Our family in Keystone, January '97

    Nearly every winter since Joel was about nine years old our family took a vacation to the Rocky Mountains to enjoy a week of snow skiing. One of Joel's favorite things to do was downhill ski. I have a lot of fond memories from our winter vacations, just last January, Joel and I ventured off by ourselves for half a day to ski at Arapahoe Basin. We barely made it up the mountain to the parking lot, and when we finally made it to the top of the mountain we could not see more than 50 feet in front of us; the wind chill was 50 degrees below zero. Joel loved every minute of it! No weather could stop him from enjoying the outdoors!

    I remember when we were kids, Joel and I use to go sledding down the steep hill that our house is at the top of. Joel and I use to go up and down that hill for hours and even after I tired of it Joel would stay outside and play in the snow and freezing cold.

    Anyway who knew Joel very well also knew that he loved music and dancing. Ever since he was little, he would start moving to the music. Another of Joel's favorite things to do was go to dance clubs. While he was a quiet guy overall he still liked to get out on the dance floor and have a good time. Joel loved to listen to R&B music. One of his favorite bands was Blackstreet, a R&B band with roots in gospel music.

Last updated January 12, 2007