Surprising the Dad

Although his birthday is in August, when the kids realized BYU would be playing basketball in the Marriott Center during our Thanksgiving trip, they decided to give him tickets to the game for his birthday.  It's been over 25 years since we've attended a game on campus, which made it a wonderful treat.

To make it even more special, the kids decided to surprise him with dinner beforehand.  Well, actually, Dad paid for dinner, but the kids picked the restaurant, which was the real surprise.  We have good friends from Florida who moved to Utah earlier this year.  They decided to buy a pizza place in Provo, and we kept that tidbit of information a secret from Wayne.  (There are some advantages to not being on Facebook.)  When we were trying to decide where to eat before the game, Wayne suggested The Brick Oven, which is where we went for our first date.  However, the kids convinced him to try a new pizza place, Nicolitalia Pizzaria, and he was okay with that. 

As you can see, the soda and breadsticks were a hit with all ages, and the pizza was good, too.

As he placed the order, Wayne mentioned that we had come all the way from Florida to eat there, and the clerk surprised him by saying, "That's interesting.  Our owners are from Florida, too, do you know M___ & E____?"  Wayne was sure it wasn't the same people he knew, and it was fun to see his jaw drop when he realized it was!  They even came in while we were there and we had a wonderful little visit.  So, if you're ever in the mood for pizza while in Provo, you know where to go.  

Then it was off to the game.  I had forgotten how loud the place could be, but the babies didn't seem to mind.  (We covered their ears whenever the crowd got super excited.)  What a fun experience.  Thanks, kids!

BYU won - That was a nice bonus for the Birthday Boy!