Nutcracker & Temple Lights

The beautiful lights at Temple Hill!

The Monday before Christmas, we went with my parents to see the lights at Temple Hill - it is so beautiful! We walked around for a little bit - the kids really seemed to like the lights. Then we went out for ice cream as a treat. It was a fun night and always fun to do something with the grandparents!

My cute parents!

Our goofy family picture! The Buddy doesn't like the flash, so he closes his eyes!

The beautiful creche at the Temple.

At Fenton's (anyone seen "UP"?). We all had super-yummy ice cream!

The kids all dressed up for Church the Sunday before Christmas. It was SO hard to get them to take a nice picture - this was a good as it got! Luckily they look cute!

Amy & Sandy; below: me & the Princess

Sandy, Amy, me, Auntie, my mom, Auntie Lissa & the Princess

The Saturday before Christmas, the girls in my family have a tradition of going to San Francisco to see the Nutcracker. It's my mom's treat (thanks Mom!) and it never really feels like Christmas until we've seen the performance. This year, we were joined by our friends Sandy & Amy. And since the Princess adores both of them, I thought this would be a good year for her to go for the first time.

The whole week leading up to the ballet, she & I listened to the music in the car and I would tell her about the story. She was really interested in the Mouse King! I was so excited to take her and hoped she would enjoy it and not get bored.

The day of the ballet, we got all dressed up and took BART over to the city. Once inside the theater, we went to the ballet boutique where they have the most beautiful Nutcracker-themed ornaments. We had a little snack & went to find our seats.

Soon, it was time for the curtain to go up and the Princess's eyes were glued to the stage. She sat in my lap most of the time and asked lots of questions - and loved seeing the Mouse King - it was her favorite part! When intermission came, she was worried she wouldn't get to see the rest of the show, but we assured her it would start again soon. She did great through the whole performance and the rest of the night she was dancing & twirling in her pretty dress! So now she will join the rest of the girls every year as we continue the tradition!