Christmas 2011!!!

 So Christmas has come and gone...kinda sad, but we enjoyed every minute.  Here we have the traditional "Nativity" play.  In case you're wondering about Kate and Eli's parts, Kate is the "star" and Eli is...a "cloud"???  Not sure about that one.  

 Chloe as Mary

 The dorkey "cloud"

 So Heather had a great idea to have a "Clara" (from the Nutcracker) outfit made for an American Girl doll as a keepsake for Chloe.  Evelyn Jensen in our ward did an outstanding job in recreating it right down the bloomers.  We were so impressed!  Chloe LOVED it...

Kate was thrilled beyond belief to find the presents that she's asked for since last January.

Eli said that all he wanted was "Zelda, Skyward Sword" game and also to have a Nintendo 64 game system with "Super Smash Bros"

Liam has been dying to have a sweet RC car and of course, another Lego set "Money Bank Transfer"

Oh Kate....so cute in her new glasses (non-perscription haha).  

Chloe is actually wearing Kate's other pair of glasses.  Kate was in the ward choir for Christmas day and wore her glasses there too-she's been wearing them to school, etc everyday since...

She is a FUNNY little girl

somebody's excited

This was a huge surprise for Eli...the full collection of "Calvin and Hobbes" comic books

Clayton and Eli both asked for robes for Christmas.  Heather and I thought it would be funny and so very cheesy to have them embroidered with their names.  They loved them...

Chloe's Nutcracker experience: The Performances!!!

As the curtain went up our hearts were beating a billion miles an hour.  We felt excited and nervous all in one.  We were SO proud of Chloe and the amazing job she did.  We were a bit surprised to see that Chloe was such a good actress in addition to being such a great ballet dancer.

Meet Clytie Adams: Music and Art Director

I'm sure all of you are familiar with the story of "The Nutcracker".  The pictures below will tell the story best:

I love this part of the ballet.  Clara puts all of the dancers to "sleep"before she leaves the stage

This was my absolute favorite part of the ballet and even though we saw the performance 6 times, this tugged our heart everytime.  

Chloe is so graceful...even when she's receiving flowers

I like that they recognized the live orchestra-they did a phenomenal job

This was the last performance and a very emotional time for many. 

One last hug from "The Nutcracker" and a new good friend.

Chloe signed autographs for a while

This hug lasted for about 10 minutes it seemed.  Chloe's heart was full of gratitude for the experience and full of sadness that it had come to an end.  

Dad and Mom flew in from Cali just to see her perform.  

We tried to capture all of the family that came but didn't quite capture everyone.  Lori and Shawn, The Roths, Peels, Fraziers, Mortensons, Cheneys, Ballous & Belnaps all came

SO proud of you Chloe...

...we will never forget