...that I do not want to forget!
The Nutcracker
Susie, Drew, Capri and I all had a special night out at the Capitol Theater. I had always loved going to the Nutcracker as a young girl and I couldn't wait to take my daughter. Knowing how
much Capri has loved her ballet class, I knew she was old enough to appreciate the production. I was right! She absolutely loved it...
Here we are at Grammy's house getting ready to go.
Grammy surprised Capri with these Madam Alexander Clara and Soldier dolls. She was beyond thrilled to say the least.
We first had dinner at Olive Garden and then headed over to Capitol Theater. Capri loved being one of the girls and apart of this fabulous night!
Here is my little ballerina waiting for the show!
Capri couldn't wait for the show to begin. We sat down and she was immediately in awe. She had to know everything about what was going on in the ballet. She talked through the entire thing saying, "That is my favorite dress!" or "This is my favorite song!" (she had learned about the Nutcracker Suite in school all month) or my favorites, "I can do that!" and "I can't do that, that is too hard." I was nervous at first with her chatting so much, especially because we were sitting so close, but Capri was just that excited and I don't think too many people minded!
After the ballet, Capri insisted we wait for Clara so that she could get her picture taken. I talked to one of the ushers and he said the dancers don't normally come out. A then, very tired Capri started to cry. It was as if Clara was a princess at Disneyland! Thank goodness we waited just long enough for Clara to come out. She was more than happy to take a picture with Capri and Capri had her perfect ending to a perfect night!
The next week, Roman and Capri got to go on a field trip to see the Mountain West Ballet's production of the Nutcracker. It was a selection of 6 or 7 pieces and it was so fun for them to be with their class. I asked Roman what his favorite part was and he said without hesitation, "When the big mouse with the sword was fighting the soldiers with the guns!" Same response as last year, still very much a boy.
Here they are waiting for the show to begin:
Pictures with Santa
I have to post the picture later-already put it away with the rest of the Christmas decorations-but I am happy to report that my kids did great with Santa this year. I knew Roman and Capri would be fine, but I was really worried about Karoline. I had a plan, get the twins situated and when the photographer was ready to go, just plop Karoline right down on Santa's lap. If she screamed, oh well. Surprise, surprise, she did great! She actually stayed on his lap forever as he talked to the twins and for a second picture that included my niece Isla. We couldn't believe it and were so happy with the pictures!
The kids know to put their fist in the air and say, "Go Utes!" Now, whenever they see a "U" flag or shirt, they call it a "Go Utes!" flag or shirt. It's awesome!
Some of the cute girls!
Once our tummies were stuffed, we walked over to the theater to watch the new Sherlock Holmes movie. The only thing more entertaining was Seth...
Brian and Annelise Ross:
Cheri and Cody Ford (but you probably already knew that!):
And the whole gang (minus Jenn and Seth who needed to get back to the babysitter!):
What a great night! We have so much fun with this group and I look forward to many more fabulous date nights with them!
I really do! We have become the greatest of friends and always have so much fun together. They can be goofy and slightly immature just like me-yay! We can talk for hours on end, our kids love playing together, we go to book club, we are all in the same ward, GNOs are a must, movies in the afternoon are even better, plenty of play dates that benefit the kids and us mommies are a bonus, and lots of fun date nights when we want to include the men in our lives. It just doesn't get any better than that! I am grateful for these girls and everything they do to help, support, and simply make life for me that much happier.
Katie:
Jenn:
Ashley:
And Cheri and I in an awkward family photo:
Just the girls in front of the tree-Capri was more than willing to pose for picture after picture...
I made Roman jump in for just one more (and that's all he could handle!)...
Even without worrying about going all out with the girls hair like I did the week before, we were still late for church on Christmas! Ridiculous, I know. Capri couldn't wait to put her dress on again and wanted me to take yet another picture of her at church while we were waiting in the foyer. I think she looks like a party girl from the Nutcracker...
SO EXCITED!!! Capri had asked for Cinderella's carriage and the Rapunzel Fashion Set. Roman asked for the Buzz Lightyear gun (only found at Disneyland-thank goodness Santa found a ghetto/legal? website that sells Disneyland toys!) and the Cars 2 jet.
Koko was thrilled to be apart of the action even though she didn't know what was going on!
And the boys! Notice the Nerf guns-we had 4 or 5 guns between all of the boys and they all had a great Nerf war that day!
