There are people who want to have a large family. And that is exactly what Karen and Tobias Thompson, both 55, had when they tied the knot in 2014. They had a combined total of seven adult children, 28 grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

And according to Karen, there has never been a dull moment. “But my grandkids, I can send them back home,” she said.

The Cincinnati couple said that all their kids are doing well and thriving. They all have moved out since they now have their own families and some are living their own lives. Karen said, “We had an empty house, an empty nest, and then we ended up with the four.”

What they didn’t know was that they will go back to square one of being parents…

It all started in 2015 when the couple found out that Karen’s twin niece and nephew, Wilnya and William, now 14, were experiencing difficulties at home. Their own house is too big for only the two of them so they decided to welcome the twins to their family. It did not take long for them to get accustomed to being parents again.

Then a year later, they found out that the twins’ half-sisters — another set of twins, Sharnia and Sharleathea, now 9 years old, also needed to get out of the foster care system. When they let the younger twins come over, Karen said that they enjoyed their stay so much that “they didn’t want to go home, back to the other foster home.”

In an interview with WCPO-TV, Sharnia said, “I love my Gigi so much that I’ve been wanting to live with her since we got to her house.”

Then, Tobias suggested that they become foster parents so that all four siblings could all live together with them. He said that the kids need a family, and consistent love in their lives. But Karen did not need that much convincing. All it took was for Tobias to ask.

So they did. They decided to keep all four of the kids and care for them like their own. Even though it took some work and effort for them both to get used to the child-rearing again, Karen said that having the twins is a blessing overall. She said, “Now that we have our own kids again and are raising them together, it’s a good thing, but it’s a challenge, too. We give them that time and attention. Even though we have two full-time jobs, we still make time for them.”

Then on September 9th, the couple made it official. They adopted all four siblings!

Tobias said, “No sense splittin’ ’em up. Keep ’em all together. Show ’em a lot of love. That’s all they need. Love.” Karen agreed, saying, “You can see the difference. They have been through a lot … this is the light at the end of the tunnel. It was wonderful. It was just wonderful.”

Giving children another chance to happy family life is not a difficult decision for Karen and Tobias to make. Even though it has already been a long time since they have youngsters in the house, they took the leap and gave these two sets of twins a loving family that they could cherish forever.