Joel is Home!

Well,.. it was a long two weeks for me, but finally my husband is home! Joel and Ryan arrived safely at home on Sunday night after appx. 40 hours of driving each week! (this past week and last week)
We celebrated last night with pizza as we watched the Super Bowl. Oh.. Little Joel is home as well! He spent 3 nights in Cincy while I judged a meet this past weekend. It was super nice to have the house all to myself, but it felt weird, and I was happy to pick him up when Sunday came. While in Cincy, my parents took Joel and the other 3 grandkids to the Aquarium, here is a video of Joel looking at the fish:

http://blip.tv/file/3187456

And here is a video of a brief moment at the Aquarium, with two 2-year olds (Indy and Sydney), a 1-year old (Joel) and a 5-year old (Justin) my mom admitted that they definitely"bit off more than they could chew."

http://blip.tv/file/3187497

The pic above is from Joel's baby dedication in October.. I know it's old, but he just looks so cute and we have like 3 family pictures total so I had to include it.

Last time I wrote I promised to include some awesome student quotes.. rather than share with you quotes of Christian students or students who were easily convinced by Joel's gospel presentation, I have chosen to select some more controversial quotes.. the reason being, to show you the type of students who are at our Concerts and listening. Hopefully, these quotes will encourage you as you can see that we really are reaching the unchurched students who might actually want nothing to do with Christ.

-"I would like more of these events, I don't go to church, but I believe that God is with me even though I don't pray or go to church."

-"I am not convinced, if my "soul" is so important, I need to be persuaded that there is a God and that I need to believe in Him"

-"Your speech really opened my eyes. I am a jerk. I really need to quit being such a *&%#*, I talk about people behind their back and I shouldn't."

-"I have been an atheist for 3 years. It makes the most sense to me."

How encouraging.. seriously! All of these students, heard the gospel presentation as clear as day and stayed to fill out the comment cards. Please pray that the seed that was planted that night would grow.. that these students would be surrounded by other strong Christians, and would start to ask themselves questions and maybe even read the Bible!

Surviving..

Well, we are more than half-way finished with our long 2 weeks apart. I was able to see Joel

briefly Saturday night, Sunday night and part of Monday morning, so that helped.. Last week, the guys were encouraged by an awesome Comeback Concert in Madison Co., GA. Joel explained it as, "it was amazing, the crowd was excited at the right times, cheered at the right times, the presentation was one of the best we have done, and I could tell the students were really excited to be there." Also, we had some great Concerts at Eastwood, OH 2/1/10 (this week), Van Wert, OH, and Southmont, IN which were both earlier in January. Here is a pic from Eastwood this week. Next time I blog I promise to share a couple of student quotes with you from our evening Concerts, they are so uplifting and remind us why we do what we do.

Little Joel is going through a rough time lately. His attachment symptoms have increased drastically the past week or so and I can't help thinking that it might be because I have had to get lots of sitters and Joel has not been home. Sometimes when I just leave the room and he cannot see me his whole face turns red and he stops breathing for like 5 seconds because he thinks I'm gone and will never return (I guess?).However, I know that this age is usually the worst

of it, and I am hoping it will get better soon. We were all in Cincy this past weekend as I had a 2-day meet to judge, so of course, Gamma and PaPa had to throw a Birthday celebration for Joel and for his cousin Indy who turned 2 on Jan 23rd. Joel had an extremely fun time consuming his first ice cream cone and you can see a video of it here: http://blip.tv/file/3167762

Also we opened some more presents and one resulted in some seated dancing by Joel which was kinda cute, here is the video of that: http://blip.tv/file/3167684

The next 2 weeks...

Here is a pic of little Joel in the middle of the 3rd attempt at trying to recreate the picture of his dad at the same age in the same outfit on the same rocking horse. The 3rd attempt went much better. However, they look nothing alike!

These next two weeks are going to be tough on the family.. Joel and Ryan only have 5 assemblies BUT the locations are Osage, Iowa, Danielsville, Georgia, Wahpeton, North Dakota, back to Cedar Rapids Iowa, then ending the craziness with a 3 day retreat in Reading, Michigan. Oh, and yes you guessed it.. they are driving the Moose to all of these locations. Next weekend we will see each other in Cincy briefly as I will be there all weekend judging a meet.

Judging ... that is something that is also adding to the business of our lives but I haven't mentioned it much. As many of you probably know I was a gymnast for 14 years and absolutely loved the sport! Joel and I met through Athletes-in-Action at Ohio State and he attended a few of my meets my Junior and Senior year in 2004. After it was over, I gotta say it was nice to take

a break for a while.. I seriously didn't work out that entire year (which was right before we got married... don't worry I wasn't a blimp for my wedding!) but then I started to miss it - a lot! Finally I decided to give judging a try and I have loved it ever since! My mom took up judging about 15 years ago when I was just getting to be a decent gymnast and she could see that I might actually be in the sport a while. I judge anywhere from the little girls (level 3's and 4's around 6 years old) to High School aged girls. Gymnastics is a Winter sport so the busy season is Dec-Feb. Honestly, the most challenging part of judging for me is not letting it dominate my life during those months. I enjoy it so much and I know a lot about the sport, however, I know my priorities must first be Christ, and then my family... Next week I judge 3 High School meets and then a 2-day club meet in Cincy. I managed to find sitters for all the meets including my dad for the Cincy meet so Joel can take a rest while we stay in Cincy! Here is a pic of me competing in St. John Arena many years ago... Please note the 5 people in the stands..

Anyway, enough about me.. Please Please pray for safety during travel for Joel and Ryan and for patience and sanity for me. I depend on Joel a lot when he is home to take care of little Joel!

Joel's First Birthday Party!!

We cannot believe it either, but Joel III turned 1 year old on Sunday the 17th! We decided to give him a small party because really, who knows how well he would do anyway? We were so unprepared, though, that we bought his presents and cookie cake at walmart (while he was with us!) after church on Sunday! I know, terrible, please don't call social services on us. Joel had two minor breakdowns but other than that he did very well at his little party. One of the breakdowns was caught here on the flip video: http://blip.tv/file/3103562
The pic above is after a decent amount of cookie cake with icing! Probably his favorite gift was from the Hollidays and here is a video of him opening it: http://blip.tv/file/3103832

We are so thankful for the gift of Joel's life and the privelage to raise him up and teach him to honor and obey the Lord! Happy Birthday Joel III!

Ah back to real life..

Here is a pic of Joel and Ryan in their routine work environment: random school auditorium. I have no idea where this was taken but it must have been pretty recent because Ryan's hair is long and Joel is skinny. (he recently lost 30 lbs.).. well skinnier. :)

For most people real life hit last Monday the 4th, I think it is just now hitting for us... Mostly because our ministry events are picking back up... We have two comeback concerts this week including 1 in Joel, Ryan and Emily's hometown of Van Wert, Ohio. I will be interested to see how many students come to that one... although it seems paradoxical, Ryan and Joel might not be considered 'stars' in their own town, and I fear that could hurt attendance. However, we have seen over and over again that 'People bring People' and we of course have lots of connections in Van Wert so it could go either way. Right now the boys are in Southmont, IN for a Comeback concert and they will be driving back very late .. I will let you know how it goes!

Joel III is still sick, I am wondering if he will ever NOT be sick in his young life. Fortunately he seems to be wheezing less but he is ultra-clingy which usually means he doesn't feel good.

Here is a pic of him enjoying his new forward-facing car seat!

Joel walks!

Joel III is now WALKING! Mommy finally put him in some appropriate shoes yesterday and that seems to help his balance even more! (if you know anything about me since the baby has been born, I tend to delay in the whole moving up a size of things including: shoes, clothing, hats, coats, etc... most of what Joel wears is probably too small on him) So far, 16 is Joel's record of steps.. here are a few for your viewing pleasure.

http://blip.tv/file/3042485

Our Getaway

Joel and I had an awesome time in Nashville, IN for our getaway from Dec 28-Jan 1! The trip began with a small surprise in the toilet (see pic below) but once we switched locations, things improved quickly!
We had plenty of time to study the Bible and sleep.. two things that sometimes, unfortunately, get cut when real life is upon us. We also shopped at the cute stores in Nashville, Joel was a trooper and could usually last about 2 hours of shopping each day - of course there was a requirement that we needed to stop at the nearest 'candy store' about once every 5 stores or so.. which, conveniently, there was always another one nearby! We enjoyed some great food and even got to go see a movie in Bloomington. Our favorite resturants were the Muddy Boots Cafe (see pic of Joel eating, very excited) and The Story Inn. The Story Inn was absolutely fantastic and we would definitely recommend it if you can make the drive. Their slogan is "One Inconveinent Location since 1851," the town is difficult to get to, but well worth it if you appreciate great food.. we went there for Dinner and then came back 2 days later for an awesome Brunch. Below we have a pic of the very old building where the restaurant is located.


We also have a video of us
approaching Story: http://blip.tv/file/3038878

Touring the rooms in the Story Inn: http://blip.tv/file/3039052

Enjoying a Coke from the 1960's!: http://blip.tv/file/3039568


If you are wondering about our baby, he did pretty well at Gamma and Pa Pa's house in Cincy. So far, we have only had to put up with a day and a half of spoiled crying because he won't tolerate being put down (apparently he was held all day at their house.. imagine that!)