Party Like It's My Birthday

Thanks so much for the birthday wishes! They made me feel VIP-ish all day.

This is really an Ode to Gary, because blogging about the nice birthday he put together should put a smile on his face, right? It started out with Gary going to work late so I could sleep in until 8:00. Best gift ever, right there! He then surprised me with flowers and breakfast from McDonalds, which I think is the ultimate gesture of love from a man.

Gary had planned to surprise me by taking me out to dinner, just the two of us. He had gotten someone to baby-sit and everything. Then my thoughtful sisters called him and asked what he had planned to do for me, and it turned into a little party at The Mayan. Since we knew the kids would love it, and there would be others there to defray the impact of bringing kids out to eat, we brought them. Good choice - it was so much fun to have everybody there. The Mayan is a theme restaurant in Salt Lake. It's decorated all Mayan-like and features cliff divers in the middle of the dining area, or as Josh would say, people "doin' jumpin' in the water jumps." Here some of us are at our table - the fence behind us keeps us from accidentally doin' a jumpin' in the water jump. (The guy on the far right is Dave's bro, Steve.)

We are displaying the happiness that comes from good food, good friends, and cliff diving. It was actually cool, and Josh was absolutely transfixed by it. It was a little scary, though - it seemed as if the margin of error for the divers was very small. One inch to the left, and major spinal trauma. After one particularly daring jump, where 3 people dove into the small pool at once, Gary said, "I can't believe this place is still in business." The cliffs and pool in question.I had to show the attendance of my friend Anna, and what better way to do it than showing her "typing" on what is labeled as a "priceless antique." How many of you vote that it really is priceless and they displayed it right there in the waiting room to the restaurant?This behavior is adorable and cute, if it is not your child. So, you can tell that it was Anna who took the picture. Now that it's a photo, I also say it is adorable and cute.Anna's husband Joe with Noah. Joe was worried that we had confused Noah by making him think it was Monday because of his bib.Last, but most certainly not least, my mom came down on Sunday to wish me happy birthday, and sparked a family gathering. Gary made sure there was lots of steak and sauces to dip them in, and he and my sister Hannah both made cakes. Fantastic since they each made a different kind, I got the best of both worlds, and I love to eat cake for breakfast. (Sick, but true.) There is no darling group photo of the event, but there is this shot of me and two cakes. It serves as proof of my mom's visit.

Bonus Josh stories: All day on my birthday he said to me, "No, it's MY birthday." Never did he concede that the birthday was not his. Also, when my family was at our house, Josh was having too much fun to eat. After everybody left and we put him to bed, he went to his door and pathetically called out, "Dad, I didn't eat steak." After about 3 minutes of hearing that again and again, Josh's dad brought him steak-in-bed.