Joyful reunion — FLDS children can't get enough hugs as they join their mom

ABILENE, Texas — The two-story twin home is small with a tiny back patio, but it's home.

And that's all that really matters to four FLDS children taken two months ago from their home on the YFZ Ranch.

"Where's my room, mother?" shouts 6-year-old Abram as he scurries through the house, opening one door and then another.

His sisters, Danielle, 9, and Autumn, 4, squeal as they dart around the cozy living room, standing still long enough to look at family photos their mother has taped on a wall before running back to her for another hug.

"It's upstairs. There's one room for the boys, one room for the girls and one room for grandma," replies Sarah Barlow Draper as she beams at her little boy who can't seem to stand still or stop chatting.

She watches Abram, or Abe as the family likes to call him, disappear up the stairs before seeing him reappear. With one leg over the banister, he slides down, yelling for someone to "catch me!"

Abe declares the ride less than satisfactory, however.

"We had a big, old, long one of these at our home on the ranch!" Abe says to no one in particular before darting outside to check out a nearby playground.

Sarah, 37, can't help laughing at her child's energy as he insists on helping a Deseret News photographer set up a camera and even take photos. Abe is quite sure he knows how to take pictures, snapping several as his mother's smile widens.

"He's so excited. We're all excited and happy," Sarah says, pulling her eldest daughter, 13-year-old Rebekah, or Becca, closer to her side. "We're so thankful we have the children back. That's what matters."

It's been a long two months since Texas authorities raided the YFZ Ranch and took every child from the 1,700-acre, self-sustaining community on allegations of abuse and neglect.

The Barlow children were eventually moved from shelters in San Angelo to the Hendricks Home for Children in Abilene. The 50-acre campus is normally a temporary, 24-hour child-care facility for about 60 children, who stay in family-style cottages or townhouses.

Sarah believes her children were blessed to be placed together in the Hendricks Home. Many other children and mothers were not so fortunate, with many families being scattered around the state.

Another son, 11-year-old Joseph, or Joey, wasn't at the ranch at the time of the raid. That's another blessing, she says.

"I know some mothers had some very difficult experiences," says Sarah, a registered nurse who recently was hired to work in the emergency room at the local hospital in Abilene. "I don't know what some of the mothers will do. They want us to get jobs and apartments to take care of our children."