The other day I realized it had been almost 5 years since we adopted our kids through AASK, our adoption service. We went from no children, and not a clue in our head about parenting, to parents of four very hurt little kids.

Five years doesn't sound like much unless you put it into perspective. From birth to five, a child goes from infant to school age. At birth, a baby has to voice its needs with a cry. They have no words to describe their joy or pain. The same is true of a newly adopted 8 year old. Screaming tantrums are a way of learning to trust. Will you keep me if I scream; will you still hold me and feed me? A baby is dependent, that fact is easy to accept. However, 8 year olds do not look helpless. Understanding what she needed from us was a gift from God. I have no other answer.

You see, five years later, that screaming banshee of a kid is now a neat 13 year old. She is independent, yet loves her family. She is proud of herself and all she has accomplished. She went from special Ed to regular class. She went from having to take Ritalin, to having to take Tylenol (for her braces). She gets into her fair share of trouble, but rushes home for her speech and a hug.

We have a long way to go still with all four of our kids. We pray and hope and dream just like any other parents, biological or adopted. We let our kids know our dreams for them; we let them know our worries for them. All four of our kids are incredible. We get compliments on their kind hearts and sweet faces all the time. We are in love and full of pride in our "little gang". Four years later, we cannot imagine life without them.

We have worked four years as a family. All six of us have worked together. We all try in our own way to build this family. We have met our fears and overcome our disabilities or at least learned to accept them. We have had scary days, sad days, hope dashing days and crying days. More importantly though, we have had sunshine days, dream days, smiling, laughing, pride filling days. We have had moments better then any I would have believed could exist. We have had A+ papers. We have had best friends. We have had slumber parties. We have