Welcome to our Family: An Introduction to us!

Hi! Welcome to our family! Thank you so much for taking the time to get to know us. We can only imagine what an important decision this is for you. We would like to help you in any way we can. We would be happy to have whatever type of contact that you may want with the baby in the future. Your child will always be a blessing and joy for our family and we will love him/her forever and always be proud to have him/her. We have tried to include lots of pictures of our everyday lives, so you can get to know us better. If you have any other questions about us, please feel free to call or 

e-mail us at any time. We would like to know more about you too! We are praying for you! 

We are the Ferrone-Smith family. Catherine and Travis have been married for 19 years. We met through an acquaintance and we have been best friends ever since. Our son, Elliot, made us a family in 1994. We are a fun loving family who likes to do things together. Here we are at the Down Syndrome Buddy walk in downtown Atlanta. The kids liked the cotton candy the best!

So, why do we want to adopt a baby with Down Syndrome? We have several close friends with children with have Down Syndrome, and we have always felt a special love for them, but it wasn't until we went to the Ukraine, that we really felt called. There were so many children with Down Syndrome at the orphanage. One baby in particular, stole our hearts. Here is a picture of her. She was never held by any of the caretakers, yet she had so much joy. We wanted so much to bring her home, but we were not approved for another child. Then, a miracle occurred. We told our friends about her and they adopted her! So now, we get to watch her grow up! Also, since two of our other children have syndromes, we feel like we are pretty experienced and prepared for whatever needs your child might have. We will treasure your child always. 

This picture was from last Christmas. We celebrated over at Catherine's mom's house. She and our grandma (who we call "Great") only live a mile away.

Travis has been fortunate to have the same job for 19 years. he is able to come home by 3:00 everyday, so we are all able to spend time together. 

Our children are the light of our lives. They are so much fun. They each have their own unique personalities. 

We were pretty proud that we actually got everyone into coordinating outfits for the 4th of July. The little ones learn so much from the bigger kids. 

This is the front of our house. Every year, we take a picture in the same spot. 

The girls often tell us they are so happy to have each other. Someone asked my biological daughter what she thought of having sisters who are adopted. She looked at them sternly and said, "They are my sisters,  it doesn't matter where they were born."

Victoria has come such a long way from when she was living in an orphanage in Ukraine only 18 months ago. 

This is "Great". She is Catherine's grandma. She is 94 years old. We are so glad to be able to live so close to her. Her favorite thing is to have everyone come over to visit. 

This is Catherine's mom, Cookie. She also lives a mile away. She is a very hands on Grandma and loves to spend time with her grandchildren. 

We've had some tough times, but always stick together and work through things. Here, Francesca is about to go into surgery to separate her fingers. Thankfully, she won't need any other surgeries for many years. 

Victoria had surgery to have her hips relocated back into their joint. She was born with them out of joint. Her spirit and determination constantly amaze us. Even in these casts, she still found ways to scoot around. 

Sometimes we are very silly! 

This picture is from Easter. Some of us were getting a little bit grumpy! 

Please read on and we will tell you more about us!