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.
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.
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.
