A Perfect Ten

Ashley turned 10 years old! She is a Perfect Ten, okay maybe not perfect, but she is pretty close in her parents' eyes. In fact, Ashley is the kind of kid that gives parents a good name--nice, sweet, empathetic, smart and fairly obedient. Dave and I joke that because Ashley has been such an easy child, we started to think it must be because we were such good parents, but then something would always bring us back down to earth. I think the truth is that we just got lucky with Ashley! HOPEFULLY, I PRAY, PLEASE LET IT BE I can say these same things in 10 more years.

For her birthday, we skipped the party with friends and just decided to spend the whole day celebrating Ashley. In honor of her 10th birthday, these are the 10 ways we helped Ashley have a HAPPY BIRTHDAY:

1-Streamers on her door. We started from the moment she woke up to a decorated bedroom door.

2-Favorite breakfast. I made Ashley's favorite breakfast--bacon, hashbrowns, and eggs.
3. Laser Tag. Ashley invited a friend over and they played laser tag for the first time. They were very cute even if the vests and gear you have to wear were pretty heavy for them to run around in. (The low quality pictures are from my camera phone-sorry.)

4. Cosmic Bowling. After a laser tag, Ashley, her friend, and Paige played two games of cosmic bowling. No pictures for this one, it was too dark and neon.

5. Presents! After bowling, we took Ash's friend home, dad came home from work and we opened presents. Paige gave Ashley "Blendy Pens" and mom and dad gave Ashley the game "Sorry" and some new earrings.

6. A game of Sorry. We had to try the the new game out! It was very fun and it came down to the wire between Ashley and Paige, but Paige pulled ahead and won in the end. Mom was woefully behind, but I hope to do better next time!

7. Dinner at Boston Blackies. After all the games we played throughout the day, we had worked up a pretty good appetite. So off we went for an early dinner to Ashley's favorite restaurant---Boston Blackies. This places seriously has the best hamburgers, ever! Ashley ordered her fav, a bacon cheeseburger. Yep, bacon twice in one day...only on your birthday.

8. Shopping for a new bike. Following dinner, came the big event of the day. Finding a new bike. This was the big birthday present. We shopped a number of stores but finally found the one.

9. Cupcakes and ice cream. You might be thinking by now, what else could you do on someone's birthday? But a birthday isn't a birthday without cake and candles. This year, we opted for cupcakes--tie-dye cupcakes and I put Ashley and Paige to work the day before making them.

10. Scripture lesson. Just to make sure we ended the day on the right note, Ashley taught the family a church lesson that she had prepared. Her Primary teacher let's the children prepare and teach the lesson for their birthdays. Ashley studied and prepared (with help from mom) a nice lesson on trials and adversity. At the end of the day, she practiced on her family so she could be ready for Sunday. (She has since given her lesson, and I heard she was great.)

This was pretty fun-filled day, but hey you only turn 10 once.