Ingrid is home!!!!!

We made it home and Ingrid is doing beautifully!!!! What joy we have with her in our home, in our country, surrounded by so many people who have fallen in love with her from the moment they heard about her.  God has blessed us beyond what we could imagine in the gift of this little girl.  Here are some pictures with stories...

The day we departed the boys slipped a piece of paper under the hotel door of Sam's room that said,

"come and swim with us one more time before we get on the plane to go home.  meet us at 12:30 at the pool." 

(They had gone swimming before with Sam and gave him a skipping swim ball to keep.  He slept with that ball each night). Sam is four years old, adopted by a wonderful woman from Tennessee.   He has one leg amputated just below the knee and his other leg has a very small foot with some fused toes.  Right now he walks using the stump on one leg and the small foot on the other leg.  He will get prosthetics when he gets home.  The boys want to follow Sam's story so we hope to stay in touch.  We are encouraging Bjorn, who says he wants to be a surgeon, to do one of his physics papers on how he would make prosthetics for Sam.  Sketch the idea, learn about the bones and muscles involved, and then figure out the physics to making it effective.  Here's a picture of the boys in the pool.  Our goal was to tire our boys out before a long plane ride home, but that goal turned into something much bigger- they fell in love with this little guy.

The first leg of the flight to Tokyo went great.  Obviously this is Kris writing again, because she could move freely throughout the plane, read a magazine, sip coffee.  Matt had Ingrid clinging to his arms, chest, legs, lips, ears, leg hairs, magazines....

In Tokyo Ingrid started to want to walk more and babble.  She wanted one person at a time to give her just one of their fingers and let her walk all over the airport.  A few times she'd stop and hug, but she was on the move.  The boys and Kris could walk with her, but she would scream if we tried to hold her too long.  Matt's arms were safe and loving to her.

 

 

The boys attempted to sleep by putting their hoodies over their heads and slump over the tray table.  Kris slept and walked and Matt held Ingrid.

How are they both sleeping?

  Finally after a long day that started in Hong Kong to Tokyo to Minneapolis we made it home!  What a homecoming!!!!

Noah waits quietly by the glass for his family

Her brothers are so happy to be home and so proud of their little sister!

Ingrid continued to cling to Matt,  She looked scared and overwhelmed. Our absolute highlight besides seeing so many family and friends was a group prayer in the airport.  Everyone gathered around our family, around little Ingrid.  We all held hands and a man we so respect, Paul, prayed for Ingrid.  It was an incredible experience.  We had just left Ingrid's home country where the name and the power of our King, our Lord, is not accepted by the government.  And here we are, gathered as a group in His name, under His power and His love, praying for His child.  Amazing, beautiful, transforming, uplifting.  The tears flowed as we held hands with a circle of people who understand and believe and know how much He loves us.  How powerful!!!!  Praise God from whom all blessings flow!  We have said this over and over but truly are in awe at how He has been in control since the beginning of Ingrid's life.  We can't wait for her to learn about her Creator and Savior and grow to love and serve Him.

The car ride home Ingrid screamed the entire 20 minutes.  She had never been in a car seat, had not slept much in the past 24 hours, did not hear her same language, nor recognized the smells, sounds, looks of all she was experiencing.  At home she did sleep and here are pictures of her over the course
of the past 3 days.  She has learned to trust and cling to Kris.  She has explored the house walking all over holding one finger of our hands.  She has looked at books, played with toys, touched the grass, played in dirt, taken baths, been sung to, kissed, and held every second we can!  Joy!!!!

Ingrid looks at balloons and checks everything out.  The first hours home she is very timid.and cries.

She is standing and starting to explore things

 

 

That was the first day.  Smiles, standing, eating, slowly trusting.

We all hold her hand with one finger as she wants to walk everywhere.  She will stop to look at us, smile, and then continue with her new "squeaky shoes" purchased in China.  They make noise with every step and she loves it.  That may drive us crazy and there is a plug we can pull to stop the squeak.  For now it is music to our ears!

A giggle, lots of smiles, scooting along the floor in an almost splits position!  She made it through the doctor apt. where they drew blood and more. She clung so tight to Kris since Matt was gone, and that started our mutual love.  So far so good with her health.  She weighs 16 pounds at 18 months, so we will push to help her gain weight. She is extremely limber so our favorite Dr. Busch told us to save money for gymnastics!  We go to the pediatric cardiologist in 2 weeks. 

What joy for us this third day home from China! 


Here are a few pictures from the first day we met Ingrid from a photographer we are asked to not name... (not for political or religious reasons.... just embarrassed?).  We just now figured out how to download his/her pictures. 

Ingrid clings tight to two figs in her hands

She looks so sad.  Shock, terrified, unsure, and so much more than we know.


The next pictures are our favorite shots from a photographer again unnamed.  We often found this photographer wandering in strange positions taking photos upside-down and we didn't understand what he/she was doing.  Scroll quickly or enjoy the unique photos.

Noah gets extra credit for bringing his history book along.  The boys take this to extreme with model poses
on the Great Wall.

Birds nest in Beijing

Keeping things small at the Forbidden City



So many pictures like this of architecture at Tienanmen Square and Forbidden City

The photographer saw details Matt and Kris never saw





View of a small courtyard in the oldest part of Beijing while lying down

Photographer noticed all the brooms throughout the city

xoxooxoxo