The Avilla Family's own....

Adoption Adventure

"The Adventure of a Lifetime,
With Consequences for Eternity !"

International Adoption is an Adventure! The excitement of visiting a distant land is combined with the Eternal Consequences that adoption causes in the lives of all those involved. This website is a celebration of our Adventure presented so you can share our experience. We encourage you to enjoy our site and join in our celebration of "The Adventure of a Lifetime, With Consequences for Eternity!"

In August of 1996, when we saw the poloraid of two-year old Lise and decided to begin the paperwork to adopt her, we were like many couples considering adoption. Fertility treatment costs were beginning to escalate as we sought to build our family. We realized that experiencing family was more important to us than conceiving and birthing our own children, so we opted for the sure bet of adopting, plus we could get a head start of a couple years in the process! Our plans were to adopt a toddler girl, then maybe add a second daughter a year or two later. It was a great plan and fit in with our two-bedroom condo and fiscally conservative lifestyle.

Then we got "The Call". A month before traveling to Russia to adopt Lise, the adoption agency phoned to tell us they just discovered Lise had three older sisters and a brother, also in orphanages! We thought and prayed about it and realized there was nothing materially or relationally that we could give Lise that would outweigh growing up with her biological siblings. At that point the adventure became "The Adventure"! In October 1997, 4-year old brother Vanya joined our family. We returned two years later to America with Lise's three sisters to become part of our family. Now, in addition to my "on their own" bio sons Dane, 28, and Nathan, 24, the David Avilla family includes Lise,8, Vanya, 10, Tamara, 11, Svetlana, 12, and Elena, 16.

Picture taken March 1999 - Ages 12,8,7,6,4

Picture taken July 2003 - Ages 15, 11, 10, 9, 7

Website Launched Easter Sunday, 1999