We had no kids when we started foster care. We didn't know how to be parents. I remember my husband asking me what a 4 and 6 year old ate when we got our first call. He honestly had no idea. We learned fast!

As long as the love is there, everything else will fall into place.

This is a photo of the first day they came to live with us.

When I first met my child....

It was at a playground. We played and played. The kids were having a great time. We were a nervous wreck! It was the start of our fostering and adoption journey that would lead to 8 adoptions through the years. It was in a gas station parking lot. The social worker drove up, put the kids in my car, and drove away. We went from a family of 4 to 7 just like that. They've been with us ever since. I began to believe in love at first sight. The social worker and his current foster mother came to my house with this little 2 year old boy. I got down on the floor and started playing cars with him. Next thing I knew, we had a whole fleet of cars out and were making our first memories together!

When we first felt like family....

It was the first time the kids said, "I love you." We weren't just foster/adoptive parents anymore, we were Mom and Dad.

Share a moment or day in the life of a foster or adoptive parent:

The most exciting day is Adoption Day. Everyone dresses up and heads to the courthouse. It's the day everyone else recognizes what you and kids have known to be true - you're a family!