Preparing for Xmas in Rio de Janeiro!

Biggie • May 9, 1999 - Aug. 27, 2010

I lost my beloved Biggie on Fri, Aug. 27th, 2010.
2 months before he got very sick with an infection in his nose, throat, ears and eyes. After some doses of anti-biotics he seemed to get a little better. I took him for an ultrasound and xrays. I was sure something was causing this infection since he has never been sick in his life. After the infection he seemed mostly better but I still thought something was off. He didn't seem completely back to normal.
The weekend before was Marilyn's birthday and party. On Monday, most of the kids at her party had stomach flu and then it attacked David and me on Mon., Tues., and Wed. We also noticed that Biggie had stopped eating his breakfast and seemed very lethargic for the same 3 days. When I finally felt better, I took him on Thursday for more x-rays and an EKG because they thought he might have heart problems. They gave me a website to look up his results Friday morning. I logged on around 9:30am and got the results and through all the Portuguese I saw the words pneumonia and metastases so I knew it wasn't good. When my Portuguese teacher got to my house around 9:45am we called the vet who explained that Biggie had a tumor in his lungs, which I am pretty sure they would have seen back in June had they done a chest xray. I was debating canceling our trip to Recife and Porto de Galinhas the next day to take care of him. The vet was assuring me that there were a few treatments we could try and that he would be fine with Rio at the golden retriever hotel. Biggie died in my arms at 11:11am. It was the saddest moment of my life. 24 hours later I was in a cab going to the airport to fly to Recife, Brasil.
Some quotes about Biggie:
Marilyn to me, "How come you never get mad at Biggie?" Me: "Cuz he never does anything wrong and listens to everything I say." Literally the best dog ever.
My mom to me when I was pregnant with Marilyn, "If you love your kids as much as you love Biggie then I have nothing to worry about." We were meant to be together in this life.
Biggie will be buried in the Atlantic Rainforest 'Mata Atlantica' in Brasil where a huge piece of my heart will be staying no matter where I go on earth. I am so glad he got to come to Brasil with us for the last 15 months of his life. He will be SO missed.

South America 2010!

I just wanted to post the photos from our fabulous trip to argentina, falkland islands, Uruguay and Chile. Check out the few photos I posted and stay tuned for more!
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