Our Family Journal

We have been so blessed to have the love and support of so many family and friends. People have brought us food and provided us with so many wonderful gifts to celebrate Danilo's birth. Maria's parents Tom Roeper and Laura Holland  and her brother Tim were with us right after Danilo's birth and have returned to be with us at Christmas time. My parents Fred and Fe Azcarate came to stay with us right after Thanksgiving and left right before Christmas to be with my sister Mylene (who is expecting the birth of her child any day now). Baby D Also got to see his Great-Grandmother Jeanne Holland for Christmas (see the pic in this blog entry). We are so thankful for the wonderful support we have received from our friends and family without which this joyful time with Danilo would have been so much more difficult. Thank You All!

As some folks already know we had to put Dax to sleep on Friday December 22. She had been unable to get up and wasn't able to use one of her legs. We had thought she might have just had a sprain but when we took her to the Vet. x-rays showed that she had fairly advanced and untreatable bone cancer throughout her body. Bone cancer can be very painful and the last thing we wanted to do is put our girl through any unnecessary pain. She was a great dog. I still remember rescuing her from the PG County pound it was Labor Day weekend in 1997 - in the midst of so much commotion at the pound Dax was sitting quietly in her kennel waiting to be taken home. We were very lucky to have her in our lives for over 9 years. We will miss her.

We can't believe that Danilo is already two months old! He's growing - he almost weighs 11lbs now. Everyday more of his personality shines through. Baby D works hard on holding his head up, recognizing the faces of all the friends and family that have been by to visit and generally being a good baby. I've posted more pics for folks to see.