The Official Got a New Camera Update!!!

Okay I know you all have been wishing for some new Joel family pictures. So here you go from our new camera.

Below are a few pictures we have taken since we got the camera up and running.

I will be updating the website soon with an all new Photo Gallery.

So I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and I want to wish you al la happy New Year. I also hope everyone got what they wanted for Christmas, and that you do remember is about giving not receiving.

Amy got me a TiVo for Christmas. I can't remember how I lived without it. It makes life so much easier and I am not tied to the television schedule anymore.

Kelli is doing great. We had a bit of a small worry a few weeks ago. Amy took a screening test for gestational diabetes, and it looked as if she may have had it. But after further testing she has been given a clean bill of health.

Well I will talk to you all later bye for now.

Don

Stefie and Santa Mickey

Alice in Disneyland

Disney Christmas Parade

Christmas Eve

Baby Kelli's Room

The Newest News

Sorry it has been so long since I last wrote, but things have gotten a little crazy around here with Christmas coming and all.

Let's see first off Amy and I are going on Vacation next week. We are going of course to the Merriest Place on Earth, you guessed it, Disneyland. This will be Amy's first time seeing it decorated for the holidays. If you get the chance you really should see it, Disneyland is simply amazing during Christmas time. Also watch the Disney Christmas special on Christmas Morning, I happen to be there when they were filmming last month, so I may be in the parade shots.

Keep Amy and our baby in your prayers as we are now in the home stretch (Third Trimester). We are going in for some tests this weekend and will let you know of the outcome. The Doctors have said things are progressing along normally, which is wonderful.

Well I am off to the office, so I will talk to you more later. Enjoy a couple of pictures we took last night with our new digital camera, since my old one was stolen.

Here is Amy!

Merry Christmas

This day in Joel history!

Hey everybody,

Today was an amazing day, Amy and I went to our 4d Fetal imaging appointment! One of the pictures is below, but there are more at our baby website, there you can also learn more info about the baby, and hear from Amy.


Here I am world!

In other news we are settling into our new place and I promise pictures will be available soon. I will post them on the webste, and ofcourse put one on here.

Oh yeah I just got back from Disneyland. I took 8 teens and 4 leaders to the Merriest place on earth for a little bonding time. It was simply amazing!

Have a happy Thanksgiving
Don

FRIDAY!!!!

Okay So the computer is set up, The tv and cable are ready to go. You are asking what I am talking about. Well today Friday November 12th 2004 we moved into a two bedroom apartment. We are still living it the same complex so all the mailing info is the same except for the Apartment number which is now 62.

It is a nice place with a Jacuzzi(sp) tub. Anyway I had 6 of the best teenage movers I could ask for. As soon as we get a new camera I will take pictures for you.

Well I am going to get back to work. Talk to you later.

Don

Baby and other news

Well things are going swimmingly for us and the baby. We got a call from Kaiser after our ultrasound and needed to schedule another one. They say it is routine, because some of the pictures didn't come out. So we have that scheduled for October 27th. So we get to have a second set of pictures done.

Speaking of ultrasounds, Amy and I have decided to get a 3d and 4d ultrasound done. We ended up deciding to go for the platinum package, which will include two visits. We get to bring a few people to each of the sessions. Hmm maybe I can put the spots up on eBay.
You can visit the website here. click the link to go to the 4d website and see what we are getting ourselves into.

As far as baby names go. Thank you to all who have participated in the name survey. We have taken your votes and opinions into consideration. We think we have come up with the top name choices for us on both the boy and girl end. I will let you know in the next few weeks.

As far as my job is concerned, I am on track for at least another year with TABC. I am very happy to be working with the team at the church and am glad to be able to be sticking around.
I will be taking some of the youth to Disneyland in one month. I am so Excited.

Amy is still loving her job. She is going to a conference next month and then off to help her boss open a new club in Yreka. Even though I will miss her I am glad she is getting these opportunities.

Well I will see you next week.

Baby News Con't

Well its been a while since our last update.

We are offically at 18 weeks, and everything seems to be going well. We had the ultrasound today, and as you can see we indeed have a baby. Okay if your like me its a bit hard to see, but I am told the baby is in there.

We are not sure what gender the baby is, but we are leaning towards a girl. We are planning to get a 3-d ultrasound done in about 6 weeks. You will get to see those pictures too.

Okay well I am off to bed. I need to get rest before my doctor's visit tomorrow. I am going in for my well Don Check-up.

See you later


Our baby's first pictures.

Baby News

Amy and I went in for our first real doctor appointment. Okay she went in I tagged along, but either way it was exciting. Carol is our CNM, Certified Nurse Midwife. She is totally cool, and very helpful with all of our questions.

We tried to hear the baby's heart beat, but we couldn't locate it. Which, according to Carol, is not that unusal for the 10th week of pregnancy. The step after that is to locate the baby through ultrasound to see the heart beat. We got to see the baby's heart punding away like a machine. It was amazing!

Okay on to other news, we are starting the baby registration process at Babies-R-Us. So when the time comes you can llok there to see what we may need.

Thank you to everyone who has filled out the name survey. Get your friends to do it. I am having fun keeping score. Currently, Hunter Lee Joel is the Boy leader and Sierra Danielle Joel is the Girl leader.

Well I am looking for a full time job that can afford to pay me benefits. I would like it to be in the bay area so I can still work part time at my church. I have had a couple leads. So please keep praying for a swift resoultion to this need.

Thanks for keepin up with the Joels!

The latest news

Tonight is the Olympics opening ceremony, and some youth are coming over to watch them.

The last two days, Pastor Bruce(my boss) and I were at the Willow Creek Leadership Summit. I was pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed all the speakers and learned a ton. I hope that what I learned can be put into practice during this time of change.

Speaking of this time of change. I am now in negotiations with my church to go part-time, so I can find a full-time job that can afford to provide benefits. So if you know of anything let me know.

Well talk to you more later

Baby News

Well I just thought I would let you know some of what is going on with the baby.

First thing Amy’s blood test came back and she is a carrier of Cystic Fibrosis. That’s not that bad 1 out of 30 Caucasians carry the disease. Both parents must carry it for the child to get the disease. My blood was taken yesterday, and we should know in 2 weeks if I am a carrier. It should be rare for me since my heritage types don’t usually carry it.

Amy is well into her first trimester and morning sickness has hit pretty hard. I feel bad for her, but not much I can do.

Oh yeah, go to our website. http://www.thejoels.info/ and click the baby names button. Then please fill out the survey. Thanks.

Keep checking here for the results.

A shot of Lake Tahoe

Lake Tahoe the Day before Senior High Camp was wonderful.  Amy and I took the Heavenly Gondola up to the observation deck and were blown away with the view.  Isn't it beautiful?

Another night at the Joels

Okay, we (when I say "we," I mean "me, with the consent from my loving and supportive wife) opened our home again to the some of the youth for movies, food, games, swimming and fun.  These nights are pretty crazy but they are so worth the bonding time.

We watched "Buffy" of course.  Is it me or is the popularity of the show only gone up since it was canceled.  I also got them to watch "Newsies," Disney's musical about the newsies strike.

Who said Youth can't clean up!

I had a great week at Junior High camp, and got to baptize about 6 kids.  God is so Awesome!!!!  Then the following week Amy and I went  up to Senior high Camp.  It was a very intense and emtional week.  Many walls that were built up in the hearts of the campers and staff were torn down by the Holy Spirit!  God is indeed Awesome.

Amy experience her first summer camp with us, and ended up being a counselor for a few days at the end.  The kids loved her and they had a blast.

 

New News

Joel Highlights:
Last weekend Amy attended her Brother Josh's Graduation from UC Davis. I wish I could have been there as well, but we had to split up the social gatherings. I got to attend Trevor Johnson's third birthday party. He had a Buzz Lightyear bouncehouse. I think we adults had just as much, if not more fun then the kids with it. Yes I bounced!!!

Amy's friend Gimbia, is coming into town tomorrow morning. She will be staying with us till Sunday.

On Sunday I head to Junior high camp. We have 5 Junior highers going, and two counselors.

Well that's the update for now.

Beginning of Summer

Well it is offical, The end of the school year has begun my wild ride through summer. I am very excited for Camp this year. I am speaking at both the junior and the senior high camps. Amy will be joining me for Senior High camp which will be a ton of fun for the both of us. She will finally get to see what I do at camp.

I made a DVD about our vacation to Disneyland, so if you want to watch a copy let me know.

Well May your summers be fun, and long. Talk to you soon.

We're back!

Well we made it back to Fremont. Sadly of course. We had a wonderful time on our vacation, with so many highlights I wouldn't know where to begin.

Let me just start by saying the disneyland resort is indeed the happiest place on earth.

The best part of the trip besides being with Amy, was definately the Tower of Terror. I always love new rides. I know many people say that it is not the same as the one in Florida, but hey it isn't supposed to be. It is the one in California, and I for one am very happy we have it.

Stay tuned to our website for more updates about our trip, including videos and pictures.


Amy, Tink and I.

Disneyland or bust, and other things

Okay well it is five minutes to midnight, which means we have 6 hours till we leave for Disneyland. So this is the last blog until we get back. I may try to email on ein so you better keep checking.

Today I got to celebrate two birthdays. The first was for Andy Jones, he turned 90 on June 1st. He is truly the a main piece of the backbone of our church. And it was nice to be invited to celebrate with the Seniors Bible Study. The second was my good pal, Dan's. He turned 30. He is finally old like me. :-) I hope and pray that when Dan and I turn 90 we will be able to say we lived our lives like Andy lead his.

Okay update on my digital Camcorder. It arrived today!!!! It is so cool. So stay tuned to the website The Joels . for videos and pictures. The website will be updated when we return from Disneyland that is if the server is finally fixed.

The picture below is of this weekend's Buffy/xbox/fun-a-thon. I really enjoy having the youth group come over to watch tv and just hangout. We had 10 kids that night. Let me tell you for our Jr. One-bedroom, that's a lot. But it was a blast.

See you in a few days.


Buffy-Thon

Tri-City Homeless Coalition

Today I joined other members of our Young Marrieds Group serving dinner at the Tri-City Homeless Coalition. We (well, 2 couples actually, but with everyone's blessing and financial assistance) bought and brought lasagnas, salad (w/tomatoes), bread, and cakes, cooked them, and served 'em up. It was a very enjoyable, interesting, and thought-provoking experience. I enjoyed working w/the others in our group to get everything set up -- and we created a very efficient system for serving -- and it was fun to say "hi" and have people smiled as I gave them plates of food. At the same time, I can't help but wonder how they feel about groups like us who come in for a couple hours to serve them dinner and leave again. How would I feel about it if I were homeless? Do they resent us, feel like we just do it to feel good about our "good deed" so we can go back to our cushy lives and feel good about ourselves? Or do they just appreciate someone taking time out to care about someone else? I think it would be really hard for me to have to depend completely on the kindness of others for my daily existence. Is that a failing in me? I don't think it's wrong to say I should be able to take care of myself -- then again, I can't always take care of myself, so maybe it is. As the book I'm currently reading says, humans were created to live in community. Have we become so focused on self-sufficiency that we've lost the concept of community and mutual support? I'm not saying that autonomy is a bad thing -- but how can we balance autonomy and community so that all our needs are met -- not just the physical ones?

Well, I think I've waxed philosophical enough for one night. Comments, feedback, and opinions are of course welcome. I'm off to play Party Monopoly ;). Have a wonderful day/night/whatever it is wherever you are.

BBQ Bonanza

Truly this was the weekend of the barbecue -- then again, I suppose that's traditional for Memorial Day . . . ironically enough, we didn't have a BBQ on Memorial Day itself ;). Anyways, the weekend kicked off with a fabulous party Saturday at my boss (Dana)'s house. Fun games, good company, and TONS of food. She set up a mini-tournament for us involving air-hockey, foosball, darts, and volleyball. Unfortunately, I didn't win the grand prize of a Barnes&Noble gift certificate :( -- or either of the other prizes, for that matter -- but it was still a lot of fun. The fun continued Sunday with a BBQ party at the Bowmans, celebrating a 50th birthday and a 30th birthday -- a lot of age being paraded that day ;). It was another day of good company, good times, and of course TONS of food (again). This was followed by Sunday night's youth invasion, but I'll let Don tell you about that one. hope you had a fabulous weekend too.

P.S. This is the very first blog I've ever written -- hope you enjoyed it!

This Day in History

Theses things happen on May 29th.

Headlines
1999 - Space shuttle Discovery completed the first docking with the International Space Station.
1987 - Michael Jackson attempts to buy Elephant Man's remains
1973 - Columbia Records fires president Clive Davis for misappropriating $100,000 in funds.
1973 - Thomas Bradley elected 1st black mayor of Los Angeles CA
1953 - Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay, a Sherpa of Nepal, become the first explorers to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

Birthdays
1953 - Danny Elfman
1917 - John Fitzgerald Kennedy (U.S.)
1903 - Bob Hope

Mr. Joel's Wild Ride.

Welcome to the Weekend!

T-(113 hours 37 minutes and 46 seconds) till we leave for Disneyland.

Okay so I got a 12 month subscription to Xbox live. This allows you to hook up your Xbox to the internet and challenge others from around the world. It is really cool. The other neat feature is that Microsoft has extra content for games that can be downloaded as well.

As you can see from the picture, I took the bus to work on Friday. Buses seem a lot cleaner then I remember them. This bus had a sticker that said Bus of The Year 2003. So I felt pretty honored. :-)


AC Transit Route 210 - Don's Eye View

Two things of note.

Our camcorder has shipped. It is scheduled to arrive on June 2nd. Hopefully with enough time to charge the batteries before we leave.

Also our web server at FortuneCity is going through some scheduled maintenance, and we should be able to upload the new stuff soon. Sorry for the inconvenience.

News about Us

Okay so as many of you may know, The Disneyland Vacation Experience countdown has reached T(minus) 159 hours and 15 minutes. Whoohoo! I am so excited. We have a really wonderful vacation planned. I will fill you in on the details tomorrow, with a rough itinerary.

The Joels residence has now become the latest wi-fi hotspot. That's right we set up and wireless network in our home. The funny thing is that we are currently using it only as a wired network. So if you plan on coming over to our house, bring your laptops and wireless network cards.

Finally, there has been no word yet as to whether our new digital Camcorder has shipped, but I will be calling at 7 am PST to find out what is going on. We ordered it through an online discount electronics store that has a pretty high consumer rating on most websites but there are a few bad comments posted. It seems when the company makes a mistake it is a big one. So keep your fingers crossed that they don't make a mistake. :-)

Disneyland is almost here

Okay so we just decided to buy a new camcorder for our trip to Disneyland, and it will come in handy for work. Did I mention we are going to Disneyland? I am so excited. We will be staying five days and four nights at the Grand Californian Hotel which has a private entrance to Disney's California Adventure. Did I mention I was excited? The trip is 10 days away and counting.

Well I promised a picture of our dresser replacement. So far it has worked out great for us. The whole system with boxes and racks was about $120. Not bad and far less then the dressers we were looking at.

Anyway I am off to face the world.


Our new storage dresser.

Float,Ikea and The Last Unicorn

Well it was a pretty full day for Amy and I.

We built the first stage of the float for the Arts Academy's entry in the Fourth of July Parade. Lots of Fun, and I may get a truck bed cover out of the deal. :)

While that was happening Amy was working and she ran her first meeting as the assistant manager. ooooo so proud.

After that Amy and I headed out to Ikea. It was her first time, and my second. We were looking for a new dresser, but ended up with a new storage system. I will have to post a pic of it tomorrow. You have to see it to believe it.

We ended the evening building the storage unit, after seeing Kelsey, Jordan, Nora, and the gang perform in "The Last Unicorn." I must say Katharine did a wonderful job on spotlight.

Well enough of my ramblings.
off to bed for me.



I take Amy to IKEA for the first time!

The Website Has Launched

Welcome To Our Blog

You most likely got here through the link on our website, but if not the website is located at www.thejoels.info

Hope to see you there.