claire

Christmas 2007

Dear family and "like family" friends,

This year has been a TREMENDOUS one, since TREMENDOUS is pretty much the only way to begin to describe the feeling of welcoming a child into our lives.

January started with a bang, with Brad being called to serve in the bishopric of the student ward (U3) he attended before we got married. What fun! We promptly switched from being one of at least 8 other "expecting" families in First Ward to being just one of 3 married couples in the entire ward, and the only one with a baby! We are having such a good time in U3 and Brad just loves working in the bishopric. This year Claire's also served as the stake emergency preparedness chairperson, a Sunday school teacher, and is currently on the stake public affairs committee.

In February and March we took a fun trip to Whistler for cross-country skiing and snow-shoeing, and an 2nd anniversary road trip to Stonehenge (in south-central Washington) and to Oregon to visit family, eventually seeing the Redwood Forest (first time for Brad!), and then working our way back up the coast on scenic highways, stopping for sea lion caves, the Spruce Goose, aquariums, cello shops, and cool bridges. We had a marvelous time enjoying each other's company and visiting with others along the way.

In April, after figuring out taxes early (given our due date of April 15th) and waiting around 12 extra, very long days, with the help of a great University of Washington midwife team, Brad's moral support and massaging, Claire's older sister Rachel's focusing and breathing experience, and our dear friend Kristina Westbrook's relaxation techniques, our beloved THORVALD RADU FOLEY HAWKINS was born on April 28th at 2:07am, weighing 8 lbs 9 ozs, and was 22 inches long. We doubt we could have done it without all of those who helped. Thorvald was warmly welcomed (pre-birth) with generous showering and (post-birth) with a steady stream of welcome visitors. We have been amazed and overwhelmed with the outpouring of love!

Thorvald was blessed in May, and June was a bit of a beautiful blur, but in July we had another fun Foley-side (Gambee, really) reunion at Claire's dad's house on the lake, and in August we had a memorable Hawkins-side reunion at Brad's grandparent's farm in Union, Oregon. There are, of course, tons and tons of photos of ALL these events on our website, WWW.CLAIRIFIER.COM.

Claire started back part-time at work and she's blessed with a wonderful job, great co-workers, excellent clients, interesting projects, and a law firm that understands family/work balance. Brad is Thorvald’s “Co-Primary-Care-Provider” all day on Mondays and then Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings, and Claire's takes over as Thorvald’s other “Co-Primary-Care-Provider” when Brad’s at work and that schedule works out just great! Brad's work has expanded so that he's teaching cello or bass or coaching orchestras or groups at Seattle University, Ballard High School, Washington Middle School, Lakeside, giving private lessons, and playing weddings, other gigs, and sometimes appearing with the Tacoma Symphony and the Bellevue Ballet.

With all that working and scheduling and baby stuff, September and October were somewhat breathtaking in their busy-ness, but we had a lot of fun going on little outings as a family, visiting with other new families, taking bike rides, and watching Thorvald make amazing developments. We feel like we should be having big parties with each new accomplishment--recognizing mom and dad, smiling, making new sounds, rolling over, grabbing for things, sitting up, and . . . crawling!!

Thorvald has deepened the love at the Hawkins' home. With his life in mind we prepared our wills and last testaments, reflecting on our core beliefs and hope for the future, and by doing so we have realized that having the gospel be central in our lives, participating in Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and practicing pure love for each other and our fellow human beings (and the world we all live in) are what bring us the most satisfaction. We feel like the luckiest people in the world, and wanted to thank each of you for all you do for us, for the good examples you are to us, and for your friendship and time. We hope 2008 is a good one for everyone!

Love, Brad, Thorvald, and Claire Foley Hawkins

For pictures, details, and updates of all of the above-mentioned events and more, visit the history section or the photos section of this website.