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Barnett Family Update 2004
Another year has come and gone - I know we keep saying this, but where does the time go??
I can't believe how big the girls are - the picture on the left was taken at a photo shoot that we "won" at a Casino night. They took about 30 shots - some of the kids together, some of all of us. The girls had a blast, and it was great watching them show off for the camera. They really are (not so) little people!
We are wrapping up 2004 with a trip to see Grandma Tina in Arizona - it's awfully nice being able to take off the last week of the year - something we started last year and are able to continue this year! This will include a trip to the Grand Canyon - a first for the girls. Everybody is excited, but of course we first have to get through Hanukkah and the rest of school.
Naomi is now in 5th grade, which is the highest grade in her Elementary School. She is enjoying being the Big Girl on Campus. They started switching teachers for different subjects in 4th grade, but it turned out Naomi had the same teacher for everything, so this is the first year she is really switching classes. She has 3 different teachers for the major subjects, and then of course there is all the "specials" like Music, Gym, Health, Computer, Spanish, Art, etc. She is still a very sweet and caring girl, with great friends and a wonderful attitude towards people and life. She has added saxophone to her piano efforts, and doing great at both. We recently hired a piano teacher to come to the house to teach both girls, and they really seem to be thriving with him. At least they enjoy practicing more than they used to! Naomi is also quite the athlete - we added Basketball to the winter to complement Soccer in the fall and spring. She just recently played her first ever Basketball game and did well - but has a lot to learn! Naomi got her ears pierced for her 10th birthday and enjoys wearing a wide variety of earrings around the house and at school. She's enjoying Hebrew School and helping out the Cantor with the children's choir (it's for 1st-4th graders, so she helps coordinate the younger kids). She will also go away to sleep-away camp for the first time in the summer of 2005, so that will be a life changing event too. This past summer, Naomi won "Most Improved" swimmer for the summer travel team, which is a prized posession.
Aliza is in 3rd grade and is a character all her own. She is still doing gymnastics, soccer and piano. In addition, she is part of the Hebrew School play that will be performed in the Spring and has one of the lead roles. She is a funny and sometimes annoying kid who laughs quite a bit and enjoys giving hugs. She knows the words to most songs she sings (and if she doesn't she makes them up, which is just hilarious). Aliza was also on the summer swim team, and made dramatic improvements in her times. The two of them swim like fish! Both girls enjoyed a week up at Nanny's and Poppy's in early November when the kids had a week off from school, but we didn't have time off work. We wound up meeting them all in Boston for my cousin Beth's wedding, and the kids hung out at our friends the Graubarts, which was a great treat for them.
Andrea has now taken on the mantle of the family job-changer - she left her job at Freehold District and took a job teaching Middle School Science at Solomon Schector - a private school 15 minutes north of us. They made her an offer she couldn't refuse, and it's been a really nice experience for her. The class size is much smaller than public school, and the compensation was on par. The administration has taken a much more active role and has been responsive to Andrea and her classroom. Of course, it's another year of new lesson plans which makes for busy nights and weekends. She has also been volunteering quite a bit for our Synagogue - in addition to helping the Temple find a new Cantor, she is helping them revamp the Education Department at Hebrew School. It's time consuming, but very rewarding.
Scott is now the stable bread-winner - he stayed the entire year at BEA Systems, a fairly large software company that acquired a company back in 1999 that competed with one of Scott's former companies (Novera). It has been a successful year financially, which is always a good thing. Scott has also been very active with the First Aid Squad - continuing as Treasurer and helping with Membership and Fundraising, as well as playing Softball in the summers and Coaching the girls soccer teams.
The extended family is getting bigger... our niece Cameryn Thaler turned 2 in May, and nephew Zachary Barnett turned 2 in January. The girls really enjoy being the "big cousins" and we've had quality time with both sets of families throughout the year.
We saw lots of family and friends throughout the year. In addition to the Cruise last December, we made trips to Boston a few times, went to Rhode Island for a week over the summer (a GREAT vacation in Naragansett) and got to Syracuse a few times, the last of which was for Scott's 20th High School Reunion (Scott even setup a website for the reunion!) We had a few visits from Grandma Tina (who flew in from Arizona) which are always nice. The kids spent the summer at Camp Ramah in East Brunswick, and that filled up pretty much the entire summer, not giving us a lot of time to travel around.
So, it's been another great year and we look forward to 2005. Naomi is getting close to babysitting age, which is yet another milestone. Aliza loses teeth practically daily and we enjoy her Jack-O-Lantern smile. We hope this finds you and your family happy and healthy, and as always our door is always open - come by or call or email!
Love,
Andrea, Scott, Naomi and Aliza