We're THANKFUL for California!!

Oh how thankful Jared and I are for California! It was so nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of school and work for a week with the wonderful JONES family!! His parents treated us to an all-expenses paid trip to Oceanside (Where Jared and I went for our honeymoon) for one week of fun and excitement. They have timeshares (They can pick wherever they want to go and get so many points per year)....
So to start out our trip, we stopped in Sin City! We stayed in Las Vegas to break up the drive a little bit...the timeshare there was beautiful and had a really fun pool/jacuzzi, and of course, wonderful shopping!

When we got to Oceanside we decided to all squeeze in one car to save on gas...Chad and Bonnie volunteered to sit in the very back everywhere we went! Bless their hearts....:) I thought it was funny to see them squished back there.






Oceanside is famous for this amazing pier that stretches like 1/2 mile into the ocean. It has the cutest little 50's diner at the end where the food was so yummy! We wanted to catch the sunset, but it was a little too foggy that day...but it was still SO beautiful!


Even though it was my 4th time at Sea World in just the last 3 years, I still LOVED it!! I've seen all of the shows and can almost quote the lines, but I still laugh and watch the animals every move. They fascinate me! My favorite are the penguins and dolphins.

Jared was just so excited to see his old friend Shamu again!




Here's the gang! (Kristi was sitting right above us in this picture.) Kate was preparing to be splashed by Shamu, since we were sitting in the splash zone. It was in the 60's, not too warm, so Shamu was pretty nice and didn't splash too much...





Kate and Karson LOVED the animals, and we all had a fun time watching their reactions to everything. Kate kept saying "Woah!!!" So cute!!










Yes, they are having a staring contest and Jared didn't win! This lion was HUGE and would come right up to us....only 1 1/2 inches between me and death! (That's how I thought of it...) so amazing, but my heart beating out of my chest! This was at the Wild Animal Park in San Diego.

I volunteered for a fun Game Show at a wild animal park show where they ask animal trivia, then bring out the animal that the question was about. I didn't win...but it was awesome having a front row seat! I also got to pet the camel...and their hump is pretty hard, even though it's made of fat. (I learned so much. :) )

Somehow I offended this ape. There were hundreds of people lined up along this glass wall, but suddenly he made eye contact with me, then angrily SPRINTED over to me and proceeded to stick his rear-end in my direction for a minute or so!!! It was SO funny, but I don't know why he chose me to be mad at...

We were able to go to the beautiful San Diego temple one night...if you think it's beautiful on the outside, you should see the inside!! I have done baptisms there before, but seeing the other areas of the temple was absolutely amazing!





Thanksgiving Dinner at the timeshare!! We were able to pull off a pretty tasty dinner with just a tiny little kitchen (Bonnie did most of it, I won't lie...) . We went around the table and told what we were thankful for and after going to the zoo, sea world and the wild animal park I gained a new appreciation for animals and how fascinating they are! I am thankful for animals...


After dinner we all felt very full (understatement...) so we went for a walk down to the beach which was only a few hundred feet from the timeshare. We walked around barefoot and gathered seashells. The sun was setting....again, so pretty!

That night we played games and then watched a Christmas movie...then Jared and I got bored, so we decided to see what fun tricks our camera would do....this is what we discovered we could do:















A flashlight, a dark room and 15 second shutter speed= entertainment for hours!! We have probably 20 funny pictures :)

Our trip was amazing and we both feel so blessed to have these opportunities to make memories! My in-laws are so much fun and so fun-loving, I am so grateful for them!