It’s a story with a happy ending, yet it’s just the beginning.

I met Eric and Erin at Chestnut Mountain Ski Resort where we spent our winters skiing and teaching others to love the sport. After hearing their infertility story over the years and following their progress joining the foster care system, I was very excited to be asked to photograph a very important day for them: the adoption of their foster children. This was a first for me, and I was overjoyed to share this emotional event with them.

First came love, then came marriage…

Erin and Eric met in the spring of 2006. After a few years of getting to know each other, they married on May 22, 2010, and together purchased a home in Lena, Ill., a small city of 2,900. After several years without any success conceiving a child, they assessed their options and decided that adopting through the foster care system was the right path for them. They went through all of the proper steps with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) and were ready to accept a child into their lives at the start of summer 2013.

Their plan was to foster a child with a high probability of leading to adoption. Initially, that plan only consisted of one child. They said they would be open to a sibling group as well. They were looking for a child under 2 years old, but had their home licensed for caring for children under 6 years.

When they secured their foster parent license, their licensing worker thought they were an interesting couple and spread the word that Eric and Erin were looking for a long-term fit. Things moved quicker than anticipated.

In June of 2013, Erin received a phone call that changed everything.

“Erin got the phone call that they had two children—our kids—for us,” Eric said. “Erin called me because she wanted my opinion. I told her: ‘My opinion doesn’t really matter. You already have your mind made up and gave them your answer.’ A couple weeks later I told her it was the best decision she ever made.”

Busy from the start

On June 21, 4-year-old Jaxon and 6-month-old Ella arrived at the Korte house. They immediately started their family lives by going on a camping trip Eric and Erin had already committed to. Since then, the family has stayed very busy going camping numerous times, boating and canoeing, attending car shows and visiting Door County, Wisconsin Dells, Madison and St. Louis. Both children know how to ski—and Jax is dual-disciplined on snowboard—and spend nearly every weekend during the winter at Chestnut Mountain perfecting their skills. The kids have also been taught how to ride bikes and scooters and learn to enjoy the outdoors. Jax anticipates fishing this summer.

“Sometimes I can’t remember what it was like before we had the kids,” Eric said. “Things have definitely slowed down.”

Every situation is different.

It took just under two years to complete the adoption process. At 9 a.m. on May 1, 2015, the Korte’s swore an oath in the Winnebago County Courthouse in Rockford, Ill., to love and protect their two children as if they were their own. Eric and Erin, along with Jaxon and Ella, were surrounded by approximately 20 family members that day, filling the courtroom with love, tears of happiness and applause.

I’ve photographed them twice before, once right after Erin and Eric became foster parents of the two children and last winter for a Christmas session. They are such a sweet family and I wish them all the best as they OFFICIALLY move forward.