Alison Turned 11

Somehow, I still see Alison as a little girl!

Man!  She was the cutest little girl on the planet!

Now that cute little girl is a young woman.  She turned 11 years old on September 24th.  In true Alison form, she had pre-planned every detail (in her home-made birthday planner) from when to open presents to what to eat at every meal.  She even made thank you cards in advance.  Love her!

My parents came over the day before her birthday to give her a present because my mom works in the temple every Wednesday, so they couldn't join us on her actual birthday.   That worked out GREAT because they gave her a cat shirt and some cat socks - she was able to wear them to school on her birthday!  She was thrilled.  And, of course, she handed them a pre-made thank you card immediately.

On her actual birthday, we opened presents in the morning, after scripture study.  Then, we had egg-ham-and-cheese breakfast sandwiches.  Yummy!  School was just a regular old day for her.  Except she was wearing new clothes and she had a "Lunchable" and chocolate pudding in her lunch box instead of a boring lunch.  In sixth grade, no one really does the "class treats" thing anymore.  She was pretty upset that she had to do homework - even on her birthday, but such is the life of a sixth grader.  She got even MORE upset when she stepped in doggie doo-doo after school.  I volunteered to clean her shoes for her.  Happy Birthday, Ali.

Alison got four or five books, among other things.  She loves to read!

Quinton supervised.

For dinner, she REALLY wanted to go to Pizza Pie Cafe.  We don't want to start the tradition of taking the whole family out to eat for every birthday, but it was important enough to Al that we did it this time.  Pizza Pie Cafe originated in Rexburg.  We've been eating there since it was called Craigo's and was located in a little building right next to campus.  It's a huge part of Alison's memories from her happy childhood.   She loves that place!  Never mind the fact that you want to DIE for a week after eating there!  We ate until we were all sufficiently stuffed, then went home for birthday cake.  None of us were hungry AT ALL, but you have to at least blow out the candles, right?  So we had a little cake lighting ceremony, and sang to the birthday girl.  Then we nibbled on a little cake before rolling off to bed.

Blurry cell phone picture, but it captures a great moment.  Alison is lying down on the bench, trying to digest, Josh is still stuffing the food in - he eats more than any of the rest of us!  Bronson is looking over the booth at the table next to us, and I am trying to keep Quinton from screaming his head off.  Nicki isn't pictured because she's getting her third slice of dessert pizza.

We sure do love Alison around here!  As much as I miss my little baby, I've had a wonderful time becoming friends with the young woman in our house.  She's a very happy, content, thoughtful, energetic, quirky little lady and we're glad she's part of our family!