Christmas 2019 in Santa Barbara, CA!We

We decided to have Christmas in CA again this year. Unlike last year it wasn't a surprise this time. So Sunday 12/22 we loaded up in the car and drive to CA after church. We stayed at the Pacifica Suites, our fav place in Goleta CA. We spent the whole week at Refugio Beach, we went to the beach every single day! 

We would sleep in, have a big breakfast the hotel, and then pack up for a big day at the beach. We had hours and hours at the beach boogie boarding, surfing, swimming, playing in the sand etc.. Everyone was so happy and loves spending the day at the beach.
On monday we saw Derek, Manisha & Richard. We went to dinner down town at Brophy's for a big fish dinner. The food was so delicious and it was super fun to see them all. It was really nice of them to drive north to see us. 

We had fun swimming and sitting in the hot tub every single day  it was so relaxing and fun for all of us. 

The sunshine felt so good in our faces and I love being out side all day long! The beach at Refugio is the best.  It's a great beach and so pretty with grass etc.. 

On Christmas day we woke up at 9:30 am it felt so good to sleep in! The kids opened their stockings and they got a few small things and money from G & G Wall. We went to the beach, came home and sat in the hot tub, then we headed downtown for a nice dinner at Moby Dick's. We had ice cream later and then headed back to the hotel. It was a different Christmas day but it was great!  Fun, relaxing and great for us. 

Christmas 2019 at the beach was a success! The beach is definitely our happy place as a family! 

The kids all stayed warm in the ocean in their great wet suits. They wore these all day long.  I only got in my wet suit one day, because the water is too cold! But it was fun once I got in the water. 

Saturday we went Whale Watching. The boar was super fun and the day was beautiful. Unfortunately Lizzie and I got sick on the ocean and we were really sick the whole day! The trip was awful for us, and we were so ready to get off the boat! Other than that it was a fabulous day! We saw couple of whales and over 2000 Dolphins! It was incredible!  

Golden hour photos are the BEST!!!

Big breakfasts are a wonderful part of this trip. This food comes with the hotel and we love it! Taylor got bags of oranges to sell for his humanitarian trip to raise money.  We got lots of surfing pics of the kids in the ocean. 

We spent the last night at the beach all the way until the sun went totally down. we stayed until it was pitch dark and Danny and Taylor would not get out of the ocean from surfing. Emily did a full photo shoot and loved the golden hour and the cool night. 

After our trip we had a fun day at Airborne with cousins. We reorganized the whole basement and had a calm New Year's eve at home. Welcome 2020!!