Christmas Tradition No. 1 - The Nutcracker

One of the Christmas traditions we have enjoyed on and off throughout the years is "The Nutcracker".  These wonderful experiences were first given to us by two of our favorite people---Aunt Jane and Uncle Allen.  My dad's sister, Jane Sowards Tibbals and her wonderfully generous husband, Allen, were unable to have children of their own. So....instead of feeling sorry for themselves, they became surrogate parents to their friends' children, the neighbors' children, but mostly to their nieces and nephews and even their children.

I could write multiple blogs about the generous nature of these two beloved people and all they have done for me, personally, and for my siblings and cousins as well---the gift of time; holiday clothes for our kids; birthday parties for everybody at our favorite Chinese restaurant, The Pagoda; bakery goodies for road trips; Christmas Tree Spode; theater tickets for our birthdays; barbecues on the their balcony overlooking the Salt Lake Valley; fireworks; happy phone calls; new furniture when we couldn't afford it; and picnics up the canyons. There was more, but those can be saved for future blogs.  Our "Nutcracker tradition" started when Aunt Jane and Uncle Allen would buy tickets for all of the Salt Lake-dwelling nieces and nephews and their children to Ballet West's version of the beloved Christmas ballet.  Very often we would then go to dinner afterwards, all compliments of their generosity.

Unfortunately, we didn't get pictures of those events; at least they're not in my posession:


1980 - This is probably the first year we took our kids.  Rachel was 5 and Matt was 3 1/2.



1981 - Ballet West, again!

When we were transferred to Illinois in 1988, our trips to The Nutcracker stopped for awhile.  However, DJ and I were fortunate enough in 1994 to be sent to the Huntsman Christmas Party for the Rome Georgia plant.  On our way home, we stayed in Atlanta and attended  The Nutcracker----just the two of us.  It was wonderful, but without our kids there, some of the magic was missing.

Fast forward to 2006.  We had lived in Houston for 11+ years, 4+ years in Spring.  Rachel's family was here for Christmas, and she wanted her oldest two girls to see Houston Ballet's production of "The Nutcracker" (Anna was not yet two, so she stayed home with the "boys").  Liz was in Rexburg spending Christmas with Mark's family, but Sarah and Abby were home.  So, six of us, three generations of the girls (okay, one old lady) loaded into the "burb" and made the trip into town.  Though there were parts of Ballet West's version of the ballet that I liked better, Houston picked up the slack in other areas; the magic was back.  The girls, Becca (3) and Morgan (5) especially, were mesmerized.


In the lobby at Wortham Theater---Abby, Sarah, and I on the back row.  Morgan and Becca on the front row.

 

Rachel and her girls



Grammy just had to buy a souvenir for each of the girls.  They chose small nutcracker ornaments.



Autographs in the Green Room after the performance

 

Pictures with the ballerinas, too

In 2007, we just had to make another trip into town for the ballet.  Marinda, Dave's wife, was here for her first Christmas with our family.  Because she grew up in a small, Idaho town, pretty well isolated in a mountain valley, she hadn't had the chance to see "The Nutcracker" while she was growing up.  So, the week after Christmas, we (Marinda, Sarah, Abby, and I) had another "girls night out---a really fun night at the ballet.

Abby, Sarah, and Marinda



Intermission

Last year we had Matt's three children living with us, including 10-year-old Carmen, while Falicia dealt with some health problems in Dallas.  My sister, Livi, and I decided we needed to take our oldest granddaughters to see "The Nutcracker".  Rick decided he hadn't been for years, so he would come, too.  This night topped all the other performances!  Not only were the two girls giddy with excitement, not only did they love the trip to the gift shop before the show started, not only were that spellbound by the dancers' grace and agility; but we knew that after the show, we had an extra treat coming.  Sara Webb, one of Houston's prima ballerinas is a good friend of my niece, Brianne.  I got to know her when I would take Cade to play group at Bri's.  She told us that we could bring the girls back stage for a personal tour after she was through in the Green Room. 



Bailey Wallace (left) and Carmen outside the theater.



Carm and I waiting for the performance to begin.



My sister, Livi; her husband, Rick; and granddaughter, Bailey.



Carmen with "Clara"



Girls with a male member of the troupe



The girls with dancer who played  The Sugar Plum Fairy that night.



Carmen with Sara Webb who danced in the Arabian dance this night; she also dances the part of the Sugar Plum Fairy.



Let the tour begin.  Way back stage where they store the props.  This is what things look like on the other side of the curtain!



Sarah showing the girls where the dancers "hide" under Mother Ginger's big skirt.



Girls take a ride in the Snow Princess' sleigh.



Girls try out Clara's bed for size!

We had a wonderful time.  I'm looking forward to another enchanted evening or two in a few years with Anna, Ariana, Nicole, and Katelyn.  "The Nutcracker"---a tradition full of wonderful memories.

A Little Bit of Pre-Christmas Cheer

On Saturday, November 27th, we went back to Colmar, France to see their Christmas markets.  I don't know how many European cities have Christmas markets, but I know that lots of places in France, Germany, and Switzerland do (actually, I just looked it up and there are over 400 in Europe as a whole).  Before we leave for Texas, we decided we wanted to spend our last three weekends visiting some of them.  Adding to the Christmas cheer was the fact that it had turned cold; and on Thanksgiving day, we got our first "schnee" (snow).  It was nippy and overcast---aren't most of the weekends when we travel overcast; oh wait, aren't most days this time of year overcast!  Anyway, it felt like the Christmas seasons I knew before moving to Houston!

We got there right after noon.  I have to let you know that Europeans shut their stores down for the lunch hour---I mean hours.  It is not unusual to find a store locked up between noon and 1:30 or 2:00.  So...the streets of old town Colmar weren't too busy.  We, however, were ready for lunch so it worked out well.  Colmar has about five different sections in the old village where there are plazas or bigger intersections.  That is where they set up the markets with covered and decorated booths.  The first area we came to, looked like this:



There were Christmas trees all over town.

 

Most of the booths had lighting and/or greenery on them and were often decorated even more.  Look at the backs of these:



 Just like craft fairs or festivals in the states, the people turn out in mass.  There isn't a lot of room to maneuver between the people and the tightly arranged booths, but, hey, that just added to the charm of it all.  We weren't in a hurry except that it was a bit cold and DJ was bored (even though it was his idea to go because he could remember how cool the markets were when he was on in mission).  My husband hates to shop or anything that closely resembles it.  Anyway, I thought the whole thing was just very festive.  I get caught up in the beauty of the handwork, the creativity of the local craftsmen, the differences between how we celebrate and decorate in the states as opposed to here, the people, the language, the smells, the sounds, the excitement in the little kids eyes.  When we got too cold, we would slip into a store and browse just to thaw out.  Here was some of what was for sale in the booths:


This is what the Germans called "SCHMUCK".  It's my favorite German word so far!  I don't know if jewelry will be in my vocabulary when I come back to the states.



There was some really cool pottery - sorry, the picture doesn't catch it.  There were platters, bowls, big oval bakers and more.  For a person who loves red in their kitchen, like I do, it was a really fun booth----but alas, DJ inhibited my spending!

 

There were candles here and...



here....all sorts of candles!  Not really my style, but festive.



There were some woodsy little creatures to be found, and some more of my favorites:




 

There were several booths like this---Christmas ornaments galore!

 

This was like a miniature butcher shop.  No bacon purchases this day, but can I say the bacon we bought in Titisee was delish---more like ham, lots less fat, incredible flavor.

 

Of course, THE major food group in Europe and a major factor of smell in every grocery store or market---CHEESE or fromage as the French call it.  And some more...



Loved this artwork.






Need soap????



There were some beautiful glass trays at this booth.  Kind of wish I would have bought one.  Another best seller at this booth were glass ash trays----smoking seems to be a bit more popular in Europe than in the states.

 

I think I've seen these in the states, but they're wooden animals or apples whose mid-section is made of rings that move to create a bowl or basket shape in the middle.



A different type of luminaria---quite stunning actually.



Some really nice wooden models..



We went to three or four of the market areas, but the only thing that seemed to interest DJ were the goodies, and there were plenty of those:


Sugar high, anyone???



Not caramel apples here----they're chocolate covered!



....along with just about every other kind of fruit!



Then there was the mini-bakery...

Cookies and gingerbread men everywhere!





For all my chocoholic friends, feast your eyes on this!



But these are what lit up my husband's eyes, like a little kid in a candy store.  He'd had them on his mission.  They were the only purchase we made at the Chirstmas Markets.  I don't even know what they are called, but they are chocolate covered "balls of fluff"---not marshmallow, lighter, not as sticky, and delectable!



Back out and about.....







All the railings along the canals all through town had these planter boxes on them.



There were very festive window displays everywhere.  This bear was animated and played his violin.



Teddy bear parade!



This bear was all on his own in the window of a toy shop in his Mercedes pedal car---only in Europe!



Entertainment for the kids---Disney style!



A different kind of horse carousel!

There were sightings of Santa:

There were even reminders of what Christmas is really about.  This nativity was animated.

And just to prove that there really were light snow flurries on and off most of the time we were there...



Flowers at the flower market dusted in snow.

And that it started snowing a lot harder on the way home along the freeway...

A reminder of what winter driving is all about!

All in all it was a nice change in the scenery and the weather, and a wonderful introduction to the Christmas season (even if I didn't buy anything).  Besides I got DJ all to myself!