Thriller 2025

Last night I had so much fun at Odyssey Dance Theatre's Halloween-themed dance extravaganza Thriller.  It is one my favorite Halloween traditions and, even though most of the dances are the same every year, I eagerly anticipate every one of them.  My favorites include a group of the undead cavorting in a graveyard in "Thriller" (I love this because it incorporates the choreography from Michael Jackson's iconic music video), a breakdancing mummy and his maidens in "Curse of the Mummy," misbehaving pandas at their first dance recital in "Miss Alli's Nightmare" (I love the one that slowly removes his costume and the once that sits down and refuses to dance), a Pas de Deux that goes horribly wrong in "Frankenstein & Frankenstein" (I love the inclusion of Gene Wilder's overwrought monologue about giving his creation life from Young Frankenstein), tap dancing skeletons that glow in the dark in "Dem Bones," a trio of serial killers who wield a variety of weapons in "Jason Jam" (this is a huge crowd favorite and they seemed even more deranged because they chased a victim through the aisles), scarecrows that terrorize a group of teens in a cornfield in "Children of the Corn" (I love that the cheerleaders' uniforms are from a different school every year), a coven of condemned witches seeking vengeance from beyond the grave in "Salem's Mass" (this is my favorite number), demonic dolls that come to life in "Chucky-Rama" (this features a different youth cast from various dance schools around the valley every night and they are always fantastic), acrobatic vampires stalking an unsuspecting victim in "Lost Boys," and an elaborate costume parade in "Trick or Treat" (my favorite was the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man).  There were also a few new dances and my favorite was a sexy tango in "Gomez & Morticia" (this was especially fun after seeing The Addams Family earlier in the week).  I was happy that Bubbles the Clown once again appeared in between numbers because he is hilarious (I was equally happy that Giggle Girl did not appear this year) and I laughed out loud at a new short film by Scott Winn featuring a dance-off between the wizards from Harry Potter and the vampires from Twilight judged by Gandalf ("You shall not dance!").  There was a large and enthusiastic crowd (it was at the Grand Theatre once again) and I loved cheering along with them for every number!  I highly recommend this for some Halloween fun (go here for tickets) but act quickly because there were very few empty seats last night.  It runs at the Grand Theatre through October 25 and at Tuacahn from October 28-November 1.

Note:  Every year I try to avoid eye contact with the undead who roam the aisles before the show but this did not save me last night because one of them kept sneaking up on me to hiss at me (at one point I jumped a mile out of my seat which made her laugh).  It turns out I was sitting next to her parents.

Christmas 2024

Yesterday was a lovely day!  I celebrated Christmas with my family at my sister Kristine's house and everything was planned by my nephew.  We exchanged stockings (I had Sean and Trent had me) and then we opened presents while it snowed outside (it was quite magical).  I got a quilt, sheets, and pillows for my new bed, an air fryer (which I am really excited to start using), some new shoes, and the movie Dune Part Two (which I am really excited to watch).  We were all very spoiled this year!  After opening presents we continued the tradition started by my mom of having cinnamon rolls and orange juice (this year Kristine made the cinnamon rolls and they were delicious).  In the afternoon we had a wonderful dinner of chicken cordon bleu, twice baked potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, fruit salad, and rolls.  In the evening we ate lots of treats and played Shanghai rummy, which always gets crazy (I won), then had pie.  It was such a great Christmas and I hope all of you also had a nice day with family and friends.

Gingerbread Houses 2024

Last night we had our annual gingerbread house party and we had a lot of fun!  We always buy kits and this year we got ones that were pre-built (although we had to fix a bit of damage) which saved us a lot of time.  We also always buy more candy to supplement what comes with each kit.

Our gingerbread village

Sean's house

My house

Marilyn's house

Kristine's house

We have had a lot of fun doing lots of Christmas activities with Sean this season!

Ballet West's The Nutcracker 2024

Ballet West's wonderful production of The Nutcracker is one of my favorite traditions (it just wouldn't be Christmas without it) and I was really excited to see it last night.  I love everything about this ballet and I eagerly anticipate every scene and every note from Tchaikovsky's magnificent score (it seemed to go by so quickly last night).  My favorite scenes include the party revealing the Christmas tree to Clara, Fritz, and the rest of the children because it is enchanting, the nutcracker leading a group of toy soldiers in battle against the mice because it is thrilling, and the dance of the Snow Queen and Snow King with their snowflakes because it is dazzling.  When Clara and her Nutcracker Prince reach the Land of Sweets, the Sugar Plum Fairy presents a series of divertissements for their entertainment and I always really love the Arabian dance because it is so exotic and the Russian dance because it is so athletic (it received the loudest applause last night).  However, the scene I anticipate the most is the Grand Pas de Deux between the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier because both Tchaikovsky's music and William Christensen's choreography are almost unbearably romantic (I love when she jumps into his arms and then leans all the way forward almost touching the stage).  I have to admit that I was disappointed because I specifically selected this performance in order to see Katlyn Addison and Adrian Fry in these roles and I was really looking forward to it but there was a casting change.  To be fair, Kristina Pool and Hadriel Diniz danced the roles beautifully and had great chemistry with each other but I was hoping to see my favorites and, unfortunately, I let that influence my enjoyment a bit.  I was, however, still completely caught up in the magic of the stunning sets, the opulent costumes, and the impressive special effects (the people sitting behind me gasped out loud when the nutcracker was transformed and when Clara's sled flew across the stage) and I felt like a child as I always do when watching this ballet.  It is a lovely tradition and I recommend getting a ticket for one of the performances through December 28 (go here).

Pumpkin Carving 2024

Last night we had our annual pumpkin carving party and it was a lot of fun!  I keep waiting for the day when Sean says he doesn't want to continue with these holiday traditions but I'm so happy that he wanted to carve pumpkins this year.  We all went a bit old school with our designs but my favorite one was Sean's "Pumpkin Pie."

I love this Halloween tradition!

Thriller 2024

After a one year hiatus ODT's Halloween-themed dance extravaganza Thriller is back and this news made me so happy because it is one of my favorite traditions this time of year!  I saw the show at the Grand Theatre (it moved there from Kingsbury Hall) last night and it was so much fun.  All of my favorite dances were back including a group of the undead cavorting in a graveyard in "Thriller," a breakdancing Egyptian mummy and his maidens in "Curse of the Mummy," misbehaving pandas at their first dance recital in "Miss Alli's Nightmare," a Pas de Deux that goes horribly wrong in "Frankenstein & Frankenstein," tap dancing skeletons that glow in the dark in "Dem Bones," a trio of Jasons wielding a variety of weapons in "Jason Jam" (this crowd favorite gets more elaborate every year and it was hilarious last night), scarecrows that are not what they seem in "Children of the Corn," a coven of condemned witches seeking vengeance from beyond the grave in "Salem's Mass" (this is my favorite dance), demonic dolls who come to life in "Chucky-Rama," acrobatic vampires who find an unsuspecting victim walking home alone in "Lost Boys," and a costume parade in "Trick or Treat."  Even though I have seen all of these dances over and over year after year, I still look forward to them with great anticipation and I cheer out loud (like everyone else in the audience) when they begin.  This year there were three new dances.  I really liked "Day-O," a spoof of the possession scene from Beetlejuice, and "Squid Skid," a dance competition with the same rules as Squid Game, but "Covid Cotillion," a dance featuring highly exaggerated performance protocols from the pandemic, wasn't very funny.  The artists from Aeris Aerial Arts joined the company once again and performed "Black Widow" (this was new and it was my favorite), "Full Moon," "Phantom of the Opera," and "Slytherin."  I think these numbers are so much fun to watch because I have no idea how the aerialists do what they do!  Bubbles the Clown was back performing in between numbers but, unfortunately, so was Giggle Girl (I think she is so annoying and needs new material).  There was a huge crowd last night so, if you are thinking about getting a ticket (and I recommend that you do), you need to act fast.  It runs at the Grand Theatre through October 26 and at Tuacahn Amphitheare in St. George from October 28 through November 2 (go here for tickets).

Note:  This is my usual warning to avoid making eye contact with the undead roaming around the theatre before the show.

Christmas 2023

Christmas was really lovely this year!  I was so happy that both Sean and Tashena were home and that we could spend the day together!  We woke up early to open presents with the traditional breakfast of cinnamon rolls and orange juice.  I got some new Doc Martens boots, some of my favorite perfume (which made me very happy because I was almost out of it), and physical copies of Barbie and Oppenheimer.  We all took naps in the afternoon and then had a wonderful dinner consisting of honey baked ham, cheesy potatoes, yams, stuffing, asparagus, pomegranate salad, vegetables and dip, and rolls.  After dinner we took a poinsettia to my parents' grave and then played Shanghai Rummy while eating dessert and treats.  We worried that Tashena's fiance Tucker would get overwhelmed with how crazy we get when we play cards but he ended up winning!

I hope that you had a wonderful holiday with the people you love! 

Gingerbread Houses 2023

Last night we had our traditional gingerbread house party!  Tucker joined us for the first time and he fit in really well with the craziness!

This year we got kits for a gingerbread village and the little houses were so cute.  We were all able to make several of them and Trent even joined it!

We had so much fun!

Our gingerbread village!

Pumpkin Carving 2023

Since Tashena is living in Washington and Sean is in college living in a dorm, Marilyn and I thought that we probably wouldn't be doing some of our holiday traditions this year.  Then Marilyn got a text from Sean asking when we would be carving pumpkins!  We had our annual pumpkin carving party last night while he was home for dinner (my family gets together every Sunday for dinner) and it was a lot of fun!

I am quite proud of my pumpkin this year because it actually turned out like the pattern!

I have a picture like this from every year since he was a little boy!  We'll see if he wants to do gingerbread houses for Christmas!