Congratulations to Lisa, Robert and Piper for having Talia join the family on February 8th. That makes four nieces for me now : ).

My sister Karen gave birth to her second daughter, Scarlett Eileen Code on April 18th. Congratulations Karen (and Lanny)! This is my third niece, and they amazingly all have their birthdays within five days of each other! Berlyn is turning the big three on April 22nd and Piper is turning one on April 23rd.

I have finished writing the initial drafts of seven chapters for a book I am coauthoring. Tomorrow night, Tressa and I are leaving on vacation for Jamaica! So we are really excited and ready to relax.

Robert's girlfriend Lisa gave birth to their first child, Piper Mikhal Aleksandra Danchilla at 11pm on April 24th. She is 6 pounds, 6 ounces and 15.5 inches long. Robert also says "she is ...1/4 Romanian 1/4 French 1/8 Scottish, 1/8 German, 1/8 Swedish, 1/8 English... 100% Canadien... has already brought good luck to Halak". Mother and child are both healthy. Congratulations!

Berlyn celebrated her second birthday (April 23rd) on April 24th. Her grandparents, auntie, 2/4 uncles and others were on hand. Despite being sick with chest congestion, she was lively and mostly in good spirits.

Tonight, April 28th, the Montreal Canadiens completed their comeback against the Washington Capitals, becoming the first 8th seed ever to beat a 1st seed after being down 3-1 in a best of seven series. The game tonight was ridiculous. Halak stopped around 40 shots and the Canadiens as a team blocked about 40. They play the Penguins in round 2 and will aim to frustrate Crosby and Malkin like they did Oveckin, Backstrom and Semin - who had forty regular season goals and none in the playoffs.