XiXi and Tia - a tale of two sisters

It has been almost 2 years since we first saw the face of our precious daughter Tia. On August 12, 2007 we were emailed her referral information which we excitedly accepted. A few days later we were able to view the entire new special needs list where we would see another little girl living at the same baby house who surprisingly looked so similar to our future daughter - with a birthday only 1 day earlier. I had a few hours of fear imagining that somehow these two little girls were actually twins and someone would take our baby from us to keep the twins together... After (unsuccessfully)trying to convince my husband that we could adopt both of the girls I emailed our agency. I was comforted by them with the fact that they didn't think the girls looked much alike, had different special needs and were found in different areas so it was unlikely they were twins. I was relieved but I still had a sense that these girls needed to stay connected somehow.
In the following days I was able to get in touch with Judy, little "XiXi"'s mom-to-be and was excited to learn they lived in a suburb that was very near where my sister lived. Someday we hoped to meet and get the girls back together.
It was a highlight of our trip to America in July when we were able to reunite these little YiWu Sisters and meet XiXi's family! It took a little while for the girls to relax with each other but by the end of the visit they were really enjoying each other as can be seen in the photos of them drawing on themselves with chalk! XiXi even said she remembered Tia :)
We had such a wonderful visit with Judy, Steve and all their children and I was amazed that immediately they felt like family! confirming the sense that these girls should stay connected . . . they are after all sisters! Happy 3rd Birthdays XiXi and Tia! May you grow up to be friends as well as sisters!