Hey everyone, this last week I was in Chicago for work, I left Monday morning for work, left there at about 2:30 and then proceeded to wait at the airport for 5 hours while they tried to get a flight crew to fly our plane. Anyways, I came back on Friday to find that my little boy has continued to grow like a weed. It seems like all he does now is smile and say "I love you!" it is the best. I am so blessed with such a great family who loves me so much! I can't wait for Lydia to come in a few months, but I am also glad to spend some time with Owen before she comes. Shelly is the best mom ever, even though she doesn't feel very well, she is still so patient with Owen and he loves to play with her. Yesterday I went to go see the 7th Harry Potter with my Dad and Mom, I would recommend seeing it, I thought they did a good job of following the story line (way better than the 6th movie).

Owen woke up from his nap today and was very upset with something (I think he was hot). So being the good dad that I was, I rocked him back to sleep for about 5 minutes, then all of the sudden he pops up and starts acting like nothing happened. It is pretty funny how kids can have such a different moods from one minute to another.

Well, thanks for listening, hope you have a good day!

Hawaii etc...

Nate has been really good about blogging. I on the other hand enjoy the "old school" journal writing method of keeping track of lifetime fun :) Here goes trying to be more technologically oriented.. and being able to share with you our lives together as a family...

Last week we were able to take a vacation to Oahu, Hawaii. My mom came out and bonded with Owen while we spent time together on another island paradise trip :). We had a nice time!!! Here are some photos of the fun and relaxation...


Waikiki Beach... We were two blocks away at our hotel. We enjoyed the sunny weather and nice water. We were able to see a hula show and I enjoyed how they had some parts of the street lined with torches around sunset.
Before we left Owen gave Daddy a few HUGE squeezes. I had never seen him hug so strongly. It was so sweet and I was glad to catch the moment on camera :)
Owen is such a fun happy energetic "little"guy. He and grandma Denise hit it off and had a great week together.
Owen loves his grandparents.
At the top of Diamond Head we had a beautiful few of Honolulu and other cities of Hawaii. It was a short hike and not too strenuous.
Nate and I at the Polynesian Cultural Center. We LOVED our day there. It was great entertainment and very educational. We saw many performances and learned the history/culture of various islands.
At the village of the New Zealanders (AKA...Ateadores...I think)...Nate participated in the welcome ceremony as a part of the Honor Guard. He did great! :)
We were able to go to the Laie Hawaii Temple Open House. It was a beautiful temple. I especially liked the paintings on the inside. In some places the ceiling was short (It was built in 1919) and Nate had to turn his head in order not to hit the lights. :)




We enjoyed going to Pearl Harbor. We took a boat around the memorials and walked around others.
Shelly, Grandma Denise, and Owen before we took her to the airport.

We had a great week this week, it all started out when my brother Dave got my dad nominated as the "Thursday's Hero" for BYU, we got to go down there and we toured the Athletic building where all the coach/meeting rooms are located, it was sweet. After the tour, we got to watch the last 15-20 minutes of practice. After practice ended, the team all gathered around Bronco, then they all came over to see my dad and family. They gave him a bunch of cool stuff, like T-shirts/hats. The best part of of was how nice everyone was while we where there. Bronco was so personable and kind, even all the players were interested in how we were doing. All in all, it was
an awesome experience. On friday, we loaded up and drove to Colorado springs for the BYU V AFA game. Even though BYU looked TERRIBLE it was a lot of fun. We went to a devotional that Bronco spoke at, had a tour of the campus, spent a lot of time with each other, and just had a lot of fun with each other. Any ways, We sure do love our family and are grateful for the time that we had together!

A Perfect Day

Yes, today was as close as it could get to being a perfect day. I got up early for some reason and was able to go yard sale hunting. I didn't find what I was looking for, but it was fun and I found a few toys for Owen :). Nate had some bonding time with Owen that he enjoyed. Owen was very cuddly today. When Owen took a nap we all took a nap :). When Owen woke up we went to visit Nate's parents. We had a nice visit. Then, they took care of Owen while we went on a date to an early dinner, ice cream and then to see Shrek 4. Afterwards we were able to spend more time with Nate's parents while Nate helped clean out the rain gutters. He really enjoys completing random projects around the house. Nate went to the store while I stayed in the car while Owen slept. At home we put Owen to bed and Nate drained out our water heater. Now we are here just relaxing and putting on another movie for the night. It was so nice not to have to hurry anywhere for a meeting, test, or Nate having to think about homework. It was nice to just be able to enjoy the simple things of life, like spending time with loved ones.

The picture above is one of Owen and his friend Abby. :) We love his little smile.

Final of doom.

So, finals are coming up and i've gotten my nose in my books. I just finished my study guide for the final test for my Oceanography class and it is 10 pages long..... I mean really, i have 3 study guides for a total of about 25 pages that I have to memorize before august 13th (the last day of my final). This is for one class that is supposed to be an introductory freshmen level class. I think that there is something wrong with this picture.

Anyways, after I'm done with this semester I am DONE thats D-O-N-E forever with school pending any crazy ideas of graduate school. I think that Shelly is the most excited person around when it come to me being done with school, I have to admit that I am a little excited to spend some more time with my family.

Hope everything is good you you. love you all!!!

Fun Pics and Owen's B-day

This was us at Owen's B-Day party, he got his first pair of shoes that actually fit!!! Thanks G and G. We had a lot of fun with lots of friends and family.
Owen was starring down his friend, you can see the hate in his eyes because his fire truck was stolen.
Owen's first cake, he actually didn't like it very much because he has never had something as sweet as that.
Owen's B-day cake, he loves fire trucks so Shelly and I made him this cake, it was lots of fun. I wrote the "Happy B-day Owen" can't you tell?
My brothers and dad playing Mario Bros on the fourth of July, it was a blast, anyone wanna come over and play???
Owen loves to give kisses to mama.
Owen just hanging out at the Freedom Festival in Provo.
Owen giving more kisses, gross!!! He hasn't quite figured out how to give closed mouth kisses yet. Maybe next week.
Isn't he sweet, this is the only time the little dude stays still.

If any of you wanted to check on up on my dad's status, here is the link to his blog.

http://remeberwhoyouare.blogspot.com/

Hey everyone, Owen and I are home from church because he wouldn't take a nap this morning, which in turn made made him very grump for us in sacrament meeting. I thought I would take some time and share with you all my thoughts and feelings this moment. Yesterday, my nephew Noah got baptized along with two others in his ward, I had the privilege of being a witness to that baptism, it was such a special experience to see all 3 of those kiddies go down into the waters of baptism and make a promise to their heavenly father. It made me reflect upon my mission and the people that I had the opportunity to baptize. I know that some of them have fallen away from the promise that they made that day, others have served missions and are serving as branch presidents in the church. I sometimes wonder why those people who fell away fell away from the church, I know they were prepared when they were baptized. Anyways, I think I just wanted to say that that we all need to be aware of the small decisions we are making in our life, they may lead us to make big decisions that are incorrect and will lead us to inactivity in the church. I am so grateful for my dear Shelly and Owen, for the examples they give me every day.

We love you all and are grateful for your friendship. Have a wonderful day!!!


Nate, Shelly, and Owen.

Happy Fathers Day

Hey everyone, I just wanted to wish you all a happy father's day. This is my first year celebrating father's day where I was actually the father. Today I woke up with Owen around 7:30 and played with him for awhile before Shelly came out and made us all breakfast. Owen has gotten to where he loves to give kisses, he gave me an extra special one this morning that was extra slobbery just for fathers day. Then today in priesthood, he decided that he didn't like the 20 oz of milk the dude had drank and threw them up all over me while we were on the first row. It was pretty funny. Anyways, I just wanted to thank my wife and child for making this an extra special Father's day. I also wanted to thank my father for being an extra special father. Even though he is going through a rough time trying to regain his speech and fight cancer at the same time, he is still always happy and always concerned with those around him. I sure do love him and appreciate the example that he has given, along with all of my brothers and their examples, of being a father.

Hello everyone,

Last thursday, my dad called me while I was in Virginia for work and gave me some news that was really hard to take. For a few days before Thursday, he had been having a hard time with his speech. He went on to tell me that he had been to the doctor and that they had found some kind of tumor in his head. It was our hope that the tumor was acutally an abscess, and not some type of brain tumor. They scheduled brain surgery for last Saturday when we found out that the tumor was in fact a tumor and not an abscess. We are now currently waiting for the pathology reports to come back determining if it is cancerous and what type of cancer it is, if it is indeed cancer.

Even though this has has been a really hard time the last week or so, I have had some amazing experiences that have helped me and my family through this time.

First of, I have to say that my dear wife has been so awesome. because she has already been through this with her father, she has been a rock for us and a support to all my siblings and especially my mom. Also, I have felt the power of the Holy Ghost so strong this last week that it has been awesome. I know that my Father in Heaven is aware of my family's sufferings and that he will help us as we need it.

I would like to express to my dad and anyone who may read this how much I love and appreciate him and his example. He has done so much for me that he can't even begin to fathom how much. I remember when I was in sports, my dad was always at my games or events that I was participating in. If he couldn't make it, he made sure that someone was there to cheer me on. I think that the thing that I always think of when I think of my dad is what he always said to me while I was still living at home; he said "If your going to do something, make sure you do it right the first time, or don't do it at all." What that means to me is always give your best effort into what you are doing. If you don't, you going to have to do it again so you might as well do it correct the first time.

Anyways, I hope you all know how great my dad is. He has always been my best friend and hero! Never give up, never surrender!!

Nate

Memorial Day Weekend

-Memorial Day Weekend- Wow... I believe this was one of the first weekends that Nate and I were able to enjoy 3 days together without working (me) and him having classes to attend to etc. It was really nice. We went on a family date (a.k.a. a date with Owen), spent time with family going miniature golfing on Saturday and enjoying a fry fest on Sunday and then rested most of the day today along with having FHE with some friends. It has been great fun :) I am grateful for Memorial Day Weekend , not just for the fun and parties, but also because it is a chance I get to remember those who have passed on and reflect on their lives. Of course I am remembering the life of my Father, John Hayes. I hope that I will always remember what a wonderful example he is and wonderful father, dad, friend and human being that he was and still is: Some of the many qualities that I remember about him:

• Happiness: He was always Happy. When showing my friend Rachelle his pictures a few weeks ago she noticed that even when he was sick and full of cancer, he always had a smile on his face. He loved to make jokes, (that weren't very funny) and then laugh at them.
• Positive Attitude: My dad always saw the positive side of situations and people. He had a lot of friends, including those that others might have labeled as weird or maybe even obnoxious. He was able to find the good in everyone and love them no matter what. I remember him saying " If you look for the bad you will find the bad, If you look for the good, you will find the good."
  
• Respector of Agency: As a Father, he rarely ever stated his opinions about my decisions until after I made the choice. I remember on various occasions I went to him for advice on things that were of great worth to me and he wouldn't budge. He wanted me to work through the problems/questions/choices myself and then maybe days, weeks or years later he would tell me what he had though at the time. A few weeks before he passed away, he answered a thought I had always questioned. I always wondered if I had made the right decision not to play collegiate softball and to participate in other activities. While visiting him before he passed away he looked at me and told me he thought I had made the right decision to not play softball competitively anymore. To me that meant a lot to hear it from him. I believe that he really wanted his kids to be independent thinkers and to live our own lives and choose how we wanted to live because he believed in the gift of agency.
• A servant of God: He was a member of The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He attended church weekly and strived to live those principles in his life. He was always willing to serve when asked. He worked the graveyard shift 6 days a week usually getting off in the morning. On Saturdays, even though he had finished a week of work, when he found out someone needed help moving- He would go straight from work and move the family until it was complete ...and then he would go to bed. He never complained when it came to serving someone-whether it be a neighbor, family member, friend or stranger. He was always ready and willing.
  
• A Family Man: Besides the softball field (or other sporting events of his kids) he loved to be at home. He enjoyed hanging out with his wife and kids. Saturday and some Friday nights were dad's night at home. Usually watching a t.v. show on the coach with my mom. He loved to support his kids in their activities. He lost a lot of sleep for many years because of it. He also called my mom every night at 9:30pm to talk to her on his lunch break. He just enjoyed being at home and wasn't fond of "going out" all the time. He was content with the simple life :)

He lived a simple life that touched many and I hope that the legacy that he has left will always live on. I love you dad!

Owen has learned to crawl as of this last week. He loves the fact that he can get around without any help from Mom and Dad. Now that he can crawl, he is aiming towards Walking, although I think he has set his sights a little high. His balance is still a little off :). Anyways, we are all doing good here in the Peterson home. I am loving my job traveling around the world. I do miss Shelly and Owen while I am gone. Shelly is staying home and loving every minute of it. She is preparing for a half marathon in a few months and is putting me to shame. I have a picture of myself on my computer of when I got home from my Mission. That was 50 lbs. ago. It is acting as motivation to me to get my rear onto my bike or into a gym. Love you all and hope you are doing great. Peace!

New Happenings

Owen's First Easter

Wow...April is already here. A lot of things have been happening in our family over the past couple of months. As most of you already know, we bought a condo in December. We got settled in as much as we could with our crazy schedule. This semester in school has been busy for us. Nate started traveling for his new position at work as a trainer the end of January. He also has had Friday night and Saturday morning classes... not fun.. but it fell into place perfectly with his job. I was able to "retire" from Deseret Industries as a Job Coach/Trainer on March 22nd. I now enjoyed being with Owen during the day and not having to get him up in the morning and leave him with someone else. Yeah :) It has calmed down a bit in our household. Nate will be done with his weekend classes in just a few weeks :) and then he will be graduating in August. For Nate's birthday, Owen and I accompanied him on one of his work trips to Florida. I was able to meet a few distant relatives and we went to the beach one day. I will post some of the pictures from that trip. We hope all is going great for you and hopefully, by being at home I will be blogging more frequently.

Owen's First Airplane Trip

Owen's First Beach Trip:
South Beach, Miami Florida
Nate's 25th Birthday :)

random thoughts

Church is a bad time for Owen, it starts at 11:00 which is right around the time where he usually takes a nap. Shelly and I are primary teachers so it is really loud in our classroom as well as when we are in with the rest of the primary. Naturally, because it is loud, it is very hard for Owen to fall asleep. Today was one of those days where Owen was so tired that he didn't know what to do, it was way to loud in primary for him so hew as just screaming and stretching (a sign that he is tired). So we decided that one of us should just take him home and put him down for a nap. Shelly, being the awesome primary teacher she is, told me to take him home. So here I am, waiting for my sweet wife to get home so that we can spend some time together. I was in Austin TX. all last week, so we have not been able to spend much time together lately. Well, I am at a loss for words, I hope you all are doing well.