Our Story
We met at a Bible study and instantly connected over a common love for photography. We stayed distant friends for a few years, with spurts of great con- versations mixed in but not much more.
It wasn’t until Joel moved and Kelly Jean walked through a difficult season at work that we realized we liked each other as more than friends. We saw that when we supported one another, we could seemingly deal with any of life’s struggles, and that foundation excited us as we thought about a life together.
We started dating in May and Joel proposed in December. We were on a trip to Disney World with our families. Joel surprised me one morning after we rode Peter Pan’s Flight (my favorite) with dropping to one knee in front of Cinderella Castle.
We had a vintage themed wedding at a gorgeous old Jewish Temple turned Christian church – complete with pipe organ and stained glass windows. We had a live band and swing danced together to “Baby it’s Cold Out- side”; it’s our favorite memories of the day.
We always dreamed of having a big family and started trying not long after we got married. We were surprised when getting pregnant wasn’t easy for us. We had our biological son Elijah through the help of fertility treatments. We didn’t feel like our family was complete, but more biological children didn’t seem to be in our future. We had talked about adoption, and as we stepped forward in faith, we saw God open doors and opportunities for our family.