Welcome to the Connell Family
Christmas / New Year 2006 web page
Katie:
I am in sixth grade this year and I had an awesome end to Lane
School! I loved Challenge Day. My favorite climb was the Chicken Drop. I had a
fun time with all my friends at the picnic. Over the summer I took soccer camp
with Sarah and hung out at Wedgewood swim club a lot. When we went on vacation
to Ogunquit I swam in the pool every single day we were there. Which is two
weeks! The day we got home I got my schedule for John Glenn Middle School. I am
on Blue Team and in a learning group with a bunch of friends. I think middle
school is better than Lane School because you have more freedom. I played
soccer this fall and we were undefeated!!! I am taking three dance classes a
week, jazz, tap and hip-hop. This year I am in the higher division. I am still
in Girl Scouts, this is my last year as a Junior. I have started taking private
flute lessons. We are building a tree house in our backyard and it is going to
be awesome!!! I have had a very great year.
Elizabeth: Last
summer I had swimming lessons and I had to go underwater. I hate when I have to
do that!!! I liked swimming in the pool though and I learned how to swim to Mom
by myself. I love cotton candy slushes. When we went to Ogunquit I swam in the
pool, ran on the beach. I liked it when we went out for ice cream. I started my
second year of preschool at St. Paul's. My teacher is Mrs. Frank and I have a
lot of friends there. My favorite parts of school are free play time, music
class and snack time. I like having a "letter of the day". I had a
Blue’s Clues birthday
party when I turned five years old. We played Blue’s Clues and had a cake shaped
like Blue’s paw print. My favorite present was a big Dora book with a lot of
stories in it. Over Columbus Day weekend we went to
Lake Sunapee. Dad, Charles, and
Katie went on the ski lift but Mom thought it was too high for me, so we went
shopping. I got a stuffed animal dog. I named him Sunny after Lake Sunapee and I
still love him. On Thanksgiving I make cranberry relish and played with my
aunt. I have had a great year so far. (Thank you to Katie for helping me type
this.)
The last picture below show me getting my two favorite things for my birthday, Pringles and anything related to Thomas the Tank Engine.
Charles: This year I started 10th grade in Bedford High. I still enjoy tinkering with computers and have written an article about computers. I produce a podcast called WOOT News with my friends. I still play the piano and occasionally play for the school band. Most of my free time I spend on my computer, writing programs and learning more about them. By the way, if anyone knows of a good way to use SVN inside or somehow with KDevelop, I'm having a problem with that now.
The pictures below show me: standing next to a sarcophagus at the Metropolitan Museum in NYC, reading a computer book in the fading light on a family camping trip, cooking dinner for the family, and doing an awesome move during a beach racket game.
Janet and Chuck:
It has been another fun year with our three
great kids -- all at different ages, all into different activities. We enjoy
dinner table conversations that range from
new metal music to the names of all the engines on the
Island of Sodor. Some of our
favorite times continue to be family trips, even if the distance is short and
the plan is simple. In July, we drove to the coast of Rhode Island for a reunion
with a family we had met in China while adopting Elizabeth. This family also
adopted a girl at the same time, and the girls had not seen each other in four
years. They had a great time playing together on the beach, chasing the moms
around with bubble blowers. Katie and Charles are getting so tall and smart, we
are lucky they still listen to us (a little, we think) when we teach them about
growing up.
The last picture below shows the frame of our tree house, which hopefully will be finished for next year's holiday letter.
Happy New Year Everyone!
We hope your coming year is filled with joy and good memories!
