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SOUTH JORDAN — A video of a Utah girl received national attention this week after she got news she would be adopted.
Tannah Butterfield, a sixth-grader at American Heritage school in South Jordan, jumped up and down when the school’s office manager gave her the news.
A security camera captured the moment on video.
“It was just so sweet the way Tannah got so excited,” said her soon-to-be adoptive mother, Jennifer Fisher. “We didn’t all know it was going to happen like that.”
Tannah, 11, along with her brother Teagun, 6, and sister Tallie, 2, will be part of their own “forever family” later this fall.
After a parental rights case lasting more than two years, a judge gave the green light this week for the Fishers to adopt the Butterfield siblings, Fisher said.
Jackie Alexander, the school’s office manager, said Tannah comes to her desk every day. Alexander said she’s become close friends with the family.
She said she was happy to give Tannah the news after there had been several setbacks in the family’s case.
“I said, ‘You get your forever family, honey,’ and then you see her jump into my arms,” Alexander said.
The happy moment took place the day after the deadly shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas.
Alexander said she wanted to post the video clip on social media to show people that there were still good moments through all the present turmoil in the world.
Since Monday, the clip has spread rapidly, and now has more than 3,000 views on Instagram and 6,500 on Facebook. Even Fox News reporter Shepard Smith saw the clip and contacted the family for an interview. His video garnered 35,000 views.
“I’ve been overwhelmed that my simple thoughts of a sweet moment have gone so viral,” Alexander said. “It’s been really neat — and crazy.”
Fisher was also shocked that the clip was so successful. She didn’t think it would be a big deal, she said.
“We just feel like we’re ordinary people that are taking care of three children that we love and we want to be part of our family,” she said.
Throughout the lengthy adoption process, there were lots of difficult up-and-down moments, Fisher said. She sometimes wondered if it was really what she wanted to do.
In the end, though, she didn’t give up, and it all worked out. Her advice to parents going through the same situation is to persevere.
“We really wanted the kids to be a part of our family,” Fisher said. “It might take a long time but just stick with it and it will be worth it.
