Friday, May 11, 2012

Faithful Friday - The Spitz Family

Wow! It's been awhile since I've done a Faithful Friday post! Friday's are busy days for me for some reason! Anywho.... (Gosh, I love that word!)

You know who this is right?? You better if you read this blog!
It's miss Lyla. She has an amazing story! Here it is....
She has had a family fall in love with her and work to get her only to find out she was too sick to be adopted, and might not survive. Still praying for Lyla constantly, that family moved forward to adopt another little girl - Bellie.
While in country adopting Bellie, they tried to see Lyla, but were denied that request. After Bellie was home awhile they felt the call to go back and adopt again, and committed to a little girl who they were going to name Charlie.
Shortly after committing to her, they found out she was adopted by a family in her country. So the mama of that family let the daddy pick out another child. He chose a boy, who they were to name Gavin.
Unbeknownst to him, Gavin was in the same orphanage as Lyla! They worked through the process quickly, and shortly before they were to travel to get Gavin, they found out that Lyla had survied and was available to be adopted again!! They were heartbroken over what to do. They still felt in their hearts that Lyla was their daughter, but they knew Gavin was their son. Adopting both was not an option. Heartbroke, they decided to let Lyla find another family and continue with the adoption of Gavin.

I and several others yelled and yelled and prayed for a family for her, and finally one stepped forward! They started the process to bring her home. Then on Gavin's gotcha day, Gavin's mama, also Lyla's first mama, got to meet her princess and hold her. Whisper in her ear a family was coming for her. She took these two pictures which still make me cry every time I look at them!

Then awhile after they got home with Gavin, we learned Lyla's family was no longer able to continue with her adoption. Everyone, including the family that was going to adopt Lyla was heartbroken. So we all started yelling again, and this time had even more people yelling with us. Soon there 4 families that were serious about committing to adopting her. And one of them did. Guess what family that was! Lyla's original family! The same one that is now Bellie and Gavin's family!

And that family with such an amazing adoption story (did I mention that have also adopted two children through foster care?), is none other than the Spitz's!!
Spitz family minus Dave
I've blogged about them many times here, and I've blogged about them being Lyla's family, but I realized the other day I haven't posted about them for Faithful Friday with this adoption!

The Spitz's are USCIS approved already (they got expedited!!! :D), and just about to send off their dossier to Lyla's country. With this being a back-to-back(-to-back-to-back-to-back!) adoption, finances were the main issue. So the wonderful Colleen has been doing many fundraisers for them! She has two going right now.

The first is this awesome tshirt fundraiser! You can get one that says 'I love Lyla' or one with the Spitz's blog button when they first tried to bring her home that says 'Love will bring her home'. And they are only $15 each!

Click the pictures above to get yours (through Paypal only)! I have mine (I love Lyla) already ordered, and I CAN NOT wait to wear it! :)

The second fundraiser Colleen has going on is a scrapbook fundraiser where you can "buy" a page of a digital scrapbook Colleen is making and write whatever you want on it. Then the book will get printed and Lyla will be able to read it and look at it with her family when she gets home to see all the people who LOVE her! What an awesome idea! Click the image below to go to that fundraiser!

Lyla's family already loves her SOO very much, and her daddy (Dave) was willing to cut his hair into a mohawk and let his little ones put make-up all over his face when they reached a certain amount in their funding.

And Lyla's big brothers were willing to dress up like girls and walk the streets of their town when they hit another amount in their fundraising! Here's the proof!

**Warning... you might not be able to to breathe because you are laughing soo hard after watching this video!


But they need your help to bring her home where she belongs. She is not in good health at all, and needs medical treatment ASAP!

Here is a video that I found the other day that was made the first time they tried to adopt Lyla. I have to admit it made me cry, and not much should be changed if they remade it for now, besides adding 2 kids to their family picture! :)



I hope their story touched your heart like it continues to touch mine. And I pray you will do something to help this beautiful family out!


LILIANNA for the Spitz family — NY

Dave & Summer are a happy married couple that have been BLESSED with 7 children. Taylor, Conor & Nick are biological, while Owen, Belle, Gavin & Sara were chosen. Owen & Sara were placed as foster children when Owen was 4 months old and Sara was just a tiny newborn. The Spitz family was so grateful that they were able to adopt both of them in 2010. Then in June of 2010 the family committed to adopting Lilianna, the most beautiful girl with the biggest blue eyes. They were devastated when they were told in September that she was in the hospital, she was not expected to live and they were not permitted to bring her home. The news was the end to a dream. The family did not give up on the mission to save; they continued their adoption journey. Isabelle was adopted from Ukraine on December 30, 2010 and what a glorious day that was!! The Spitz family had planned to return to Ukraine in the spring if Lilianna had survived. They inquired about her but she was still not adoptable and still not expected to live. The family came to the realization that Lilianna would not be a part of their forever family. The family was heartbroken. The Spitz’s still answered the call to adopt and they moved forward to adopt Gavin. The Gavinator as he is now known was adopted on December 22, 2011. While in the process of adopting Gavin, the news of a miracle was revealed. Lilianna had SURVIVED and was adoptable. Since Gavin was in the same orphanage as Lilianna, Summer asked permission to see her. Summer explains that visit to be the most overwhelming emotional few minutes of her entire life. She told Lilianna how much she loved her and promised that her Mommy & Daddy would come for her soon. Summer left that room not knowing how long the sweet little girl she just held could honestly survive with a failing heart. It was a wonderful day when a family that loved her dearly committed to her. Finally it was Lilianna’s turn to be SAVED and she could have life saving surgery. Unfortunately, they were not able to continue with the adoption to bring Lilianna home. Little did Summer know that on January 19, 2012 the stunning little girl she held was actually her forever daughter!!! So now, 2 years later the Spitz family is working at lightening speed to finally bring home the little girl that they not only LOVE dearly but the girl that had led them to their newest amazing additions, Belle & Gavin!!! Only GOD!!!!!
5/9/12—DOSSIER EN ROUTE
Follow the family’s adoption journey on their blog at http://luckytolovelyla.blogspot.com/
$12687.52 is available towards the cost of my adoption!


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One more thing, not related to this post.... can I ask you to PLEASE be on your knees praying for the the Higbie family.. they are adopting a little girl with Ds named Lera, and their bio little girl with Ds was airlifted to the hospital with a life threatening case of pneumonia. She is not in a stable condition. For more info and more updates, please go here. And PLEASE PRAY!!!

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And as always... remember to go get your puzzle piece! :)

1 comment:

  1. WOW!!!! You are so AWESOME Sarah!!! This post had me crying!!! It's hard to believe this story is even true never mind that we are BLESSED to be a part of it!!! I am forever GRATEFUL for you for loving Lyla so much!!!! Forever Grateful for you friendship too!!!!

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