Baby Websites - Photo Album

San Antonio Suchitepequez, Guatemala

Hometown of Alessandro's birth-mother.

Mazatenengo

Pictures from Alessandro´s birth town

Pick-Up Day, Guatemala City

24 June 2006 Brian and Cheryl pick-up Alessandro from Marta, the foster mother for his first month of life.

Brian´s Birthday party

Photos from Brian´s 36th birthday and Alessandro´s 6-week birthday anniversary. Held at Casa en Familia, Antigua.

9 July 2006

Alessandro dresses in blue to root on the Azzuri in the World Cup finals against France.

July 2006

August 2006

September 2006

Cheryl's Birthday Party

These photos are from the 23rd and 25th of September.

October 2006

Halloween Party 2006

We attended a foster family halloween party at Las Gravileas apartments in La Antigua the afternoon of 31 August. We really enjoyed seeing all our friends and their children dressed up in their first halloween costumes. We enjoyed the day, despite the mosquitos.

Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Day of the Dead/All Saints Day - Sumpongo

In Mexico and Guatemala, families take the first two days of November to pay their respects to their deceased family members. These two days are traditionally referred to as the Day of the Dead.

The Catholic Church, wanting to assert some control over the Mayan population, renamed the festivities All Saints Day, and incorporated some Christian traditions. In Guatemala, there are numerous activities that take place during these two days.

On 1 & 2 November, families go to the cemeteries and clean, repaint, and tend to their relatives' grave sites. In the town of Sumpango, this connection with deceased relatives takes the form of kite flying (1 Nov). It is a connection between those on earth and those in the heavens. Groups of people construct giant kites, taking up months of work, to display them on 1 November. It is a great sight and a wonderful place to be during this celebration.

Day of the Dead/All Saints Day - Antigua

Antigua's Cemetary has all its graves painted white. This is very different than all the other cemetaries that we have seen throughout the country. As you have seen, all other places have colored graves. They were rich and poor cemetaries. Antigua's seems to be one of the richest and one of the most formal that we have seen.

We visited the cemetary in the afternoon on 1 November with our friend Sharon, her daughter Isabella and her mother Eileen. The road leading to the cemetary was lined with food, religious, and flower stalls, comedors selling meals, as well as souvenir and toy stalls for the kids. The mood was somewhat celebratory and respectful at the same time. Families with elders and children visited grave sites throughout the cemetary.

November 2006

November was a hectic month for all of us. Let's see:

Day of the Dead kicked off the month. Great holiday in northern Latin America.

Alessandro saw his first professional football (soccer) match. Quite an exciting one at that.

Brian had to return to North Carolina to break in a new house sitter (Penelope).

It stopped raining in Antigua, possibly until March or April.

Alessandro had his first fever and cold.

Our friend Sharon was hospitalized overnight with the flu, leaving her daughter and us three with a sleepover in which no one got much sleep. (Sharon is better!)

The house was hit with Andinovirus (just a fancy word for a nasty cold/flu bug).

We received great news about exiting PGN.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with Sharon, Isabella, Sophie, Maria Cruz, and Virginia.

Other than that, Alessandro went to the doctor twice, with good results.

Hope you enjoy the pictures.
Brian

Thanksgiving 2006

On Thursday 23 November, we celebrated our Day of Thanks in Guatemala. The day before we got the great news that Alessandro's case had exited the legal court system (PGN)! After 6 months in Guatemala, and a few days short of his birthday, Alessandro finally has the DiBartolo last name.

Thanksgiving in Guatemala was similar to that in the US, but without the whole family. In the morning, we watched a little bit of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (on Mexican Telemundo TV). Cheryl and Sharon made dinner all day, while Brian watched the kids. There was even NFL football on TV (we found a CBS station from Los Angeles and on ESPN). Dinner was absolutely wonderful and we had a great time. Those at dinner were Alessandro, Brian, Cheryl, Sharon, Isabella, Sophie (daughter of house owner), and Virginia, Robincita, and Maria Cruz (the housekeeper, her daughter and sister).

Thank you Sharon and Cheryl! Great dinner!

December 2006