From MI to WA Part 2: the black hills

 Day three of our adventure began with the misty drive I told you of in part 1. Considering how often we stopped to take pictures and look around, it was a rather short trip to the exit. Our next destination was Black Hills, which include Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial and Custer State Park. But first we stopped at Wall Drug in the town of Wall, SD. It is a tourist destination with cute gift shops. We bought a freshly made doughnut and their famous 5 cent coffee, which I paid 21 cents for because they have a "to go" surcharge. The coffee tasted like dirty feet- but, what did I expect?

Mount Rushmore is beautiful. People kept telling me that it would be smaller than expected. I was actually most surprised by how close we could get to it. The carving was amazing- smooth as marble and beautifully done. Also, tickets are only $10 for a year pass! That was surprising, too. We didn't spend a lot of time at the monument because there wasn't a great deal to see other than the sculpture. There was a little museum, but we wanted to do a few other things that day, so we took some pretty pictures and headed out. My favorite picture is of the monument reflected in the windows of the museum.

This is the back side. You can drive along a road right behind the sculpture!

 The Crazy Horse Memorial was the next stop on our journey. It is unfinished but a marvel. All four heads of Mount Rushmore can fit inside Crazy Horse's head! The Memorial was begun in 1948 by Korczak Ziolkowski who was one of the sculptors on Mount Rushmore. He worked alone for many years, built his home, married and had ten children, seven of whom still work on the memorial today and two of whom became master sculptors like himself. He died in 1982.

The memorial has a large museum that was his house and workshop. There are many scale sculptures of his vision for the finished product. Eventually, the monument will be three dimensional with a plaque carved into one side. It is an incredible undertaking but truly amazing that one many did so much by himself. With only a sledge hammer, a single-jack drill bit and a box of dynamite, he moved 7.4 million tons of granite! I highly recommend seeing the museum and watching the video. You can also watch at: http://www.blackhillsbadlands.com/home/thingstodo/parksmonuments/crazyhorse

The sculptor and his wife.



One of my favorite of his other works.

 I had to get a picture of this cowboy family! I am from the Midwest and you just don't see a lot of cowboys in Michigan or Chicago. 

One of the fun things about the memorial is that they have a pile of the blasted rocks that you can choose from. We use ours as a doorstop!

There are also several vendors from the Lakota tribe who sell their handmade jewelry inside the museum. I bought a necklace and it has become one of my favorites. You have probably seen me wear it.

Next we went on to Sylvan Lake to hike! My husband  does not do well in cars for long periods of time, so when planning our trip I made sure to put a hike in the middle. We picnicked on the lawn of the lake before out hike. It was a beautiful day, not too warm; clear and sunny. 

After lunch we found another bug friend! He was enjoying the warmth of the sun on our car. We let him enjoy in and headed for the trail head to Harney Peak!

 This is a panorama of Sylvan Lake. Kids were jumping off some of the smaller rocks as we walked.

This was taken about fifteen minutes into our hike. In the far distance, you can see the point to which we are heading. In the far, far, far distance! Harney Peak is the highest point East of the Rocky Mountains and West of the Pyrenees in Europe! And we were trying to hike it!

Below are a series of photos of our hike, including a zoomed in view of the summit from this point.

 Proof that we made it! The hardest part of the hike was the last 100 yards. I told Edward to go on ahead of me, so he was enjoying the view long before I reached him. The last bit was all stairs! Everyone whom I passed during my climb gave words of encouragement like "It is worth it!" They were all sweaty and panting but looked exhilarated, as well. I knew I was going to the top no matter how tired I was. It would be worthless to have hiked so far and quit before the summit! I  told someone as much on my way back down.

 Yes, that is the side of Mount Rushmore! You can see the parking ramp to the right. This is a slightly zoomed picture.

After enjoying our success and resting for a while, we headed back down. There are several paths going in and out, so we decided to take trail 4 out as we had taken trail 9 in. We got to see some really cool rock formations and also met a nice family who were lost. We had a trail map with us but no water- so they shared their water and we shared directions. Behind Edward in the picture below is one of the people we met. She had grown up in South Dakota but now lived somewhere else and was visiting her family. She was hiking with her step father, niece and grand niece. She and I chatted quite a bit. In this photo, you can see her niece in the yellow shirt.

 The views were amazing and we thought we knew where we were going. We followed the path down a steep incline and came across a trail marker. We hadn't seen one for quite a while and were getting nervous. Well, the marker told us that we were no longer on trail 4! The inline had not been part of the trail at all. It was left over from a mudslide.

The new trail let out on a main road and not Sylvan Lake. The family we had been walking with decided to go to the road and call for a ride back to their car. They offered us a ride, but Edward was determined to hike out. I didn't want us to get separated, mostly because we have only one cell phone. But I was tired and dehydrated and according to the map had a couple more miles to hike- not to mention getting back up the mudslide! But my husband encouraged me and we kept going.

A couple of hours later we finally made it to the trail head! Edward ran ahead to get me some water from the convenience store at the lake while I plodded on slowly toward civilization. Lesson learned: always take water with you while hiking! Before Edward returned with the bottle, I ran into the niece we had been hiking with. She offered me some of her water again and we both expressed happiness at knowing the other found their way out of the wilderness. 

After a long drink, we headed toward out campsite. I had booked it from Michigan and the internet said that there were showers at the site. Not only were there no showers, there were only pit toilets. This is not really a problem except that I was tired and sweaty and we had stayed someplace with no showers the night before. Also, it wasn't what we had expected and that made it harder. Still, we set up our tent and then decided that camp food was not going to cut it after such a hard hike. We needed protein! We were nearly half an hour from the nearest lodge, but we called to see if they were still open. It was 8:34 and they closed at 9. The woman on the phone said to hurry on over and she would make sure we could eat. We arrived just before 9 and felt bad because they were already mopping and beginning to close up. They were kind, however, and made Edward a pizza and me fish and chips. It was wonderful just to have a hot meal! 

Afterward, we went back to our campsite and to sleep. Our site was on a slight incline, so I had to keep scooting up. We were plenty tired, though, so we dropped off quickly. We woke early the next day and headed toward the Blue Bell Lodge for their buffalo tips and egg breakfast which had been hailed by Food Network magazine as the best breakfast in South Dakota. On the way we saw this guy.

 I'm pretty sure he knew I was going to eat his brother for breakfast! He didn't seem to care very much, though, and let us be on our way. It seemed like a big deal at the time, seeing a buffalo in the wild. That was because we hadn't gotten to Wyoming yet and Yellowstone National Park. But that will be in part three. For now, enjoy a few more looks at South Dakota.

From MI to WA Part 1: the badlands

In July of 2010, my husband, Edward, and I moved from Allendale, Michigan to Spokane, Washington so he could take a job at Gonzaga University. This was an epic trip for both of us, as we had never seen most of the states we would be driving through, nor had we ever been to the Pacific Northwest. This would be an adventure and we were both excited about the things we were going to see, places we planned to visit and the unexpected sights along the way. This is part one of a series, so I can share scads of photos with you.

 We left Michigan on Wednesday, July 28- my husband's 35th birthday. Our first stop, which is not pictured, was Madison, WI. We have several friends who live there and we wanted to see them one last time before leaving the Midwest indefinitely. There happened to be a concert on the lawn of the capitol building by the symphony orchestra and the ballet. It was beautiful and so was the weather. We picnicked with friends and then went back to their apartment to have tea and pie. I always make my husband a peach pie for his birthday, so my dear friend Alexis made one.

The next morning I had breakfast with other friends in the same building and then we left for the real adventure- leaving all known states behind and heading toward Iowa and South Dakota. Here is a list of things we saw along the way:

• The world's largest bull head in wood
• White cows
• A six ton gopher
• A dinosaur on a leash
• A sign for "Dick's 24 hr Toe Service"
• Two more incorrect signs: "The Corn Palace- Bushel's of Fun" and "Whoa n' Go" (why doesn't anyone know how to use apostrophes?)
• Corn
• Wind turbines (as pictured above)
• Construction

 We stopped at several rest areas because I drink a lot of coffee. At one we found the above cute chapel. It was kind of in the middle of nowhere in Iowa (note the fields of flatness in the background). Inside we found a small pulpit, a few benches, some books and several tracks- including one that was printed in Grand Rapids, MI! This really shouldn't have surprised us, as we have several Christian publishing houses and ministries centered in West Michigan. But we were leaving home behind and were happy to find that it reached at least that far West.

We spent a little extra time at this stop, walking the paths and praying/reading in the chapel. We wondered how it came to be there and who had used it over the years. It was a nice, quiet stop, especially since change is a form of chaos, and we were in for a lot of change.

 Then we hit the badlands!

This is the first thing we saw after more than an entire state of flat corn fields.

It was breathtaking. It left me speechless. Edward and I wandered around the park entrance each alone and just looked in silence, coming together for a quick photo and then moving on to another pull out area to wander in silence again.

I took over 100 photos of the badlands and it was very difficult to choose which ones to post. Below are a few that I couldn't resist posting. The rest are on facebook or in my personal photo library. Feel free to check the facebook photos out if you don't get enough beauty here.

Edward set up our new tent, purchased for this trip, at sunset. I wandered around the campsite and snapped the beauty. The sun was setting in a clear sky to the West while a storm was brewing to the South. It came close, but never over us. I watched the dark, ominous clouds as they gave a light show and then a rainbow.

We ate dinner, some camp food we brought along, and watched the rest of the show together. It was peaceful and amazing.

Edward found a friend on the trunk of our car. We both like bugs, so I took a few pictures of him.

This is what we went to bed to.

And this is what we woke up to.

That isn't exactly right. I woke up before the sun, which is saying something in July! I work for Starbucks, so I am used to being up early. We had also crossed two time zones and the ground was rather hard.

The sky was clear when I woke up. I got out of the tent, used the nicer than expected restroom facilities, ate some breakfast and journal-ed (that should really be a word) while the sun started to rise. As I ate my granola bar, I watched the grey dawn light begin to peek over the mountains at the edge of our campground and then watched it become completely obscured by a wall of mist! It traveled so fast that there was hardly time to be alarmed. It was beautiful and scary at the same time, a true definition of awesome! Then the light broke through.

The sun rose in a magnificent splendor of mountain and mist. We wanted to watch it for hours, but as the mist passed over us an on to the West, we realized that we were going to have to drive through it! We quickly packed up the car and headed out, chasing a cloud and yet in the midst of it.

Parts of the road were horrifying. It swerved and switched back with two narrow lanes, no guard rails, and steep drops off on each side. We even missed the prairie dog village due to the dim.

And then we began to drive down hill and this is what we saw! I have never seen a sky so blue before. The rocks looked less red and orange in this light and there was more vegetation than before. We pulled out at almost every pull off parking area to gaze at the amazing views. God paints the most incredible pictures. My eyes almost hurt from the loveliness of His creation.

We saw some wildlife up close, as well; mostly deer and gopher-like creatures. It was an amazing day.

We went from mist and fear to beautiful blue sky to more mist with less fear to more beautiful blue sky as we descended from the high shelf of the badlands to the valleys below the Black Hills. We were on our way to see Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial. They would be impressive works of man's hand. But this was more amazing by far and a life changing beauty. We would see more of God's wonders in Yellowstone National Park on the fourth day of our journey. But that is a future post. For now, enjoy a bit of what we saw and wonder.

So long for now.

Emilia's Birth

Some of you have read this already. But I wanted to share.

Emilia Ruth Hamilton's Birth Story

With some birth stories, it's hard to know where to begin. I will begin with the first “false alarm” and go from there. On Thursday, October 27, 2011 contractions began to become regular. They started the day at 10 min and ended at 3 min. We called for a ride and went to the Spokane Midwives Birthing Center on Euclid. The contractions were fairly strong, but I did not feel overwhelmed and Edward said that I would have failed the Bradley “camera test.” Not that I was feeling like posing as we walked out the door, but I wouldn't have shoved the camera away. When the midwife checked me, I was not even fully effaced. We went home a little sad but the contractions stopped, so we went to bed.

Five days later they started up again. This time we were more cautious and waited each day to see what would happen. Each day from 3pm to midnight, I would have steady contractions that required concentration, but did not progress past 6 min.

At 3am on Wednesday, November 9, I had some bloody show! I was so excited that I woke my husband to tell him! Contractions began soon after that and were steadily 10 min apart for the morning, moving to 6 min in the afternoon. My husband went to work and hoped for a phone call from me to return, but they were never unbearable nor did they grow close enough together for me to concern him. They were much worse when I would lay down, so I spent most of the day either sitting or walking. The contractions continued all night long and I could not sleep. Edward decided to stay home on Thursday, as things seemed to be progressing rather well- but by the end of the day, the contractions were still only 6-10 min apart, but far stronger than they had been.

We called the Birthing Center to see what they wanted us to do. Linda had been our main midwife all along as Beth was out of the country, but now Beth was back and Linda was on leave. Beth had done a birth that morning and then had clinic all day long. She felt that it would be better to have me take magnesium oxide to slow the contractions and sleep and then go to the Birthing Center in the morning. We then called our Birthing Class instructor for a second opinion because we didn't know what magnesium oxide would do to Baby and we weren't sure where to get it. We were also looking for a second opinion because I didn't want to slow things down. We got it and decided to just try to make it through. That night I sat up on the couch because lying down was excruciating. I dozed off a couple of times, but the contractions were still 10 min apart and strong.

Friday, November 11 we called our ride to take us to the Birthing Center again. We arrived a few min ahead of the midwife. She took us in and immediately checked to see how I was doing. I was dilated to 1cm. She poked around a bit and got me open to 2cm and said that we would wait an hour and see where we were. Ed and I walked around the room for a while and sat on the love seat when I was tired. After an hour I was at 3 ½! Beth said we would wait another hour and see again. After the next hour I was only at 4. But after the next hour I was at 5 and she decided I was in active labor and should stick around. I labored mostly while walking for a few more hours. When I was at 8 cm, around 5pm, I got into the tub! It was wonderful! The pain lessened enough for me to get a couple short naps in. After a bit more than an hour, Beth offered to break my water. She said it was fine if I didn't want it, but it would speed things up a little. Since I was already at 9 cm, I said it would be fine. I was excited to get past first stage and into the pushing stage! She broke my water in the tub- it was clear, which was good. Baby's heart rate had stayed steady throughout the entire day and all looked to be going well. After a while, my contractions came back very strong! Edward patted my head with a cool towel as I continued to labor in the tub until about 7:30pm.

After getting out of the tub, they checked to make sure I was at 10 and that the cervix was completely pulled back on both sides. Beth had found a little scar tissue on the right side of my cervix and wanted to make sure it didn't protrude during pushing. I walked to the bed and she had me take a few contractions on my side, which was horribly uncomfortable but seemed to work. She announced at 8:30, I was ready. I got up and walked around waiting for the urge to push. Beth felt I had not reached transition yet, so she went to lie down for a bit. She told the assistant, Kim, that she would be back at 9 and I should keep walking. Edward helped me walk around slowly. The contractions were very painful. At 8:45, I felt the urge to push, but in my head I told myself I had to wait until 9. I felt slightly irrational thinking that- as a child who is told to stay on the couch for 10 min. But after 4 min I could not wait anymore. I said rather quietly to Ed that I needed to push and Kim jumped up to fetch Beth. “When a first time mom needs to push, it's time!”

Beth came back in and the pushing began! It was almost 9 pm on November 11. We had been laboring for over 12 hours at this point. We started on the bed with my back propped up with pillows. Kim remarked that it would be great if I delivered at 11:11 pm on 11/11/11. Ed said, “We are NOT going to be pushing for 2 hours!” More as a plead for confirmation than an emphatic statement. He did not get the desired answer.

After an hour of pushing, Beth reached inside me and found that that bit of cervix which had been out of the way, was no longer out of the way. She then had me push during every other contraction while she held it back, which was horribly painful. On the other contractions, she had me breath through them... without pushing! This was just as hard as they say it is! I hope you never have to do it. This went on for 2 more hours- in the tub most of the time- until Baby's head was finally past the point where it would move back and allow the cervix to re-protrude. More pushing. This time the problem seemed to be that Baby was awake and would keep moving her head out of position. Beth reached in again and would turn the baby's head with each contraction, hoping to get it to a point where she could not turn it back. This went on for 2 more hours. After the first hour, I asked Beth what the likelihood of transfer was. She said that she would let me go another hour and if Baby's head was not in position we would go. I asked what they would do when I got to the hospital.

She said I would be given an epidural and either the doctor would manually position the head until I had pushed it down or I could have a c-section. She stressed that I could still have the first option and when Edward asked what a transfer entailed, Beth said she would call two hospitals where she has a relationship and see which doctors were on call to get us the most natural friendly doctor available. Then she would drive us.

Things looked tough, but Baby was doing fine and I didn't feel that it was impossible to have a natural birth still. I continued to walk with Edward and pushed mostly on the birthing stool in the squatting position, which was the most comfortable for me. After an hour, Beth said “Congratulations! You have convinced me that you can have a natural birth! Baby's head is now stationary!” We were so happy!! Even though we had been pushing for over 5 hours, we felt we could go on!

Edward convinced me to have some honey. I had been drinking steadily, but had not had much food that day. Beth and Kim both offered me honey or yogurt at different times, but I declined and they didn't push it. Ed had been napping for a bit, but when he returned he was insistent that I eat. He was such a good coach!

We continued to push... and push... and push. We tried all kids of positions from the stool to propped up in bed to "all fours" to on my side to standing to flat on my back. All of them were of different comfort levels- the stool was best, "all fours" was worst- but they also produced slightly different results. In the end, I spent most of my time either on the stool or flat on my back, which surprised Beth as being the most productive for me. Somehow, I had better leverage in the unlikeliest position. But Baby was slow to come out. She crowned around 4am... but I kept pushing... and kept pushing... and kept pushing. We walked and swayed my hips in between contractions. Let me tell you how uncomfortable it is to walk with a head at the bottom most point... never mind, I'll leave it to your imagination.

All of my attendants were patient and cheered me on with every push. I knew that they were tired, too, but they never said anything negative or made me feel like I was anything more than their first priority. My husband was so miserable seeing me in pain, but he kept a good face and cheered me on with the rest. He held my hand, held me up when I was walking and said encouraging things to me. At one point, when I was using him to support me while I stood and squatted, I said, “I am just trying to earn the title of 'good wife' that you keep giving me.” He is always telling me what a good wife I am, but sometimes I feel downright lazy, especially during the last trimester. He began to cry and said that I did not have to earn that title. That was the most touching part of my labor up until I held my baby. Neither of us will ever forget that moment.

Finally, at 6:30am, I was lying flat on my back with my husband holding one leg and Kim the other. I was having some double peaked contractions, which had helped to keep baby's head in place at the end of each pushing session, making her so close to coming out that they could see her ears. With the next contraction, all three of them cheered me on and when it ended told me to keep pushing no matter what. After about 8 pushes, the head was out!! You would have though we were at a football game! Everyone cheered and took pictures! (I left them out of this post because they are a little graphic- but I have them! Just a head in my nether regions- a beautiful, beautiful head!)

I was so relieved that I just laughed and laughed. Her head had been very big and had molded a little. Beth checked her neck for the cord and after not finding it told them to flip me over because she was worried that Baby's shoulder would be caught. They flipped me and had me give one big push with Beth's hand on Baby's shoulder- Baby came flying out!! Then Beth apologized for pulling her out of me! Apparently, Baby was not as big as her head and length suggested. I said, “Are you kidding! Thank you!” They rolled me back and put my new daughter on my belly. They wiped her off and then covered her with a receiving blanket to keep her warm. She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen and her eyes were alert and looking at me! She only cried a little and then rested on me while the whirlwind of activity when on around me.

I looked around for my husband and he was gone! I asked Kim where he went. She said that she thought he was calling people. "Not my husband," I said. But I was wrong. He had gone to call the grandmothers! When he came back, he sat next to me and cooed over his daughter. After a few minutes, Beth checked the cord, but it was still pulsing, so she waited. But soon after that I felt a gush of liquid come out of me and she quickly clamped and cut the cord. I passed the placenta easily, but there was some membrane left in me. They got it with a thing that looked like a thin, long nosed clamp and gave me a shot in the leg of something. After that, they scooted me up a bit so I could begin nursing. Emilia nursed at 15 minutes old. She had a tiny mouth, so it took a few tries to get her on, but she took to it well enough. After a while, they poured hydrogen peroxide on me and checked for damage- there had been NO TEARING! There was a little scratch on the inside, but nothing to repair! I was shocked, partly because her head had been so big and partly because I felt so tender- but all was well.

The two things I had been most concerned about going into the birth was the possibility of tearing and of Baby having her first meconium in utero. Neither happened! Emilia Ruth Hamilton was born at 6:37am on 11/12/11. She was 7lb 10oz- so, not big at all! They were so concerned because her head was 35 cm or about 15 in, that she would be really large- but she just had a large Hamilton head- probably full of Hamilton brains! She is 20 ½ in long and thin with long fingers and toes. She does not have the typical newborn “old man” face and was beautiful from the moment she arrived. She passed all her newborn tests with flying colors and was alert and cuddly for a while after birth before dropping off to sleep. I showered after about 90 min with Baby and they did her tests while I was getting clean. I was a little light headed from not eating and was given some yogurt and offered more food. I decided to eat more at home. I also had some pudding while breastfeeding her for the first time- treats for both of us!

We left the Birthing Center around 10:30am. Our total labor time was over 22 hours with 9 ½ hours of pushing. Beth said that this would be one of her most memorable births because of my determination. I was so thankful for my birth attendants and how they prayed for me and quoted scripture to me throughout the process and were always calm and encouraging, even though I know they were all tired.

Even though this labor was very hard, I do not regret it or feel that I did not have a good experience. I got to have a natural birth with wonderful support and I have a healthy baby girl!

Life Moves Pretty Fast...

I can't believe it is February already! And I haven't written anything here since September!

Well, Ferris Bueller had it right. "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

I don't think I have missed much, though. Most of my life at the moment has been about Baby.

Emilia Ruth Hamilton was born on November 12, 2011. She is our first child and our whole world at the moment. I will post her birth story in a separate post. She is 14 1/2 weeks old now and those weeks have flown by! During her first three months of life we have all traveled from WA to MI and back by train, spent 3 weeks with family, Daddy has gotten a new job in Texas which begins in August, Mommy has been crocheting like the wind in hopes of opening an etsy store and Milli (we call her Milli, reason will be in another post) has grown and grown.

Emilia was 7 lb 10 oz at birth- surprising size considering she was 12 days late. She was 20.5 in long, so she was long and thin. Now, she is 24 in and about 16 lb! But the most miraculous thing about her is that she has been sleeping through the night since she was 3 weeks old (I can hear some moms out there cursing). At 3 weeks, she was consistently sleeping 6 hours a night and by 6 weeks was doing 7-8. She has stuck with 8 as her average- did a couple 9 and 10 hour nights at random and a few 7 hour nights. I am a spoiled mamma!

Milli is also a very happy baby. She smiles most of the time and has very few crying fits. She currently goes to anyone who wants to hold her and is getting really good at making her desires known without resorting to weeping.

My friend, Debbie, called her first child a "hooker" because she gets you hooked and makes you want more... little do you know that the next ones are never as well behaved! I am hoping to have a second child next year (won't start trying until autumn), so hopefully we will see if she is right. :)

I am still on maternity leave for a few more weeks. My life currently consists of feeding, changing and playing with Milli. She has favorite books and smiles when she sees one she wants. She is "talking" now and has long conversations with me! We sing together almost every day and he new thing is chewing on my fingers.

Daddy is smitten.













As I have bragged about my daughter, I suppose I should brag about my husband! He has been just as loving to me since her birth as he was before! But even more, he has been a very attentive and doting father. He loves to cuddle with her and introduce her to things. He walks around the house and yard with her and talks about the things they are seeing. He shows her off at work and church and loves to take over for me on weekends. He changes diapers, calms crying, sings and rocks her to sleep. He gives her tons of kisses! And the phrase I hear most often out of his mouth is, "I love my little girl." Melts my heart every time!