Happy Birthday Ivy

Yesterday was my niece Ivy's 8th birthday. She's just like me in that she loves her birthday and all the hoopla surrounding it, including presents, dinner and attention. While I normally shy away from any kind of attention except on my birthday, Ivy is sort of a drama queen all the time. But when it's your birthday it doesn't matter; when it's your birthday you call the shots and can do whatever you want.

So where did Ivy want to eat? Applebee's. And what did she want to do? Go to the Jazz game. Well, that was actually grandma's idea, but Ivy was pretty much completely cool with it. We went to the Applebee's by the arena, where Ivy was sang to by the waiters, got free ice cream, opened presents, and was the center of attention as she wore a crown from the card Em and I bought her (because she's a Princess! I took a picture...I'll post it later). And after all that was done we headed to the arena for the Jazz game.

Never mind that the Jazz are pretty much going into flames at the moment--none of that matters to an 8-year-old girl. She was just excited to be there with Daddy, JoJo and Grandma. My mom got four tickets for down low from a co-worker while Emily and I were up top. Since they were so close to the action, I told Ivy that she had a very good chance of getting on the big screen. You see, I came awfully close to getting on it during the previous game but missed it by a couple rows. But Ivy, with her crown, Boozer jersey and homemade sign that read "Go Jazz Go" and "Go Jazz Bear!", was sure to get on--they love the kids. I told her to dance and wave her sign whenever there was a timeout. And you know what, the birthday girl got on the big screen!! I could see her dancing from my seat up top, and then all of a sudden she was up there on the screen, too! It was so exciting and quite the cap for the day! Happy Birthday babe, love ya.