The Heltons Go to Firestone

The days finally wound down to last night's concert. Cari and I headed to Club Firestone after I got off from work. At first I was surprised that my wife even wanted to accompany me to this shindig, but I am so glad she did.

We didn't know what to expect when we got there but we quickly made our way around the club, checking out the local "cause" of the local charity, tee-shirts, and finally the upstairs hangout where we stayed the entire concert.

The first band we thought was going to play was Meg and Dia, but for unknown reasons they didn't show. So, the concert kicked off with Jonezetta and they were great!

Their music has a neat sound, like there's a keyboard but no keyboardist. I figured they were playing over a track, but it was a sweet way to start the show, anyway.

Then, after a quick start, they were done and it was on to Bayside. It was so cool that Cari mentioned she really liked them, because if you know Cari, she hardly mentions liking music at all. :) When this band went on, the mosh pit started going, and Cari started giggling. Cute stuff.

Finally, the reason I even got up yesterday morning, ANBERLIN took the stage!!! They tore up the stage with all five members going crazy. Stephen Christian was all over the place; even in the crowd. People practically idolized him as he stuck out his hand to grasp the crowd members' hands.

They played nearly all their good songs, even my two favorite songs from their new album, "Cities." I couldn't get over how great a night it was with my favorite girl and band. It truly was one of the best nights this year! Sorry you couldn't go, AJ, but we thought of you...at least most of the time! :)

All pictures are from to Purevolume.com.

Visiting Jupiter

My family and I went down to Jupiter, Florida today to visit our cousins Rachel and Jason and their son, Austin. I think I can speak for everyone when I say we had the best time down there. In our family, we try to see a variety of wild life on our trips and every bigger trip we've taken as a family (Monterey Bay minus Eli, St. Augustine, the Brevard Zoo, and now Jupiter), we've seen some interesting animals.

After playing six hours (?) of a video game with Jason and the girls giggling all night, us adults joined the baby boys in sleep. We ate a hardy breakfast at Too Jays (thanks again, Jason!), and it was on to the sea turtle awareness/rehab center. Before entering there, we six visited the gorgeous dark sands and aqua-colored water that made up their beach. This is where Eli first touched the cool ocean water, and he even joined Austin in playing in the sand.

Post-beach we headed to the center to be awed at the center's kindness to take in these sea strays. There was one in particular that made me hold out hope for these defenseless beauties. His name was Jonah, and his tale is that he was spit out of a fish that was caught by fishermen, all while he was just a hatchling. He came in weighing around an ounce and is currently just under eight pounds. His name is derived from the fact that he was spit out by a "large fish."

I'll not claim to know the first testament very well; a sad fact for someone who loves God so very much. But, as most of us know the story of the Biblical Jonah, he disobeyed the Lord and tried to flee from God's command for him to call against the Ninevites. This was a wicked and unruly people, and yet God cared enough for them to send a servant to proclaim His name. When I think of this challenge for Jonah, it troubles me to think of what I would have done: go to these people and probably be killed, or flee the presence of the Lord, repent another later, and maybe get away to see another day. Honesty clings to me like my skin, so I say I would lean toward the latter answer.

Why am I sticking a Sunday school lesson in the middle of a great sea turtle story? The reason, my friends, is because we all need wake up calls when God is concerned. We can see through every facet of our Creator's work and see His glory, His beauty, and His everlasting mercy to a people who fell and should have been left to perish...but were brought back to life by a Son of the Most High.



If you've known me for long, you know I'll use any excuse to talk about God, and here's yet another reason. Staring down in that shallow pool was my son, being held by his loving mother. I saw more than that picture today. I saw a love that can't be broken, shattered, lost or forgotten. I also saw a turtle who should have been killed so many times but lived to make my family (and countless others) smile. Finally, I saw grace extended to all of us who fear and love our Savior.

It's a terribly pressing thing, this love. When you get a hold of it, you never want to let it go. More powerfully, when He gets a hold of us, He will never let us go.

Eli Flips Over

This is a picture that makes me so proud of my son. I have a hard time believing he's over four months old, flipping over, and about to eat cereal tonight. Looking at the intent on his eyes brings tears to mine. "I'm going to turn over," he thinks. "I'm going to make my parents so happy." And he does.

Our First Blog Entry!

Hey everyone, we're the Heltons and we're finally on the blog scene! Thanks to the Rhodens (Jeremy and Catherine) for your blog; we enjoy yours so much that we also wanted to keep our family and friends in the loop as you do. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JEREMY!

We took Eli for his four-month shots today and he did quite well for the pain involved. He's now 18.3 pounds and just over two feet long. We can't believe how big he's gotten in the last few months, and he seems to have somewhat leveled off for the past month. The exciting thing is the milestone we're at: he can have solids (cereal) now! Tonight we hope to take pictures and video of this momentous occasion.

Since this is our first post and I'm rusty with a journal-type forum (long live Live Journal!), we'll end it with some ideas for the future of our blog. I know I'll (Justin) post a lot on theology, our men's group, church, and things of that nature. For Cari, she desires to write about Eli's accomplishments that she sees first (because she's at home with him) and many other random subjects. We're so happy to share our thoughts and memories with whoever wishes to read them.

So long!
Justin and Cari