The Nutcracker...December 4, 2011

Another great family holiday tradition, the Nutcracker. This year we took Matt's fiancee, Holly, with us too. We are so excited to have her with us, and Taylor is excited she is getting a sister. She will tell people she is getting a new sister...a "big" sister. We decided to walk through the Davenport on the way to the Fox Theatre, so we took some pictures.


This was our first time to the Fox Theatre. It's another wonderfully restored, old, historical building.
Grandma met us there...
We got Taylor a nice cushion to sit on so she could see better...
During intermission, we had a glass of wine and grandma also got Taylor a special treat...
Here is a picture of all the little girls all dressed for the evening...
I also stood in line and filled out something to get Taylor and Holly each a little Nutcracker.
The end...
We walked through the Davenport again on our way to meet everyone for dinner at Olive Garden. This was Taylor's favorite tree.

Taylor sat by Sara and chatted with the girls, it was so cute. She also had her favorite soup, Chicken Gnocchi.

The girls took there traditional ride up and down the escalator.
On our way back to the car Taylor wanted to run across the bridge to Macy's.
Another fun holiday tradition, we look forward to many more! And, one day Holly may have a little girl to bring along with us too. We are so blessed.

The Nutcracker

After the party at the grange, Stephen, Susan, Madison, Brooklyn, and Hudson came home with us to stay the night. Matt and Holly came over for a little while as well. The kids played so well together, and so nicely in our playroom downstairs. In the morning, Ben made breakfast, then we got ready to go to the Nutcracker.

We always take lots of pictures...

Then, take even more in front of the tree at the opera house...

Taylor, Brooklyn and Madison...we loved having them at our house!

Taylor in her seat waiting for the Nutcracker to begin.

During intermission, grandma bought Taylor a chocolate cookie and a glass of wine for me.

After the ballet we took some additional pictures...

Then we walked over to the Olive Garden for dinner. Taylor was pretending to ice skate...

It is so much fun to dress up and enjoy this holiday tradition. Now that Taylor and I have been going a few years we can (at least I can) appreciate the different companies that perform. My favorite part of this years performance was the lady with the huge skirt and the 10 children/dancers who came out of it. She was so funny with all her little antics as the children were performing.

Maddie, Sharah, Jade, Mariah, Tammy, Jeanette, Cathy, Jan, Madison, Julianna, Julie, Kimberly,Kelly, Ava, Krianne, Yeo Won, Sara, Paula, Kate, Taylor, me, Susan and Brooklyn.