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.