By Diana Hensley –

On March 23, 2022, there were cheers and breaths of relief as the judge finalized the adoption of the six Celada children. It had been a long time coming.

The family’s journey began in October 2019. Ruby Celada received a call from an acquaintance, who was a family member of her nieces and nephews, letting her know the five siblings were in the South Dakota Child Protective Services system. Celada called SDCPS.

In February 2020, the first of several social workers reached out to Ruby to ask her if she’d like to have her nephew. Avery, age 5, had already been in multiple foster homes, but had returned to Children’s Inn, in Sioux Falls. Because of his Autism, he had higher needs than most foster kids. So he was placed with his aunt Ruby, and uncle Armando Ayala, as an emergency foster placement.

Of course Ruby, and her husband, Armando, said yes. A few months later, in July, Avery’s little sister, Aniya, came to stay with them as well. Avery’s older brother and sister, Arturo and Alanna, came to stay with them in August, bringing the number of children in the family home from zero to four within six months.

Ten months later, in May 2021, Aiden, the kids’ half brother, joined the family. (He had been placed in the SDCPS system in May 2019.) Just two months later, the final child to join their home was the kids’ cousin, Jerry, who wasn’t related to either Ruby or Armando. That didn’t matter. Ruby knew him from when he was a baby, and had watched him from time to time. He needed a home, and he was the siblings’ cousin. That brought the family from two to eight within one year and five months- less than a year and a half!

Having all six kids join their family has been a huge blessing in Ruby and Armando’s lives. They moved to Leota about nine years ago. Ruby and Armando weren’t able to have biological children because Ruby battled endometrial cancer. Thankfully, she has been in remission for six years.

When Ruby had gotten the call about taking Avery in, she knew God had a plan for them. Avery’s placement opened the door for the other kids’ move to their forever home.

Because Avery had been an emergency foster placement, Ruby and Armando quickly had their home inspected. Their home was approved, but they had to get a bed for Avery before he could move to his new home.

When Avery was placed with Armando and Ruby, he was five and still in diapers. His behavior was challenging, and he didn’t speak. Within two days of living with Ruby and Armando, he started using the bathroom and no longer needed diapers. They spent a lot of time working with him, encouraging him to use words to communicate.