Five siblings and their cousin smiled ear to ear Wednesday after officially being adopted by a Minnesota couple at the Minnehaha Courthouse in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Leota, MN, residents Ruby Celada, 36, and her 46-year-old husband Armando Ayala, are now parents to two girls and four boys, the Argus Leader reported. Their children include twelve-year-old Allana and six-year-old Aniya – both of whom are girls, and four boys: eight-year-old Jerry, eight-year-old Arturo, eight-year-old Aiden, and seven-year-old Avery.

The siblings and their cousin Jerry are very close after growing up together, so the couple adopted him as well. Ruby told the Argus Leader that she is happy the kids were not separated.

Before becoming the children’s mother, Ruby was an aunt to the siblings, though it is unclear if she was Jerry’s aunt. She said Child Protective Services took the children from her brother – their biological father – due to “neglect.”

“They came a long, long way, they’ve been through so much,” Ruby told the Argus Leader. “Kids want to be with their parents, but sometimes they cannot be, because of the choices the parents made.”

She kept tabs on them ever since they entered CPS’s custody with the intention of eventually adopting them. Among the children, three of their parents are locked up in prison or jail, while the rest reside in the Sioux Falls area, Ruby noted. 

Ruby sang the praises of caseworkers Brodrick Stolsmart, Heidi Roesder, and Erika Kirkman, who were present for the official adoption hearing on Wednesday.

“I just wanna thank them so much for what they’ve done for our family, for our kids. They’re there to help not take kids away,” Ruby said. 

During the hearing, young Avery went up to his new father and gave him a bear hug.

“I’ll take good care of you,” the seven-year-old told Ayala. 

Following the adoption, the family of eight went to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate not only the monumental day but Aniya’s and Avery’s birthdays, which took place this week. 

Earlier this month, a New York state family adopted five siblings and became a family of eleven, Breitbart News reported.

The Adopt America Network, a national adoption charity, says that 515,000 children in the United States are in foster care, with 155,000 children hoping to be adopted into their forever homes.