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!
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.
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.
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