Catch up time!

March 26th! That was the last time we posted. Wow, it has been a LONG time. The following photos and videos are snapshots of our lives during the past couple months. God is so good. Steven is in summer school taking 12 hours. He will graduate in August (and all the Helmicks took a big sigh of relief)! Keri is loving staying at home while maintaining her skills at ACH one day a week. Our little girl has done a lot of cool things (at least her parents think they're cool) -- saying "bye-bye", giving high fives, blowing kissess and even giving Eskimo kisses! We hope you enjoy your summer and soak in the joys that summertime offers.

Are we blessed or what?!

Still learning how to move around without causing these types of injuries!

Playing with our neice!

Yummy, yummy, pancakes!

Bathtime!

Her favorite thing to do in the tub... is to crawl out of it.

Ok, so I look tired. I promise the kiddie pool is cool.... a great way to connect in the summer sun!

Friends!

Our first pool picture as a family.

Keri and I right before we headed to Daniel and Lauren Ostendorff's wedding! It was so cool to be able to celebrate with a couple that loves the Lord!

Hi! I love blueberries!

The $1 pool. Great hang out time with the cousins. Chillin' in the pool.

A break from swimming.

The Zoo!

Cindy with the grandkids! Keri, Cindy, and the 5 kiddos spent the day at the zoo. They had a lot of fun, can't you tell?! :)

I still love blueberries!

Happy Mother's day Mom!

Keri and I spent Memorial day weekend with the Walchshausers in Texas. Troy and Kari were in Dallas so we got to spend the afternoon with them,too.

All such great friends, too bad they don't live closer!

In open fields of wild flowers

Our little E at the daffodil field on top of Wye Mountain. There is a tiny church in a small town that has 7 acres full of daffodils for families to enjoy every spring. We went with her Lolly and Papa (Steven's parents). It was a beautiful day and E enjoyed all the flowers around her. We hope you enjoy the following pictures!

The newest happenings in the life of our little girl

"I have teeth! They are bigger now, but I had to show them off right when they arrived!"
- E

Our girl in her jump-up. She is growing every day. What a wonderful blessing she is to our life. She enjoys jumping in her jump up, but many times we find her waiting for us to look at her before she begins jumping. She loves the attention!

We are having so much fun with our girl in her new baby jogger that Steven's parents got us for Christmas. She loves riding in the jogger. We will be running with her while she laughs and laughs. The greatest is when we hit a bump. She goes crazy! We can't wait until it gets warmer this spring and summer so we can go on many more runs together. Pictured below is her on a PJ run!

Christmas 2009

The following photos are of our morning together. I have not been copied on any of the rest from our adventures to Grampa Jimmy and Nana Tammy's house. I will post those later if I get them. Our first Christmas as parents and E's first Christmas ever! God is so good to us. Keri and I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to be parents. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

We were both so excited for the presents!

My two girls. It doesn't get any better than this.

E's Grampa Gary and Grama Cindy try to maintain sanity while they pose with their 5 grandchildren (Will, Jack, Emma, Corinne, and Baden).

What a fun bunch of kiddos!

E's first Christmas present! She loved the paper. We love the books. :)

Chicago Marathon 2009!

October 11, 2009 was a celebration day! My buddy, Aaron Williams, and I completed the 26.2 miles of the Chicago Marathon. What a great experience with a great friend.

This photo is of a portion of a huge mural that included every marathoners name. It was located outside of Nike Town on Chicago's Magnificent Mile.



These photos of Aaron, Mallory, Keri, Emma, and I are at the Marathon's expo the night before the race.

I had to snap a photo of the reminder that awaited us outside the transit system! Job and Bethany were life savers and were generous by letting us stay at their place in Evanston. They also helped us navigate busy Chicago.

We got together with our friends, Mark and Angie, on our way up to the marathon. Their son, Braden, was born earlier this summer.

Chinatown!

I wouldn't want to compete against these salty marathoners. They look ready!

14 hours, 40 minutes, and 54 seconds before the start of the race.

This photo was taken the night before the race....Little did I know that the phrase would be so true! The first 20 miles felt great. The last 6.2 were the hardest of my life. The last 6.2 began in Chinatown.... :)

So excited!

The leaders..... I'm still looking for my orange jersey.

Out of 1.5 million spectators, we had the greatest fans!

I was so excited to see Keri.

What an experience.