One year later, blended family is doing fine

One year after adopting their rambunctious great-grandchildren, Annabelle Younger and her husband Wayne Gooch couldn't be any more relaxed.

"They are just wonderful," said Younger, 64, from her Stagecoach home Tuesday morning. "The kids are doing really well, we are so delighted to have them."

Serenity, 4, and Timmy, turning 5 on April 30, are quite the handful. They have tons of energy, lots to say and aren't afraid to share it.

The children have the run of the house, their toys fill the living room and their pets - two alpacas, a sheep and two rabbits - take up the backyard.

Younger and Gooch raised five children between them, and had spent 14 quiet years alone in their little house before Serenity and Timmy came along.

And they wouldn't change it for anything, said Gooch, 68.

"These are the two loveliest kids. When you look at that little lady's smile right there and that pretty face it makes you forget anything bad she could have ever done in her life," said Gooch in a rare moment when Serenity was sitting quietly in her great-grandmother's lap. "That handsome young man, he can get such an in-depth conversation going with you. He is so intelligent. Just a beautiful youngster."

As Timmy demonstrated his ability to maneuver PBS.com - a feat he taught himself, Younger insists - he announced why he was so smart.

"That's because I learn about everything. I have a brain," he said, pointing to his temple.

The children, the offspring of Younger's grandson, moved in with the couple two years ago after Younger discovered they were in foster care in Washington.

In March 2009, Younger and Gooch adopted the siblings, and now they are considered Grandpa and Nana or Mommy and Daddy, depending on the children's moods, said Younger.

While raising babies at this stage of life wasn't what they had imagined, everyone's adapted beautifully, said Younger.

"There's a reason the Lord has them with us," she said. "Not a day goes by we don't count our blessings."