The Heller Famiy

2008-12-19T04:12:00.000-08:00

God Rocks Concert

2008-10-19T20:25:00.000-07:00

Julia received tickets to go see the God Rocks in concert in Richmond, IN for her birthday. We were visiting my family in Chrisman over the Columbus Day weekend and were able to drive the additional 3 hours to Richmond, IN on Sunday, Oct. 12th for the concert. Julia even received a prize for coming the farthest! The God Rocks acknowledged that we were there and that she was celebrating her birthday. They were really awesome to see in concert. If you don't know much about the God Rocks, visit their website http://www.godrocks.ca/

Autumn on Parade

2008-10-07T20:49:00.000-07:00

We ventured out to the Autumn On Parade in Oregon, IL for the first time in several years. We decided to check out the Stronghold Castle which, to my understanding, is only open this one weekend each year for tours. The castle was really neat to see. We also went on a hayride around the castle grounds and were fortunate enough to get a family photo of this splendid occasion.

Julia's 1st Day of 1st Grade

2008-08-25T20:37:00.000-07:00

Here is Julia on her first day of First Grade. Her teachers are Mrs. Foster & Mrs. Wilkens. She is very excited to get back to school. She has 9 first graders in her class and they combine with second graders for a few of their subjects.

Our 10th Anniversary

2008-07-05T07:41:00.000-07:00

<DIV>For our 10th Anniversary, Jeremy & I were able to get away for a couple of days. We headed up to northern Michigan and spent a couple of days on Mackinac Island. Here is a photo of us on the island by "Sugar Loaf" which is part of Mackinac Island State Park.

We also drove across the Mackinaw Bridge and up through the upper peninsula and visited Tahquamenon Falls State Park. We were able to see both the upper and lower falls. And the fact that it was pouring down rain the enitre time helped to keep the bird size mosquitoes away.

On our actual anniversary, we attended a wedding of a co-worker of Jeremy's at the Wedding Canyon near White Pines State Park. It was a perfect day for a wedding in a beautiful location. Our anniversary evening wrapped up by watching some fireworks with our children.

Julia & Terri go to Teddy Bear Camp

2008-07-01T05:51:00.000-07:00

Julia & I went to Teddy Bear Camp at the end of June. This camp is designed to be a first camper experience for 1st and 2nd graders and their parents. We spent one night in a cabin where Julia got to sleep on the top bunk. She also was able to go swimming, hiking, and ate s'mores around a campfire.

Julia Takes Tennis Lessons

2008-06-20T07:09:00.000-07:00

Julia took tennis lessons during the month of June. She really seemed to like it. Here is a video clip of her at practice.

Happy Father's Day

2008-06-15T19:03:00.001-07:00

A Day at the Zoo

2008-06-13T11:20:00.000-07:00

We went to the Niabi Zoo near the Quad Cities with a group of friends. It was a beautiful day for going to the zoo. We saw elephants, giraffes, lions, bears, tigers, zebras, and much more. Julia loves all the animals. She took her stuffed zebra, Zeb, with us that we had picked up as a souvenir a couple of years ago on another trip to the zoo. I think Trent enjoyed the carousel and train rides the best.

Trent the clown

2008-06-07T18:11:00.001-07:00

Trent has started dressing himself. He enjoys putting on layers of clothing. He sometimes gets his pants pockets in the front or his shirt inside out, but that's okay. He started undressing himself when he was pouting and was forced to redress himself, so I guess he learned rather quickly. It is hard to keep things put away in his room because he will sometimes change his outfit 5 or 6 times a day. Of course, jewelry and hair accessories are a must as well.

Here is a photo Trent wearing a clown wig that we inherited from his cousins and a photo of him getting ready for church one Sunday. He was convinced that the tie should go on the outside of the jacket. Of course, pants optional is always a good way to go.

Julia loses her first (and second) tooth

2008-06-06T18:05:00.000-07:00

Julia finally lost her first tooth the evening after her Kindergarten graduation. And then 1 week later, she lost the other tooth. She was very excited to finally lose a tooth. It is quite strange to see her missing her two bottom teeth.

Julia Graduates from Kindergarten

2008-05-28T17:57:00.000-07:00

Julia graduated from Kindergarten on Tuesday night. She received awards for Good Conduct, Helpfulness, and Scholarship.

She also received straight A's on her report card for the entire year. Julia had 4 grandmothers and 2 grandfathers that attended her graduation. She wore a dress for graduation that her Aunt Trisha wore to her Kindergarten graduation over 30 years ago.

Our New Swingset

2008-05-19T14:05:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos of our new swingset. We put the majority of it together the first Saturday in May. We just added some pea gravel in the sandbox (hopefully not as messy as sand) for the kids to play in. We will try to get a ladder for the slide up sometime soon as well. Julia enjoys swinging for 15-20 minutes every day after we get home from school. Trent, of course, loves digging in the rocks and throwing them everywhere.

Mother's Day

2008-05-13T18:52:00.000-07:00

Here we are on Mother's Day getting ready to go to church. We all went out to Applebee's for lunch and then we ordered pizza for supper - so it was a great day that we didn't have to do any cooking!

Heller Grandkids

2008-05-10T18:48:00.000-07:00

Here is a photo we took at Trent's 2nd birthday party at our house. These are all of Trent and Julia's cousins on the Heller side. Each family has one boy and one girl.

Harper Family

2008-05-10T18:42:00.000-07:00

Here is a photo we took of the Harper Family at the birthday party we had for Trent while visiting the end of April.

Huntley Brown Concert

2008-04-19T19:41:00.000-07:00

Here is Julia singing at the Huntley Brown concert hosted by her school in April. They performed at the Historic Dixon Theater. She is on the front row to the right of the girl in the black jumper.

California Trip

2008-04-05T20:55:00.000-07:00

Here are a few photos from our trip to California. Jeremy had to travel to the San Diego area for work during Julia's Spring Break, so we were all able to tag along. We left a couple of days earlier and were able to go to the San Diego Zoo and Disneyland. The rest of the time the kids and I hung out at the hotel pool in 70 degree weather (while it was snowing in Illinois).

Here we are a Disneyland. We arrived at the park about 7:30 in the morning and left at midnight when they closed. It was a long day, but the kids loved every minute of it.

Here the kids and I are at the San Diego Zoo sitting in front of a sign that says the exhibit was donated by Mat & Lulu Heller. A relative of ours I am sure. The zoo had a nice children's interactive play area. This is where the bug town photo was taken. Julia just loved all the animals, but I think Trent's favorite part was riding the miniature train located just outside of the zoo. My favorite animal to see was the okapi. If you don't know what one is I suggest you look it up. It is a unique animal that is used to support creationism. This was only the second time I have ever seen one.

Here are Julia and Trent on Easter Sunday. We attended a Christian Church in Anaheim and then drove down the coast to San Diego to the ever exciting Best Western Seven Seas Hotel for the remainder of our trip. It was nice just to sit and relax and look at all the palm trees and soak up the sun.

The last day we had a couple of extra hours before our flight left, so we headed to the beach - just to get our feet wet. Good thing I had left out some extra clothes for Trent. He loved the waves. He would run out and then "try" to run back before he got wet. I especially like this picture because it shows their reflection on the sand.

Snowdays

2008-02-11T08:37:00.001-08:00

Here are a couple of photos of the kids playing in the snow. Julia likes to build things and Trent likes to destroy them - but what else is new?

Homecoming Week at Faith Christian School

2008-02-11T07:52:00.000-08:00

Julia had Homecoming week at school. Each day they were to dress according to a different theme. The first day was pajama day and wacky hair day. Julia had been looking forward to this day for a long time.

She got to wear her pj's to school along with her pink puppy slippers. We put about 12 different colored rubberbands in her hair to give her the wacky hair look.

The next day was western day. This was an easy one for us since Julia had a cowgirl party for her birthday in October. She already had a cowgirl outfit complete with pink cowboy boots and a pink cowgirl hat that her Aunt Trisha had given her for her birthday. Julia won the prize for being the best dressed at her school on this day.

Trent also enjoyed putting on the cowgirl hat and boots. He might actually care that they are "pink" when he is older.

Wednesday was superhero day. We had a hard time trying to come up with something for a girl. Julia finally decided to be Mrs. Incredible. She had a red t-shirt that we turned inside out and I printed an incredibles logo off of the internet and laminated it and applied it to her shirt. We thought she looked pretty sharp!

Christmastime

2007-12-19T06:42:00.000-08:00

Trent is getting ready for Christmas. He has been pretty good to leave the Christmas tree and presents alone. He doesn't really want to open the presents but use them as building blocks and stand on top of them.

Julia and Trent did most of the decorating of our Christmas tree. Julia even managed to dig out some ornaments that I didn't even remember having. It was not exactly how I would of done it, but that's okay. They had lots of fun :)

2007-12-19T06:24:00.001-08:00

Here is Julia at a Birthday Party she attended at Libby Lu. The girls all got to pick a character to dress up as. Julia decided to dress up like a Fairy Princess.

Julia's Christmas Program

2007-12-19T06:20:00.000-08:00

Here is Julia and some of her classsmates after their Christmas program.

Julia's 6th Birthday Party

2007-11-02T08:38:00.000-07:00

Here are Julia and her friends at her Cowgirl Birthday Party. She was a cowgirl wearing her pink hat and pink boots and Trent was dressed up like a cow.

Julia's First Day of School

2007-08-31T06:24:00.001-07:00

Here is Julia on her first day of Kindergarten at Faith Christian School. She absolutely loves it. Her favorite thing about school is that she gets to take her lunch. Since we live just down the road from the school, Trent and I have been walking to pick her up from school every day. He, of course, loves having the house to himself during the day.

Our Branson Trip

2007-08-31T06:18:00.000-07:00

Here we are at a Lumberjack show in Branson, Missouri. It was very hot out, but we still enjoyed the show.

2007-04-01T14:26:00.000-07:00

Trent is hunting for a snack in our kitchen cabinets.

Julia makes a cross for Easter at preschool.

Palm Sunday

2007-04-01T14:19:00.000-07:00

2007-03-29T14:59:00.000-07:00

Jeremy & Julia take a spin around the subdivision with her new "hitchhiker" bike.

2007-03-29T14:57:00.000-07:00

Julia is groovin' at the concert.

Toby Mac Concert

2007-03-29T14:53:00.000-07:00

Here we are at the Toby Mac concert in Rockford. Julia really enjoyed it, but Trent somehow managed to sleep through the end of it.

2007-03-13T21:22:00.000-07:00

Julia is getting ready for the big hill.

Our Big Day in the Snow

2007-03-13T21:18:00.000-07:00

Here is Trent enjoying being pulled around in the snow.

2007-02-09T08:56:00.000-08:00

Here we are at our annual trek to the Wisconsin Dells over Thanksgiving. We stayed in a villa with my brother and his family.

Family Christmas Photo

2007-02-09T08:54:00.000-08:00