Holiday Highlights

We specifically planned the timing of our Home Assignment so we would still be in the States during the holidays.  We really wanted to be here with our families and it's been such a gift! 

We started Thanksgiving by creating a Thanksgiving tree - something we started as a tradition last year in Chogoria.  I was able to find this craft at the store which served our purposes well, so the boys helped me paint the tree and leaves, and then we all wrote down what we're thankful for.  We had so many things to write down that we wound up writing on both sides of the leaves!

Thanksgiving weekend was wonderful with my twin sister's family coming all the way from Oklahoma.  We are so grateful we could connect with them once more.  Lots of ping pong was played and they introduced our boys to Super Mario Kart which was a huge hit.  Cousin time is precious even though it's always far too short.

We also celebrated at my aunt and uncle's house with the whole Clark family.  As always, we enjoyed copious amounts of food and laughter, and also met the newest great-grandchild and got a kid cousin photo.  Only a couple kids were missing.  It's pretty rare to have us all together but we had a great turnout and I'm so thankful our boys have gotten reacquainted with that side of the family while being in the States.

And here's my new favorite picture of my dad!

The week after Thanksgiving we woke up to a beautiful snowfall.  We were staying at my parents' house since the furnace was broken in the other house, and I was particularly grateful because there's a lot of space to play outside there and the boys had their run of the yard and created many snowy adventures.

It was such a gorgeous morning!  The snow sparkled in the sunshine and the trees were frosted with snow and it was serenely quiet.  A perfect snow day calms the soul.

Many snow angels were made that day...

...as well as many snow goons (think Calvin and Hobbes).

Plenty of snow was eaten and plenty of "snow tattoos" were put on faces.  (Snow tattoos, a new invention of the Horn boys, occur when you shove snow on your face and it sticks there.  Who knew?)

My dad joined us for a snowball fight because every perfect snow day should include a snowball fight!

Then we went to see the horses and walk through the pasture to the back corner of the property to see the creek.  The boys made "snow bombs" to throw into the creek over and over again.  Their energy and imaginations never cease to amaze me!

Aren't horses so pretty in the snow?

My only wish is that Eli could have joined us, but he was working in Minnesota that week and missed the perfect snow day.  

One more wonder of the snow was this bush by the house.  It's a barberry bush, but I didn't know that at the time and so I christened it "the Jesus bush."  The red berries and thorns against the pure white snow just screamed "Jesus" to me.  I wrote about it in a recent newsletter, so I won't repeat it here, but it's been a memorable metaphor for me and I just love this photo I was able to capture.

We got our Christmas tree from my parents' house and the boys loved discovering ornaments we'd left behind in America and decorating the tree.  We don't have a lot of Christmas decorations, but having a real tree every year is a priority and is enough to give us the feel of Christmas.

We traveled to Minnesota to celebrate Christmas with the Horns and the boys played their hearts out.  Games, Star Wars battles, snow forts...  It was a pretty great trip all around!

We did a gingerbread village this year because the boys kept asking to.  I will admit to not wanting to do it because, well, it's a lot of work and a big mess.  But there's no easier way to do it than pre-made kits.  Batta-boom batta-bing!

My favorite things were Eli's creations: a snowman made out of tootsie rolls with a gummy scarf and Reese's hat, and a tree made out of tootsie rolls and gummies.

Christmas Eve ended with a sick kid on the couch who ended up puking on the floor, but his fever broke at midnight and the rest of the night was calm.  Everybody slept in a little bit on Christmas, which was a sort of Christmas miracle, and everybody had a wonderful morning relaxing and enjoying gifts.  It was a lovely day.

We got these water packs for the boys and I'm so excited to use them on our hikes in Chogoria.  I have a water pack that I use regularly (and which the boys always take sips from all the time), so now they have their own and they're pretty excited about it too!

It's been a busy holiday season for us, but it's been great.  We're thankful we could be here and finish the year with our families.  We'll be taking sweet memories back to Kenya with us!

Fall in a Nutshell (Part 3): Georgia and Tennessee

From Arizona we flew directly to Georgia, which was a highly anticipated visit because it meant spending time with the Hallquist crew - Eli's extended family on his mom's side.  Eli's parents even drove down from Minnesota to see us again and join the fun.

We were especially excited to see Gram (known as Gigi to the boys).  She's 94 and loves hanging out with the family and offered to make her famous stuffed cabbage for us when we came.  Time with Gram is always a good time!

The boys were so excited to go trick-or-treating with their cousins in Georgia.  Compared to last year when they were the only American kids at Chogoria and they trick-or-treated inside our house by going back and forth between the bedroom doors where Eli and I gave them candy...which, for the record, they loved... but real trick-or-treating was pretty awesome!

Eli's mom came through big time with costumes for the kids.  Caleb had decided early on that he wanted to be King Kong.  He was so intent on it that he had planned to make his own costume by wearing black clothes and drawing and cutting out a mask for himself.  I loved his creativity and contentment with a homemade costume!  But then Eli's mom found a real costume for a decent price, and it was like Christmas in October for that kid :)  She also had ninja costumes for Kai and Asa, who were quite enthralled and who enjoyed wearing the costumes for awhile before Halloween.  Kai still wore his ninja costume for trick-or-treating, but Asa discovered a dragon costume at the house in Georgia and chose to wear that for Halloween instead.  It was great!

Eli's aunt and uncle had planned a lot of fun things for us to do, which was right up our alley!  In addition to hanging out in Georgia, we spent a couple days in Chattanooga, Tennessee.  We stopped at the Tellus Museum on the way there and the boys loved seeing several dinosaur skeletons and digging for fossils.  Asa also liked the moon rock he saw there.

Chattanooga is such a beautiful and interesting city.  We'd never been there before and we loved it!  Our first stop was Ruby Falls, which is an amazing waterfall deep inside a cave.  Caves are such fascinating places and we really enjoyed walking through and seeing the cave formations and learning about the history of the place.

After that we met some of the cousins at the Chattanooga Zoo.  Gram even came along!  I tell ya, that woman is up for almost anything and we adore her for it.  And we love zoos!  This one gave us our first experience seeing a komodo dragon - one of Kai and Asa's favorite animals.  We found ourselves returning to see the komodo dragon a few times before we had to go :)

We also went to Rock City, which far exceeded our expectations.  We only knew that it was a walking trail on a rocky mountainside.  It definitely was that, but we had no idea how big it was, or how scenic it was, or how relaxing it was with the Christmas lights and meditative music playing all around us.  It was lovely.  The weather happened to be perfect and it was a great activity for all the kiddos.

Many of the tunnels and passages had names, and Aunt Lori saw an opportunity for a quick Bible lesson as we came upon "Needles Eye."  I love it when adults seize opportunities to impart Bible knowledge to children in everyday life!  That's exactly what Deuteronomy 6:6-7 talks about: "These commandments that I give you today are to be upon  your hearts.  Impress them on your children.  Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."  Talk about them when you're out and about and walking through Rock City!  Yes!

This bridge led to an overlook of Lookout Mountain.  I didn't know anything about this place before and I would love to learn more of the Civil War history some day.  The views were amazing and boasted of seeing seven states from the lookout.  I'm so glad we could go there!

Another highlight of this trip was seeing Eli's aunt and uncle from California!  They flew across the country to see us.  And that's what we love about this family - they prioritize seeing each other, and are willing to spend time and money to make sure it happens.  Gram has said many times that she is so blessed because she has such an amazing family that all get along and love spending time together and are willing to come visit her.  And she's right!  This family is amazing.

By the way, Eli's aunt and uncle are former Guinness World Record holders as the tallest living married couple in the world!  Did you notice they're both taller than Eli???  You can Google "Wayne and Laurie Hallquist" and see them with their Guinness World Record certificate.

After our time in Chattanooga we headed back to Georgia and learned how to make stuffed cabbage with Gram.  I love love love this meal!  It's a Hungarian dish and holds a special place in our heart as part of Gram's heritage.  Gram's parents came to America as Hungarian immigrants and she grew up speaking Hungarian as a child at home.  When Caleb was born and Gram visited us in Duluth to meet him, I vividly remember her holding our newborn son and singing a song to him in Hungarian.  It's one of my favorite memories with Gram.

And her stuffed cabbage is divine!  I hope we'll be able to replicate it in Kenya.  We think we can get the ingredients in country, so fingers are crossed!

And here's Gigi with the Horn boys.  I'm so thankful our kids have these memories with her.

We love every trip to Georgia!  It's guaranteed to be full of good people and good times.  What a blessing it is to be a part of the Hallquist family.