California Christmas Part One

Zac's parents spoiled us all rotten this year by renting a beach house in Oceanside, CA. It was an absolute dream! We have had several really bad inversions in Utah this winter and it was so nice to escape the yucky air and cold. We spent a whole week there and it was pretty amazing. The house was only a block away from the beach and had beautiful views of the ocean.

Our first full day there was the Saturday before Christmas. We spent the day finishing up last minute Christmas shopping and ended the day at the Oceanside Pier. The last time John was at the ocean he was only 6 months old. It was so much fun watching him discover the waves. He LOVED the waves. In fact, he wanted to crawl right into the ocean. He got so upset when we wouldn't let him sit down in the water. He would scream with excitement and stomp his feet everytime a wave came in. He cried so hard when it was time to go.

On Christmas Eve, we attended a local ward, then came back to the house, made a delicious dinner, built gingerbread houses, watched a Mormon Message about Christ's birth, got our Christmas jammies and went to bed.
It was definitely a little different waking up Christmas morning to a palm tree instead of a Christmas tree. Christmas morning is so magical no matter where you are. I loved watching the little kids open their gifts from Santa Claus. Later Christmas day we headed down to the beach, because why not! The house we rented had tons of beach toys and boogie boards. It was awesome!
This time at the beach, as soon as Dad set John down on the sand, he took off for the water. Zac thought John would stop before he got to the waves. Nope, John went head first into the water. I think the cold of water shocked him! He wasn't quite as excited about the ocean after that. Haha.