August 18, 2007, I had the absolute privilege of marrying my very best friend. Eleven
years ago tomorrow Eli and I were married on the very camp that he worked at and still currently works at and that we live year-round. We got married the very day that summer camp ended. I still remember the room that I got ready in being strewn with the remnants of the summer camp adventures that had taken place there. That summer of 2007 was a dry one. And the “drought” decided to break its streak on the morning of our wedding.

It rained.

And rained.

And rained some more.

And not a bit of that mattered because as I walked down the aisle to “Collide” (Yeah, that’s right. A Howie Day classic) I was marrying my best friend.

Eleven years. It’s been incredible. See many people will tell you that marriage can be hard. That it takes a lot of work. That you have to trust your partner. And all those things are true. But it’s not that hard when you’ve married your best friend. Have we gone through our fair share of tough times? Damn right. Our vows have reigned true—“In sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer…”. But I’ll tell you one thing. We’ve laughed, and occasionally danced (in the kitchen), a ton more than we’ve cried.

So how does this relate to our adoption journey? Our journey to adopt has been absolutely and utterly awesome. Incredible. Eye opening. Humbling. And I’m so happy that it’s one of the amazing things I get to add onto the story of Eli and Chelsea. Because it’s a pretty incredible one.

So tomorrow, we won’t be doing much celebrating. Remember, it’s the last day of camp—just like it was eleven years ago. He will be busy sending kiddos home from their amazing week, cleaning things up, talking to staff, and attending a very well-deserved staff banquet to witness just how far his staff have come this summer.

So as the camp bugle blows one last triumphant round of taps tonight at dusk the sound leads us into the fall. Which for us will see us continuing to thrive in our marriage and bring us one step closer to our future family.

~Chelsea