Girl, 17, Adopted by Foster Family After Temporary Weekend Stay (Exclusive)

A teenage girl in Tennessee, who spent years in foster care, has found her forever family.

Taylor, 17, first met her adoptive parents, Matt and Karis Leckron, two years ago, when she was placed in their care for a temporary weekend stay, local news outlet 5 Nashville reported.

They officially became a family of three on Tuesday, Nov. 4, during a ceremony at the Rutherford County Circuit Court. Taylor’s friends and classmates were in attendance, and the courtroom broke out in applause when the adoption was finalized, according to the outlet.

Karis tells PEOPLE the special day was a long time coming. “Taylor was in foster care for over three years before her mom surrendered her rights,” she says. “The time her mom surrendered her rights until the adoption was finalized was seven months.”

“Once we finally met with the adoption specialist, it only took about three weeks until the adoption was finalized,” Karis adds.

Karis describes the entire experience as a “roller coaster of emotions,” because she and Matt were “unsure” whether they would be able to adopt Taylor throughout most of the process.

But now, the mom says she, Matt and Taylor are “settling in as a family of three” — but not much has changed “practically speaking” since the adoption.

“Taylor is as much ours now as she was the day she came. She’s just a legal Leckron now,” Karis says.

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Looking ahead to the upcoming holiday season, Karis says it will be different this year, and she and Matt welcome the change.

“Coming from the perspective of 12 years of marriage without kids, Christmas with kids is a lot more fun than Christmas without kids,” she tells PEOPLE.

“We have someone to wake us up on Christmas morning, all excited. And this year, for the first time ever, we know that she will always be ours and get to spend Christmas with us every year,” Karis adds. “This will be our third Christmas with Taylor, but our first after she is officially ours.”

As for her advice for other prospective adoptive families? Karis tells PEOPLE: “That is a loaded question, [but], for us, we just had to trust that God was in control of the situation.”

“It’s easy to get discouraged throughout the process, and we worried a lot,” she continues.

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“Now that we are on the other side, we know we never had a reason to worry, but when you’re in the thick of it, some days it’s hard to have hope,” Karis adds. “Cling to the good times, cry through the hard times, and lean on your loved ones for support. Find a village who can walk through the hard with you.”