Holiday Season

It's been a fun and busy holiday season this year!

Unfortunately, we weren't able to spend Thanksgiving all together, but we all still had fun. Bret took Jace and Jordan hunting with Grandpa Webster, and our friend, Weldon Schwiegert. They had a successful trip, and filled all their tags. Jace, Jordan, and Weldon each got an elk, while Bret and Grandpa played the role of hunting guides. Bret even cooked up a turkey dinner right there at camp on Thanksgiving.

 Hailey, Jaxon and I stayed home for Thanksgiving, and had a full blown Thanksgiving dinner, which Hailey mostly made. I love that she likes to cook! Then we just hung out the rest of the weekend, went to a movie, and put up the Christmas decorations. It's so nice to just be with them and relax!

From then until now is a blur of business and activity, as Christmas time always is. Grandma and Grandpa Webster came for a few days, which was nice. On Christmas Eve we rented a duffy boat and toured around the harbor at Long Beach. We were there at the perfect time! We got there early enough to see the views, and even a few sea lions, watched the sunset, and then saw all the Christmas lights after dark. It was a really fun way to spend Christmas Eve.

U of A!

On Christmas day we did the usual... open presents and eat too much, with the addition of going to church, because it was on a Sunday this year. The ward only held sacrament meeting, and it was a really nice service. It was a good way to remember Christ. I think Christmas should always be on Sunday!

New Kinect game. It's so funny to watch people play it! It was a hit... Way to go, Santa!

The boys bought me a giant insulated mug. Is that an indication that I drink waayyy too much Diet Coke?

The next day we all went to Venice Beach to see all the crazies. We weren't disappointed. The sidewalk is lined with people selling just about anything you can imagine. And I do mean anything... :/  There was a guy a turban and roller blades, another dressed up in some kind of primitive African tribal garb and a Santa hat, and a range of others in between. And they all want you to give them money for this.... Free enterprise at its finest.

A few days later, it was Jace's birthday. 18 years old!!! What???? No..... I don't believe he's an adult. He hung out with some friends most of the day, and then we went to dinner.

Grandma and Grandpa gave Jace his birthday present early, before they had to go home.

Jace has to learn to juggle for an anatomy project at school. We thought he should add swords to his act. :)

And, finally, New Year's Eve. We took a boat out to Catalina Island for the day. We have been wanting to go there for a long time, and for Christmas Bret was given some tickets for a tour in the semi-submersible sub that takes you out to see all the sea life. We were all excited, because Catalina Island is well known for that.  Unfortunately, they cancelled the tours for the day. The sub broke down, and they weren't able to get the parts they needed from Long Beach to fix it in time. It was very foggy, so travel back and forth to the island was slow, and I'm sure many chose not to make the trip at all.

But there was still lots to see. We rented a golf cart and drove around to see the sights. It's a beautiful place! As I said, it was foggy, but sometimes it would break up and give us a gorgeous view of the "mist"-ical landscape. I have pictures, but of course they're not like the real thing!

On the boat to the island.

I hope I don't look it... but I was soooo seasick!! Ugh. So dumb to forget my seasickness patches.

Jaxon had so much fun feeding the pigeons!

Jordan had so much fun lying to the pigeons about having food.

It was a super fun day! I hope we can do it again, and use our sub tickets next time. :)