November 2006 -

Ah Thanksgiving, a time for family, friends, food and of course some free time to give our web site a bit of a face lift.

October 2006 -

Bonaire was our destination of choice for this Fall Break. We stayed at Divi Flamingo, which had a dive pier that allowed us 24 hour access to the ocean. We had several dives a day and each one was unique and beautiful. This is a place to go back to again and again!

July 2006 -

Two big events at school closed the year – Family and Alumni Day and senior graduation. It was a nice way to end the year. After school ended, we spent a little time in Aruba wrapping things up like the yearbook and report cards. Then, we were off to Wisconsin for a brief time before flying out to San Diego for NECC 2006! Yet again, it was a tremendous experience. We spent a few days before the conference seeing the sites – Old Town, the Zoo and Mexico! This year, we seemed to be more focused at the conference and was able to narrow our collecting of information to the essentials. But, even at that, we were overwhelmed but all the new ideas.

We spent the rest of the summer visiting family. We had the opportunity to go camping with the niece and nephews. Chris built a water-bottle rocket, which entertained several campers. Sue went off to an Advanced Placement conference at Northwestern University. The class was packed with techniques and ideas and I'm sure it will take many months to assimilate all of it.

April 2006 -

Although it has been a busy few months, there hasn't been much new or exciting to share. We've been working hard at school – Sue coordinated a huge health fair for the school which invited community health and wellness organizations and businesses to demonstrate their services. It was a great success.

This month we took another amazing cruise on the Carnival Destiny. This time we flew up to San Juan to catch the boat, rather than getting it here in Aruba. This also meant we could spend a few days in San Juan, which was a treat. The cruise, as usually, was both relaxing and exciting. We dove sound new sites in St. Thomas and returned to our favorites in Barbados and Dominica. Chris has his camera with him this time and we both took our own equipment which made the dives go smoother.

November 2005 -

At the beginning of the month, Sue attended the National Council of Teachers of English conference in Pittsburgh. It was absolutely amazing spending time with famous authors and enthusiastic teachers. I picked up a lot of new books to use with the students and even more new ideas and techniques. It has been exciting sharing this information with my students.

However, this month is the big event we have all been waiting for – Grand Opening Day! This is a huge event – with politicians and parents attending to watch our students speak, sing, and dance. Everything has to be just right, as this will create an impression on the island that will last for a long time. What's really cool is that Chris's parents will be here to share it with us.

October 2005 -

During Fall break, we decided to stay in Aruba and be tourists. We went to the aloe factory, the butterfly farm, the natural pool, DePalm island and the national park. Each day we chose a different site to see. This really is a pretty island. So many people are envious of where we live, we just need to take more time to enjoy it!


August 2005 -

With the campus moving to a new location, we knew the beginning of school was going to be very busy, but we never realized HOW busy. The new campus is in a great location, right in the middle of the island and close to the airport. The classrooms are large and spacious and everything has that wonderful “new” smell. We all had many boxes to sort through to find our materials, along with finding enough desks and chairs. The first few days of school were warm, as the air conditioning didn't work yet. But, the students were sent home at noon and the teachers had in-service on curriculum mapping in an air conditioned trailer (kindly loaned to us by the construction company). Our overseas order took a little longer to arrive, but when it did – it was like Christmas! Getting the computer lab up and running will be a challenge. The construction company built the tables too high and the network connections were installed incorrectly. Chris will be doing a lot more running around before the computers can be set up.

Our friend Melody spent a week with us before school started. It was fun playing tourist with her – hanging out at the beach and seeing the sites. For her, it was a bit of a homecoming, as she spent summers here as a teenager. She was even nice enough to help us set up the classrooms at school.

July 2005 -

We had the opportunity to spent 4^th of July in the birthplace of our country! The National Educator Computing Conference was held in the city of brotherly love – Philadelphia. Sue had been there when she was returning home from Army Basic Training, but she said it has really changed. Before the conference started, we were able to see a lot of the city, especially the highlights like the Liberty Bell, a very cool nighttime interactive light and sound tour, and the mint. Once the conference started, we were happily overwhelmed with information, new ideas, and meeting other dynamic educators. It seems that each year NECC seems better. Can't wait for next year in San Diego!

June 2005 -

6-11-05

UPDATES - Yes, they are finally ready and posted! Look for pictures of our new country, new home and new puppy as well as some more of our travels from last year. I still have to post pictures of our cruise and some pictures from our new hobby - SCUBA diving. Also, check out Chris's page for some Random Thoughts, Fond Memories, Good Times and Inside Jokes.

6-9-05 

Well, another school year is over - today was the last half day for students. We had a farewell ceremony to say good-bye to the old school building. In August, we will start school in a brand new building. The students and teachers had a few games of dodgeball, a quick snack and then swimming and playing at Baby Beach.

6-2-05

We have seen quite a bit of the world over the past 8 years and since traveling from Aruba is a bit more difficult, we decided to explore the other two-thirds of the world - underwater. Over the past year, we have both completed our Open Water SCUBA diver certificates, Advanced Underwater SCUBA diver certification and are now working on our Rescue diver Certification. Of course, Chris has been busy taking pictures and we will be posting some of them soon.

May 2005 -

5-30-05

It has been another industrious year for us. As you can see above, another new flag, which means another new country. In August 2004, we joined the staff of the International School of Aruba, in the Dutch Caribbean. It is a private school of about 120 students in Pre-K through 12th grade. Chris is the technology coordinator and teacher and Suzanne is a Middle School Generalist, teaching science, social studies, and English. With this move, our physical living space expanded, as did our family. We adopted a beautiful Shetland Sheepdog named Rasa, who enjoys running around our fenced-in backyard and keeping away the invisa-kitties. We are living in a house which is a five minute walk from the famous Baby Beach; a sheltered cove that has great snorkeling opportunities. Adapting to a new country and school has been time-consuming, but worthwhile. Hopefully, you can take a few moments to virtually tour our new environment and maybe decide to visit! Because . . . Aruba is one happy island!

O.K. I know our page is usually outdated but I am sure there was at least one update between September 2003 and now.