I LOVE YOU ANNA !!!
This is my little friend, Anna. Yesterday, she and her family moved away. I will miss her very much. To Anna and her family, Good luck and best wishes and please keep in touch.   

Korean Cultural Fan Dance

Korean Cultural Fan Dance
Video sent by janetlynnperello

Asian Cultural Experience Festival
at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens
Korean Fan Dance

Chinese Dancers

Chinese Dancers
Video sent by janetlynnperello

Video of Chinese Dancers at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens

Lion Dance - Asian Cultural Festival

Lion Dance - Asian Cultural Festival
Video sent by janetlynnperello

The Asian Cultural Experience Festival at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens

The Asian Cultural Festival at Atlanta Botanical Gardens, Atlanta, Georgia. Pictures of the lead dancer and a group picture of the Korean Silver College Dancers.  
  

One of the most beautiful and colorful performances was the Korean Fan Dance performed by the Korean Silver College Dancers.  
 
 
  

Next was a Chinese Cultural Dance performed by a Chinese-American Cultural Performing Group.   

The next dance on stage was a Thai Classical Dance: "Manorah Buchayan" performed by a dancer from the Thai Association World Center, USA.   

These are pictures of the Chinese Lion Dance performed by Hung Sing Goon Atlanta. The Lion Costume was beautiful and the dance was lots of fun to watch as they danced through the gardens to the stage.  
 
 
  

There were exhibitions performed by groups from many different Asian countries.   

This was a display at one of the exhibits. There were also many boths with delicious foods from many different countries. Look closely at this picture and the incredible detail of the carving. It was beautiful !!   

The sculptures inside the Botanical Gardens are beautiful !!  
 
 
  

We attended an Asian Culture Festival at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens today. We had a Chinese lady paint a beautiful paper umbrella with Katherine's name in English and in Chinese characters. As you can see, it turned out beautiful. 
  

  
HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!
As you can see, Cannolli enjoyed dressing up for the Holiday Celebrations.

 
This Delta Airlines Balloon was the cutest!! 

 
 
 
 
We live in a beautiful city where almost everyone owns a golf cart as a second vehicle. There are over 200 miles of golf cart paths that one can travel on through the woods, around lakes, to school, shopping or just about anywhere you would need to go. Every year on the 4th of July, people come from all around to watch our local 4th of July Parade and view the fireworks on Lake Peachtree. There are usually over 300 decorated golf carts, groups of people riding bicycles, antique cars, floats, horses, high school bands and many other groups that participate in the parade. It is truly a sight to see the traffic jams of golf carts with families traveling on the streets and cart paths throughout the city before and after the parade. For miles, the night before, people put out blankets and chairs to save their spot for the parade, picnics, concerts and nightly fireworks display.
Everyone has a great time and it is always fun to see how creative people can be with their golf cart decorations.  

 
Averie Grace and Mother, Michelle are doing GREAT!!!
SHE IS BEAUTIFUL!!!
7 lbs. 13 ounces  

 
Baby Averie with Grandma (Gigi)
I think Gigi is a very Proud Grandmother !!! 

A couple of months ago, some very special friends invited me to a baby shower in Houston, for their very beautiful daughter, Michelle. Michelle was my little flower girl in my wedding 23 years ago and was the most beautiful, intelligent and enchanting little girl you would ever meet. As you can see, pictured here with her proud Mom and Dad, she is still very beautiful. This afternoon, I received a phone call from her Mom, that she delivered a beautiful, healthy 7 lb. 13 ounce little girl named Averie Grace. Paulette and Jim are now very proud Grandparents to their first Grandchild and are waiting again for the birth of their second Grandchild to their son Bobby, who by the way just graduated from medical school and is now a Physician. Congratulations to the entire family on the arrival of Princess Averie Grace and to Bobby for his graduation and accomplishments.

I saw this on another blog and couldn't resist using it. It is a cute expression of how we feel now that we are in the Waiting Stage of the Referral Process.

WE ARE PREGNANT !!!!!!!

You just won't see my stomach growing.
I won't have morning sickness.
I won't be retaining water and getting big ankles.
We won't be able to feel the baby kick.
We won't hear her heartbeat before we go to China (even though our hearts are already connected.)
We are pretty sure she will be a girl!
We don't know when our due date is (we are leaving that up to destiny.)
We do know that she will have hair as black as night, eyes the shape of almonds and the most beautiful smile that will melt your heart with one little grin.
We have already fallen deeply in love with her before we even meet.

Today I was able to spend a wonderful afternoon and enjoyed a great visit and dinner with some family who drove up for a Baseball Tournament. My great-nephew plays for "The Louisiana Allstars" team from Louisiana. His team won the game today, 8-0!! Congratulations on the win and Good Luck for the rest of the games this week Taylor. ( I love you all and miss you very much.)

In January this year, we traveled to Crystal River, Florida and met up with some friends and divers from Louisiana to swim with the manatees. We have enjoyed visiting and swimming with the manatees for many years, but this year the weather was beautiful and we saw more manatees than ever before. We just received these pictures from our friends and wanted to share. ENJOY!!!

Me with a manatee at Three Sisters Springs.

Matt at Rainbow River just after a drift dive





















Kelly, Matt, Nancy and Kimberly who was pregnant with little Amber Grace at the time.