I got the best gifts ever this year.

My younger sister Kay adopted two children, a brother and sister, after fostering them for the past eight months. “Gotcha Day” as trendy folks on the Internet like to call the final court hearing in the adoption journey was just two days before Christmas.

So like a little bit of holiday magic, I officially took the name “Aunt Kitty” just in time for Santa’s arrival.

Gavin, 6, loves to ice skate and draw. He wants to be Spider-Man when he grows up.

Gracie, 4, is chatty and picks her nose. She randomly recites lines from “The Wizard of Oz” and wears red glittered shoes grocery shopping.

The red-headed tag-team of energy are the first children to join our family. And a world of joy came with them: Santa is real again, for starters.

There’s also a whole lot of face painting, bouncy houses, tiaras and toy trucks.

Not everything is smiles and giggles with the newcomers: My sisters had to install an alarm on her door that will ring if monsters come in at night. Gracie cut her own hair and hid it, with the cat, in a bathroom drawer. Gavin drew on the walls — twice.

And shadows of the children’s tumultuous past still breathe chaos into their dreams and imaginations.

For example, Gracie keeps in her room a purse packed with a favorite stuffed bear, a Hello Kitty hair ribbon and a purple plastic cell phone.

Salsa workers, that’s the kids’ translation for “CYS case workers,” have told my sister that Gracie was in a half-dozen foster homes after being removed from her own physically abusive biological parents. In her four little years, Gracie probably more than once lost favorite possessions during transition from one home, one “Mom,” one life to the next. She may pack ready-to-go bags for years to come to thwart any future loss.

My sister doesn’t unpack Gracie’s bag because it provides her with comfort. But she does on occasion sort through the stash in case it includes live animals or food that might spoil.

My sister called me a few days back, near tears, talking about Gracie’s bag.

“There’s a picture of us, our family, in there,” she said. “We are her favorite things.”

Gracie tells people that she and Gavin came from the North Pole, and that elves made them. That might not be true, but they are the best gifts ever.

Kim Paskorz is a Butler Eagle staff writer.