Happy Birthday to Daddy!

Last Thursday was Ian's 32nd birthday.  It was a whirlwind day, but we had a lot of fun.  Ian opened his presents before he left for work since we were going to be gone that night.  We gave him The Dark Knight Rises on bluray, a new ladderball set, a stunt kite, and a 90 minute massage.  

He went to work while I got things done at home.  Thursday also happened to be the 20th birthday party for Verite (the company Ian works for), so at 5pm our friend, Erin (Ian's boss, Steve's wife) brought her daughter Marion to babysit while Erin and I went to the Verite 20th birthday party.

The party was a success.  It was at a country club and it looked fantastic.  The new Verite reel, which Ian did a lot of work on, was playing on a screen by the cupcakes.  The food was delicious and the cupcakes were so good.  There was a photobooth, which was really fun.  But the best part was that our friends from our old ward came!  It was a blast to get to hang out with them for the evening.  I also enjoyed visiting with Ian's colleagues and their spouses.

At the end of the Verite party we packed up a few things to take back to Verite, then went there to drop them off and change our clothes.  Next up on the birthday agenda was a Jimmy Eat World show.  We got there about 10 minutes before Jimmy went on, which was perfect.  We found ourselves a little spot where we could both see and enjoyed the show.  Jimmy was great and played a lot of our favorites.  We sure love live music.  On the drive home we both talked about our top 5 shows we have seen.

We ended up doing Ian's birthday dinner and cake on Saturday night.  He requested Russian chicken for dinner and I made his favorite yellow cake with chocolate frosting for dessert.  Everyone enjoyed their cake.  I even shared some with Beck!  That night we watched Batman.

I hope Ian had a fun birthday.  I sure enjoyed the festivities!  He deserves to celebrate.  Ian works so hard and does such a great job taking care of all of us.  He is a wonderful husband and my best friend.  I am beyond grateful he was born!  Happy Birthday Babe!

Here are my Top 5 Shows in chronological order:
1. Ozma at The Glass House, CA (2000ish sometime in late high school); What Made it Great: All the awesome instruments (flute anyone?), small venue, and good friends.
2. Jimmy Eat World at the McKay Events Center, UT (2004 Junior year of college right after we got married); What Made it Great: We were right in front and got to see everything, I was with Ian (I think this was the first show we went to together since Hootie and the Blowfish doesn't count), I knew all of the music and it was all so good!
3. The Get-Up Kids at Webster Hall, NY (2005 during our NYC internship before Senior year of college, I was pregnant with Weston); What Made it Great: Really cool venue, part of their farewell tour so all the best songs, watching from the balcony, nostalgic.
4. Headlights at Kilby Court, UT (2010?); What Made it Great: Such a cool, tiny, intimate venue. Amazing music and fun instruments (accordion!).
5. Blind Pilot at Urban Lounge, UT (2012); What Made it Great: We were super into this music and knew every song, loved the Pacific Northwest vibe, lots of plaid flannel shirts, trumpet and upright bass, such a cool sound.
Honorable Mention: Something Corporate at the McKay Events Center, UT (2002 Freshman year of college); What Made it Great: They were the opening band (for Newfound Glory) so I was nice and close, they played all of my favorite songs, made me feel like I was in California again.