The Barnett Family Update 2005

Barnett Family Update 2005

So, another year bites the dust. The years seem to go faster and faster, and it really does seem like yesterday we were talking about the new millennium.

The girls are getting bigger every day. The picture on the left was taken in Syracuse over Thanksgiving - yes that is snow in the background! Of course, this year we don't need to head up North to get snow, as we've already had 2 mini-storms here in New Jersey and we have about 3" of our own snow to contend with.

2005 kicked off with New Years in Arizona - we visited Grandma Tina and spent the holidays with her. The rest of winter and into Spring was quite hectic, but unfortunately no major trips out of the area. With Andrea teaching full time, and the girls so involved in Dance, Gymnastics, Sports and other things, it seemed like we didn't have much free time to travel. Andrea and Scott got away to Bermuda in May, which was a great getaway and we had help from Grandma Tina watching the girls. We made a quick trip up to Syracuse in July to visit the family and our new niece - Kaitlyn Barnett. Naomi and Aliza were both on the swim team again this year and made fantastic improvement. Naomi also went away to sleep-away camp for the first time, and had an absolutely fantastic time! She made many friends that she keeps in touch with during the year. After camp, we all got away for a trip to Colonial Williamsburg - a first for all of us, except Andrea. The girls were in heaven, dressed up in 1700's garb the entire time. We also went to the water park and Busch Gardens, which were wonderful. We also said goodbye to Aunt Arianne, who left in early September to spend a year studying in Israel.

Of course, fall meant the beginning of school and a lot of changes - but more on that below. We had fun over the Jewish holidays seeing family and friends. We made our annual pilgrimage up to Syracuse for Thanksgiving, and we will be spending a week in Vermont skiing for Christmas. New Years will be spent at Aunt Sherry and Uncle Larry's.

Naomi started at the Middle School and adjusted pretty much immediately. She did very well the first marking period (honor roll), and she has become quite the "joiner". She signed up for Chorus and Newspaper, and also tried out (and made) the school play, which will be Cinderella. This is in addition to Dance, Soccer and Hebrew School during the week. We decided to drop piano, since she wasn't spending much time on it. I don't know how kids manage it today, they seem much busier than when we were kids. She is still a very sweet kid, with a kind heart. She spends a lot of time on the computer and is getting more proficient daily. She has been growing like crazy in many ways. She is very close to Andrea and enjoys spending time with both of us as well as her sister. Sleep-away camp had a very positive effect on her, she will be returning next summer and is already starting to plan her Bat-Mitzvah events in 2007, when she turns 13.

Aliza is now in 4th grade and is still quite the charmer. She is still doing gymnastics, soccer and piano. She has a very sweet voice and loves to sing (as does Naomi), so we get serenaded on a regular basis. She is involved with Girl Scouts with a group of her friends - they meet once every few weeks after school. Aliza is doing well in school, both girls seem to excel in Science, but have the same challenges with spelling and math. Whose kids are these anyway?? Aliza went to a Day Camp over the summer, and the big issue is whether she's going back there with her friends, or going with Naomi to sleep-away camp. It's quite a stressful situation for her!

Andrea is in her second year at Solomon Schector - a private K-8 school in East Brunswick. It's about a 15 minute ride, so it's fairly convenient, and now that she's got a year under her belt, things are coming much easier this year. She did their annual school trip in early September and left me with the kids for 4 days. I must admit that I (and the kids) did incredibly well!! She's still very involved with the Temple - they are rewriting the curriculum for the kids and Andrea has a leadership role in that effort. She's also involved with ORT (a woman's group) and of course the day-to-day job of Mommy. The kids have gotten much more self-sufficient, but they still need help with homework and other basics that just seem to take a lot of time.

Scott spent yet another year at BEA Systems, a software company that sells Enterprise Software to large corporations. It has been another successful year, and it will be 3 years at BEA in March! Scott has also been very active with the First Aid Squad - continuing as Treasurer and helping with Membership and Fundraising, as well as Coaching the girls soccer teams.

We really enjoy spending time with our families - we see niece's Alison and Cameryn Thaler often, and our neice Kaitlyn and nephew Zachary Barnett not often enough! We saw lots of family and friends throughout the year.

So, it's been another great year and we look forward to 2006. Naomi is starting to babysit Aliza, which is yet another milestone. 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

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Barnett Family Update 2005