Christmas and Surfing

We got to spend our Christmas in Wisconsin with my family and the beginning of the New Year in Orlando at The Gathering. Here are a few pics to catch you up on our lives as of recent.

King Crab Legs. Yep. My dad actually caught these King Crabs when he was in Alaska this past summer. They're huge, and hugely yummy :). By the way, not only is my dad a great fisherman, but he's also a great cook!

Meet my family.

My sister Bethany is one of the best cosmetologists I know. Put a pair of sissors in her hand and point her toward my head and I wouldn't even question her judgment or her talent. The unfortunate thing is that she lives in TX, and thus is way out of my price range for regular hair cuts :).

This is what she did to my hair. Thanks Bethany!

We got to spend several days down in Orlando for The Gathering, a Wesleyan pastors conference. We had one afternoon off, and so Mark and I, along with Paul Kind and Brandon and Jen Bruce headed for the beach. Brandon has been surfing for awhile now, so we asked him to teach us. We were able to rent our boards and wet suits from Ron Jon's for $15. It was such a great day! Thanks Brandon for "sacrificing" a day to teach us!

Here we are headed to waves.

We used boards that were a little big for us b/c Brandon said it would be easier to catch the waves and learn. We all ended up standing on our boards riding a wave several times during out 2.5 hour stint at Cocoa Beach. It was a blast, and I can't wait to do it again!

We stayed an extra day past the conference in the Orlando area to visit Mark's grandma, who is 96 years old. She doesn't always remember who you are, but she is super sweet and fun to talk with!