Thriller 2016

For some reason I haven't done very many Halloween-themed activities this year.  However, one Halloween tradition that I always try to uphold is seeing Odyssey Dance Theatre's production of Thriller.  I successfully avoided the undead (don't make eye contact!) as I made my way to my seat at Kingsbury Hall last Monday night and I thoroughly enjoyed the show, as I always do.  Even though I have seen this Halloween dance extravaganza more times than I can count, I always look forward to it and anticipate every single dance as the show progresses!  I love the undead cavorting in a graveyard in "Thriller," (the dramatic opening number) the break dancing mummy and his maidens in "Curse of the Mummy," the three year old pandas in "Miss Alli's Nightmare," a pas de deux gone horribly wrong in "Frankenstein & Frankenstein," tap dancing skeletons in "Dem Bones," a trio of Jasons wielding assorted weaponry in "Jason Jam," scarecrows who are not what they seam in "Children of the Corn," a group of voodoo priestesses in "Servant of the Spirits," condemned witches who return for revenge in "Salem's Mass," (my favorite number) a group of malevolent dolls in "Chucky-Rama," acrobatic vampires in "Lost Boys," and high stepping Irish lasses in "River of Blood Dance." As each number began, the audience would cheer wildly which made the experience even more fun.  It simply would not be Halloween without Thriller!  You can purchase tickets to this show, which is performed in various venues around Utah, by going here.

Note:  I also really enjoyed the films by Scott Winn which were shown in between the numbers, featuring twerking Stormtroopers, the crew from the Starship Enterprise in a dance-off, and a group of Orcs getting down.

Christmas 2015

Christmas was absolutely wonderful this year.  We awoke to lots of snow but, since I live two minutes away from my parents, I was able to get there in time to open presents.  Sean set a strict 9:00 am start time because he gets so excited he can't wait much longer than that!  Here is what the tree looked like before we started opening presents.

Santa Claus definitely came!  The white envelopes on the tree contain $50 bills.  My Dad has done this for all of us every year since I can remember.  Here we are opening presents!

Marilyn was the most excited about getting an iron!  Apparently this iron is especially made for quilting!

I got a selfie stick.  I really wanted one and everyone laughed about it but all of my officers seem to have so much fun with them.  I also got an Instax mini camera (which everyone now wants) and a silhouette cutting machine (which I am really excited to play with). However, I'm most excited about getting the Star Wars complete saga on Blu-Ray!  I feel a marathon coming soon!

The best part of Christmas is watching Sean and Tashena opening their presents!  Tashena got lots of clothes and a new phone!  She is pretty much the happiest girl in the universe and spent much of the day texting her friends!

Sean got clothes, a bean bag chair, a case for his 3DS, lots of 3DS games, and the coolest R2-D2 slippers ever!  His big present was a Robosapien robot which entertained all of us for hours!

Every year my Mom makes sweet rolls for breakfast after we open presents.  In the evening we had a delicious dinner and played Shanghai Rummy late into the night (Tashena won!).  It couldn't have been a better day!  We were all very spoiled with presents but the best part was all of us being together and continuing our many Christmas traditions!  I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

Ballet West's The Nutcracker

Seeing a performance of The Nutcracker is a cherished holiday tradition for me and I look forward to it all year. It simply wouldn't be Christmas without it.  I saw the beloved classic last night and I think I enjoyed it even more than I usually do! This year marks the 60th Anniversary (I haven't been attending for that long) of William Christensen's brilliant choreography set to the incomparable score by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky so there was definitely a degree of nostalgia as I watched all of the familiar scenes. Yet, there was also an unexpected thrill of excitement because I got to see some new interpretations (I am so used to Christopher Ruud and Christiana Bennett performing the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier, either individually or together) of some iconic roles.  The Grand Pas de Deux performed by the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier is my favorite moment in the entire ballet (I think Tchaikovsky's music for this scene is the most romantic in the entire classical cannon) and I thought Emily Adams and Rex Tilton danced it beautifully.  It gave me goosebumps!  Even though I have seen this ballet countless times, I still get caught up in the excitement of the party scene as the Christmas tree is unveiled for the children, I marvel at the transformation of the nutcracker into a handsome prince, and I take delight in the various divertissements arranged by the Sugar Plum Fairy for Clara and the prince (especially the Arabian variation and the Russian variation). It was a lovely evening made even more so by a large group of teenagers sitting near me who were absolutely enchanted by it.  If you haven't experienced this holiday tradition for yourself, I highly encourage you to do so.  Go here for tickets.  The Nutcracker runs at Capitol Theatre until Dec. 27.

Note:  This year Ballet West cast Katlyn Addison as the first African-American Sugar Plum Fairy in the organization's history. I was thrilled by this news because my niece is a dancer and she might play the Sugar Plum Fairy some day!  I wish that I could have seen her!

Gingerbread Houses 2015

Every year, usually on the Sunday before Christmas, we make gingerbread houses with Sean and Tashena.  This tradition started the year that Tashena joined our family and we always look forward to it!

Sean usually eats more frosting than he puts on his house!

A goatee often makes an appearance, as well!

Various stages of construction!  We buy kits and then use a hot glue gun to put them together because we never eat them and we like to get to the fun part, which is decorating, as soon as possible!  The kits come with candy but we always buy more!

I think Sean's goal was to cover every inch of his house with candy!  He is so much fun!

Tashena worked very diligently on her house and was the last to finish!  She used the glue gun to attach all of that coconut!

Marilyn with her house.

My house.

Sean with his house.

Tashena with her house.

The whole village.

A few more views.  I love this tradition because I love spending time with Sean and Tashena.  We laughed so hard while making these gingerbread houses and I hope they always remember the fun times we had together!  After making our houses we watched Christmas movies for the rest of the night.  Sean and Tashena have every word memorized to the movie Elf and we thought it was adorable.  Marilyn and I have every word memorized to A Christmas Story and they thought it was annoying!

Note:  Here is Tashena's first gingerbread house!