Bright star dimming and completely disappearing for minutes at a time

Bright star dimming and completely disappearing for minutes at a time
Time: 7:15pm

Location: Carmel Valley, Ca

I was going to the backyard to collect some new twigs for my mantis when I noticed a very bright star in the sky that was dimming and disappearing completely for several minutes at a time before resurfacing. It was a pretty clear night with few clouds, if any. My father in law, sister in law and husband all witnessed it also before my husband called me to come back inside. I was glued to watching this thing and would’ve been out there all night had my husband not drug my back inside. 

Is this normal star behavior? Two other people in California reported seeing the same thing on 12/24/24 on the enigma app where I posted this originally.