Boy is Hayley Growing!  She's rolling, crawling, babbling all sorts of sounds!  Having so much fun with her in these videos.

Family Journaling
     Happy Anniversary Seany Boy! I love you so much, and I am happy we are a family!
Family Motto: "The best things in life aren't things, they're people, family and friends."-  Our families and friends may bring us the greatest frustrations and heardaches, but going through things with them bring us the greatest joy. "And they would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin. But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things.  Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy." (2 Nephi 2:23-25)
      I have to start this out by saying that I am not the best writer, and I am creating this blog to have a journal for our family.  I am hoping to create something our children can read and look back on the memories we had as a family.  We want to show things as they are as a family and not just showing all the wonderful things.  I may be considered cynical, but everything in life is not all great, and it's not all bad.  So why not share things as they are.
    Sean and I were married on July 31st, 2010 in the Boise Idaho Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  We have been greatly blessed over the last 3 years, and we have gone through things that have been hard (but we like to think they have helped us learn and grow, and so will future experiences together).  What Sean and I didn't know was how hard being married could be at times.  Since we have been married we have learned a lot about each other, including things we really dislike about one another.  This is what reminds me of a quote, "Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwords (Benjamin Franklin)." Once you have done careful research into finding your prince or princess then you have to be very forgiving in marriage.  Sean and I have come to see that through forgiveness we actually love each other more.  Life is about learning.  What better way to learn than in a family.   What you do affects someone else, and because you see how you affect others (especially those you are to spend eternity with) you come to realize you have a desire to change, not only for them but for yourself.  Because for some reason, when you change, you become a better person, learning to love and do for others. Sean and I have had times when we don't get along, when we don't see eye to eye, when we want to do things our own way, when we just look at one another and think of all the things about them that is frustrating us.  We are not exempt from getting so frustrated with each other we feel like giving up because some other route would be easier, but we got married for TIME and ALL ETERNITY not for death do we part.  We are in this for the long haul, and even though we don't always feel this way, "I do not want to be married to anyone else," but you Seany Boy.
    After Sean and I got married we lived in Grandpa George's home (from August 2010 to July 2012) which was so fun because Sean had a yard and garden to take care of.  Sean loves growing things.  There we were able to live near both Mom and Jerry, Dad and Mom Owens, Morgan and Heath's family, and Michaela and Dan's family.  During this time Sean worked for Wells Fargo, UPS, and Gemtek, and I worked for Seminis (while studying to take the NCLEX) and Trinity Mission Health and Rehab of Holly.  In July 2013, we moved to Lehi, Utah for a month, and then found our current home, an apartment in Orem, Utah (632 N 360 W).  We live near Kendra and Kyle's family and Erin and Ron's family now.  We feel very blessed for this move because it came as a result of Sean getting the 1st full-time job since we were married, and it was going to allow me to stay home with our children.  Sean currently works for Xactware, a company that developes an estimating software.  This move also opened educational opportunities for Sean since we live right down the road from UVU where Sean will be attending this fall. 

"Cheesy Face Pirate"- Compliments of GiGi

Our Little Princess Hayley Larae Owens
Compliments of Blue Eyed Photography- Erin

   Sweet and Spunky little Hayley Larae Owens came to our family November 15th, 2012 at 8:10PM weighing 7lbs 6oz and measuring 18.5 inches.  When she was born I was finishing up my last semester of my Bachelor's nursing program.  Sean did a great job being Mr. Mom helping at night with Hayley when I didn't even know it.  In fact, some times I would lean over and wack him in the back telling him it was his turn not knowing that he had already been up with her during the night.   She has grown at such an incredibly fast pace and we like to call her "Chubbles," Haylers," "Hayley Bug".  Boy, does time fly since we had her almost 7 1/2 months ago.  She now has 5 teeth with what look like maybe 6 and 7 coming in too.  She is babbling, mostly dada, but she will say baba, lala, and kinda mama.  Sean says she has some similar facial expressions as me.  She really likes playing peek-a-boo right now.  The funniest things are watching her pull the blanket up and down herself and watching her wait under the blanket before she pulls it down.  During this time, she is making noises and kicking her legs.  So funny.  She also makes "cheesy face," where she smiles real big and squints her eyes, and she sniffs when she gets excited and waves her arms back and forth.  She claps every once in a while too.  We have loved the special spirit we have felt with her in our home.  

Finishing school together means....

Hayley is a BYU-Idaho Baby
and soon to be UVU Baby =)

   Being a mom brings some challenges and it has showed me how patient I have to be to love and care for Heavenly Father's children.  Post-partum blues have hit Sean and I both, but we are grateful to prayer and the help of others who are willing to help Sean and I both. We are both doing a lot better, and we both agree this baby stage is exhausting and challenging.
    What do you say about being a mom, It is fun and challenging.  I am grateful to be able to stay home with Hayley to be able to teach her, learning for myself my inadequacies that I need to work on to be a better person, mother, and wife.  It's interesting, as a parent you come to see that there are many ways to raise a child, and no one right way to do so.  This can be so confusing at times, in fact I have joked with my sister about how we wish there was a handbook that came with each one in order to raise them and not ruin them.  It is super humbling realizing what you do with them and for them affects the person they are becoming.  It is also so neat to think Hayley came to us with her own divine nature.  She is pretty darn happy, and I know we didn't do that.  I am amazed with how much love, happiness, and joy children bring to this earth.  They are challenging at times when getting no sleep, trying to sleep train, trying to communicate with your husband, trying to get anything done besides changing diapers, feeding, and getting them to sleep, but boy can you have some of the most fun with them too!  It sure is hard being a parent, but I want to be able to enjoy my time with my children as I raise them. =)

There's a fun daddy right there!

     Sean works at Xactware as a research analyst in the pricing division, and will start school this fall, with no specific declared major.  He is still trying to decide what to study.  Construction and working with wood has always been a love of his, but he is unsure whether he would like to go that route.  He has always had a love for those with Down Syndrome, and he is considering also studying something which will allow him to work with people.  Recently, he volunteered at Heritage school and realized what a neat atmosphere it is working with children and teenagers who come from rough families/situations.  He currently works with the Teachers in our ward and has found them to be fun and has had his moments where he wants to help them, but doesn't know how to.

"Home is not a place, it's a feeling."  We hope that we can make our home a place that feels warm and where people feel welcome.  Where they can have fun and feel loved!  I have come to realize that our home is what we make of it! Our family is what we make of it.  Sean and I appreciate the opportunity to be parents and creating a family, but we sure do have a lot to learn and do before we can say we know what we are doing with our home and family.

                              

We can definitely celebrate ETERNITY together because we are stuck like glue Seany, my best friend!