Two kids, a two-level home, a regular family-sized car, toys in the front yard - the Grantham family looks pretty much like any family.
But what makes Doug and Shannon Grantham a little bit different is their children.
Both of their happy, adorable kids Steven, 3, and Sunisa, 2, were adopted from Thailand. Steven has lived in Canada for two years and Sunisa has only been in Canada for two months.
The Granthams decided to go with international adoption because it worked better for them.
"The thing that made it happen for us is it's not if it happens, it's when it happens," Shannon said.
If you adopt a child from within B.C., you may wait a year, or you may never get one, she said.
Every country has its own timeline for adoption. Thailand's timeline worked for the Granthams, who had to wait a year to adopt Steven, and 18 months to welcome Sunisa to their family.
International adoption is a complicated process involving government departments and service societies like Hope Pregnancy and Adoptions Services Society, which has connections to organizations in Thailand, and helps with adoptions.
Once all the hurdles have been passed, the applications for adoption are sent to Thailand. Eventually, a child is proposed to the waiting parents who decide if the child fits with their family. And once the connection between the new family and the child is made, it's a long, hard wait.
"Once you have a picture of an child and you've accepted the proposal and you know your child is halfway around the world and growing up without you it's just so hard not being with them," Shannon said.
Both Steven and Sunisa were in foster care in Thailand prior to being adopted by the Granthams. They were fostered by American Mennonite missionaries, and grew up in a primarily western culture and environment.
"Steven, since a couple of weeks of age, was raised in a western environment," Doug said.
"We were quite prepared to take a child from an orphanage." But they ended up going the foster route for both adoptions.
And taking that road resulted in a whole new extended family.
Steven's foster mother drove all the way from Idaho to Squamish just to see him, and when the family went to pick up Sunisa, Steven remembered his foster mother Cheryl.
He even asked Shannon what his mummy Cheryl called him when he lived in Thailand.
The extended family and community doesn't just stop at the children's foster parents.
The Granthams have formed friendships with other people who have Thai children, which will positively impact the children.
"They'll see there's other people like them and families constructed like theirs," Doug said.
But adopting children is not without struggles or battles.
A multiracial family is going to have to deal with issue that may come out of that, Doug said. And Shannon and Doug had to take a proactive approach to establishing an attachment with the children.
The Granthams have put a lot of time into making sure the children know who they belong to.And the children have to adjust too.
"You can't underestimate the grief children have," Shannon said. "They don't have any clue what they're in for."
But the rewards are worth the struggle.
"I couldn't imagine having done it any other way," Doug said.
