Alison's Birthday

Alison turned nine on Monday, September 24th.  We started celebrating, however, the night before.  My grandparents, my sisters and their families met us at my parents house.  I brought a birthday cake and home made banana-rum ice cream (Ali's choice after smelling all the flavored extracts I had in the house).  We had a fun night visiting and playing with them.

Ali was very specific about what kind of cake she wanted.  White cake with mint frosting between layers and chocolate frosting on the outside.  It was unique.  That's for sure.

Opening presents from the extended family.  Grandma Smith gave her this awesome mask.  She got some pretty amazing stuff from her cousins and the Church's!
 

The next morning, after scripture study, we opened a few presents.  Ali wanted to drag out the gift giving for as long as possible, so she wanted to save some for later.  She brought long Red Vine licorice ropes for her class birthday treat. That's becoming a tradition, I guess.

She got some fun presents from her siblings.

That red blob is Bronson attacking the birthday girl and her new cat stuffed animal.

David was able to come home early that day, so we let Ali open another present in the afternoon.
For dinner, we had a compilation of Ali's favorite foods:  Alfredo sauce on bow noodles, cut up polish sausage, bread sticks, whole peeled raw carrots, and root beer.  It was yummy, but not totally healthy.  Thank heaven Grandma and Grandpa Smith came over because they brought a nice green salad with them.

After a brief FHE lesson, Alison opened her last couple of presents.  Two of her favorite presents were coupons from me - one for a night off of dishes duty and one for a free soak in my huge bath tub. 

The girls and their friends LOVE to play Harry Potter.  Since Halloween is coming up, it was easy to find a Hogwarts costume for her.  She was pretty excited!
 

I think Alison had a good ninth birhday.  It's hard to believe how old she's getting!