Saturday, I recorded Josh and Sommer's wedding in Mineloa. It was a gorgeous wedding, despite the morning rain. The rain cleared up - in time for the outdoor reception.

Sommer booked me a hotel room, so I wouldn't have to make a 2 hour drive home following the reception. I woke up pretty early on Sunday, drove to the church to pick up a cord I had accidentally left behind (it's not a wedding unless I forget something) and then I made the drive back home.

Later that afternoon, Cheyenne and I had a ballet date at Bass Hall.
While we were there, we met up with Amanda (She use to watch the girls for me). I won an extra pair of ballet tickets (it was a Texas Ballet Theater FB contest) and I gave her my tickets, since I already had a pair. I also won tickets to the Botanical Gardens and Japanese Garden...I kept those and plan on taking the family this summer before it gets too hot.

I'm surprised how much Cheyenne likes going to the ballet and can sit through it without getting fidgety. Typically, the show is about 2 hours long. The intermission and breaks help. She takes a pen and notepad in case she doesn't want to watch parts of the performance. This was the first time, this season, she sat and watched the majority of the show. Going to the ballet is something we look forward to doing together. I'm not sure if I mentioned it in a previous post, but I went ahead and subscribed to another season with Texas Ballet Theater, so that means we'll be going to more shows in the fall and spring. Now, I'd like to look into doing something with Dakota….some one-on-one with her. She's too young for the ballet, right now. If you have any ideas, let me know. I'll be kicking some ideas around.

After the ballet Chey and I drove to Grapevine to meet Dakota and Trey at Great Wolf Lodge! I'll write more about that in the next blog post!

Third Show This Season

This weekend, Texas Ballet Theater performed The Merry Widow at Bass Hall.

Cheyenne loves watching the ballet as much as I do. Originally, I had planned on inviting a girlfriend to this show because I didn't think Cheyenne would care to watch The Merry Widow. I was thinking it wouldn't be as interesting to her as the other shows she watched prior…Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker. When she found out I was going to ask someone else to go, she was not happy….I'm glad she expressed she wanted to join me because she's the perfect date. 

Christmas Eve

This afternoon, Cheyenne and I went to Texas Ballet Theater's The Nutcracker at Bass Performance Hall. Now, we are in the Christmas spirit. We had planned on going to Christmas eve church service, but Chey got nauseous in the car and threw up twice.


To help her tummy feel better we made cookies???? Dakota was really getting into it.

Chey will be alright, once we got home from the ballet she was feeling 90% better.
Okay, goodnight! Gotta go to bed, before Santa gets here!
Is that Chey's naughty face?

Sugar Plum Fairy Tea Party With Texas Ballet Theater

This was our second year to attend the tea party. Last year, it was called Clara's Tea Party, this year it was named Sugar Plum Fairy.

The food, decor and activities were fabulous!

The Sleeping Beauty Ballet

I took Cheyenne to watch a ballet - The Sleeping Beauty. It was Texas Ballet Theater's latest production. We loved it! Dee Dee, my old boss was working as a stage hand. She asked the cast to sign a performance book for Cheyenne. That was so nice of her to do that! Cheyenne has a ballet keepsake box, so we'll put it in there.

This year, I decided to subscribe to the Ballet, I have tickets to go to every production at Bass Performance Hall - with the exception of the Nutty Nutcracker. This will be my assigned seat for each show! Orchestra, center. I like it!

Chey and I stepped out to the lobby during every intermission.

We also enjoyed pink Tutu drinks. Mine tasted better than hers :)

Before the show, we went to the Tutus and Tiaras ballerina event. It was a party for young girls to do crafts, take pictures with ballerinas, and play before the performance started.

The performance was 3 hours long and Cheyenne did great! I'm so proud of her. She also enjoyed the show.

Photography Work for the Ballet Felt Like A Progressive Party

I love when my interest and professional work collide.

Saturday, I had an opportunity to photograph Texas Ballet Theater's Ballet Gala. In case you don't know, I'm slightly obsessed with this ballet company, so it was a real treat to photograph the gala.













The evening festivities started at 6 pm at Van Cliburn Recital Hall.
Greetings…

As soon as they walked in, I took couples or single photographs of the guests. Everyone was dressed to impress.
(in this photo) To the left is the Artistic Director of TBT, Mr. Ben Stevenson O.B.E

The floral and table decor at the dinner hall was stunning.
    
After the dinner, everyone was invited to cross the street to Bass Hall and watch the Ballet Company perform EPIC MASTERPIECES: Serenade, L, & Gloria. I joined the group and watched the show. Gloria was my favorite. So, dark, so dramatic! During intermission VIP from the gala were invited to the intermission green room for photos and cocktails. I tagged along and took a few photos in there.
When the show was over around 10 pm, the gala after-party began at McDavid Studio, located across the street from Bass Hall.
Around 10:30 pm, the Company Dancers joined the party.

They basically stole the dance floor. Everyone enjoyed it! It was so entertaining!!

What a fun event to document.

Throughout the night, everyone had an opportunity to bid at the Silent Auction.
To view all the photos from the gala, feel free to browse my professional website: 
domvideophoto.com/gala

Ben Stevenson's The Nutcracker - Our First Ballet Together

Last night, we went to the Nutcracker at Bass Performance Hall courtesy of Dee Dee! This was Cheyenne's first full lenght ballet experience!
  
I surprised her with this new dress, for the special occasion. I wasn't sure how she was going to react, since it's primarily black (She lives in a pink world!)…to my relief she loved it.

And sweet Bella was also excited. Both of the girls were good - not perfect, but overall I was impressed at how well they behaved. I told them it's important that they behave and listen to me, especially when we are out in public -- because if they do, I will take them out more often (to special events).

 
We had fantastic seats on the Orchestra floor --- seated  in the center aisle, right side. The girls are short and would've had a difficult time seeing over peoples shoulders, so we rented cushions from the hall. The girls didn't miss a thing. Trey didn't join us because he had to work.

    
          
THE BEST thing about the show was at the end of ACT I, snow fell on the entire audience. It was so magical and fun! It was a night full of wonderful memories that I will cherish forever. I'm so glad I got to experience it with Chey, my sister and niece.  

Where was Dakota?
Well, Mrs. Amanda volunteered to keep her overnight for me. I was like, WHAT? Are you SURE? But my baby...And I'LL MISS HER….
But then after thinking about it, I was really grateful and said yes, thank you. I'll see her in the morning.

Don't worry about Dakota, she got lots of attention too. Luke made sure to massage her feet and they took her out to Olive Garden for dinner. You guys, I'm so thankful for Mrs. Amanda (and every time I see Mrs. Erin, I thank her for recommending her to me). Amanda is a wonderful friend and childcare provider.
    
I'll leave you with this video: Well, I thought it was 1 video, but it seems to be some kind of playlist. I'm too lazy to figure it out so, here's a million of my YouTube videos too. Haha! Merry Christmas!