WHAT A BOY!! (Sons again)

 Joel came to us as a delightful Christmas gift one year.  The hospital even put him in a little Santa stocking when we took him home.  

A recent fishing trip with Joel

He was also the caboose of our children!!

Some might think that would make him spoiled …… and I suppose he was/is to some extent.  But all our children have had their share of being pampered so I don’t think ----

------ Wait, I hear Melissa reminding me that Joel never had to endure the curfew rules she lived. 

Hold on, Josh just texted saying that he had to work at that dumb video factory so he could have spending money and Joel just got an allowance. 

Oh, Brian & Kevin said----

Well, you get the picture:  In the eyes of his siblings, Joel may have received a little more attention than they felt he merited.  But they were also complicit in whatever extra benefits he received because they loved him so much themselves.  So let’s forget about that part.

Pre-Mission, chubby cheeks

When our youngest came to live with us I was in the ‘death thralls’ of my time with a job I had worked for several years.  The company was downsizing and my position was eliminated with very little notice.  It was devastating to me and my ego (two different entities with lots of puffed-up-ness) and I struggled to find my place in life and in another job.

Lounging on our trip

Our baby son became my release for the stress I was enduring.  He and I would walk the neighborhood, go for rides in the car and run errands for mom so I could stay busy.  As he got older, Joel helped me with my work around the house, in the yard and on the car: he reaped the benefits of more patience for youthful mistakes (sorry you older kids). 

Now this young man has grown into --- well, a fine young man.  His parents are pleased with who he is becoming and we know he will be, in many ways, like his older siblings – a righteous, humble child of God. 

Thanks, Joel, for coming to live with our family.  We love having you here and hope you love being with us.