Jeffrey Thompson

Essays: Child by Child

Mark and Paula Reeves have 11 children, nine of whom have been adopted, during their 26 years of raising a family. Mark said of being a self-proclaimed serial adopter, "If you can do something to change the world, to make make it better and to affect kids lives to the point where they grow up and they can have a nice life, that's probably the most important thing we can do."

Mark and Paula Reeves tour the Dakota County Fairgrounds with five of their eleven children. The Reeves have adopted nine children, many of whom have special needs, during their 26 years of raising children.
   
Paula holds her daughter Shannon, 9, during a family meal. Paula and Mark have a strong faith and believe they were called to do what they do.
   
Paula organizes her family's monthly schedule on a large white board that hangs in her kitchen.
     
  
Mark helps Ella, 5, with her shoes as the rest of the Reeves' children get ready for their day.
  
Mark and Paula Reeves' second biological son, Jonathan, 23, leads his younger brother Jacob, 3, to the horses at Agape Acres for feeding. Jonathan, who has helped raise his younger siblings, doesn't consider his parents special. "They're pretty average parents, really, when it comes down to it," he said. "They love what they do, and it might be commendable, but... I don't really look at it as being any different than any other parents."
   
From left, Christian, 8, Jacob, 3, and Ella, 5, wait to visit the horses at Agape Acres where Christian participates in a therapeutic riding program.
     
  
Christian, 8, enters the house after playing outside.
   
Mark picks Shannon, 9, and Christian, 8, up from the bus after a day at school.
  
The Reeves' children play in the driveway following a morning at church. "[The kids] just look at things so differently and in such a different light," Paula said. "You get to a certain age, where there's just fewer new and exciting things, but through their eyes... it's all still new and fresh and that's fun."