Sandy Hook victims mourned for lives cut short
USA TODAY
Published 6:24 p.m. ET Dec.16, 2012 - Updated 1:01 a.m. ET Dec. 18, 2012

Grace Audrey McDonnell, 7

The 7-year-old with the pretty blonde hair and ice blue eyes was a "girly girl" who loved playing dress-up with her grandmother's jewelry and wearing pink, her grandmother Mary Ann McDonnell, of Shelton, Conn., told the Boston Herald. Grace, her parents Lynn and Christopher and her brother, Jack, 12, planned to gather at the grandmother's home after Christmas, as they always have, she said.

Grace loved art projects, soccer and gymnastics, adored her King Charles Spaniel, Puddin', her grandmother said. Grace's father commuted about 90 minutes to work in New Jersey every day because the family loved living in the community so much, his mother said.

In a statement, the family said, "We are overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support from so many people. Our daughter Grace was the love and light of our family. Words cannot adequately express our sense of loss."