Maughanster House

I'm BAAAACK!

2009-03-24T20:12:00.000-07:00

I'm sure it seems like I've fallen off the face of the earth, but, for the moment--I'm back (until the next time I go a month without blogging anything!!!) I'm always full of good intentions, but sometimes they don't get me anywhere.
I can't believe how much my life has changed in the short month that it's been since I've written. I've learned some valuable life lessons and hope that I can become a better mom, sister, daughter, wife, and friend because of the things I've experienced. I think THE most important thing I've learned is to make sure that the ones you love KNOW that you love them. I've found that I hug and kiss my kids more throughout the day. I've always been very affectionate with all of them, but now it has taken on a whole different meaning. I squeeze them a little tighter for no reason, and tell them I love them so many times a day that I think they get sick of hearing it. I guess because of everything that happened with my sister Joleen, that just in case something does happen to me (or them) they will always know how much I love them. Our family has cried so many tears during this past month and it still feels like a nightmare we should be waking up from any minute. My mom has probably had the hardest time of all --it has been so hard to not know the right words to say to her. We still don't have a lot of answers as to what happened to Joleen and I think my mom is struggling with the "why". One of my niece's friends made us a copy of a DVD of Joleen's life and we've been grateful to have that. Joleen's two daughters made all of us a quilt from the nurse's scrubs Joleen used to wear. They cut all of the different scrub tops into squares and then pieced them together. It is one of the neatest gifts I've ever received and it will be something I'll cherish forever.
So, while I'm on all of the "bummer" news, Russ got laid off a couple of weeks ago. I've decided that 2009 sucks and I'm ready to fast forward to 2010 where hopefully things will look better. We didn't see his layoff coming and we really wish they had let us know that it was a possibility a few months ago BEFORE we closed on a new house. I know we would have made some different decisions if we had seen this coming. We'll be ok for a few months with my job and his unemployment checks, but we hope it doesn't take too long for him to find a steady job! Right now I have the best house-husband that a woman could ever want. He jokes every morning that it's time to wake up and put his apron on while I go out and be the breadwinner. He has been so good about keeping the house clean, doing dishes, DUSTING, folding laundry, organizing our garage, mopping floors, COOKING DINNER, etc. I have already gotten spoiled by all of the extra help he has given me. He has helped ease some of the daily stress I feel. It's been nice to come home from work and actually get to spend more quality time with my family. It is still hectic on nights that Kelsey has gymnastics, but I think she only has a month left before they take a break for the summer. Russ has said several times that he now has a whole new appreciation for working moms and stay-at-home moms because he had never realized how endless the laundry pile is, or how the house looks messy 10 minutes after straightening it up or where the stack of dishes came from or.... Logan has already gotten spoiled by all of the extra time he is spending with his daddy! We had to take him back to the babysitter for 1 day last week while Russ got some paperwork filled out, and she said she could tell he'd been getting extra love from dad. Anyways, Russ has a good attitude and we're hoping that things will turn around and that everything will be ok. I can't imagine losing our house after we worked so hard to finally get into it!
Now, since all of the nasty news is out of the way, I'll try to catch up on all of the good and/or fun things that we've been up to...
Kelsey turned 5 in January. I look at her sometimes and feel like I should still be looking at my little baby. I can't believe how fast she is growing up on me. She may be 5 now, but she already acts like she is 16. She seems so smart and mature for her age-- I am definitely in for it!!! She has such a sweet, loving personality but knows how to kick in some attitude when necessary! Her birthday is always an extra special day because she was born on my dad's birthday, and we've created some fun traditions together since she was born. My poor dad has had to endure princess cake after princess cake, but this year Kelsey spared him and chose Wall-E. It turned out really cute. Russ and I deserved the "Parents of the Year" award because we actually got her a kitten as one of her birthday presents. She's been begging for one forever, but we kept telling her we had to wait until we had our own house. Russ hates cats and I am SOOOO allergic to them, but we have her in our unfinished basement and plan to stick her outside after it warms up a little. We named her Hannah (guess who she's named after?!?!) but Dyllan HATED the name and calls her Miley instead. The poor cat is probably confused! She is a sweet cat and seems to like it with us. I adopted her from the pound, so I guess her life is better than the path she was headed down. To celebrate her birthday (and mine) we went to St. George and ate at Red Lobster and then went miniature golfing. Dinner was yummy!!! It was a little chilly while we were golfing, but we had a lot of fun! I ALMOST won, but choked at the end! Russ, Dyllan and I get pretty competitive when we play these kind of things, so I was really hoping I could earn the bragging rights....oh well--there's always next time!!!
Unfortunately, a few days after Kelsey's birthday is always my birthday and I've gotten to where I don't look forward to them anymore! It's alot more fun to celebrate hers!!! We were in the process of moving into our new house so we didn't really get the chance to celebrate.
We went camping last month (yes--REAL camping!!!) in a tent. We bought an older, used trailer last fall but haven't had the chance to fix it up yet, so we still had to "rough it"! We went to the Valley of Fire in Nevada. We started the tradition a few years ago and now look forward to our annual trip. The weather is usually pretty good there this time of year. It helps us get over our winter "blahs" and helps get us through until the weather warms up in Cedar. We had fun hiking on the trails and climbing on the rocks. Russ always does most of the cooking when we camp so it ends up being a nice break for me.
Russ and I spent a day at Brian Head snowboarding for his birthday (sorry- no pictures of this one!!! I'm sure you needed a good laugh!!! We took the camera with us but never remembered to use it!). I am definitely out of shape! It's been two years since we've been up there and I had forgotten about 98% of the muscles I had to use. Hopefully the next time won't be quite as rough!!! I almost cried on the last run of our day because I hurt so bad. I remember asking Russ if snowboarding was supposed to be fun or just torture, because it felt more like torture than anything!!! I think next time we go up I'm going to let Russ and Dyllan board while I ski!!!
One of Russ' cousins got married in Logan last weekend so we drove up there for that. We had a really fun weekend and it was nice to get away! We went to a local zoo that was practically abandoned because of winter time. We tried to plan several fun things for the kids to do, but, shocking as it may be, their favorite part was swimming in the pool at our motel. Logan swam for his first time and loved it!!! He was so cute. The pool water was a little cold, but the hot tub became his splash zone! I woke up with the flu on the morning we had to drive home, so I'm sure you can imagine what a pleasant ride that was for everybody. Oh well. I guess everyone had some good laughs at my expense!!!
Wow. Was that a novel or what? I'm sure I skipped over a hundred things, but I tried to highlight the more interesting? or fun activities that we've been up to.

You know she's a true friend when...

2009-02-09T19:28:00.001-08:00

She lets you call her at all hours of the night crying...
She offers to watch all 3 of your kids and get them to school and to the babysitter so that you can sit at the side of your sister's hospital bed...
She packs you a backpack full of goodies, coloring books, puzzles, reading books, stuffed animals. and other miscellanious items to keep you and your kids busy during the countless hours spent in the hospital...
She sends a vase of flowers to the ICU waiting room to brighten the area and let everyone know she is thinking of them...
She comes and uses her elbow grease to help you scrub showers and (gross) TOILETS at your old rental house so that you can be out by the end of the month and actually start enjoying your new home...
She lets you have a Superbowl party at her house since the housewarming party/Superbowl bash at your new house got cancelled/postponed due to the death of a loved one...
She's a good sport when the two of you get stranded in St. George and are forced to have a "girl's weekend" whether she wanted one or not...
She knows how to make you laugh even when you are in a horrible mood...
The list could go on and on, but Trecia, I just wanted to give you a public shout-out and say thank you for EVERYTHING!!! You have been amazing and I love you to pieces!!! You'll never know how much your love and support has meant to me!
Helen Keller said it best..."Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light."

Forever in our hearts...

2009-01-31T07:12:00.000-08:00

SOME PEOPLE

Some people come into our lives

and leave footprints on our hearts

and we are never, ever the same.

Some people come into our lives

and quickly go...Some stay for awhile

and embrace our silent dreams.

They help us become aware

of the delicate winds of hope...

and we discover within every human spirit

there are wings yearning to fly.

They help our hearts see that

the only stairway to the stars

is woven with dreams...

and we find ourselves

unafraid to reach high.

They celebrate the true essence

of who we are...

and have faith in all

that we may become.

Some people awaken us

to new and deeper realizations...

for we gain insight

from the passing whisper of their wisdom.

Throughout our lives we are sent

precious souls...

meant to share our journey

however brief or lasting their stay

they remind us why we are here.

To learn...to teach...to nurture...to love

Some people come into our lives

to cast a steady light

upon our path and guide our every step

their shining belief in us

helps us to believe in ourselves.

Some people come into our

lives to teach us about love...

the love that rests within ourselves.

Some people come into our lives

and they move our souls to sing

and make our spirits dance.

They help us to see that everything on earth

is part of the incredibility of life...

and that it is always there

for us to take of its joy.

Some people come into our lives

and leave footprints on our hearts

and we are never, ever the same.

Without a doubt, this has been one of the worst weeks of my life. It still feels like a nightmare that I can't wake up from. While I was sitting by my sister's bedside, it seemed so surreal to have her lying there unresponsive--I wanted to reach over and shake her so she would wake up and talk to me! I wished she could open her eyes so she could see me there with her and hear me tell her how much I loved her. I can only pray that her spirit was in the room with me so that she knew the things I wasn't able to tell her before she passed on. My heart and mind are filled with so many regrets of things I didn't do for her or say to her. I wish I could go back in time, even just a week or two, and make sure the last time I saw her that I hugged her good-bye and told her I loved her.

Although this week has been horrible for everyone in my family, it has drawn us closer together and made our love stronger for each other. We spent many, many hours together in the ICU waiting room, laughing and crying over happy memories that we have shared as a family. We were able to look at photo albums and remember happier times. It's hard to imagine what our future family reunions, camping and fishing trips, holidays, and other family events will be like without Joleen there. She was a special member of our family and things will never be the same.

For those of you that I haven't talked to and explained how everything took place, I'll give you a summary of what took place...

Tuesday morning, the neurologist told us that things were not looking good. He said that Joleen wasn't showing any signs of trying to wake up. Her brain wasn't controlling even the "simplest" of functions such as her heart rate and blood pressure. Even with the medications they were giving her, those functions were fluctuating up and down at dangerous levels. He also explained to us that the swelling in her brain was something she wouldn't be able to recover from. I've heard stories from other people where they were able to reduce the swelling in the brain by drilling a hole into the skull to relieve fluid and pressure and I had wondered why they weren' t doing that to Joleen to see if it would help. Dr. Klein explained that they do that in people who have brain INJURIES (from concussions and other forms of blunt head trauma), but Joleen's brain was actually swelling because it was screaming for oxygen and since it wasn't getting it, the result is the death of a cell. Joleen wasn't completely brain dead, but there was very little activity and the cells that had already died wouldn't come back. Joleen's three kids wanted to wait 1 more day and talk with another doctor before they made their final decision. I know that we all knew what the end result would be, but I think the kids needed just a little more time to cope with everything that had happened.

Wednesday afternoon, we each had our chance to go in and tell her our final good-bye. It was the most difficult thing I've ever been through. I don't even know how to express the thoughts and feelings that were going through my mind. When it came time to remove the respirator, all of us gathered around her bed. My dad offered one of the most powerful prayers I've ever heard. It was such a sad moment, but the room was so full of peace and love. I know Joleen was in the room to witness how many people love her and will miss her. I hope that none of you ever have to watch as death takes over a loved one. It was horrible. We prayed that she would go quickly so that she wouldn't suffer and we wouldn't have to watch her struggle for each breath for too long. Thankfully, it only took about 5 minutes for her to pass away. I know that she is at peace now and in a much better place, but it still doesn't make it any easier, especially for her children.

Joleen's funeral will be Tuesday, February 3 at 11:00 at the Paragonah chapel. I hope you know how much I appreciate the phone calls, e-mails, flowers, and visits during this tough time. I know that I have been blessed with some of the best friends in the world - I appreciate your love and friendship and everything you have done to help me get through this. I hope you never have to go through anything like this, but if you do, I promise to be there for you too! I love you all!!!

A weekend of complete HELL...

2009-01-26T18:57:00.000-08:00

Just when you think things are going great and life can't get much better, something bad always has to happen. I know a lot of you are already aware of what happened Saturday night, but I'll start from the beginning for those that haven't heard...
Saturday morning, Russ and I woke up (our first Saturday in our new house--yeeaahhh!!!) and loaded our old washer and dryer to take to my sister in Salt Lake. We enjoyed our drive and were able to spend a nice afternoon with Karen. We went out to dinner and had just gotten back to her house to hang out for the rest of the evening when I got a call from my brother Ray letting us know that my sister Joleen was in the ER in St. George and they were doing chest compressions to keep her alive. It was one of those phone calls that took a minute for everything to sink in. It was one of those moments that you keep wishing for the "JUST KIDDING" to come out of his mouth, but it never came. Ray didn't have much information for us, but said that my mom and dad were on their way to St. George and would let us know as soon as they had more information. I haven't felt that helpless in a long time. I wanted to rush to the hospital to be by her side. Russ and I decided that we'd better pack up and head toward St. George because things weren't looking good for my sweet sister. Karen decided to stay in SLC until we had more info, but by the time we got to Nephi, Ray had called her and told her she should get to St. George because they didn't think she was going to make it through the night. The weather was pretty bad so Russ and I waited in Nephi until Karen could catch up with us and we could drive to St. George together. That was one of THE longest rides I've ever had in my life. I was so grateful for cell phones though because it allowed us to keep in contact so we were aware of what was going on at the hospital. We made it to St. George at 3 am Sunday morning. It was horrible to walk into her room in the ICU and see her on life support. They told us that Joleen had suffered a thyroid storm(a rare condition that happens to people with thryoid issues) which caused her body to go into cardiac arrest. They had to shock her heart multiple times and performed CPR for nearly a 1/2 hour before they were able to get her heart beating again. Because of the amount of time she went without oxygen, she suffered massive amounts of brain damage. It has been a roller coaster ride during the past 48 hours, but they aren't giving her much of a chance of surviving. Her brain is showing almost no activity and there is a lot of swelling. The doctors told us that usually within the first 72 hrs you can tell if a person is going to turn the corner, but even if she does make it, she will probably be in a vegetative state for the rest of her life. I feel like I have cried and cried until there shouldn't be any more tears left, but they keep coming from somewhere. My poor niece is 23 years old and will have to be the one that decides when to pull the plug. I can't even imagine having that kind of decision placed on my shoulders. We've spent a lot of time talking with her about everything, and she doesn't want to make a rushed decision so we're going to wait until the 72 hour mark (Tues. at about 7 pm) and then go from there. Unless some miracle occurs, I think it isn't a matter of "if" we pull the plug, but "when." All of my brothers and sisters are here together, and it has been amazing to feel the love and support we draw from each other. I don't think we could do it alone. I have been blessed with an amazing family, and it's times like this that makes me appreciate the close and loving relationship that we all share. I've always referred to all of us as the "magnificant 7", and I can't imagine what life will be like without her. I love you sis! I would appreciate any extra prayers you can offer in her behalf!!! I'll keep you posted...

My poor sick baby...

2009-01-11T19:43:00.000-08:00

We had to give him a mohawk to match his attitude this week! He has been sick for the past week and we found out he has RSV. I've felt so bad for my little guy. We've had to do breathing treatments every 4 hours and antibotics for an ear infection. To say the least, it's been a pretty rough week. He coughs so much and so hard that he can't sleep very well so it has played havoc on his (and ours) sleeping schedule! I hated seeing him like that. I would sit and cuddle him and he would just lay there with his head on my chest. He was so good about everything and didn't cry very often inspite of everything he was going through. You could tell he felt horrible, but he would still find a couple smiles for us here and there. I was so grateful to my boss that she let me spend some extra time with him this week--she even sacrificed her day off so I could stay home and love on him! He is finally feeling better and acting more like himself! I am sooo glad. Last week was one of the longest ones we've had in a long time!
We started packing things up this week trying to get ready for the big move. What a pain! Russ has usually gotten out of packing things and has just had to help move the boxes, but this time he has been really involved in everything. He admitted that he'd had NO idea that moving was such a pain in the butt! We've really liked the house we've been in for the past year and I know we'll miss lot's of things about it, but we're really looking forward to getting into a place of our own. This next week or two will be pretty hectice so I can't promise when my next post will be, so until then....

So close we can almost smell it....

2009-01-11T19:35:00.000-08:00

Oh wait--that's just the smell of the new paint!

I'm sure most of these are self-explanatory, but I'll narrate for you anyways...

Here is the house with all of the stone and siding on. I am really excited about the colors we chose because it looks different than most of the houses in our neighborhood and it makes it stand out more.

Here is a close-up of the stone we picked out.

Here is our front room after they had taped and mudded (is mudded really a word or just contractor slang?)

This shows all of the texturing done to the walls and ceiling.

The (almost) finished product...

Yaaayy---we finally have a garage door!

This is the tile that is throughout the house.

Christmas at our house

2009-01-04T00:29:00.000-08:00

I still haven't figured out where the month of December went to! Christmas makes it such a crazy time! I feel like I ran and wrapped non-stop, but it is, without a doubt, my favorite time of year! Maybe I thrive on all of the madness?!?!?!
Russ and I are still kids at heart--we were both so excited for the kids to open their Christmas presents that we were afraid we wouldn't be able to sleep! Russ and Dyllan got to open up their matching Utah Jazz Pajama pants on Christmas Eve. We woke up Christmas morning at 4:30 (no it is NOT a typo!) so we could open all of the presents and get to all of the grandparents' houses before Dyllan and Kelsey had to go with Mitch. My mom, dad, Ray, Karen, and Tyson came over to watch the wrapping paper tornado. We all got spoiled rotten and Dyllan told us later that day that this was the BEST Christmas ever! We finally hopped on the bandwagon and now have a Wii. We've already had a lot of good laughs (especially when I TRY to sing the lyrics on Rock Band--I am definately NOT a singer! Paula, Simon, and Randy won't have to worry about me auditioning for American Idol anytime soon--I'll save the humiliation for the privacy of my own home!) Kelsey is actually pretty good at the drums, and Dyllan has surprised us by wanting to be the lead singer most of the time. Maybe if his dream of becoming a professional football player doesn't work out, he can pursue a singing career...

t I am truly grateful for everything I have been blessed with in my life. I love my family more than anything on earth and I am so grateful for every day that I get to spend with them. During the month of December we spent quite a few nights sitting by the Christmas tree talking about the real reason for Christmas. It's so easy to get caught up in the commercial aspect, and I know that children sometimes have a hard time seeing past that, but we wanted Dyllan and Kelsey to know how good they have it and to remind them that not everybody is as fortunate as they are.

I couldn't resist posting this picture of Logan. We were at the St. George temple while Russ' sister went through the temple...I think his face sums it all up--it was soooo cold out there!

We had a pretty quiet New Year's Eve. I thought my kids were going to be with Mitch that night so I'd planned a little celebration for earlier in the day when we were all together. We took a bottle of sparkling apple cider out to the still unfinished new house and had a little party.

Mitch didn't end up taking the kids, so we took them with us when we went to dinner with my parents and my brother Ray. Afterwards, we went back to my mom's and played a game. I was such a party pooper that night. I think Russ, Logan and I were in bed by 10:00 (I had to be up at 5:30 the next morning!!!). Dyllan and Kelsey probably thought we were a couple of old farts because they stayed up by themselves to celebrate at midnight. Oh well. New Year's Eve isn't one of my favorite holidays.
It looks like our house might not be done until sometime next week. Russ has begged the builder to have it done before my birthday, so we'll have to see if it happens. Kelsey really wanted to have her birthday party there, but I don't think she is going to be able to. The tile setters didn't show up when they were supposed to this week, so now it has bumped everything back a few days. I guess they enjoyed their New Year's Eve a little TOO much...
I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Progress on our house

2008-12-10T15:04:00.000-08:00

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....

2008-12-10T13:04:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-16T08:05:00.000-08:00

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...

2008-11-14T21:20:00.000-08:00

A Perfect Day

2008-11-14T21:08:00.000-08:00

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...

2008-11-09T02:05:00.000-08:00

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.