Welcome! Meet:

Joel + Daniel

Software Implementation / Customer Research

Washington

Caucasian

Christian

All About Joel & Daniel
Why Adoption?
Gallery
Family and Home
How We Met
Advice to Future Child
Perspectives on Open Adoption
Favorites

All About Joel & Daniel

Daniel:

Aloha! I'm Daniel. I was born and raised in Hawaii, and I’m the youngest of 6 kids. I love books, biking, and backpacking. I've been able to hike all sorts of places with Joel, our dog, and one of my brothers, John. (We've summited Mt. Rainier, Baker, Adams, and Hood!) My dad is amazing: even in his 70s, we’re still riding our bikes together. I have 12 nieces and nephews, plus two more from Joel's side. I'm also godparent to three kids. So there are always kids around, and we love the energy that comes along with a large crew! I attended University of Washington for college, majoring in Spanish and International Studies. I then earned a PhD in sociology from University of Notre Dame. Now, I lead customer research for a company in Seattle. We provide financial services for immigrants and their families, so I get to talk to all sorts of interesting people on a regular basis, often in Spanish.

Joel:

Hello! I'm Joel, and I think the best way to start my introduction is by saying I'm a Midwesterner. I was born and raised in Wisconsin - and yes, I LOVE cheese (and brats!). I'm a people person and can't help myself from saying "Hi!" to everyone I pass on the street. I'm an implementation director for a digital health company in Seattle where my organization skills are put to the test daily. In my free-time I love to cook, discover new music, have dance parties, exercise, sing, bake/eat delicious treats, read, laugh, keep up on the latest celeb gossip, catch up with friends/family, and take long walks/hikes with Daniel and our pup (Turkey).

Why Adoption?

We are so fortunate to have been raised by loving parents in loving families. We want to pass on this experience to others, giving a kiddo (or kiddos!) a supportive, encouraging, welcoming home. We recognize there are a number of ways to do this, and we already love spending time with our nieces and nephews, kids we know from church and work, and kids in the neighborhood. Adoption is another step we’d be thrilled to take.

Family & Home

We bought our home in 2018, right before we were married. It was originally built in 1921, but has been fully updated in the past 5 years. As a happy coincidence, one of Daniel’s brother’s and his family live 5 blocks away, with many more aunts/uncles within a 20-minute drive. We have a great diverse neighborhood, with families we periodically exchange baked goods with, or have over for dinner. There are elementary, middle, and high schools within a few blocks of our home, so there are plenty of kids passing by for our dog Turkey to make friends with. We also love that within a few blocks there are great restaurants / bakeries we can take a quick stroll to for tasty treats.

Over the past 3 years, we've removed all the grass from the yard and replaced it with native PNW plants and others that attract honeybees and hummingbirds. We've also planted 20 blueberry bushes, which we hope to use in Sunday morning pancakes with a kiddo some day!

How others describe me

What Daniel appreciates about Joel: He's generous, fun, thinks of others, finds little ways to make a house a home, and sings like a beautiful bird in the shower.

What Joel appreciates about Daniel: He's enthusiastic, passionate, immensely intelligent, a reluctant but wonderful baker, and his ability to transform any gathering into a party.

How We Met

We met in 2017 in Seattle and had the best first date of our lives. Joel had just moved back to the US from the Netherlands; Daniel, from Indiana. We ended up laughing and talking for hours. We immediately discovered our mutual love for the outdoors, dogs, doughnuts, and walks.

The early days were full of butterflies! We were so excited to see each other, so we'd leave work early and make dinner together or go out for the night. Daniel joined Joel's family for Thanksgiving, dinners and games of Yahtzee, and Joel joined Daniel's family for hikes and backyard campouts.

Like most memorable events in our relationship, our engagement happened outdoors. We were on day two of a long backpacking trip in the north Cascades wilderness, when Daniel proposed. Joel said yes! And because of the remoteness, we couldn't tell anyone for two more days!

Our backyard wedding at a sister’s house was a mere 10 weeks later (thankfully Joel has a background as a project manager). Dinner was Thai food from our favorite restaurant, and the playlist was all of our fave hot tracks. It rained so hard that most everyone took off their shoes to dance in the mud.

Advice to Future Child

We love you and are proud of you. Be curious about others and stay humble. The curiosity will help you understand others, build solid friendships, and turn your attention outside of yourself when your mind is telling you negative things. Humility will help you continue learning and improving; it will save you from being arrogant or knowing it all; it will make other people want to come along with you and help you.

Perspectives on Open Adoption

We believe an open adoption will allow our future kiddo to have a fuller understanding of themself. We hope for meaningful relationships with a future kiddo’s birth family where we can become friends and develop a mutual respect and admiration for each other. We're excited to become Dads and intend to take on that role with grace and compassion.

As we continue down this path toward adoption, we have many hopes for our future family. We want to create a close-knit family, similar to the ones we grew up with, where we are open and communicate about everything going on in our lives. We want to raise a child who is kind, empathetic, curious, and maybe just a bit wacky/wild. We hope to create traditions, both small (daily and weekly things) and large (around holidays and other times of the year) for us and also for our extended family. We hope that extended family includes our child's birth family in the ways they want to be included.

Favorites

Joel

Favorite Movie: Mean Girls
Favorite Holiday/Tradition: I love Christmas Eve. We gather, with a random assortment of friends/family, at my sister’s house for a lasagna meal. But the highlight is getting to help my nephews set out cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. Their pure elation at what tomorrow holds is the sweetest.
Hobbies/Interests: reading, hiking, celeb gossip, singing
Dream Vacation: hiking through the Alps, enjoying delicious food along the way
If I Could Choose a Superpower: telekinesis (moving things with my mind)

Daniel

Favorite Movie: The Bourne Identity
Favorite Holiday/Tradition: July 4th, since I love gathering in a backyard with good food on the grill. It’s also nice because there’s usually a day or two off of work :)
Hobbies/Interests: hiking, running, walking our dog, reading, biking
Dream Vacation: Ditto! Hiking through the Alps
If I Could Choose a Superpower: flying like a superhero