Way back in September 2008 when Andrew and I were in Vietnam bringing Tulliver home, we met our wonderful friends Becky and Brian (B&B) Stelmack who were also in Vietnam adopting their daughter Katie. Tully and Katie were in the same orphanage and had known each other for most of their young lives.
Vietnam, September 2008 (Kristin & Tully, Becky & Katie)
Each time we've returned to the U.S. to visit since our adoptions were finalized, we've met up with the Stelmacks, and Katie and Tully have been able to continue the friendship that began when they were wee babies. It's a sweet, loving connection, and when they're not together, Tully says things like, "I went to the beach with my friend Katie," and Katie says things like, "Tully's mumma is Kristin." They look at photos and videos of each other, and we parents talk a lot about the girls to them. It's an important connection.
Last Sunday, almost two years later after our journey to Vietnam, we met the Stelmack family in Newburyport for a day at the beach, lunch, ice cream, and some good Tully/Katie time.
As predicted, these two precocious two-year-olds were a hoot together. It was terrific.
"I'll help you."
"This is my bucket. That's your bucket."
A bit of mountain climbing. (These girls are up for anything!)
Lots of hugging going on.
"Hey, Katie, come smell these flowers...the dirt smells good, too."
"I like ice cream. How 'bout you, Tully? You like ice cream?"
"Oh yeah, I LOVE ice cream."
"...especially when I'm running around a tree."
"Try some of mine?"
"Oh, that's delicious!"
Moms & daughters. Look how our girls have grown.
Whew...we're thirsty.
And yeah, maybe a little tired.
That is *so* adorable - what a sweet connection they have and how wonderful that you are able to continue it even though you all live on different continents! Looks like a wonderful outing :-)
Posted by: PJ Kaiser | June 24, 2010 at 09:59 PM
Hey love your story - Tully and Katie are both gorgeous. Adoption is such an important part of families in modern society.
Posted by: Byron Hinterland Accommodation | June 25, 2010 at 05:25 AM
Lovely story and adorable pictures! In high school I babysat for a family with 2 daughters they adopted from China. The younger daughter was adopted when she was about 4 years old. She had a very special friend who lived about 2 hours away who had been with her in the orphanage and was adopted on the same trip. The girls used to sleep together at the orphanage, and at first had a really hard time adjusting to being apart. They each had a framed photo of each other next to their beds to say goodnight to. I remember their mother saying how glad she was that they had each other (and would as they grew older) but also how glad she was to have another mother in her situation.
Posted by: Rachel_nk | June 25, 2010 at 01:47 PM
I love the story of your adoption, and this just adds more beautiful narrative. Thank you for sharing.
Casey
Posted by: Casey Freeland | June 25, 2010 at 10:22 PM
What a beautiful story (words and photos) -- I'm glad Tully has Katie as her life-long friend! Hope you continue to enjoy your time here with friends and family!
Posted by: Carla | June 26, 2010 at 09:56 AM
Hey Kristin, loved the post and pictures from our day together! Katie loved seeing Tully and still continues to talk about the day they spent together. Loved the picture of them holding hands and the hug photo came out great! I remember one observer saw the hug and said "it doesn't get any better than that".
Posted by: Brian Stelmack | June 26, 2010 at 11:15 AM