Bryce Canyon Trip

With hiking boots on and water bottles in hand our family explored Bryce Canyon National Park this Labor day weekend. We stayed in a forest service cabin and enjoyed plenty of outdoor fun and wildlife.

We started a cook fire for tin foil dinners, roasted hotdogs, went fishing-caught a fish, went on some great hikes, watched wildlife, climbed to over 9100 feet and loved the views, watched the stars-saw shooting stars, eat lots of yummy food and read great stories together. 

This was a great end of summer family trip to focus are family on unity and prepare us for the fall school time ahead.  Spencer loves geography and gave us all good instruction about North, South, East and West. The Big and Little Dipper and how to find the North Star. Family time is my favorite!

Siblings

I think that the blog people might be at the point that they will kick me off if I don't post something soon. 

So, here are a few pictures of Evelyn and Stetson together.

These two love each other and have loads of fun together. 

Evelyn is already 9 months and is growing like crazy. 

Time just keeps on flying by!

We have been busy and happy. 

Life never seems to get slower only faster and more complicated.

Thank goodness for pray, the scriptures and personal revelation. 

That is the only way I don't go crazy, at least not too crazy.

Evelyn Joyce Wade

Evelyn Joyce’s Birth Story

After working with a great midwife out in Tacoma for my entire pregnancy and two attempts at turning Evelyn I realized that my baby, little Evelyn, was truly breech and didn’t want to go head down. Thankfully the breech presentation that she was in is the most common and least complicated position, frank breech. Meaning that her bum was down in or close to the pelvis and her feet were up by her head, near my rib cage.

Having delivered Stetson at home naturally and knowing that I am perfectly capable of delivering a child as large as 9lbs 3oz I didn’t want to just be signed up for a cesarean. I wanted to do all that I could to get this child here naturally, without intervention as long as there were no complications.

I discovered, through a friend who delivered her first child breech, the only midwife in the state of Washington willing to deliver breech babies. The only problem was that she was in Africa until the day after my due date, August 28^th. I did a lot of calling around, met with another great midwife, talked with my current midwife, looked at my hospital alternatives, prayed and hoped that this little lady wouldn’t come before a midwife willing to deliver her was committed to assisting me.

Thankfully I talked with the midwife, who was in Africa, the Monday after my due date and she assured me then that she would attend my birth and assist me with delivering my breech baby. I met with her in person for the first time two days later on Wednesday August 31^st. I finally felt prepared to have this little one and comfortable with who was going to assist me. I had a midwife willing to deliver breech and I knew the risks and alternatives.

Saturday morning at 2am I woke to a very wet experience. My water had broken, which is the first thing to happen in 80% of breech deliveries. I checked the fluid, checked for a cord nothing abnormal on either account. Spencer set up our birthing tub, I cleaned up and we both tried to acquire more rest by returning to bed after that.

From approximately 3am until about 5am I breathed through contractions while remaining in bed. Spencer timed them at about 7 minutes apart and lasting 30 seconds in length. By 5am they started to intensify and I retired to our bathroom. Spencer aided me through contractions that came every 2 minutes and lasted approximately 90 seconds in length. I was feeling the urge to push at this point but knew I needed to resist due to the advice given me by my midwife to resist pushing as long as possible. Plus she wasn’t there yet and I was sure Spencer didn’t want to deliver this little baby on his own.

Somehow Spencer was able to sneak away from me and fill the pool in-between my quick contractions. He also was keeping our midwife notified of my progression and informed her that she better come quick.

I thankfully was able to get into the pool just after 5am and felt more comfortable but was not relieved of contractions in the least. Evelyn was determined to arrive. At this point I remember looking at the clock and thinking she would be here before 8am. My midwife and her two assistant midwifes arrived at about 6:15am and gave Spencer peace of mind, I’m sure.

My midwife checked for our baby’s heart beat to make sure that she was doing okay and then checked to see if I was completely dilated, I was. So that meant that I could stop resisting my urges to push and begin working with them, pushing felt much better.

As I was not able to observe the view of Evelyn coming out I will just tell you what my midwife told me. Evelyn’s bum came out just fine then as her legs came into view she rotated of her own accord so that both legs were released and then she rotated again to release her arms. After that her head came right out and I was able to hold her in the pool as we waited for her cord to stop pulsing. It seemed to take about 8 minutes for this to happen.

Holding Evelyn in my arms for the first time was amazing. She was wide eyed and very aware of everything around her. She had her mouth open and was working at breathing immediately but didn’t cry until after the cord was cut by Spencer.

I am so grateful to have had this great birth experience, for the midwifes that worked with me and for a very supportive loving husband who feels the same way I do about bringing our children into this world, at home.

Matching Pajama's and Man Time

I made these matching pajama pants for these guys for Christmas. Now that Stetson is a little more aware of cloths and other things he always wants to wear his pants that look like his daddy's when he see's that Spencer is wearing his. Its pretty cute!
He also loves doing anything with his Dad. In this picture they are fixing a tree house for our back porch. (Don't tell Stetson but after he lost interest in the bird house I stashed it in our DI pile.) But at least we have pictures of him fix'n it with his Daddy.

Spencer has to work long hours and if it were not for us living so close to the office there would be many days that Stetson would go the whole day without seeing Spencer. Being as he wakes up sometimes after Spencer has left for the office and goes to bed before Spencer comes home. Those days are hard on all of us.
We are constantly dreaming of a day when that will not occur and Spencer will be able to eat dinner before 7:30pm or 9 and will have more time to play with his little rascal.
That is why when he does get time it is so meaning full to me and them.
It is so meaning for to me because of the break it gives me and it always good for me to see them wrestle around, which is something that is not easy for me to do right now.

Last night we went to the park just before dusk and were playing on a toy set. Spencer was chasing Stetson all around and every time Stetson would run to me to save him. I would set him up back on the toy set and the chase would begin again. They were having so much fun.

I sure am grateful that Heavenly Father designed families the way that he did. A boy needs his Dad just as much as his Mom and we both fill completely different roles.
A Mom needs her man and a few minutes each day to talk with him and share the adventures of the day. Because when you are a Mom there are always adventures to tell!

Summer Vacation

This may be one of the longest post seeing as I have not posted anything for so long.
All of these pictures are backwards in sequence of events but I don't want to change them. So you get a reverse story of what happened on our two week summer vacation.

Story
About 15 minutes after taking this picture the top of our car top carrier that you see in the back ground flew off into the middle of I-15 in SLC.
As well as a lot of our camping supplies that were inside.
Amazing part!
We were able to grab everything off of the 5 lanes of free way and securely re-attach our cartop carrier without any more mishaps the remaining 800 miles that we drove back to Seattle. The car top carrier was not run over and all of our camping supplies were spared any real damage.
The Funny Part
Just 5 days previous to this our cars water gasket broke in this exact location of the freeway.
Six hundred dollars later and thanks to amazing family our trip still continued as planned.
So when we got in the car Spencer said "We are not home free until we have passed... exit"
Stetson was in his car seat watching Peter Pan and wasn't even aware of what had happened.

These are our great friends Ryan & Annette Udell and their daughter Hope. They met us in Huntsville after our Wade family reunion and showed us around town. They also let us walk through a house that Ryan is a foreman of and took us out to dinner.
Stetson and Hope had a great time together as did we catching up with good friends.
Spencer lived with the Udell's in Colorado before we were married during his summer jobs.
They have remained the best of friends to him and now me.
Both are truly amazing people.

Stetson enjoying a water gun at the expense of one of his cousins.
He loved camping in our tent and playing non-stop with his cousins.

One of the only pictures that Spencer and I got together during this trip.
The other one being the first one shown in this post. We are at Bear Lake with Spencers family enjoying a beautiful day at the beach. Evidently with all the extra water Bear Lake was higher than it had been in 20 years. We all got a little too much sun. Especially my man! Stetson made sand castles for over 4 hours straight and had a wonderful time playing with lots of cousins.

This is my oldest brother Scott and 5 of his 6 kids. I was privileged to see them while in Idaho visiting my parents. All of his children have grown up so much. I hadn't seen their family for over two years before this. It is amazing how fast time fly's away from you.

My sister Brittney due date was 8 weeks apart from mine so my sister DaVette and my sister-in-law Cynthia threw us a combined baby shower while I was at home. As you can probably guess from the blanket colors Brittney is having baby boy, actually she already did his name is Johnathan and he is beautiful. And I am going to have a baby girl, supposedly. I had a dream last night that I was going to have a boy. I will let you know for sure when I deliver.

Stetson and I spent 10 days without Spencer due to him needing to work. We missed him greatly but I think that Stetson also had the most fun he has had in a while. He got to play with great cousins everyday. We had family BBQ's went to parks, pools and he just loved playing none stop everyday until he was completely exhausted. Thankfully he is getting to an age that he is better on his own and I didn't have to hover as much.

This is me with my great sisters. Brittney is mother of 5, Davette mother of 3 and I am about to be mother of 2. I wish that I lived closer to these great women.

I am sure that there are a ton of details that I left out but I better run and wake up Stetson before he keeps us up way late tonight.
Hopefully I will post more before our new arrival appears.

New's Update

I added a little something to my blog today.
So i guess I better say something about being pregnant.

I Am!

Spencer, Stetson and I are so excited!
Every time I ask Stetson "Do you want a sister or a brother?" he says "a sister."
I wounder if he know something?
I would love to have a girl but just want to have this baby.
I will take either sex just the same... gratefully.

The baby picture is of Stetson and it is so i can remind myself of how adorable Stetson was... and still is.

On another note our lives just got even busier. Spencer was set apart as the 2nd counselor in the Bishopric for our ward, last Sunday. I am still not sure how that will all look but I do that it will mean less time with him and no help with Stetson during Sacrament meeting. :(
Those are just minor things though. I know that I can handle Stetson and manage on my own.

I am however very grateful for Spenser's worthiness to serve, his willingness to serve, him holding the priesthood, the good man that he is and how he is constantly strives to become better.

I love being married to you Spencer!

Stetson

I just love this little man! He posed like this all on his own. We are at the Seattle Stake Center waiting in the hall with some of the youth from our ward and he striked this pose when I pulled out the camera.
Stetson's vocabulary is growing so fast. He can repeat almost everything that I say to him. His Dad does a good job of putting words together for him. One of our new favorites it "I'm a cowboy, baby!" or he was also taught another one that all Mom's need to hear "I love you , Mommy"
I Love hearing those words and I especially love hearing his Dad teach them to him.
Stetson is learning what it is like to have two younger sisters. I have been tending 7 month and 20 month old cousins. The 20 month old girl's name is Lila and she is bigger than Stetson. They are learning a lot about sharing and being nice to each other. Hopefully some of it will stick sooner rather than later.
I am grateful for the challenge of being a caregiver to 3 but I enjoy being able to have those one on one days with Stetson best. It's just a taste of whats to come.
I love my little man!

Merry Christmas

Spencer Wade Family Christmas Letter

Our year began in California where we lived for the last three years while Spencer completed chiropractic college. We enjoyed many fun outings with our fellow students and ward family; all of which were great people whom we have come to love and cherish. We will never forget our friends and the memories we made.

In June Spencer graduated from school…YEAH!!! And we packed up our belongings and moved to Seattle Washington. Moving is a lot of work! We took a little break in-between the packing and unpacking and took a much needed trip to see our beloved families. We spent time in Idaho and Utah enjoying the outdoors and making memories with those we love so dear. We also enjoyed a beautiful drive to Logan, UT to visit a sister and dream of days to come when we are able to settle down, buy a house, and open our own chiropractic office.

Here in Washington we have begun a new life with Spencer working for Dr. Aaron Collins of Collins Chiropractic. He is a great teacher and is giving him the added knowledge that is needed to run a successful chiropractic office. Spencer works long hours but he is so glad to be finished with school and all of the stress that came with it. Spencer serves as the Youth Sunday School Teacher and is so impressed with the faithfulness of the youth in our ward. He and I both love to be among the youth.

I am also privileged to serve with the youth as I am in the Young Women’s Presidency. Our youth are small in number but they do have great strength in their testimonies. I am quickly learning the area and making friends as I do marketing for the office Spencer works in. I also participate in child play groups with other mom’s in the area and attend library story time with Stetson.

Stetson just celebrated his 2^nd birthday and is getting so smart. Just this week while eating lunch he pointed at himself and said “me boy.” He didn’t learn that from me. Stetson loves to be outside, whether rain, shine, cold or warm. Just the other day we headed to the park to play in the rain and after enjoying the slide at least a dozen times he was drenched. This is the way many of our days go together. I am so grateful for this little boy!

As this year draws to a close I am reminded of the beautiful blessings that life offers and am so thankful that Heavenly Father has blessed me and my family with another year together. This year had its own set of challenges, but the Lord has sustained us and strengthened us to come through them better than we were before. The Christmas season helps me to be more grateful for Jesus Christ’s birth, life, and mission. Understanding our Savior’s mission and teachings help make it possible for me to begin again, each and every day, striving to become more like him. May we all strive each and every day to become more like the child, who became our Savior, whose birth we celebrate this time of year is my wish.

Love, Spencer Natasha & Stetson Wade

Thanksgiving

I don't have any pictures for this one although I know that our family documented this event and I would love to have copies of what they took.
Spencer, Stetson and I were a little spontaneous and drove home for Thanksgiving. It was a lot of driving, 28 hours to be exact, but it was so worth it!
We left Burien, WA Wednesday afternoon and drove to Middleton, ID. Surprising my parents and little brother when we showed up at about 10pm. We stayed the night and then awoke early so that we could make it to Riverton, UT in time to share Thanksgiving dinner will ALL of Spencers family. They were not as surprised as my parents because Mom Wade is too intuitive. But they were all happy and excited to see us. Oh, I should say that one member wasn't there and that is Elder Paul Wade who is so faithfully serving his mission in Wehpeton, ND. We are so proud of how hard he is working.
Friday was are only day without driving and we enjoyed it by spending time with Mom & Dad Wade. Talking about one of our favorite topics food storage and the last days. Once you get involved in this kind of stuff you either love it and can't stop thinking about it, like us. Or hate the mention of the subject. Hopefully you feel like us and just want to be prepared and ready for whatever may come, capable of taking care of your family. What a blessing it is to be prepared with a little food and camping supplies, or a lot. :)
That night we enjoyed a Pizza party with chef Dave (Spencers older brother) and most of his siblings. We had a lot of fun at there house playing Pictionary and eating yummy food. Stetson loved playing with all of his cousins. Spencer and I love watching him with other little rascals. Some-days we feel bad that he is the only little one we have. He would love to have other siblings. Hopefully that means he will be a great big brother.
Saturday was busy. I got a hair cut by sister Susan (Thank you so much!), Spencer enjoyed some one on one time with sisters and a fathers blessing from Dad Wade. We then enjoyed hours together in our car as we headed back to my parents house. Were several of my siblings were waiting to enjoyed more wonderful food and time together. It was so good to see everyone and enjoy what time we could with them.
We knew that it would be a short trip with lots of time in the car but really we were so blessed to have good travel conditions and a great time visiting with family. We feel like we packed a 2 week trip into 5 days.
Thank heavens for family's and the good times we can have together!!!
We only get to take our memories with us when we go, my as well make them good ones.

Stetson's Birthday

Our little guy is two now and is getting more adorable everyday! We didn't do anything big for his birthday since we are still new to the area and we have no family close to celebrate with us. We did visit the Cove, a family favorite, which is a park on the Puget Sound. Went to an art show and enjoyed carrot cake and dinner with one of Spencers old college roommates. Arron England and his family he is also also a Chiropractor now but used to make fun of Spencer for wanting to be a Chiropractor back in the day, ha ha.

These pictures we all taken on the big day to represent how much he has grown and to show at least the door to our new abode. I forgot to mention we also rented and watched "Toy Story 3" and really enjoyed that.

We sure are glad that Stetson is apart of our family and we are enjoying very moment we get to share with him.
Love you little Rascal!

Camping at Mount Rainier

Our family enjoyed a wonderful time exploring the Mount Rainier National Park over Labor day Weekend. Since you, our friends and family, were not able to be with us we took enough photo's to help you share in our adventure. We hope that you enjoy them as much as we do.

Stetson trying to decide what he things of this forest slug. What do you thing?

Starting in the upper left corner going clock wise: A view of Mount Rainier park, one of many Glacier lakes, A very deep canyon mountain river, on the way into 'The Grove of the Patriarchs' and another view of Mount Rainier.

The biggest tree in 'The grove of the Patriarchs'

Left: Stetson holding a hug piece of moss that fell from one of the trees in our camp ground.
Right: One of the cutest shots I have taken of our little rascal in a while as he paused for a minute exploring 'The Grove of the Patriarchs'

Our family standing in front of the lower portion of Myrtle falls.

Upper and Lower Myrtle Falls

Starting with upper left and going clock wise: Mount Rainier, Stream running through our camp ground, Our camp ground and a prairie located near Paradise visitor center.

As this was the only camping experience that we enjoyed this year we were so excited to get away from the city and be together as a family. There is something so peaceful and rejuvenating about being out in the fresh clean air of nature and seeing the amazing creations of Gods hands.
I am so thankful for this beautiful earth that I am privileged to live on. I find that living in the city is not my favorite but being able to find beauty through nature always lifts my spirits and reminds me of my faith in God.