Staff photo / Ed Runyan Willow Nika Gemmell, 2, and her new dad, Andrew Gemmell, had fun during Adoption Day activities at the Mahoning County Courthouse on Friday.

YOUNGSTOWN — Kristine Dining of Poland said she comes from a “big family. There is always a lot of joy with it and we are a very close family. I want this for our children.”

Daining and her husband Timothy saw their family grow from four to six on Friday when they adopted two children on Adoption Day at the Mahoning Courthouse.

“We feel so blessed,” she said. “We just want to give them that care … and make a difference in their lives. They have been such a blessing to all of us,” she said of Kimberly, 4, and Shepherd, 3.

The new Daining children were two of three children adopted during a hearing before Mahoning County Probate Court Judge Robert Rusu Jr. The annual event formalizes the adoption of several children each year, but also serves as an adoption celebration with music and speakers and a party in the courthouse rotunda afterward.

Attorney Robert Christian was counsel for the Dining hearing as well as the adoption hearing for Andrew and Jennifer Gemmell of Youngstown as they adopted 2-year-old Willow.

When questioned by Christian, the couple agreed that Willow has been in their home since June 2022, when they served as her foster parents. Since then it has remained in their home.

Lynette Brown of Children’s Services testified that the Gemmels gave Willow a good home. “They are very engaged parents to Willow and the love they have for her is obvious. They’ve had her since she left the hospital. I’m so happy. It’s been nothing but a pleasure,” Brown said.

“I believe it is in Willow’s best interest and the recommendation of Mahoning County Children’s Services is to adopt her,” she said. Brown also said that Willow gets along well with her “little brother.”

This year’s event also featured two speakers, Regina Alston and Ed Metinger, both adults who were adopted.

Mahoning County Children’s Services at any one time has 250 to 300 children in need of foster care “with that number growing.” The agency says there are not enough licensed foster homes in the county, and the agency is “seeking new foster and adoptive families for children in Mahoning County,” the agency said on the Adoption Day program.

There are also 12 children waiting for permanent foster families in Mahoning County.