The Anderson 7!: Ingrid's First Christmas

This really isn't Ingrid's first Christmas since she was 9 months old last Christmas. But it was her first Christmas with her family and we cannot believe what JOY she brings us! It was such a busy holiday time. She did really good with the late nights and active household. There were times we knew it was just too much for her. We talked about all the changes.... the new foods and smells and trees and relatives, the presents and excitement and shopping. Here's what her Christmas season looked like:

She loved the Christmas tree

She didn't really understand it all and learn to ask "what?" with her hands

As the days went by she got closer to the tree

Then she found all the goodies!

We tried on Christmas dresses

We tried to get her to pose for a picture

But she would rather dance and jump

The jumping and twirling were so fun!

Her favorite book right now is one we sent to the oprhanage with pictures of her family. It is sweet for us to know the book arrived in China and that she could bring it home.

Ingrid made Christmas cookies

She even learned to make Spritz cookies!

Ready or not, she was told the Christmas story over and over!

She loved the sparkling lights and of course took as many ornaments off as she could!

More sugar... candy canes were a hit!
Finally it was time to get ready for Christmas Eve service. First a stop at the tree. What joy to see the wonder in a child's eyes at Christmas. We pray for little Ingrid that she will have a sense of awe at what Christmas really means. An awe at God's gift to us and an excitement for all the joy He has to offer us!

This was an ornament we received this year after attending a memorial Christmas celebration at church where we remember Ingrid's cousin Elli who died. Interesting that the glass ornament has a tag on it that says "strength". Elli went through so much in her young years and we know what a strong little one she was! Ingrid now too- she has to be strong to go through all the scary changes in her life these past few months. Perhaps we can all learn from these two young girls!

"Joy" ornament

She tried to eat the pickle glass ornament. Oh dear.
She didn't really sit through the Christmas Eve service even though her brothers were herdsmen, one gave a prayer, and there were animals wandering around. She instead paraded up and down the aisles until it was time to take her out. Perhaps it was ok that she was too busy to sit still. Even with a wiggling child, singing the Christmas carols with family and the joy of the season made Kris tear up with every song. How thankful for this gift!

At home Ingrid tries on her new boots

She has a confident stride, and is happiest with the least amount of clothes on. This bothers her brothers because they think she is so skinny.

Her other favorite thing is to lay her head on the hard floors. Target and Costco have "inviting" concrete that she puts her head down on and just smiles. She rolls over and over and is content. We are thinking that since she spent so much time in the orphanage on concrete floors (we didn't see any carpet) she is feeling quite comfortable here. A little bittersweet.

Christmas Even dinner was quite interesting trying to fondue with little Ingrid, but it is our family tradition, so we gave it a try. One of her favorite foods was Oyster Stew which seems to come out from more of the German side of Matt's and Kris' families. Since lefsa was already introduced, we thought we should also pull in some of our other family foods.