Wednesday was Christmas Eve! Nate & I went to the beach in La Jolla and it was soooo nice! It was perfectly sunny and so nice to relax and take a nap on the beach! We got lunch at Phil's BBQ, always delicious!






Nate's family does the same Christmas Eve dinner that my family does, so that was really nice. We had ham, mashed potatoes, homemade rolls, brussel sprouts, sparkling cider and pie. Everything was delicious! We had a big group with all of Nate's family, the sister missionaries, Nate's uncle and cousins, Zane & Tasha. Afterwards we played games and then read the nativity story from the Bible. Then we each opened one present (a tradition that my family has). Nate's family was really sweet to do some of the traditions that my family does so that I would feel at home.

Christmas morning we woke up and made a big breakfast. I didn't wake Nate up at 4am this year (like last year) and actually slept in until 7. We had ham, eggs, hashbrowns, rolls, and I made my mom's hot chocolate on the stove. Then we went to a nursing home to sing carols w/ Nate's parents ward. We got there right as they had just finished.. but we visited with some people there and then headed back to open presents! Nate gave me lots of cute clothes that I had picked out :) and I gave him a drill and skill saw and some other little things. His parents gave me a gift card to a spa which I am sooo excited about!




Friday I went out for a surf at Swamis. I usually go to Pipes but it was sooo crowded I could not find any parking!! It was fun and felt sooo nice just to be paddling around and laying on my board! The water was pretty cold, but I was pretty warm in my wetsuit. After surfing, I laid out and relaxed on the beach and then grabbed some taquitos from Juanitas. Then I got to jump in the hot tub at Nate's parents' which was the best! It is really my favorite thing ever to relax in a hot tub after surfing!! Best thing ever!!!



That afternoon we went to the temple because Nicole was getting endowed! It was so nice to be able to go through a session and be there for Nicole's first time! Afterwards we got to go up in the room that Nate & I were sealed in! Afterwards we got mexican food and desserts at extraordinary desserts!!!



Saturday we mostly relaxed! Nate's mom & i went on a bike ride around the lake by there house. It felt so nice to be outside in the perfect weather! Then at night, Nate and I went on a date to Coronado Island to look at the lights at the Del. Coronado Island will always be so special to me because we went there on our first date and then 9 months later, Nate proposed on the ferry ride to Coronado! It is fun having Nate's family live in San Diego because whenever we visited, we get to go to all of the fun places we went to when we were dating!





Sunday we had breakfast and then headed back to AZ!! That is another post!!

We spent this Christmas in warm, beautiful San Diego! We were there for 7 days and were able to spend a lot of time with family and do so many fun things! Nate's brother and 2 sisters were all home, so it was fun being able to hang out with everyone! Our first night, we went to the San Diego temple to look at the lights and have hot chocolate. It was our first time being back to the temple since we were married there and was fun to reminisce on our wedding day there! I still remember being at the temple the day before I was married to be endowed. Nate and I took a picture to remember it by and I remember thinking "this is so crazy that we will be married here tomorrow!" It was such a surreal feeling! After temple lights we drove through Christmas Card Lane, a neighborhood where every house has a Disney or character theme. Nate & I had gone there when we were dating and have gone through every year since.




On Monday Ryan, Nate, & I went to L.A. to visit Nate's grandma. We had a nice visit with her and then stopped at Cafe Rio on the way back.

Tuesday we went to Disneyland and California Adventure! Nate hadn't been to Disneyland for over 10 years and neither of us had been there around Christmas time! It was so much fun and all of the decorations were amazing! My new favorite ride is Tower of Terror at California Adventure, I loved it!!! We also loved The Haunted Mansion because it was decorated with Nightmare Before Christmas decorations and was awesome!!! It was pretty crowded, so we used a lot of fast passes! One funny thing, we had been there about 4 hours and Nicole asked Ryan what his favorite ride was. Then we realized we had all only been on 2 rides so far.. haha! It was still so fun though! I somehow was the only person ever that got completely soaked on the Matterhorn! And then we went on Splash Mountain and all got soaked and freezing! It was such a fun day!


My new favorite ride!!