon! The Dragon is one of the most revered years in the Chinese calendar. Unlike the fire-breathing evil creature that gets slayed in Western literature, in Chinese culture the Dragon is a symbol of good fortune and intense power. Chinese astrology predicts that 2012 will be a transformational life-changing year. It's a good year to improve oneself, take calculated investment risks and to build wealth.

Peggy Published in Shanghai

Our top banner picture this month was taken by Peggy on New Year's Day. It's a soaring seagull on the lake behind our home in Newark, California. Peggy learned some of those photography skills in classes she took in Shanghai and you can read all about it in the current issue of "That's Shanghai" magazine! Peggy is pictured in the magazine practicing her photography on the Pudong waterfront with one of her instructors, Baja van Hulst.

Peggy and instructor, Baja van Hulst, as published in "That's Shanghai" magazine

Tom and Corri at Ft Rucker

Tom traveled to Ft Rucker, Alabama, to visit Corri at the U.S. Army Aviation Center where she is training to become a helicoptor pilot. Check out these pictures of Corri in the army officer aviation program.

Corri and her instructor, approaching the aircraft

Around Home

January was beautiful in the Bay Area and the month flew by before we knew it! Here are a few pictures we took just around home.

Other Recent Additions

We've got many more pictures to browse through in our online photo album and in our home page archive. Some of the more recent photo additions are listed below:

• Peggy's lunar eclipse photography
• Around the lake at our house
• Our first website from 1999
• Our Shanghai family
• Our last week in Shanghai
• Moving-in to new USA home
• Dad O in the newspaper
• Tiffany & Joey's wedding
• Peggy in Montana
• Peggy's Mom & Dad
• Peggy's photography album
• Miscellaneous snapshots collection
• Zhaojialou
• Dad's latest Glacier adventures
• Our family of cats
• Peggy's photography: HongKou
• Faces of Shanghai
• Around Shanghai

Best wishes for a healthy and prosperous year of the Dragon - Gong Xi Fa Cai!
Steve & Peggy