Season's  greetings!

Hello friends of the Griffin family!

Thanks for taking the time to catch up with us!  Well, it's been two and a half years since we moved to Cambridge from Cabin John, Maryland. Michael is planning to finish this June from the Ocean Engineering program at MIT. We are still living one block from the "T" stop and one stop from downtown Boston and so we are in a fine spot for getting to know Boston. 

I've been able to get home to Virginia on occasion and Mike has been able to see his family quite often, especially with Patty's many concerts and tours, which has been a great way for his family to get together. This Thanksgiving's gathering in the Scheider family was particularly special this year because all of the twelve grandchildren were together for the first time. My brother Charles's children Charlie and Catherine arrived from Colombia, South America in September and are attending college in Virginia. This is a picture of the family from Thanksgiving. Since oldest and youngest were born on the same day, this represents a 30 year span of grandchildren!

Keely is now in first grade at Morse School in Cambridge and actually has homework (which is a big responsibility for Mom and Dad).  Keely has also gotten to the age where activities are very important and we've definitely been able to take advantage of what Boston has to offer. The Boston Ballet school has a children's program, the Harvard pool has an excellent swim program taught by students and also there is a French cultural center where she has been picking up some language skills.  

One of the most exciting events for Keely this  year was her first swim meet in Providence Rhode Island.  She did very well and completed both freestyle and backstroke events in the 8 and under category. We also we're able to make Keely's dream to go to Disney World come true in May of this year which was actually a lot of fun for both mom, dad, Keely and Marlee. Marlee survived the heat quite well and kept to her routine in spite of our busy days. Here's Marlee relaxing at the pool.  

Mike is currently focusing on his PhD thesis, so he's quite busy again and won't have time to do much  of anything else. He did have some exciting news relating to his thesis in that he was awarded in October the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers Graduate Paper Honor Prize.  We had a wonderful trip to Vancouver and Seattle so that he could accept his award.  The picture to the right is of Keely  with some magnificent wood carvings at a Vancouver National Park.

Marlee is of course our newest daughter and she is doing very well. We are quite pleased with the closeness that she has with her older sister.  Marlee had her first birthday in September and is slowly unfolding her personality. She is quite the cuddler and face maker as you can see from the beach picture at left. She is keeping us quite busy now with her curiosity for everything.

We'd love to have visitors if you're ever in the area. The accommodations will not be spacious, but the food is great here and there's lots to do (shopping, theatres, whale-watching, skiing, sailing, to name a few).  All the best to you this season!

The Griffin Family - Our address : 60 Wadsworth St. 23A, Cambridge, Mass., 02142