Photos by STEPHANIE KLEIN-DAVIS The Roanoke Times

Roanoke County Circuit Court Judge Jim Swanson (left) presides over an adoption ceremony Saturday during which Patty and Doug Huffman adopt their third child, 1-year-old Nicole Huffman. One of their children is her biological sister, Passha, 2.

Brothers Elijah Allen, 4, and Isaiah Allen, 3, were adopted Saturday by Robin and Rex Allen of Roanoke. The boys play with Olivia Kilbane, 7 months, following the ceremony.

STEPHANIE KLEIN-DAVIS The Roanoke Times

Fred Christie holds his son, Mathias Christie, 1, during a ceremony Saturday. The Christies also adopted his older brother, Aeden, 3.

Robin Allen and the two young boys she and her husband fostered had been to court many times before.

The boys' birth mother had fought to keep them, and every time there was a court hearing, Allen feared the babies would be taken from her.

"It was heart-wrenching," said Allen, who has taken care of the brothers since 2006, when they were 6 months and 18 months old.

Saturday's court date was different.

Roanoke County Circuit Court Judge James Swanson welcomed the family to the front of the courtroom, where he finalized their adoption with a swish of his pen. Each of the boys was given a teddy bear.

The boys, Elijah and Isaiah Allen, were two of nine children among six families whose adoptions were finalized at a ceremony in Roanoke County to mark National Adoption Day. Other adoption ceremonies were held throughout the country.

The finalization was followed by a musical, "They Chose Me," and other activities at Andrew Lewis Middle School.

In a packed courtroom, aunts, uncles, grandparents and parents gathered with misty eyes as they watched the children formally become part of their families.

But for many, it was evident the transition was already complete.

One 9-year-old boy got a thump on the head from his older sister -- who also was adopted -- after Swanson signed the paperwork and congratulated the family.

And Nicole Huffman, 23 months, was adopted into a family that had already adopted her biological sister, Passha.

"Today is the day we get to keep Nicole forever," the girls' mother, Patty Huffman, told Passha.

"We've been living for this day," she said.

Nicole is Patty and Doug Huffman's third adopted child.

Their first child, Jaedyn Huffman, began having seizures after they adopted her. One Christmas Eve, she experienced liver and kidney failure.

The Huffmans stood by Jaedyn for months while she was treated at the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville. She now uses a wheelchair and doesn't talk, Patty Huffman said.

Despite those challenges, the couple remained foster parents to Passha, who they took in when she was just 5 days old.

They adopted her about a year ago.

"Being a foster parent is probably the most difficult job you'll ever have," Huffman said. "But it is the most rewarding because you get these wonderful little spirits."