The Hawkins Happenings

Tag-Along

I always love days when I get to tag-along with these two. I have to be sneaky in my picture taking so I don't get uninvited next time. ;)

On May 15th our elementary school had an end of the year parade I got to help organize and volunteer at. I don't have any kids at the elementary anymore, but Ucon will always hold a piece of my heart. I spend a lot of hours there substitute teaching and love these sweet kids. I loved getting to see all of them again. We had the teachers line the sidewalks and the family's drive through the loop so the kids could wave goodbye. I got to collect donations through the line for the PTO so I got to see the kids in every car. SO FUN! No one knew that on March 16, 2020, when they closed school that we wouldn't got back for the rest of the year. Such a hard thing for all these kids (teens included) to understand. This parade brought some much needed closure for the teachers and kids. We ended it with a balloon release for our Principal Mr. Page who is retiring this year. What an incredible man. So glad I got the opportunity to associate with him over the past several years. Such a great day!

Sweetest Little Kittens

On April 22nd our cat Pissy (the boys named her!) had 6 of the cutest little kittens. Three black like Cake and 3 striped like her. She had them in Rhett's window well that afternoon when we weren't home. After a few weeks we finally dared take them out and start snuggling them. They were the very sweetest little things. We loved taking them outside to watch them run through the grass.

On May 21st Pissy moved 5 of the kittens over to the other window well during a major storm. We thought she'd come back for the 6th, but she never did and the next morning we found that little kitten dead. We decided it must have been sick and she must have known. The next night, May 22nd - at exactly a month old, the other 5 kitties just cried and cried which was very unusual for them. The next morning all 5 had died. It was seriously the saddest thing ever. They must have all gotten some sort of sickness that went through all of them. It was heartbreaking to lose all 6 of our little babies. One thing about growing up on a farm with animals, my kids have learned very quickly about life and death. Truthfully I think it is an important lesson for kids to learn early in life. We love big while we have these animals and when they die our hearts break and then we heal and wait for the next batch of animals to come through.

Rhett took the time to bury the first little kitten next to the house. It was nice to watch him tenderly tell it goodbye and place it in the ground. Such a precious moment.

First Chemo

On May 6, 2020, our mom had her first chemo appointment. We were not going to let this go unnoticed, so Arnica came the night before and we met them in the parking lot of the cancer center to show our love and support. We love this lady and we have her back every step of the way on this battle to kick cancer!

Living on the Water

Four years ago when we built our house on the canal I had no idea how much I would love living on the water. Nights when the moon reflects off the water are my favorite.

Water Heater Issues

On Sunday, May 3rd my parents hot water heater went out on them. Ryan and I ran out that evening to help them figure out what they would need to replace it and help them figure out their options. At this point they were both still trying really hard to avoid being in public not only because of coronavirus, but also because we added cancer on top of that. Ryan came home that night and added everything they would need to his Home Depot cart online so all I would have to do it pick it up the next day. Finally about 1pm the next day I still hadn't heard from the store so I called. They were 72 hours behind on their orders so I cancelled the online order, grabbed Dallin and we ran in to wait in line outside until our turn to go into the store. (Limited number of people could shop because of the virus.) We actually got in fairly quick and got everything we needed and headed straight to Dubois. We were able to help my dad get the new hotwater heater in the basement and get the plumbing hooked up.....thanks to Dallin. He is such a good kid and when we were missing a part he figured out a way to get the same part off the old pipes. It was fun to watch these two work together. We left as my dad's neighbor pulled in to help him hook it up to the power. That evening we got a call from my very blue dad. When the hotwater heater went out it blew the breaker which ended up breaking it and they had no idea until they couldn't get the new water heater to work. He was devastated. We had tried so hard to get it all working so that my mom could have a shower before her first cancer appointment the next day. :( She put on her brave face though and made some boiling water work. While they were at the cancer appointment Rhett, Laiklie and I ran from hardware store to hardware store looking for the right breaker. I met them in Rexburg as they were coming out of the cancer center with a few breakers to take home. As an answer to a prayer one of the breakers WORKED and she was able to atleast have a hot shower before she started chemo the following day!

I think the reason this story will forever be ingrained in my mind is all the emotions that were involved. Our hearts were all very tender at the time just trying to work through the cancer end of things and so to have such a dumb trial as a hotwater heater and then a breaker just felt like being kicked while we were down. It was a great reminder that even at our lowest Heavenly Father is aware of us and our earthly struggles. Sometimes we need those tender reminders. What a relief to have it fixed.