raising heller

heritage park

steven — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 06:58:42 +0000

we were at the park today and i just felt the need to make a short video. i remembered that i could shoot and edit the whole thing on my iphone and decided to do just that. i had the whole thing finished by the time i got home, and here are the results. how cool is that?

iMovie for iPhone test

steven — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 14:51:42 +0000

So, I just downloaded iMovie for the iPhone and this is a test using that last video that I shot. For the uninitiated, iMovie is the basic Mac movie editing software that, for a basic editor, blows the doors off of Windows Movie Maker (no offense to any WMM lovers out there). Well, they made a scaled-down version for the iPhone 4 that’s actually really cool. It took me 5 times longer to make this movie than it would have on a PC, but then again, this is all being done on a phone. Pretty impressive in my book.

EDIT: I just realized that my song was a little too short for the video. I suppose I should have proofed it first. Oh well.

iPhone 4 test video

steven — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 02:11:33 +0000

I just wanted to test out the video new iPhone 4 (which just arrived today). I have to say, for a PHONE (that’s right, this thing is a PHONE) this is the best video I’ve ever seen. I’ll still be using the Canon when I’m shooting my masterpieces, but I have no reservations about pulling this thing out when needed.

asher sparks turns 3

jana — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 00:03:00 +0000

(birthday morning opening presents)

Happy Birthday little buddy! we only had a small family get together so no party pictures for him. we took him to red robin for dinner. we told them it was his birthday so they would sing to him and bring an ice cream sundae. when they arrived i thought it might scare him but he didn't even pay attention to the singing, he only had eyes for the sundae. he thought that was the greatest thing ever. i wish we got a picture of it.

asher is probably the cutest kid i know.
he loves his brother and sister
he calls lily "lil" which i think is really cute
a couple times a week he will wake up in the middle of the night and crawl in bed with me. he cuddles up to me and puts his arms around me for a couple of minutes and then gets out and goes back to bed. it makes me feel like he wakes up and just misses me and so he comes to get a momma fix. i love it.
the only way to get him to take a nap is to lay down with him.
he is always laughing or smiling.
he has the thickest and most awesome hair.
he can be pretty shy if he is around a bunch of new people.
he hates it when me or steven cry (well fake cry.) he gets so upset and will do anything you want to get you to stop.
i love that he kisses you if he bumps you or hurts you in any way.
whenever his kisses you, he follows it up with an eskimo kiss that he call a nosle (i am not sure how to spell this so if you want to know just ask)
he loves eating at the mall. anytime we go there he gets upset if we don't get him something to eat.
he likes to color in any coloring book and try to cut the pictures out. he fluctuates between using his left and right and i am not sure which one he's better with.
he loves puzzles, books, games, blocks and puzzles, puzzles, puzzles.
he jumps on and off everything
his favorite show is He-Man even though it was banned from our house because jack was getting too crazy with the swords because of it.
i love his dimples, his kisses and his smile
most of all, i love him!

asher sparks heller: 3rd birthday questions

steven — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 19:58:43 +0000

this is the first year that we’ve asked asher the birthday questions. while asher’s been a little slower in learning to talk than our other kids, he’s decidedly more bashful than normal in this video. we assure you, he’s generally more chatty than this.

buyer beware: several of the questions in this video go completely unanswered (i’m not counting his sound effects). while I thought about changing the questions to suit his age, i decided against it. the purpose of these interviews is about showing the development and growth of our kids more than pure entertainment. so, bearing that in mind, here’s asher sparks heller.

weekend hike #3: rattlesnake lake

steven — Sun, 30 May 2010 23:44:34 +0000

you read that right. an entire lake… FULL OF RATTLESNAKES.

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lily turns 6

jana — Wed, 26 May 2010 16:12:00 +0000

so my little baby turned six. i am late in writing this but at least it's here. lily loves dressing up, singing and dancing so i thought i would have a party and do just that. one of my friends came over and did the girls makeup and hair and then they got dressed up in some of the tutu's or skirts i made for the party. my friend also taught them how to walk a runway so we turned up the music loud and they showed what they were made of. it basically consisted of a lot of giggling and dancing and some fun poses. they were so cute, i could hardly stand it!

since lily is so small, all the girls thought it would be fun hold her in all of the pictures. they were pretty strong!

lily belle
you are beautiful
your smile can light up a room
you love crafts, drawing and anything artsy
singing and reading are your passions
i love watching you in church reading the hymns and trying to sing along
you have the best little trill when you sing (it makes your dad and i laugh at how cute you are)
you love your brothers and they adore you
that doesn't mean that you don't fight with them (or maybe just jack) like crazy
you can argue anything to death, it drives me insane but i think you got it from me
you love your grandmas and grandpas
you don't hold grudges (i am amazed at how quickly you forgive)
you love heavenly father and have faith he can help you
one time you were nervous about going to the dentist (nervous is an understatement, every time you had been before you would cry and scream the whole time.) well you decided the night before your appointment that you would pray for help. the next day you woke up and told me that you were ready for the dentist. you said you prayed and that things were going to be fine. you walked into the dentist and got into the chair and let them use the tools and take x-rays without so much as a peep. afterward, when i asked about your change you said well, i prayed and Heavenly Father helped me
i admire your faith and so does your dad
you bring so much love to this home and i am eternally grateful for you
love mommy

lily’s 6th year birthday questions

steven — Fri, 14 May 2010 05:41:33 +0000

for those that are unaware, every year on each of our children’s birthdays, we set them down and ask them a series of questions and film it for posterity. we hope that someday we can look back over these little videos and see how much our children have grown. now, i’m not going to lie, for this particular video we actually filmed it 2 days after lily’s birthday (schedules were hectic) but i think that the content wouldn’t have changed. so, here you go…

Lily 6th year Birthday Questions from RaisingHeller on Vimeo.

weekend hike #2: franklin falls

steven — Mon, 10 May 2010 19:05:35 +0000

we went on our 2nd weekend hike this saturday to a place called franklin falls. it’s somewhat near our last hike at snoqualmie falls. this is probably one of the coolest hikes that we’ve been on as a family. it was about 2 miles, round trip and filled with some of the most lush foliage i’ve seen in a long time. the entire trail ran along the river, generally from about 100-200 feet above it. it made for some very beautiful views. i tried to take some pictures (as seen below) but i don’t think they captured the majesty of it all. i know it sounds like i’m being a little exaggerative, but i promise you i’m not. i’m really stoked that we’ve started doing these weekly family hikes as i think it’s been great for the kids to see what the northwest has to offer.

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Annie Rowan

steven — Sat, 08 May 2010 19:31:13 +0000

a family that we go to church with has a six year old daughter that got very sick recently. they didn’t know what the problem was and very quickly were told that she needed a liver transplant. fortunately, everything went well and she’s still with us. the downside of this whole story is that this whole process was very expensive for them and they now have a financial burden that they (and Annie) will carry for the rest of their lives. they enlisted my help in creating a video to tell their story and try to raise money to help cover Annie’s ongoing expenses. you can visit www.COTAforAnnieR.com to learn how you can help. they have a goal to raise $10,000 by June 30th. watch the video below. warning: it’s a bit of a tear jerker.