Glacier!

It's been a while since I've written on this blog thing, but I wanted to document our Glacier trip and write some pointers for our future return trip so here goes:

We left a day later than planned since Eddie got strep and pink eye. Bummer since we had planned on biking the Route of the Hiawatha the first day, then heading into Glacier to meet Ruthamin, but oh well. We've save that for another trip. It's about a 9 hour drive and seems like a cool place to hang near Wallace, ID.  The bike ride is a 15 mile downhill-ish ride through 5 tunnels along an old railroad through forests.

So we drove the 12 hours from Salt Lake to Avalanche campground on the west side of the park.  We were skeptical at first of the campground, but ended up loving it!  It was nicely shaded and had an AWESOME hike starting right from the campground.  And we camped next to the Petersons/Viponds where Hugo, Shep's age, 4, and Oliver, 7 were camping.  Their parents-Martin and Sara were super fun too! We really hope to meet up again in the future. Too bad they live in Minneapolis, so far!
The first day, Ruth and I set out to hike the Garden Wall at Logan's Pass but it was closed due to too much snow. So we kept on driving to Many Glacier and hiked Grinnell Glacier but it also was closed at the last mile due to snow.  But the 3.5 miles in were gorgeous! Turquoise alpine lakes, jagged rocks, wildflowers, streams, snowdrift/Glaciers, waterfalls, squirrels.  It was dreamy.  We stopped and put our feet in Lake Josephine. We met a lady who was starting out on her six month journey along the Continental Divide Trail- very inspiring.

 Eddie took the kids and hiked up to St. Mary's waterfall- about 2.5 miles. Looked awesome!
That night we just hung around the campfire with the neighbors and had Ruby Glaciers - Deep Eddy Ruby Red Grapefruit vodka, soda water, lime juice.  so refreshing!
The next day, Ruth and I set out again for another hike that again was cut short but this time due to bears in the area.  We started at Logan Pass and crossed the snow field to Hidden Lake. Really fun! It was crowded but still really fun.
We saw some of the famous mountain goats that the park is known for. but not any bears.  Meanwhile, Eddie looks the kids to McDonald Lake and putzed around there.
The evening, Ruth watched the kids during "nap time" and Eddie and I did the Avalanche lake trail from the campsite.  It was adventure nonstop! Through cedar forests, along a raging turquoise creek, around the lake, again sticking our feet in to cool off and refresh.  We booked it up and back and it felt so good to push hard and sweat and feel our muscles.
The next day, we all were heading out. We packed up and went along the John's Lake Trail along the McDonald Creek.  so beautiful! we skipped stones at the bridge.
We stopped on the way back at the Glacier Distillery which was meh. I wish we would have stopped at the cherry orchard stands along the lake.

For the future:
-rent a trailer for a month- I saw a sign at the general store in Babb for $300/month. Invite all friends and family to join.
-hike the Garden Wall
-camp in Many Glacier or Bowman Lake (assuming bears are not an issue)
-buy a tee shirt
-July is a great time to go

On the way back we stopped in Missoula to walk around and have burgers and beer at the Tamarisk. then drove on to Idaho Falls for a much needed shower and sleep.  The next day we headed back to Salt Lake with a long detour at the Monte Cristo campground for Jamie and Brad's wedding. and of course, raspberry milkshakes at Chris's across from Pineview Resevoir. 

Liberty Rose Decker

Y'all. Babies are crazy!  This whole joining of a momma and pappa to make a tiny human grow into what was an empty womb. All in God's timing. Cra-zy!

Here's the story of your arrival into this world, Liberty Rose...

Of course, we thought it would be nice to have another child sooner, but God knew when the right time would be. We went back to the fertility doc and used a medicine (Femara) to help me ovulate.  The doc said it didn't work since just one egg was released from my ovary instead of the expected multiple eggs. But ya know, it only takes one to make a baby! At the same time, I had the sonohistogram done again, just like when we were trying to conceive Shep. That's when they shoot water into my uterus to make sure my Fallopian tubes are open and the solo egg can travel down into my uterus, which it did. Praise God! It's supposed to be a diagnostic thing, but apparently can be a treatment too.

So January 26, you were conceived. Then we went to Hawaii!! We had an amazing time. I remember being slightly tired and pudgy but didn't think twice about it since the doc didn't think the medicine worked and I already had a follow up appointment scheduled.  But when we got home, I took a couple pregnancy tests before my expected period and bamm! Positive!! We were thrilled and scared at the same time. Scared because we knew your life was so fragile as your tiny cells formed.  Pandi  miscarried at 6 weeks and we recognized how very possible it was to miscarry again. But not you, Little One.  We sighed relief at the 10 week mark and continued to pray for your sustainability and health.  At the 15 week mark, we were able to get the new NonInvasive Prenatal Genetic Screen which insurance covered since I'm "Advanced Maternal Age." So old at 35!! We went for it and found out through your DNA that, without a shadow of a doubt, you are a girl and most likely do not have any of the common genetic mutations. Hallelujah! You grew perfectly in my tummy and we grew in excitement for your arrival October 19th or so. I felt pretty good throughout the pregnancy, just big! And towards the end my SI joint in my right butt hurt pretty badly. And yes, I did have a little heart burn in that last week (due to all your hair!).

Gigi came the Wednesday (21st) before you were born and we went to the Bark Park (Tanner) and for chai lattes, as usual. The next day we walked to Tracy Aviary and saw all the cool birds! The next day we went to Trio and had the "induction pizza" which was delicious but not that effective. Then your Dad and I went to a movie (The Intern) at the Gateway and walked home. I finally had some contractions during the walk and got kinda excited. We kept walking to the store for creamer for Gigi but then the ctxns just petered out and we all went to bed.  The next day we went to church and to Ikea. Not surprisingly, we all were exhausted from that store.  That night, Gigi and I made an awesome dinner of pork piccata, Blue Hubbard Romanesco, and potatoes.  Eddie whipped up an induction cocktail for me which included almond butter that I had just made, champagne (Dad and Gigi finished off the bottle :), apricot nectar, and the winning ingredient: castor oil. It was sooo gross!  But maybe it worked? That night, from 10-11pm, I started having some contractions but they weren't very consistent or strong so I went to bed.  But low and behold, I woke up at 12:30am with some stronger ctxns.  Of course, I had some D from the castor oil so I hung out in the bathroom for a while and cleaned it in between poops. I woke your Dad a little while later saying maybe this it and to pack up the remaining items on our to-go list. He wasn't quite convinced since they weren't consistently less than 5 minutes apart but I thought it was probable since they were getting painful.  He called the midwife and we agreed to make our way up to the hospital.  I was nauseous (which convinced me this was the real deal!) and concerned my water would break in the car but it didn't and I held it in until we got checked in. 

Once we arrived and got checked in, I did upchuck which I thought was a fairly good sign. My cervix was dilated to 5 cm- we were staying and having a baby!! We got the tub filled, my blood drawn, and the monitors on.  The contractions were pretty intense already and I remember telling your Dad that I wasn't sure I could do the all natural thing this time.  He was encouraging and assured me that I could.  Thankfully, I believed him and we kept at it.  Everything looked good and normal. We labored for a while and got in and out of the tub, tried the birthing ball, but it was too low, and your Dad and I "danced."  I got back into the tub and soon felt like I pushed.  I was surprised that I felt that way already but so thankful.  I got on the toilet and definitely pushed. The next push, my water popped.  The midwife, Julie King, checked me and my cervix was already at an 8!  I opted to get back in the bed instead of pushing on the toilet with the hopes of a more controlled delivery and supported perineum so that I wouldn't tear.  I got into bed on my left side and your Dad looked me right in the eyes and said all the rights things to encourage me and I squeezed everything I could, including his hand.  At 5:07 am, with a couple intense pushes with my crazy bird croaking and wide eyes, you came out perfectly!  You came up to my chest and nestled in while the midwife sewed my "pumpers."  Apparently the laceration was on a couple blood vessels and I hemorrhaged a bit which brought my hematocrit and blood pressure pretty low.  I needed an IV of fluids but no transfusion.  After a while, Dad cut the cord and you breastfed right away with a great latch.

Once I stabilized, we moved over to postpartum and had a great nurse, Seppi and aide, Ashley.  Of course, our precious sleep was interrupted every couple of hours by all the hospital staff.  Everyone kept commenting on how perfect you are and wow! that hair!!  We agreed.  The uterine contractions were super intense every time you nursed, almost as bad as during labor.  But around 7pm, I vomited and then they were much more manageable.  Weird.  Thankfully, no one was really concerned about my hematocrit being so low since I wasn't dizzy anymore and my blood pressure had normalized within two hours of the fluids, so that was not a concern either.  And you were doing great, nursing and pooping like a champ.  We got to go home after a day and a half in the hospital.

We immediately fell in love with you.  It is such a strange but sweet feeling of having known you for nine months yet getting to meet you for the first time.  As I write this, you are now nine days old and as sweet as can be.  You have hardly fussed at all and you are sleeping and eating marvelously.  And you are absolutely gorgeous, just perfect.  I'm still shocked at all your dark hair with highlighted tips.  Your brother is obsessed with you and wants to hold you constantly which I oblige as much as possible.  It's just so cute to see you two together!  Gigi got to stay for a few days after you were born and now Grandma Decker is here for a bit, then Grandpa Minks, and then Val, your GMOR.  We are well taken care of with friends dropping by and all this family coming into town.

We decided to call you Liberty.  We prayed and felt like you would have a voice of influence.  Seems a little dangerous to pray that you would have a loud voice, but we claim Isaiah 61 and Luke 4 for you:

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me,
Because the Lord has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
 To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”

Liberty Rose Decker 

First Bath

First checkup.  You weighed 8#3oz at birth.

Homecoming!

We adore you Liberty Rose!

Oregon with Gigi

My mom and I have done a few incredible adventures over the years but they seemed to halt when I got married.  But alas, we stole away, just the two of us, to Oregon this summer.  It was perfect timing with the baby on the way and Eddie's mom and sister came into town to help with Shep and, well, summer.  Perfect time for adventuring.  We had initially set our sights on New York City, but decided it was too expensive and busy.  We wanted the Great Outdoors and boy did we get it!  We definitely did not regret spending our adventure together in Oregon.

We flew into Portland at night and stayed at this cute, old inn in Camas, OR.  Then we set off to tackle the Waterfall Tour on the Columbia River Gorge.  First up was a 2.5 mile loop hike to Latourell Falls.

Next up was the infamous and obligatory Multnomah Falls.  We ended up doing a nice 5.5 mile loop hike around the falls and got past the crowds.  

We foraged and gorged on these delicate red berries that were somewhat similar to raspberries.  

We ended the Gorge hikes with Oneonta Gorge which we feared dropping our phones/cameras in the water since we had to walk waist deep at one point.  It was awesome even though it was a short "hike."  There was a huge, both high and long, log jam.  It was probably dangerous but we took comfort in that everyone was scrambling across it-old people, out-of-shape people, babies on backs, little kids- so we FOMO'd and went for it.  Then in order to reach the waterfall at the end, we had to wade into waist deep water.  I FOMO'd again and went swimming at the waterfall.  To say the least, it was cold.  Bummer that we didn't bring cameras.

We drove into Hood River, my new dream town, and stayed in an AirBnb home.  It was also very dreamy: in the country, great layout for the house, wrap around porch, good coffee, chicken coop, orchard potential, next to a trail along the creek with marionberries. Oh and the house was full of Irish blessings.  We ate at a brew pub and had to order a second serving of fries cause Gigi ate them all-stealing fries from a pregnant lady-the nerve!!  We were in the kite surfing capital of the world, but sadly, got there too late at sunset and didn't see any.

The next day was the Fruit Loop day.  Before starting though, we went to an organic blueberry farm next to our house.  We then meandered about Hood River and ate at a diner with the biggest cinnamon roll I've ever seen and a great crab omelet.

Next up was the Fruit Loop- a 30 mile loop of agricultural land in the area.  We planned on doing half of it on our way down to Bend.  We expected this to be a highlight of the trip and it did not disappoint.  We stopped at about 10 fruit stands along the way and bought cherries at half of them!  

Blueberries!

Cinnamon Roll!

Flower Farm

Hard Cider

lavender

Lounging at the lavender farm

  Then on our way south, we stopped off and hiked at Tamanawas Falls.

Then we drove up to the Timberline Ridge, the legendary hotel on Mt. Hood.

Mt. Hood

After a stay at the Econolodge in Madras, we hiked at Smith Rock.  Very cool!  It wasn't a long hike, only 4 miles, but it was a steep incline and slippery decline.

kairns!

 We stopped in at Sisters and had a great lunch and walked the town which was preparing for the famous quilt festival.

Then we went into Bend and stopped off at the Summer Fest and a small Farmer's market for cheese.  We drove over to LaPine where we stayed with Marcus's parents and niece and nephew.  

The next day, we met up with Maari and her mom and hiked in the caldera of the Newberry Crater.  Of course, there was a waterfall there too.

Hiking around Paulina Lake with Maari

Obsidian Rock

The next and final day, we drove back into Portland and ate at the foods carts and shopped for books at Powell Books.  Gigi finished off the amazing trip with an Oregon Rogue brew at the airport.  I feel incredibly blessed to get to take this trip with my mom, both of us healthy enough to do all the hiking that we wanted, eat great food, aka cherries!, be on the same page about loosely planning and exploring new areas, and actually enjoying each other!

Our Little Adventure

Shep and I went kayaking yesterday.  We've had our kayak for a week now and have had three adventures on our Jordan River.  This one was a "good" one though.  We set out from our house at 700 S and headed downstream.  We went about two miles and then turned around.  I was pooped already and Shep was tired and hungry but we didn't have a choice, we had to paddle upstream to get back.  Or hitchhike from some random strangers, which I was seriously considering.  Then one other option presented itself...

Backing up a second, on the way downstream, we went through a canoe chute.  It was a very narrow section under a bridge that was designed only for canoes/kayaks.  The rest of the river had a big 4 foot drop off, not suited for water craft.  We navigated through the chute and had a blast and got all wet!  But the problem was on the way back.  There is no way to get back up stream; we had to portage around the chute.  And the one kayaker who past us just a few minutes prior stated, "It is possible to portage, albeit very difficult with a little one.  And there are lots of homeless camps in the area. But, yea, it is possible."  In hind sight, it is NOT possible.  But since that was our only option, we had to try.  So I tossed Shep onto the super steep bank and started the ascent up the river bank with the kayak.  I managed to stabilize the kayak and carried Shep up the bank and then went back down for the kayak.  It had to be a 80 degree slope!  Shep started freaking out about the paddle and, yup, low and behold the paddle was indeed in the river-floating away!  I could only focus on getting up the bank with the 60 lb kayak and not start freaking out myself about the paddle.  So I did get Shep and the kayak up safely, despite some cactus scrapes all over my legs.  But, as I summitted the bank, I realized that we were locked inside the power plant gates!  There were very tall barbed wire fences all around us and lots of signs that mentioned the high voltage area.  An old-school padlocked gate  was on the north end and railroad tracks on the outside of the south end.  No homeless camps though.  I thought of calling a friend to come help us, however they would not have been able to get us out of the fence or walk Shep and the kayak down the railroad tracks even if we could get out on that end.  So I called the Non-emergency SLC Police Dept.  Within a few minutes, three big fire engines came to our rescue!  Out of their 50 keys, none worked on the north gate, so we settled on getting the good 'ole fire engine ladder and climbing over the fence.  Then second thought, they brought a raft and paddle and suggested Shep and I get back into the water in our kayak and use their paddle to meet up with them downstream past the power plant.  But then, the power company chief came with the appropriate key and simply unlocked the gate-a bit anticlimactic :)  Shep and I buckled into the big fire engine and they took us to our truck where we loaded the kayak and drove the two blocks home.  Phew, I didn't have to paddle upstream anymore AND Shep's wildest dreams came true...getting to ride in a fire truck!  They were kind enough to offer to take a photo with Shep in front of the big engine with the lights flashing.  Jesus is the one who truly rescues and sometimes he sends firemen to rescue pregnant, stranded, locked in kayakers :)  Thank you Rose Park E7!

Baby Girl

We are having a baby girl join us in October!  Although she has already been a part of our lives since January 26th as we pray for her growth and development on the inside.  We got to find out earlier than usual that Gergie is a girl from a new maternal genetic blood test. Since I'm "advanced maternal age" which puts her at a slightly increased risk of having a genetic disorder, the insurance will cover it.  So we got to find out, without a doubt, that she is a girl and does not have any if the common genetic abnormalities! Praise the Lord.  So now she is almost 16 weeks along and I can expect to start feeling some kicks any day. 

 We've had above average fear with this pregnancy due to losing Pandi last year. But with each passing week and pregnancy milestone, we are getting more and more connected with her and excited for her arrival. That's why I'm looking forward to feeling those kicks; so that I will connect more with the tiny human growing inside me. This living child who is a part of me, but yet completely her own, knitted together by her Maker. Deeply loved. 

Birthday Boy

Shep turned two.  I can hardly believe it!  Seems like yesterday I was crooning my neck, all hunched over, breastfeeding my little 8 pounder in newborn diapers and onesies.  Now he has opinions, and lots of them!  And oh dear, the emotions!  He turned two and immediately we are experiencing the "terrible two's" which so far are not too terrible.  Thankfully, both Eddie and I recognize that he is "individuating" meaning he's trying to figure himself out and trying to find the words to express what he wants and feels.  In reality, what this means is that he laughing one minute and the next he is screaming and then back to laughing.  It's intense when he is tired.  We just try to ride the wave and take deep breaths.  For the majority of the time, Shep is still adorable and a blast to participate in these growing up days.  He treats us with deep belly laughs when tickled or herded by Willie.  He has become quite the cuddler and loves to sit on my lap during mealtimes and snuggle under the blanket during story time.  He still loves his fruit and is an adventurous eater.  In fact, he is quite the mooch, stealing food from other people's plates.  He is learning how to play with other kids his age.  He loves playing with choo-choos, watching choo-choos on TV, crossing choo-choo tracks, and yelling, "All aboard!"  He is quite the character and just so much fun.  Of course we are so thankful for him and pray daily for God's protection and wisdom and direction in his life.  I regularly have to rededicate him because I know that God is a good father who loves Shep more than I ever could imagine.  And although, I think I can control and protect him from all the harm in the world, God is bigger and better at this than me.

Shep at the bonfire during the Stone Soup Party

For his birthday, we continued the tradition of Stone Soup.  We had about 20 people show up. We  celebrated community and friendships and thanked them for being the "village" that helps us raise Shepherd together.