LENOIR CITY, Tenn. (WVLT) -- One little girl is spending Thanksgiving with her new family. Two-year-old Ava Davenport was adopted last Thursday through an organization called Youth Villages.

"I didn't know what it would be like, adopting a child," said Randall Davenport, who adopted a daughter. "We had never done that before. I've heard other people say this, but to experience it has been powerful."

Some children are without a loving home. Even with three kids, Kim and Randall Davenport had that weighing on their hearts.

"Adoption is something we've always prayed about, thought about," said Kim Davenport. "We knew there were a lot of kids out there that need a home and we knew we could love them."

Their friends were fostering Ava. It gave the Davenports an idea that they could adopt her, to open their hearts and their home.

"When you bring a child home from the hospital, they don't do anything to earn your love, you just love them and I feel the same way about her," said Kim. "She's been through a lot and I just love her."

Neglect, abuse and drugs were all 2-year-old Ava knew.

"None of the things that happened to her before, are ever going to happen again," said Randall.

"She's my sister," said Olivia Davenport, who is one of the Davenport's biological children. "I can't really imagine life without her."

The child who gave the Davenports the idea to adopt became the child they adopted.

"We changed her life, but she's changed ours too," said Randall.