2012
If it isn't already obvious, we are back at it. Adoption that is... We began the process to bring little miss Hailey (her name on Reece's Rainbow) home in August, 2011. We added our sweet Ruby Mei to the adoption in November after we all saw her sweet face and new beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was our daughter, too! Now we are a few months away from heading to China to bring them home. Hopefully early to mid summer we will be traveling.
We also welcomed our first grand daughter in February of this year. She is such a little beauty and what a special blessing! We can't wait to watch her growing up and to spoil her like crazy!
2011
Our family is large, I guess.... We have 6 boys and 3 girls. We have 4 children born to us and who are amazing, wonderful, special blessings from God! We also have 5 children who were born in our hearts and made ours through the wonderful God-given gift of adoption. All our children are such amazing people and God surely planned them to be ours!! In 1997, Mark and I were married and we had 2 children already. Instantly we became a blended family and those early years were tough on all of us. Each of us brought a son into the marriage (Roy-age 8, Jordan-age 6) and we learned so much from that time in our life! In 1998, Samuel was born and in 2001, Mark Daniel was born. In 2002, we became foster parents and eventually we added 2 more children to our family. Dillon was adopted in December of 2005 at the age of 2 yrs and Noah Justin was adopted in 2009 right before he turned 2 yrs old.
In April of 2009, our first daughter was born. She was an unexpected surprise and so was that extra chromosome! What a beautiful girl we have, and though it was a tough time for awhile, it was nothing compared to the blessings we have had on the other side.... Our little girl has shown us a whole different world....literally!! What a gift we were given, and little did we know that that would open the doors for 2 more special little blessings that would come our way. After open heart surgery in November 2009, we discovered Reece's Rainbow! And we have never been the same since... And less than a year later, on October 20, 2010, we stepped foot back onto American soil with our 2 little Ukrainian princesses. Victoria and Anna were officially adopted in Ukraine in September of 2010, and have been a perfect fit to this family ever since. God sure did know what he was doing and we are so thankful that we listened to His call to bring our little girls home!!
2010
We are the Westbrook family from beautiful southwestern Colorado. We are on a life-changing journey to bring to little girls home from an orphanage in Eastern Europe.
These precious girls have Down syndrome, and because of an extra chromosome they were born with, they have been rejected by the people in their home country, even their own family. Hard to believe? Yes....but true.
We are so blessed and thrilled with our little girl, who was also born with that extra chromosome! We cannot imagine abandoning her at the hospital where she was born! Wow, can you?
But the perspective is so different there...they really think it is a shame to keep their child, if they are not born "perfect"!
A child that is born with a disability, if you want to look at it that way. But in my world, God does not make mistakes. In my world, these little ones are born extra blessed. Yes, they face more medical issues than any child should have to deal with! They don't develop the same as "typical" children... But they are more like "typical" children, than they are different! Regardless...our family has been charged with caring for these special little ones, and we are trying to do just that! Come along with us and hold on tight! It has been quiet so far, but I think it is about to get exciting!
ARIANNA & MAGDA for the Westbrook # 2 family--Bayfield, CO
If it isn't already obvious, we are back at it. Adoption that is... We began the process to bring little miss Hailey (her name on Reece's Rainbow) home in August, 2011. We added our sweet Ruby Mei to the adoption in November after we all saw her sweet face and new beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was our daughter, too! Now we are a few months away from heading to China to bring them home. Hopefully early to mid summer we will be traveling.
We also welcomed our first grand daughter in February of this year. She is such a little beauty and what a special blessing! We can't wait to watch her growing up and to spoil her like crazy!
2011
Our family is large, I guess.... We have 6 boys and 3 girls. We have 4 children born to us and who are amazing, wonderful, special blessings from God! We also have 5 children who were born in our hearts and made ours through the wonderful God-given gift of adoption. All our children are such amazing people and God surely planned them to be ours!! In 1997, Mark and I were married and we had 2 children already. Instantly we became a blended family and those early years were tough on all of us. Each of us brought a son into the marriage (Roy-age 8, Jordan-age 6) and we learned so much from that time in our life! In 1998, Samuel was born and in 2001, Mark Daniel was born. In 2002, we became foster parents and eventually we added 2 more children to our family. Dillon was adopted in December of 2005 at the age of 2 yrs and Noah Justin was adopted in 2009 right before he turned 2 yrs old.
In April of 2009, our first daughter was born. She was an unexpected surprise and so was that extra chromosome! What a beautiful girl we have, and though it was a tough time for awhile, it was nothing compared to the blessings we have had on the other side.... Our little girl has shown us a whole different world....literally!! What a gift we were given, and little did we know that that would open the doors for 2 more special little blessings that would come our way. After open heart surgery in November 2009, we discovered Reece's Rainbow! And we have never been the same since... And less than a year later, on October 20, 2010, we stepped foot back onto American soil with our 2 little Ukrainian princesses. Victoria and Anna were officially adopted in Ukraine in September of 2010, and have been a perfect fit to this family ever since. God sure did know what he was doing and we are so thankful that we listened to His call to bring our little girls home!!
2010
We are the Westbrook family from beautiful southwestern Colorado. We are on a life-changing journey to bring to little girls home from an orphanage in Eastern Europe.
These precious girls have Down syndrome, and because of an extra chromosome they were born with, they have been rejected by the people in their home country, even their own family. Hard to believe? Yes....but true.
We are so blessed and thrilled with our little girl, who was also born with that extra chromosome! We cannot imagine abandoning her at the hospital where she was born! Wow, can you?
But the perspective is so different there...they really think it is a shame to keep their child, if they are not born "perfect"!
A child that is born with a disability, if you want to look at it that way. But in my world, God does not make mistakes. In my world, these little ones are born extra blessed. Yes, they face more medical issues than any child should have to deal with! They don't develop the same as "typical" children... But they are more like "typical" children, than they are different! Regardless...our family has been charged with caring for these special little ones, and we are trying to do just that! Come along with us and hold on tight! It has been quiet so far, but I think it is about to get exciting!
ARIANNA & MAGDA for the Westbrook # 2 family--Bayfield, CO
Mark and Kirsten have been married for 13 years and have 7 children-- 6 boys and 1 little girl. Their precious children are: Roy (21/private older child adoption), Jordan (19/birth), Samuel (11/birth), Mark Daniel (8/birth), Dillon (6/foster adoption), Noah Justin (2 �-foster adoption), and Madalyn Grace (11 months/birth/DS). They have always wanted a large family and adoption was always part of the plan. They had looked into international adoption before as 2 of Kirsten�s sisters were adopted from Taiwan in the 60�s and that was always of dream of hers, but it was not the right timing so they pursued adopting domestically through the U.S. foster care system. During their 7 years of foster parenting they were blessed to be able to add two beautiful little boys to their family. Then their daughter Madalyn was born in April 2009 with Down syndrome and through her God moved their hearts and changed their path to adoption. He led them to Reece�s Rainbow and although they had not previously considered adopting children with Down syndrome, they knew completely that this was the direction they were to go. They are following the Lord�s direction more than ever before in their lives and are taking a huge leap of faith, but are completely excited to be welcoming these precious, sweet little ones, Magda and Arianna, into their family.
