And its a....

BOY! Very clearly a boy. A very healthly little baby boy!! We are so excited, but now the challenge of finding that one perfect, cool name. No ideas really at this point. We do have one name that has not gotten the immediate axe from one or the other of us, but still not sold on it yet. At least we have another 4 months to decide. I have already started praying for the wisdom and the safety of these 2 (actually 3 if you include the grown one too) boys that I would lay down my life for. I have read Wild at Heart, we live in Alaska, I have a 25 year old brother, a husband, with 2 brothers of his own, and a father, who all also like to take risks. I will need courage, peace and the wisdom to know when to speak out and when to let them be Wild. For now, I will protect and someday I will need to let go. I have already identified through some awesome women's Bible studies that my struggle is both knowing and believing that God is truly good and the battle with the fear that Satan plants in my heart. With Him I will win that battle in my mind, but I also know that discernment and wisdom should play a role. So, I will love, I will pray and I will savor each precious moment. After all this blog is called, Living in the Moment right :-)

So the rest of our summer was fantastic! We loved having Nate, Jenn and the kids come to our house. It went by far too quickly. We really enjoyed having the kids and Ely getting to see what babies are all about. He is convinced our baby will be eating oatmeal right away, and then there is all the spitting up that Nolan does. Ely has already started telling me that he will help get the burp cloths for me. Nate, Jen, Kaylee and Nolan... we love you!!!

About a week after the Nate Hawes crew left, we had Darren's parents come, which again, we really enjoyed. Darren and his dad got lots of projects done. We got real stairs off our back deck (instead of cinder blocks with wood on top), new shelves, another bathroom cabinet, some toliet paper holders, dimmer lights etc. etc. Carolyn and Alvin, we love you too!!! After company in August and early September, the past month seems like a blur as well. We finally got our house stained (about a year after it was supposed to be done), but we were very thankful that we made it before the season shifted. I think our house may have been the last one done in Girdwood for the summer.

Now we are most definitely into fall, which is actually almost over, and headed quickly into winter. The past couple of mornings driving to work it was in the 20's. It won't be long and we will have snow!

Captain's Darren and Ely

Ely's first fish (with assistance from Dad)

A Bun in the Oven

So, if you haven't heard yet, we are going to have another baby! Yep- due Feb. 28th and this year is a leap year :-) Could be a fun one!! So strange how the second time around your belly looks twice as pregnant as it did the first time at this stage. I can't hide the bulge any more and I am only 10 weeks along! So, we are praising God that this belly is bulging. What an answer to prayer. I had prayed for peace and assurance that He would work His plan in our life and His timing would be perfect. I was just about to run out of peace and confidence right around the time I saw 2 lines on the pregnancy test!! Yippee!! Now to pray for a healthy, strong, perfectly formed child. So, if you get a chance, whisper a prayer for this little heartbeat, that he or she would grow to be healthy and strong and that he or she would grow to be a light in this world and glorify Him always.

I have to share a cute Ely story about having another baby... when we found out we were expecting (which was on our 8th anniversary- pretty cool), we started dropping little hints to Ely. I wanted to wait and really tell him until we had been to the doctor, but I thought a few questions wouldn't hurt. So one night as I was putting him to bed, I asked him if he wanted a baby brother or baby sister. He looked up at me and said matter of factly, "No, I'd rather have a ferret." (He had just been playing at his cousins house, who have a ferret!)
Fortunately for us now, he is saying he wants a baby sister, for a while it was a baby brother, and sometimes he says, "no just a baby, not a brother or a sister". So, I think we have a ways to go before he really understands the concept.

Nate, Jen, Kaylee and Nolan are coming tonight for 2 weeks!! We are so excited that they will be here. I will post some pics of our goings on once they are here. I am headed to the airport in about 20 minutes to pick them up. 3 carseats in the back of Darren's truck will be a feat! :-)

Also, Ely turns 3 on Saturday! Wow, I can't beleive he is going to be 3. Although there are moments of motherhood that have felt eternal, it moves me to the core and brings me to tears to think of my sweet tiny little baby turning 3. He is such a blessing and the best gift God has ever given us (besides this little heartbeat in my belly I don't even know yet). Thank you Lord for my Ely- may he learn to walk in your ways and may you keep his path straight. May he be a light in the darkness, may he love you always and may he grow in the knowledge and wisdom of Jesus, his friend and savior.

Summer is here!

Summer finally arrived in Alaska! It has been sunny and warm since Saturday. I was beginning to wonder if it would ever come, since it was rainy and 40 degrees for several weeks. But ahhh, the sun is here and hopefully to stay (but I am not counting on it, since we live in a rainforest). Last weekend we hiked up California creek on Sunday afternoon. It was beautiful and actually hot! Lots of little creeks to cross over in the middle of a forest so thick that you would swear little leprechauns would just pop out any moment. We hiked up to the top and looked back and Darren and I both said, "It looks like Switzerland!" It looked so similar to looking down on Grindenwald in the Alps, it was uncanny. I had never seen Girdwood from the other side of the valley that high up. It was worth the sweat and thirst (somehow Darren is convinced we can do a day hike with one water bottle to share between the 3 of us... I think on the next hike I am going to slip another bottle in when he is not looking :-) Ely slept for about half of the trip, but he enjoyed himself when he was awake. We kept clapping or yelling "whoop whoop" to make sure we would scare off the bears, and when we explained to him what we were doing.... funny thing, Ely was convinced he had already shot all the bears. Seriously, I think he must have told Darren several times, "I just took Brandt's gun and I shot all those bears already". (That would be his cousin Brandt's gun, age 5). Folks, we have a future hunter on our hands.

Tomorrow will be another big moment in time for the Hawes household. We will have lived in our house for exactly 1 year! I remember that June 14, 2006 was our first night to sleep in our new house. We still didn't have a mirror over the bathroom sink, so it was interesting getting ready for work that next morning, but what a tremendous blessing this spot in the world has been for our family, for extended family, and for family in Christ. God has blessed us immeasurably more than we could imagine. But to whom much is given, much is required, so I am reminded to not just accept the grace given us, but to give it to others as well. I pray that God will show us how we can use this home for His glory. So sometimes when I wonder if our lifestyle (Darren working in the evenings, me working during the day) is worth it, I have to think that God has a plan and that living in Girdwood and building this house is part of his plan. It does get hard, not spending much time with all 3 of us together all week and living for the weekends, but in so many ways our life is so rich and so blessed. I am so thankful for my husband, who gets up (after only having 6hrs. of sleep) and reads to Ely in the morning as I sneak out of the house , and then plays with him and feeds him and teaches him all sorts of interesting things (including John Deere tractor computer games and all about "lifesavers" or what Star Wars fans call Lightsabers.) and then gets ready for a full day of work himself, just as I am wrapping mine up. I miss my husband in the evenings, but we are so blessed to be able to live in this town, in this house and have the jobs we do. I know this stage will not last forever, so for now I am thankful that Darren can raise his son just as much as I can and then we can all play together on the weekends. So, tonight maybe instead of going to sleep early, I will wait up and hear how his day (or night rather :-) was, and I too will only get 6hrs of sleep before waking up to join the world of numbers and deadlines and new bosses.

Since I have resolved to stay up way too late tonight, a few more ramblings about what we have been up to. Since a year has past, and the big hand held magnet has gathered up most of the stray nails around the perimeter of our house, we have actually been enjoying spending time in our yard this summer. We have some marshy areas behind our yard, so we made a little pond for Ely. Ely and his friend Dessa from next door had fun splashing in it a few days ago. I had to attach some picture of that... I seriously think Ely could live outside. He never wants to come in, even if it is 10pm, he wants to keep digging, even if it is raining he wants to water my flowers, even when I am freezing, he is in a t-shirt and says he is just fine. Tonight we jogged down to the park and it took a whole lot of convincing to get him to get back in the jogger to go home (I bribed him with going over to look at the roller and excavator next to the fire station and then he fell asleep in the stroller on the way home, hence this is why this blog is so long, Ely fell asleep at 7:30, which is super early for him, normal time is 10:30). I have also planted some blue Himilayan poppies, some fox gloves, columbines and raspberry bushes in various spots around the front of the house. Don't ask me if they are still alive next year (they are perrenials, so they should be, but I have no idea what I am doing). I also transplanted some ferns from the back part of the lot to the back of the house by the downstairs bedroom window, they are doing very well, but someone just recently told me that "ferns will grow in the gravel" so I guess I shouldn't be too impressed with myself. Our black bear was back the other day, walked right by our deck to the neighbors front door and then into the bushes in the back yard. I kind of freaked out and went on the deck to make some noise, but all I had was a broom, so I banged it on the deck. Bear did not care one bit, and now I have a nice dent on the deck rail. Next time I will be a little less blonde and go for the pots and pans.

Another thing that is keeping me occupied and on the straight and narrow, is our women's Bible study. We are studying Phillipians this month. Since it is summer and people up here go crazy with activity in the summer, we have decided to just meet once a month rather than once a week. Last month we read James, which was very convicting in so many ways. Phillipians is a bit gentler, but still convicting none the less. "Do everything without complaining or arguing" (I can tell you, this has not been me over the last few months)"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything... present your requests to God" Anything and everything is pretty clear. So those little things I just can't trust God with, hmmmm... anything and everything- so He whispers to me... trust me, let it go, I will sustain you, I will provide for you, I will fulfill your desires... in my time. Pretty convicting and humbling. I will trust, I will believe and I will stop

complaining, until I forget and have to ponder those verses again :-) Isn't that just so human. Well time to post a few pics so when Darren gets home this is wrapped up. So as Ely would say, "peace out" fellow bloggers.

Japan

So we went to Japan for almost 2 weeks! What an amazing trip and such a needed break from work for both Darren and I. We had put in a lot of hours with the sale and purchase of the ski resort and hotel where we work. It was time for a break, a far away break... So we flew to Taipei and then into Tokyo. We spent 4 nights in a beautiful upscale hotel, The Prince Sakura Tower, complements of the former resort owner. We had an amazing view of the Tokyo skyline and the Tokyo tower. First couple of days we spent with our friend Masanori. He was an awesome tour guide and took us all over the metropolis of Tokyo. Some highlights were the Tokyo Giants baseball game, yummy food that I can't spell or pronounce, Akihabara, the Fish Market, Asakusa and the list goes on... After Tokyo, we went to a town near Nagano called Shibu Onsen. A town of mineral hot springs and wild snow monkeys.... and boy were there monkeys! They were everywhere!! One even ran up to try and play with Ely, a little too close for mom's comfort, he made a swipe for him! After we were done soaking our bones (or rather boiling our bones) in the hot springs, we left our robes and wooden sandals and headed to Himeiji. What a cool town! Beautiful white castle up on a hill overlooking the city and the best park on the trip. I think Ely could have easily stayed in this town. We happened upon their "Saturday market" and happened to find some good deals on pottery and art. What a cool surprise! We took a day trip from there into Hiroshima to see the A-Bomb Dome and the Peace Gardens; moving, sad, peaceful, reflective. After that, we went to Nara. Another town we could have stayed in for a long time. Beautiful gardens, lots of friendly deer, yummy noodles, and the largest wooden structure in the world. The biggest temple we saw on our trip, I think I was as tall as the Budda statue's pinky. Pretty amazing structure. We also saw a 5 story pagoda, second only to the Kyoto pagoda in height (by a few centimeters). Our friend Masanori met up with us again in Nara and showed us Kyoto. We saw the Golden Temple, (where some Japanese people made quite a fuss over my handsome husband :-) and Kiyomizu-dera, the most famous temple in Kyoto. After Kyoto, we made an attempt to see Mt. Fuji. Fujisan was covered in rainclouds, so we headed back towards Tokyo and ate a late lunch in Chinatown in Yokohama and then went to a sumo match. Our last day in Tokyo, we made yet another attempt to see Fujisan, but the mountain was ellusive (someday we will just have to go back I guess), so we went to Asakusa again (great shopping), and to the beach. Later that night we went to dinner with Masanori and his friends to eat a big pot of boiling soup stock, cod, fish balls, veggies and tofu cooked by ex-sumo wrestlers (called Chanko). Wow, it was really good, sounds strange, but it was amazing!



Then it was Sianara to Japan and back to our little sandbox (which Ely was really hoping was now uncovered with snow and ready to play in :-) I am so thankful for our family and for the blessing of our time together.

Ely was very popular with the school girls in Japan!

The Golden Temple

Chanko with Masa and his friends

Ok I give up

I have been avoiding jumping into blogland for a while now. I kept thinking, when would I ever have time to blog!!! Who has time to do this??? I work, I play, sometimes I actually cook a healthy dinner for my family or go for a jog with Ely in the stroller and then I sleep. That is it in a nutshell. I promise up front I probably won't have time to keep this blog very current, but for me, once a month might just be all I can do. I have been so encouraged by so many of your blogs out there, seeing your light shine and God revealed in you. Thank you to all the bloggers professing His work in your life. So that is my goal with this blog. To share with friends and family some of our family's joys and heartaches and to glorify the Lord who gives us life abundantly. He is the God of today, of this moment, and I want to praise Him with my words and have a place to record the ways he works in my life. So... cheers, yamas, kompai to "Living in the Moment".