Happy New Year (in 25 minutes)

No pictures, no links to fun you-tube videos, no graphics whatsoever. Just an end-of-the-year post from Claudia.

Right now we are in Bloomington with Karl and Emily. We were going to go home and have dinner with friends, but we ended up staying here because Ed is helping Karl put new tile around the shower in his bathroom, and the project is taking a long time. As a matter of fact, poor Karl and Emily will be without a shower for about another two weeks (maybe one week--we'll see).

We got back on Sunday from seeing Edward, Meridth and Uschi in Monterey over Christmas. We had Christmas twice this year, once with Betsey, Richard, Nora, Karl and Emily on December 20th, and again with Edward, Meridth and Uschi on the real Christmas. For those we didn't see, (Ryan, Casey and the girls, Margie and Brandon, Stacey and Dave and the kids, and Teressa and Tom and their two boys) we hope to see you soon in 2010!

Rusty, I'm reminding you to post pictures of our California adventures. The Monterey area is incredibly beautiful, but watching sweet baby Uschi's personality grow before our eyes was spectacular! The rest of the family needs to see more of her. Of course, we know right now that you are in Pasadena to see the Rose Bowl Parade tomorrow, so we'll wait until you get back home.

Anyway, to all my family, I love you beyond measure! How can I ever describe the joy you give to me and to Ed. You are all great! Have a happy celebration where ever you are!

Chloe lost her first tooth today!!!

Nora's Two!!

Dear Nora,

Happy happy happiest belated birthday. I had the best time when I saw you in San Francisco. I think you're pretty neat, and really fun.

Love Uschi ps. Sorry guys for the belated post I've had internet problems here in down under and being that I'm not using my computer I had to snag a pic from your video. (I loved the grandparents singing Nora happy birthday. You two really are the cutest parents).

For Emily...

Nora and me in San Francisco, outside the Urban.

The second rule of Fight Club? Figure out how to post two videos in one post.

Knuckle Sandwich on Rye

A few months ago, I started training in the Army hand-to-hand fighting system. That's right, as a part of my training out here, I've elected to come to work a 5am thrice a week to roll around on a mat with sweaty dudes.

It's a blend of Brazilian ju-jitsu and wrestling and focuses on ground fighting as opposed to the punches and kicks you see in the movies. It's pretty basic at this level and it emphasizes three basics. First you have to close the distance between you and your enemy, meaning you have to aggressively engage him and get as close as you can to him thus nullifying his punches and kicks, and ideally, taking him to the ground. Then you have to fight for position, meaning you have to be in a dominate body position and you get there by using you strength and technique and using his weight and imbalance against him. Once in a dominant position you can proceed to finish the fight using chokes and submissions (at least at this level.) Anyway, as a part of our certification process and to test our mettle, we were required to be choked into unconsciousness. It's important for us to recognize how our bodies (indeed, how we ourselves) react in such a situation. Anyway, here's me getting choked out:

I was also required to close in on one of the instructors who would punch us full-force. My job was to avoid/absorb the blows and put him in a standing position where he's off balance.

Anyway, the whole thing was actually a lot of fun and the workout was great. I thought I had endurance before, but seven minutes of fighting drills and "ll be sweating like I just got out of the shower.

Anyway, on that note...

Miss you guys.

Thanksgiving @ Karl's

Thought I'd share a picture of the Whole Foods Feast on the makeshift table in the garage. It was a good time.
















you can't see Nora in the first one, but I'm pretty sure she was probably eating olives.

Lebron

I went to a Pacers v. Cavs game on Friday and got to see Lebron up close. It was pretty fun. At one point he told a fan that was trash talking that if he had one free pass to come in the stands (to presumably beat someone up) he'd use that pass on him.

Reminder: Christmas swap

Hi People, just a reminder about the Christmas exchange this year. Here it is, for your reference.

Ryan/Casey give to Margie/Brandon

Margie/Brandon give to Betsey/Richard

Betsey/Richard give to Edward/Meridth

Edward/Meridth give to Karl/Emily

Karl/Emily give to Ryan/Casey

XOXOXOX

My Buddy

Accountant? How about a cop...

Less Than Two Miles from our house

YIKES!

Might I suggest a new strategy?

Let the Wookie Win.

perspective

Click here.

Fall in Utah

here are my beautiful girls getting ready for a hay ride. good times












Ashley's birthday trip to lagoon was a "scary" fun time. WOOT WOOT!!!












Ashley is too cool for dressing up, but Chloe is the Queen!! here she is ready for her school party.













Happy Halloween all!!!

Yoda

Nora sings Happy Birthday

Nora love you too, Ashley!

Please ignore her road rash face. She was playing outside yesterday and landed on her face.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ASHLEY!!!

Happy Birthday to the Fabulous and Fantastic Ashley Lynn Perkins!

Ashley is always patient and kind to her younger cousins and younger sister.

Ashley is always up for some fun activities and likes to play games!

Ashley is a wonderful friend, big sister, and cousin!

Ashley is smart AND kind. The best combination.

We love you VERY much Ashley and hope you have the BEST birthday EVER!

Are You Sick of My Videos Yet?

Because I'm not sick of posting them! We went to Columbus on Saturday to visit the temple. Afterwards, we went to a mall to let Nora run around and have lunch. They had a great indoor play area that Nora just loved. She kept trying to go up this slide, but it wasn't until Richard took off her socks that she was able to accomplish the task.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RICHARD!

It's Richard's Birthday today! Hip Hip HOORAY!

Here is how we celebrated the day.

1. The Birthday Bird visited and brought donuts, balloons and a couple of presents (stuff for his bike)

2. The Birthday Bird also left Richard donuts to take to his office. Unfortunately, everyone from his office was gone today. He was stuck with a dozen donuts. I told him to eat them all himself. He opted to avoid that much gluttony on his birthday. I say, if you can't eat a dozen donuts on your birthday, when can you??!?!?!

3. Richard left work an hour early. We were really excited to see him at 4:30 instead of 5:30. We had Binner (Breakfast for dinner) at the request of Richard. We had french toast, bacon and orange juice.

4. We are now going to watch Project Runway. What a nice way to end the evening!

Happy 30th Birthday, Richard!!!!

Baby Nora in San Francisco

I posted this on Facebook, but I don't think you all have Facebook, or check it 85 times a day like I do.

Richard got me a Flip Video camera for my birthday and I am LOVING it Expect more videos of Nora.

BEAT TO THE (proverbial) PUNCH!

Rats.


So Betsey's a better person than either of us because even though we had like two days before Betsey, Richand and Nora even got home, she still posted before we did!

But we did get Nora an early birthday present (even though it was like the day after Betsey's birthday. Seriously we were walking back to where we parked the car and Meridth turned to me and said 'Do you think it would've been better if we'd brought Betsey something?' I shrugged.) And we got to eat these exquisite creampuff orbs that Betsey and the Chard grew to love in their CA days. Yum yum!

Anyway, more pics!





In this pic, Nora is showing off her HUGE biceps while Uschi looks on, well impressed.




The start of a real smash-up hug. Too bad Uschi's not quite ready for prime-time.




One of these things is not like the other...





These are from this morning before church. I caught her mid-yawn, but I was thinking it looked more punkrawk.




Uschi's not a big fan of my non-shaving long weekends by about day three.




Finally, what with the baby's colic-y temperament, we're always looking for new ways to hold her -- ways that will either minimize or maximize pressure on her gas-filled innards.

Cheers! Great to see Team Hawkins (+1 Baby Brother!) in SF!

Guess Who We got to Meet?

We were SO EXCITED to meet baby Uschi!

She may not have been as excited to meet us. No, no...she was happy. I promise! And we were SO THANKFUL to her parents for getting her out of her routine to visit us while we were in San Francisco.

See..Uschi is happy to be with us. She was delightful and just SO BEAUTIFUL! I particularly loved her fat rolls that made it seem like she had no neck. It was just fantastic.

We love you Edward and Meridth! Thanks for letting us love on your sweet, squishy, perfect Baby Uschi!

By the way, when Nora sees a baby or a picture of a baby, she calls it Uschi. I love it! Cousin buddies :)

30 Reasons Betsey is the Best Sister Ever!

For Betsey's 30th birthday today, I thought I would give you all a treat. A listing of the 30 reasons why I think Betsey is the best sister ever.

1. Thoughtful. My little sister sent me a Mother's Day card to thank me for being a great Aunt to Nora. Now, who does that? Only a very thoughtful, caring person like Betsey.

2. Stylish. My little sister has a great sense of what is hip. She always has stylish glasses and can put together a pretty sweet ensemble.

3. Unselfish. My little sister always lets other people shine. She genuinely wants the best for other people.

4. Nora. My little sister has a pretty great daughter (and soon-to-be son), this is only because she is so great herself and is raising a fabulous little family.

5. Cheerleader. My little sister will always listens to me drone on about my day, giving me advice and encouragement.

6. NPR. My little sister loves to listen to NPR. I think that makes her pretty great because NPR is rather interesting.

7. Fast Reader. My little sister has always loved books which has made her a lighting-quick reader. Don't try to read over her shoulder, you won't be able to keep up.

8. Faith. My little sister has an unwavering commitment to her faith. She serves unselfishly and I think that's pretty great.

9. Music. My little sister has always had such a great taste in music. If you're looking for something new, ask Betsey. She'll know.

10. Family. My little sister is always coordinating things for the Gimbel Family. She's a good little Gimbel Family advocate, always.

11. Richard. My little sister found someone who loves her very much and supports her in everything. He's also a pretty good guy, which makes Betsey even better.

12. Blog. My little sister is a good blogger and can come up with interesting updates and thoughts. Reading her blog is fun.

13. Learning. My little sister loves the classroom and is working on her second master's degree. She's a smart cookie.

14. Organization. My little sister helped to coordinate her 10 year class reunion and is always helping out at church to organize things. That makes her great.

15. Committed. My little sister will regularly go-the-distance for other people, whether it's driving for hours or sacrificing her time, she's do it for other people.

16. Crying. My little sister has the biggest heart EVER and cries at very touching stories of humanity. I think this makes her super great.

17. Chard. My little sister brought home a boy named Richard and she let me call him Chard The nickname stuck. I love it.

18. Cooking. My little sister is a great little chef. She and the Chard were super helpful at Thanksgiving last year. Chard can dice up brussel sprouts like no one's business.

19. Unique. My little sister once painted the walls of her room four different colors. She has a very unique sense of aesthetics. (This, too, might also demonstrate committed. Painting is the worse job ever and to paint a room takes commitment esp. when there are four colors involved.)

20. Sweets. My little sister loves sweets. And loves to make sweets even more. This makes her fantastic.

21. Boy. My little sister is going to have a son! The first in the Gimbel family. This makes her great and very special.

22. Creative. My little sister made a memorable card to announce baby #2; She is not only creative, but also follows-through on great ideas.

23. Dedicated. My little sister rallied the Gimbel clan to finish several puzzles over the Christmas holiday last year. She's dedicated to fun and activities that bring the family together.

24. Popular. My little sister was on Homecoming court and the Silver Arrow court in high school She is always very popular and everyone wants to be her friend.

25. Tolerant. My little sister doesn't mind that the two times I've had to speak in public for her, I've cried and not been able to get out a coherent thought. Her wedding toast was terrible, but she loves me anyway.

26. Devoted. My little sister served a mission in Ireland for 18 months when she was only 22. This demonstrations her devotion to her church and her self-less attributes.

27. Independent. My little sister is an empathic, caring thinker. She isn't swayed by conservatism that masks itself as the religious choice.

28. Advocate. My little sister isn't afraid to stand-up for what she believes in. She volunteers her time for causes she believes in and isn't afraid to let others know why she's doing it.

29. Respectful. My little sister might disagree with someone but she is always respectful and listens to both sides of the story.

30. Mine. My little sister is my little sister. My only sister. I love you, Betsey and hope you know how grateful I am that you are mine. My little sister.

Happy 30th Birthday.

xo

-M

Ode to Ryan

I just saw that Casey posted on Facebook a cute poem that Chloe wrote. I thought I would repost it here for all of us to enjoy

Hero
Smart friendly
Driving walking helping
He helps me float
Dad

That about sums it up. We all love Ryan!

random the 2nd

more from ryan.....

so not much to write about today other than run of the mill crap. ate left-overs for lunch. heading back to work. i have been having a hard time with this inspection fixture i have been working on occasionally. it's extremely tight tolerance, and i'm just having a hard time putting things where i need them. hopefully today we'll get it.

so i spent 230 dollars last night at autozone. i used to go to the checker, but this bossy, know-it-all, worthless dillweed works there now, so i "avoid the noid" and go to autozone instead. anyway, i bought 12 quarts of oil because it's oil changing season, two filters of course, a thermostat for casey's jeep (still kinda working out cooling issues with that one), and 2 post catalytic converter O2 sensors for my truck to get rid of that nagging "service engine soon" light. that last one is a requirement for a car to be registered her in utah. no idiot lights allowed.

i have a bit of a confession. for some reason i will periodically spend time during the day making myself mad reading the comments on ksl.com. ksl is a local news outlet in the area, and their stories on the website allow comments from readers. you would be amazed at the depths of some peoples rage. typically pointed at those "communist hippy bastards". i don't know why i do it. sometimes i partially agree with issues because i'm for the most part not strictly party aligned and go on an issue by issue basis, but the level that some of these people drop too is phenomenal. almost like reading tyler hershey's posts on facebook.

it's a weird thing i do. i just like to get myself fired up i guess. either that or prefabricate rebuttals. who knows.

the weather this time of year is great. pretty soon the ivy leaves on my house will start to turn a brilliant yellow. it will be one of the things i really miss when we move out of this house. the high today here in the greater ogden area is going to be 83. tomorrow the high will be 55.

miss you all,

ryan

random

hi. this is ryan. today i am going to post something random.

i am on my lunch break. kinda. anyway......

crap, i had a plan to post something random (not sure what) and by the time i log in and start typing, i can't come up with anything even mildly entertaining. well, here's something:

i'm feeling kind of good right now because i got my test back that i was nervous about taking last friday, and i got the highest grade in the class. i was nervous about it because i haven't studied calculus in at least 6 years. the class is dynamics. the teacher is adjunct from the u of u. he can be kind of a punk. anyway, that was good news.

i feel bad for ashley because she had to go to school today with a tummy ache. i'm sad when my kids don't feel good.

let's see, what else can i write about. ...... .. .

my wife is pretty great. i have been working a lot lately, (whats new) and this weekend i finally was able to spend some time with my wife. with all the hustle and bustle of life, school, kids, housework, and everything else, sometimes i forget how fun and relaxing she is to hang out with. she has a great sense of humor. i don't think i could have found another person on this planet that is better suited for me. she's just perfect.

i'm a happy little clam right now i suppose.

well, i guess that's it. i suppose i should get back to work. i've got to get some parts welded up and surface grind a fixture plate so i can send it out to get EDM'ed.

i hope everybody has a great day. i love you all.

-ryan

Special Guest Post

This is not Edward.

This is Natalie!

For those of you who don't know me, I've been friends with Meridth since we were freshmen in the dorm together at BYU. I'm visiting right now from the beautiful, buggy, muggy state of Maryland, and I came to meet li'l Uschi.


This is her.

And, I have to tell you, Uschi is one busy lady. She is always working on something, which shows hilariously in her face. I've never seen a newborn with so many facial expressions, although sometimes it's tricky to figure out what all her little faces mean. She has one that looks politely horrified that keeps making me giggle.

This morning, Mer called me excitedly into the room, because Uschi had done a remarkable thing. We tried to recreate it, and (amazingly) it worked. Uschi was on her front, having "tummy time," and Mer put her hands under Uschi's feet to that she could push herself forward. That itself shows an impressive amount of strength, but after pushing herself up, little Uschi was off balance, and she threw her arm up in front of her body to catch herself. It sounds like a fluke, but she actually did it a second time as well. This shows an extraordinary amount of coordination for a lady who is one month old tomorrow.

(We tried to do it a third time when Edward came home, but Uschi firmly pointed out that she is not a performing monkey puppet to do tricks on command, and politely declined.)

She also managed to stick her thumb in her mouth this afternoon. Tasty.


I've known Meridth and Edward for quite awhile, so when I was trying to come up with a gift to crochet for her, I decided to personalize it to what I would imagine their spawn would be like.

So, naturally, I made a pirate teddy bear.


It is named Cap'n Ursa, the Pirate Teddy. It's kind of dominating Uschi in this picture.

But she likes it. you can tell because she's smiling at me. 'Cause we're friends.



Bless.

Natalie

A Gimbel Family classic is now a #1 movie...

The forecast was bright at the box-office for "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs," which earned $30.1 million to lead this weekend's films. Sony's 3-D animated family comedy was adapted from the popular 1978 children's book by Judi and Ron Barrett. Despite schools being back in session, the film still was able to draw kids and their parents to the multiplexes. "The meatballs have cleared, so to speak," said Rory Bruer, head of distribution for Sony. "It really is a feature where everything aligned perfectly." That's good news for other adaptations of classic children's books on the horizon, namely the much anticipated big screen version of Maurice Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are." The Spike Jonze directed adaptation will be released Oct. 16. "It really does pave the way for a really strong opening for that film," said Hollywood.com box-office analyst Paul Dergarabedian. "It's such a beloved book that the anticipation is really high." He added that the strength of "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" showed that 3-D is proving to be a significant draw for moviegoers. The film also was released on IMAX at 127 venues, which accounted for $2.5 million, or 8 percent of its box-office.

http://movies.yahoo.com/news/movies.ap.org/39chance-meatballs39-tops-weekend-box-office-ap

Peter, Paul and Mary Saddness..

Sorry Mom, Mary Travers died yesterday. No more, Puff the Magic Dragon. No more, If I had a Hammer. No more Lemon Tree. But here they are for you. To help you remember Mary Travers.

(Nora's crying and I can't find a youtube clip of Lemon Tree...so someone should find one and post it for me).

Totally jealous.

So the Art Institute of Chicago is going to have Caravaggio’s The Supper at Emmaus on loan from the National Gallery in London, from October 10, 2009 to January 31, 2010. This painting is suppose to be one of the most influential and well respected paintings coming from the canon of Western art. I was able to see it while I was in London, but it really is phenomenal to see in person. I'm super envious. I wish we lived nearby, I would love to sneak another peak.

Updates in Inanity!

Are you sick of my baby yet?



Me neither. But if you didn't want to see an update or don't want to have a look at a video of mi hija and mi perro, don't bother clicking here. But if you do want to, do.

Thanks!

For those of us who have a hard time following:

Love, The Chard

Uschi Day + 3!

I'm turning into one of those new parents who posts every single picture ever taken of their child. Yuk! But since a lot of people have asked about the grim and gritty details of the labor and all that, I thought I'd chime in to correct any of the inaccuracies Meridth has perpetrated in phone conversation. It's not that Meridth is dishonest, just forgetful. The story is correct in broad strokes but I think I can improve on the sequence of events.



So on Tuesday night I had to conduct at the local cub scout pack meeting. It was a good time and I brought Meridth along because of her advanced state of pregnancy. Meridth had been feeling random contractions throughout the day and we thought that it might happen that day. We did go in Sunday night because Meridth was leaking some fluid that we thought might be amniotic in nature, so we wanted to be cautious. After the scout meeting on the way home I bought Meridth a frozen delectable from the 31 Flavors (which she ended up throwing up two hours later) and we started writing down the contraction times. 8:17, 8:22, 8:27, 8:31 they were getting to be exactly five minutes apart. By 9pm we called the Birthing Center at the hospital and they asked Meridth about her birth plan. Meridth was non-ideologically interested in having a natural birth (just to see what that was all about) so they told us it would be best to wait until she couldn't stand it anymore before coming in.

It was exactly at 10:54 that Meridth decided she couldn't stand it anymore. I called the Birthing Center and grabbed the last bits and bobs we needed and by 11:06 we were on our way. Now I wasn't entirely sure we were going to have Uschi that night because we were still about two weeks out from the due date so I called my work and let the know I probably wouldn't be in the next day.



At the hospital we were taken to one of the birthing rooms and Meridth sat on the bed and had everything checked. And I put Tim Burton's Beetlejuice in the DVD player. Tuesday morning Meridth had seen the doc and he had said she was only dilated to a 1.5 so she still had some distance left to go before 10. Since Meridth had been suffering since 8pm, we figured she'd be up to at least a four. No dice, the nurse said she was only dilated to a two. Boo to that. Fortunately Dr. Walker was coming by for another patient at about half-past eleven so he peeked his head in, noticed Meridth's very regular contractions (like you could set your watch by them) and said we probably shouldn't go back home tonight. Just to speed things along he also decided to break Meridth's water.

And speed things along it did. We had 8cm to go until 10 dilation was reached and the doctor estimated that would take until 8am Wednesday morning, about a centimeter an hour. In fact, Meridth was fully dilated by 4am! But to go along with that speed, Meridth had to endure pretty intense contractions. By maybe 12:35 she asked for her first 'hit' and the nurses gave her a med designed to relax the mother and treat the anxiety more holistically. This was not even close to enough. By one in the morning, Meridth graduated to local injected anesthesia but only a single contraction went by before Meridth said "Y'know? I'm ready for an epidural." That wife of mine doesn't mess about.



So the anesthesiologist rolls in and we sign the forms saying that it's okay if Meridth dies from it and Meridth is sitting up and I'm in front of her and all I can think about is how much I want to see this huge needly-thing injected into my wife's spine, but I don't want to get in the way. I'm very interested in the dirty details of medical procedures, but in this case I had to settle with the salad-plate sized blood stain when the doc was finished taping all the kit down onto Meridth's back.

Anyway the epidural made my wife as happy as a clam who suffers from uncomfortable numbness and manageable pain (the sort of clam with a decent HMO) and she was able to doze for about an hour before the pushing started. Me and Meridth were ready and refreshed for round two. 5am! Fully dilated! Ready to push! We went at it for a half-hour then the nurse gave us permission to rest again. And by 5:45 the Dr. Walker showed up for the main event. Pushing pushing pushing pushing pushing pushing pushing! Curl up toward the fetus! Push were my fingers are! PUSH!

And just like that I started seeing a tennis-ball sized hairy lump appear from points unknown. Hmmmmm... I thought to myself, that's a real small head for a full-term baby. And suddenly Ka-boom! There was her head! I'd only seen the point of her little cone-head, so it looked smaller coming out that way. It was pretty out-there.

So the shoulders. And the rest. And the placenta. And there it all was.



When the doc was stitching up Meridth she started saying, "Uhhh...should I be feeling that?" Turns out that the tip of the epidural had worked itself out despite all the tape and what-not. So the doc tore it off and left it on the floor and treated the stitchy-region locally. Dr. Walker's pretty sure that it came out before the major pushing started so you could say that Uschi was born naturally. If you were so inclined.

Now you might be wondering why Uschi was in the hospital for two whole nights. I guess she had a poo on her way out that morning and had swallowed some of it, which wasn't good for her digestion. So throughout that first Wednesday she was burping up black bile. Late that night she had her innards suctioned out and the next day we just checked her diapers for the right colored poo. Friday at about noon the stars aligned and the poo-colors were spot on and we went home.



RADAR has been so good with the baby, it's pretty amazing. He's been mellow but curious about his new sister and has gained an undisclosed amount of weight while he was hanging out with the neighbors. What a great dog!

And that is that great friends! Thanks for all the millions of metric tons of support you have given us in the last ten months and we wouldn't dare have a baby in a world without people like you. Pat yerselves on the back!

Uschi Day + 1!

More pic? Yes please.




We're both pretty tired here.

My chin is HUGE!

Mommy's tired. We wanna go home.

I'm too cool to poop.

Being a dad is cooler by the day.