Exciting news!

First, we're pretty sure Edward's going to be done on the July 30th which puts us in Decatur around the 1rst (ish). Hooray for seeing all of you. We can't wait. Second, for the more exciting news, visit our blog.

Hawkins Family Schedule

Claudia was worried that not everyone in the family knows our schedule for the next few months. Just in case you are in the dark and/or care, here it is!

July 20-25: Visit to upstate NY. Richard has a Continuing Legal Education (CLE) course in Albany on July 21-22. I'm going to be visiting a friend in Rochester. We are going to spend July 23rd in the Rochester area visiting church history sites. We will travel on the 24th to Niagara Falls (Canada side) and return home on July 25th.

July 28: Betsey leaves the Cleve' for Decatur. Bye bye life in the Cleve'.

July 30: Richard's last day as a law clerk.

August 2: Richard loads up the moving van with our stuff for storage and to move to H.K. and heads to Decatur. This may happen over the weekend, but because we live above a restaurant, it is tricky figuring out when we can do this without disrupting the restaurant's schedule.

August 6: Sam Fenning gets married! Karl and Emily are going to be up from Bloomington for the wedding. We are going to crash (okay, Sam did invite us...) and are excited to celebrate our honorary Gimbel, Sam!

August 10: Hawkins family is having a family photo taken by Erin (Curry) Hoffman. Thanks for the recommend, Margie! We are so excited!

August 11-12: Hawkins family travels to North Carolina. We'll arrive in the early evening of the 12th.

August 12-17: Hawkins family in North Carolina with the Koomans. We will leave on the morning of the 17th.

August 17-20: Hawkins family in Washington D.C. visiting friends and our nation's capitol.

August 21-23: Travel to Pittsburgh and enjoy the sites of Pittsburgh. We are hoping to go through F.L.W's Falling Waters House, but they don't allow children to go through. We will have to stagger our visit.

August 23: Hawkins family leaves for Ireland!

August 23-31: Hawkins family in Ireland. We are still trying to figure out our itinerary. We will probably post it on our blog.

August 31: at midnight. Hawkins family arrives in Pittsburgh.

September 1: Pit stop in the Cleve' on the way back to Decatur. Calvin has his six month wellness visit with his doctor. Poor guy has to get some immunization shots!

September 1: Back in Decatur.

September 3: The moving company picks up our stuff to ship to Hong Kong from Ed and Claudia's house.

Some date after this, we are flying to Utah. We aren't sure the exact date yet. It depends upon when we are going to be moving to H.K., which depends upon how long they will put us up in a hotel in advance of Richard's start date. Richard begins work in H.K on October 4th.

Okay, so hope we get to see all of our dear friends and family before we go. Edward, any word on your schedule? We haven't heard any firm plans from you and Meridth about when you will be in Decatur. Ryan, are you guys making a trip to Decatur? I just heard this as a rumor...any plans? We will see you in Utah if we don't get to see you in Decatur.

Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend. I just talked to Margie and she had a great 5 mile run along the beach in Hawaii. I think she wins the prize for best weekend. We spent the morning shopping for work clothes for Richard. Running on the beach in Hawaii totally trumps wrangling two kids in Filene's Basement.

XOXOXOXO

Random Thoughts in July

One of the best parts of having the summer off is being able to catch up on some of the reading I never get to do during the school year. Whether it's professional reading designed to get me excited and enthused about teaching math to seventh graders, (and believe me--I've read three books so far, and several blogs and I'm actually started to feel excited and enthused) or scriptures and other religious readings designed to get me off my spiritual butt, and start acting like a follower of Christ, I have really been elevated by the things I've read. Even the many magazines to which we subscribe have provided fodder for increased contemplative musings, (although I may need to index the articles I want to quote from, so that I know which magazine and which author I'm quoting).

Anyway, despite all that (and please don't analyze that last paragraph for sentence structure or length), nothing surprised me quite as pleasantly as a cute little blog titled, "Flunking Sainthood". I don't remember the blogger's name other than Jana, but she is an LDS writer who shares some of her own (sometimes unorthodox) ideas about faith. I found her ideas interesting and yes, refreshing, and was a little jealous that she was able to express ideas so much better than I. So, I will provide the email address (my last link attempt was a disaster), and you can check it out for yourselves. Her first name is Jana--can't remember her last name, but she lives in Cincinnati, and has a non-member spouse.

http://blog.beliefnet.com/flunkingsainthood

I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions, even if they're different from mine (REALLY!)

Love you all, Claudia

A Year Ago!

Here is everyone,

waiting for Edward

Russell to march on by.

Here we are,

enjoying the beach.
Here is Chloe with her

daddy. Isn't the ocean

beautiful?

Since today is the last day of June, I started thinking about where we were last year at this time, and we were in Utah, just about ready to take off for Monterey, California. So.... in honor of the fourth of July, here are some pictures I stole from Ryan's facebook page to help us remember the fun times.

What are YOU up to this weekend?

I just wanted to post this short blog (with no pictures) to let you know what us old fogeys are doing this weekend. Some people think we oldsters must have such a boring life and sit around doing nothing all the time, but we DO get around.

This weekend Dad is down in Bloomington helping Karl install (did I get this right you guys?) a new bathroom sink/vanity. He left work on Saturday (more overtime--YAY!), and drove down there Saturday afternoon, and should be back to Decatur by 5:00.

Claudia is in Merrillville, attending the yearly conference for her Psi Iota Xi sorority. She gets to find out how cool her sorority is with all the incredible work they do donating nearly a million dollars to causes such as cleft palate research, cochlear implants to improve the hearing of children, supporting the Indiana Arts Council and symphony orchestras around the state. And you wondered where all that cheeseball money went!

Anyway, I should be home around 5:00 also. Then we'll turn back into old fogeys again. Maybe you'll want to give us a call, and hear more details. We love to hear from our children and extended friends and family. We love and miss you all. Claudia

Post for Marjorie...

cause I know how much she loves Joakim Noah...

Late Dad Day Post

Happy Father's Day to my wonderful Dad, Ed. We love you. We literally and figuratively wouldn't be here without you.

Ed and Nora, Thanksgiving in North Carolina 2008.

Ed with Jack and Justin, Memorial Day 2010.

Ed and Claudia with Calvin, Chicago 2010. Right before Mom's sad fall.

My favorite picture of dad with Nora. Heading into Lowes. An Ed favorite.

And who can forget the other great men in our lives? Here is Papa Richard with his first little son, Calvin.
Playful dad, Ryan with a little Christmas bow on his head...snuggling with little Chloe

The newest dad of the bunch, Edward with baby Uschi. Look at that smile! She is one happy baby, with a fantastic daddy.

Future dad, Brandon. A great uncle and friend...we are all blessed to have him in our family.

And finally, Karl. Snuggling with one big baby Nora. Karl is an awesome uncle, we love him so much!!!

And now for a word from our sponsors...

Hey I posted a post on our blog right here!

Be warned and forewarned though, it's a little intense. If meat makes you queasy, viewer discretion is advised.

Happy Birthday, Edward/Rusty!

Here is a little cake for you.

Here is a picture of us with your wife.

A picture of your wife kissing our baby. Clearly, next time I see you...I need to take some pictures!

XOXOXO
Happy Birthday, Edward...Happy Birthday to YA!

RSA Animate - Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us

What Motivates You?

A friend from school shared this video with me today, and it is incredibly interesting. I thought you might enjoy watching it, so here is a link to see it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc

I hope this works. You know me--the technological illiterate.

Love you all.

Claudia

More Birthday Wishes for Claudia!

That last post for Claudia was lame. No pictures? No comments? I mean, it is our MOTHER! We need at least a picture up here. So, here are some photos of our dear Mother.

Nora with Grandma Claudia.

Nora helping Grandma make her delicious chocolate chip cookies. Yum Yum!

Grandma Claudia with her first grandson, Calvin!

Dying Easter eggs. Grandma makes Nora very happy!

During our Easter egg hunt of 2010. Claudia squinting in the sunshine.

And, a little video for our math teacher mother. Richard and I have been watching TED talks for fun. I thought of Claudia as I watched this.

Happy Birthday, Claudia!

a house for my parents?

i told mom and dad about this house in the canyon. just wanted to post a link and pics for it. i would consider buying it, but it needs more work than i am capable of. tell me what you think! mom, i'll show it to you when you come out. without further ado

CLICK ME!!
and


-ryan

Family