Progress on our house

We have a hard time not driving out to our new house every day to see what else they've gotten done. We try to stay out of the worker's way and not be too annoying, but sometimes we just can't help ourselves! We ran out there today during lunch because we knew that they were finishing up the drywall and starting to put the stone on outside. They should be finished with all of that by this weekend, and then they will begin painting inside next week. We are getting so excited now that we can hardly stand it! The thought of moving everything again makes me sick to my stomach, but I'm sure it will be worth it in the end!!! Here is the progress since the last time...
Front

My favorite part of the house so far is the beautiful view of sunsets we have from these...

Just think...another month and I won't have to bore you with all of the new house details! Just bear with me for a little longer!

I never promised....

Everyone keeps giving me a hard time about not keeping up on my blog. I have to defend myself and say that even though I FINALLY got it up and going, I never promised that I would have tons of time to keep it updated. You guys are all so hard to please ! :) I feel like I spend so much time away from my kids and hubby while I'm at work, that I feel guilty if I work on the computer when we're all at home. I wish there were more hours in the day so I could feel like I'm still being a good mom even though I work. It seems like I get home from work, we fix dinner, hang out together for a while, and then it's time to get everyone tucked into bed.

We've had a lot going on since the last time I blogged (yes I know it was almost a month ago!!!).

The week before Thanksgiving we decorated our house for Christmas. This is the first year since Russ and I were married that we've been in a place of our own for the holidays. I think I sent Russ into shock with the amount of decorations I had! Everyone has given us a hard time because we decorated so early, but we knew we were going to have a lot of family in town for Thanksgiving and we wanted to have it out of the way. After the house and tree were all decorated, Russ said he felt like he had walked into a winter wonderland at the North Pole. The kids had a blast and are now anxiously awaiting the visit from Santa!!!

We spent Thanksgiving with Russ' family here in Cedar. Dyllan and Kelsey had to spend the day with Mitch, so I was lonely without them, but we still had a really nice day. Everyone in Russ' family was there and we ate some really delicious food. We always try to burn off some of the dinner by playing basketball in the evening and each year it serves as a sad reminder that I am definately out of shape and not as young as I used to be! Having a baby this year set me back even further (but I wouldn't trade Logan for the world!!!).

We had Logan blessed the Sunday after Thanksgiving. We had put if off because we knew that most of our family would be in town for Thanksgiving and we wanted everyone there to share his special day with us. Russ did such a good job. This was the first time that any of my kids have been able to be blessed by their dad and it meant alot to me that Russ was worthy to perform the blessing. Russ got emotional during the blessing and he said later that all of the little old ladies in the front row were crying too (they weren't even family!!!)

After the blessing, we had everyone come to our house for dinner. It was a pretty wild house for a few hours! I thought the ceiling was going to cave in upstairs from all of the kids jumping around, but it survived. The dinner turned out pretty good (thanks for the recipe Trish- the Cafe Rio burritos turned out YUMMY!!!). I just want to say thank you to all of those who were able to come and support us. I really appreciate the extra effort you put into being there. I know I've been blessed with the greatest family and friends on earth!

Can you tell how hard Russ and Logan worked to get ready for the luncheon? Poor guys!

Wow. This blog turned out to be much longer than I thought it would be. I'll try to do better at keeping up with things this month.

Our new house

This was how it all began.... one month ago all we had was a 1/2 acre lot. We spent the morning watching them clear away all of the sagebrush and then they started digging our basement. It was such an exciting day for us. We've been waiting for this to happen for a long, long time. Because of the economy, I'm a little nervous about things, but we decided we had to take the leap sometime. Throwing away money for rent each month is getting old.

Got dirt? The dirt pile was HUGE! The kids had so much fun playing in it. Does anyone need any fill dirt? We've got plenty to give away!

This is Logan and Heather standing in our basement. The weather has cooperated so far and things are moving quickly.

After staring endlessly at blueprints, this became one of our favorite days. It was so fun to walk through our "house" and see where everything will be. At this point, the kids started getting more excited because they could actually see what their rooms will be like.

This is the kitchen and pantry

It actually looks like a house now!!!

Russ and I are so glad that this dream is finally coming true for us. The house is not a mansion, but we know it will be comfortable and it will be home. The house could have been done in December, but I wasn't very excited about moving during Christmas. We're hoping to move in during the first week of January. Superbowl Party at our house!!!

The loves of my life...

A Perfect Day

A few weeks ago it was raining and really cold in Cedar so we decided to head to Zion in search of warmer weather and do some hiking and sightseeing. It was so beautiful there. It was a little chilly once we got there and we were glad we had brought sweatshirts, but the changing leaves scattered among the beautiful rocks made us forget all about the weather. One of my favorite traditions with my kids has always been taking pictures of them in the fall leaves. We went in search of the "perfect spot" sevaral times this fall, but I think my favorite pictures were the ones we took in Zion. Kelsey loves the camera and wanted a picture taken on nearly every rock or under every tree along the trail. I finally got to the point where I pretended to take her picture. Dyllan usually rolled his eyes and gave me "the look". I'm already seeing signs of what he will be like when he becomes a teenager! AAHHHHH! There were sooo many photographers on the trails trying to get the perfect shot. We decided that one of the local colleges must have been offering Senior Citizen Photography 1010. We got pretty tired of going around all of the camera tripods that they had set up EVERYWHERE along the trail! I couldn't believe the number of glares we got from them--they acted like WE were the ones in the way! However, we didn't let them spoil our day and we ended up having a great time. It was our last weekend together before my maternity leave ended and I went back to work. We couldn't have asked for a better way to wrap up my "vacation" time (LOL--I'm sure most of you know that my 10 weeks of maternity leave ended up being anything BUT a vacation!!!).

The wait is over...

After months of thinking about, talking about, and promising everybody, our family blog is FINALLY up and running (thank you Trecia!). My goal was to have everything posted before my maternity leave ended and I had to go back to work--unfortunately that didn't happen. But, better late than never. Now I have absolutely no idea where to even begin! So much has happened during the past year. I have a hundred pictures to post so I hope you will bear with me until I get caught up.
The most exciting thing for us was the birth of Logan Russell Maughan. He was born on August 31, 2008. His delivery was a scary experience and we know how blessed we are to even have him. The cord was wrapped around his neck several times and the umbilical cord wasn't attached to the placenta correctly. Dr. Gray told us that in most pregnancies where this occurs, the umbilical cord becomes unattached and the baby bleeds to death while still in the womb. Thankfully, everything turned out fine and we have a healthy, beautiful baby boy. Russ and I feel that Logan came 2 weeks early for a reason. The "what if's" are scary and not something we like to dwell on. Kelsey and Dyllan adore him and shower him with plenty of hugs and kisses every day. Kelsey is like a 2nd mother to him and is very attentive. She even jumps in to help when I'm changing a yucky diaper.

Dyllan is 9 years old now and doing well in 4th grade. He attends the same school I did when I was growing up and there are plenty of days when I go to pick him up that I find myself wondering where the years have gone to. Dyllan is a pretty tall kid and will probably pass me up within the next year. He loves anything to do with sports (he even has Kelsey play tackle football with him). He has been involved in soccer, football, baseball, and basketball. He swears his favorite sport is football, but I think it actually whatever sport is currently in season. Dyllan is sweetheart and probably the most sensitive out of all my kids. He tends to be a little shy, but if you start talking sports with him, he'll talk your ear off!

Kelsey is 4 1/2 now and still attending pre-school. I can't wait until she is in kindergarten. She is definately ready but because of when her birthday falls, she has to wait until next year. She played soccer this fall and is currently taking gymnastics. I'm sure you'll notice in the pictures I post that she loves having her picture taken. Russ and I think she is going to make us millions of dollars someday. She has been my little drama queen from the day she was born and that definately hasn't changed. Kelsey is a little more sassy than Dyllan, but she is still pretty obedient and sweet. I know I couldn't ask for better kids!

Russ is still managing Cooling Heating Supply. He's been there for almost 5 years. He says he enjoys his job and the people he works with. When he isn't working on my "honey-do" list, he enjoys playing and watching basketball. The theme for the Utah Jazz this season is "Life off-game on" and I told him they must have gotten the idea from him. He loves to watch the games and it's hard to pull him away from them sometimes. Russ quickly learned to control his gag reflex and is such a cute daddy to Logan (as well as Dyllan and Kelsey!). He is so helpful with the diaper changes, feedings, and baths. You can tell that Logan already adores his daddy!

I am still working at the Abbey Inn. I became the Assistant Manager in February and really enjoy my job. I just barely went back to work this week from my maternity leave. It has been an adjustment and I have shed plenty of tears over leaving my tiny baby with somebody else. One of my good friends is tending Logan and Kelsey for me so I know they are in good hands. I think it has been harder on me than it has been for either of them. I love being a mom and wouldn't trade that role for anything. My family brings me so much love and happiness--I can't imagine what life would be like without them.

In our free time, our family loves going to Sand Hollow, Zion, camping, hiking, fishing, snowmobiling, snowboarding--pretty much anything outdoors. We have stayed pretty busy this year and have been on a lot of fun adventures. We try to get out and go as much as we can. We cherish the time we get to spend together as a family and hope we are helping our kids create some special memories. My photo albums have become my personal journal and I love going back and looking at all of the fun times we've had.