Lagoon 2008

Bella aka Found-her

Our dog Brindle was a member of our family for 13 years. She left a huge void when she died. Every time Mary Ann imagined a new dog, she thought of a solid color pitbull terrier. (Brindle was half pitbull and the best dog imaginable.) A year and a half later a dog, looking very much like our neighbors, appeared on our doorstep. Thinking it was our neighbors, we took her to their home. We soon learned she was not theirs and in fact a stray that another neighbor had found. Since it was a Sunday, animal control would not come for her. She was so great with the kids that we decided to keep for the night. The next day we started a true effort to find her family. Surely they would be missing her. When no one ever claimed her, we were thrilled to make her a permanent part of our family. Deciding on a name was not as easy as we though it would be. Finally, we settled on Bella Foundher (as in we "found her") Canfield! She has been a great member of the family ever since.

Eli - 2008

Our sweet Eli is a very happy little boy. Despite picking up a few of his sibling's bad habits, Eli is smart, funny, sweet, an awesome scooter rider, adventurous, and a bit of a mama's boy. (Mom doesn't mind). We couldn't be happier with or feel more blessed than we do with our little caboose!

Eli (Elijah) - July 2005

Last but not least! Thinking our family was complete, we were surprised when we felt the prompting to find one more son. Eli arrived just six months after we applied for adoption, but it felt like a lifetime. We applied with at least six adoption agencies in hopes of finding him quickly. We experienced five failed placements before finding Eli. The loss of those five babies was horrible. We started to lose hope that we would truly find our missing son. The day we held our Eli knowing he would be ours forever was sure bliss. A sense of completion filled Mary Ann for the first time in 18 years.

Isaac 2008

Isaac has continued to grow in to a very handsome boy. (Gotta love those eyes and eyebrows!) He loves football, sugar, scooters, sugar, video games, sugar, friends, sugar, working with tools, and sugar.

Isaac - January 2003

While searching for Chantelle, we were quietly prompted that a little boy was also meant to join our family. We were so focused on finding Chantelle, that we had not yet begun to search for Isaac. After applying with our agency to adopt a little girl, the Lord sent us Isaac. Not a girl. :) He was such an amazing miracle. He was born in Virginia. This time Dan, Mary Ann, and Natalie all flew to bring home their son/brother. He was truly a beautiful boy. His black spiky hair only added to his charm. It was just three weeks later that we found our Chantelle. Ethan, Chantelle, and Isaac are only a total of 19 months apart in age.

Chantelle 2008

Chantelle is still a very beautiful little girl. She loves jewelry, scented lotions, lip gloss, drawing, beading, reading, and doing extra homework! She would love to play soccer and take karate lessons.