Connell Family
Christmas / New Year 2008

  

Janet and Chuck:  Welcome to our annual holiday web site, where we exaggerate our achievements and gloss over our shortcomings. ... Actually, this really has been a good year. We enjoyed helping Charles look at colleges, Katie is wrapping up middle school, and Elizabeth is enjoying first grade and learning to read. One of the themes of the year was "rock and roll". After not attending a concert in at least 20 years, Chuck took Charles to see R.E.M. and Weezer, Katie to see Jonas Brothers, and the whole family to the U2 3D movie. All were lots of fun. We also enjoyed visiting Atlanta in April, especially the aquarium and Atlanta History Center.

 

These pictures show: a friendly gorilla at Zoo Atlanta; and a family outing at Mount Auburn Cemetery (actually a nice place to visit!). Click on any photo for a larger image.

 

          

  Elizabeth: A lot of fun things happened this year. Over the summer, I swam a lot. My family and I also went to Maine. I played at the beach there. I started first grade, my teacher's name is Mrs. Hall. She is really nice. I turned seven years old and it was exciting. My favorite thing that I got for my birthday is the movie Barbie and the Diamond Castle. I had a winter dance recital recently, it was fun. I also am a Brownie Girl Scout and recently we did the Dancercize Try-It. This fall, I also played soccer. It was hard to play but it was still fun because I was with some of my friends. I am really excited for Christmas this year, I hope Santa brings me lots of presents!

These pictures show: me working on a drip castle; stepping stones in a garden; and me and my Dad at Olympic Park in Atlanta, where the water dances to music.

       

  Katie: A lot happened this year. I turned 13 and only eight days after my birthday I went to a Jonas Brothers concert with my friends! It was amazing! Over the summer, I hung out at Wedgewood (swim club) a lot, and we went camping, and to Ogunquit, ME. Those were a bunch of fun because last year we didn't get to go to Ogunquit. Also, on August 7th, I went to another Jonas Brothers concert. It was even better than the first! I started eighth grade and have so much less homework. I also joined a dance team this year at Dance Time. It involves more of my time but it's been worth it. Last weekend we had our winter recital. Overall, this year has been pretty good and fun!!!

These pictures show: me standing in front of the Jonas Brothers' tour bus, with fan artwork; my Dad and I on a breakfast date in Maine; and a friendly frog I met at Atlanta Botanical Garden.

       

Charles: (Still an animation-free zone.) Last winter I was on my school's robotics team in its first year. We did well at the regional competition in Hartford, so we got to go to the world championship in Atlanta and play in the Georgia Dome. Unfortunately we lost horribly there. Over the summer I made a little to-do list program, available at recuerde.googlecode.com. Senior year is ridiculously easy. I haven't had as little homework as I have now since the fourth grade. Outside of school I have been making some web sites and hopefully will be starting a small company with a friend to run one of them. I've been accepted to Northeastern University, and will probably go there next fall.

These pictures show: the robot our team built; the robot competition inside Georgia Dome (the robots race around that track and try to maneuver those large balls); and me chillaxing on a camping trip.

           

 

Happy New Year everyone.
We hope your coming year is joyous and peaceful.