Allie's 13th Birthday Party

Before Allie was even born, we heard a man speak at our church about the importance of rites of passage and ceremony and most importantly, the importance of blessing our children. In some other cultures and religions, there are certain birthdays and points in a child's life when they are celebrated in a significant way, and we think that is a great thing! For our family, we decided a long time ago that when our children turned 13, we would make it very special. Among other things, we would have a Blessing Ceremony where we invited people that are very close and influential in their lives to celebrate them and bless them as they journey from childhood to adulthood. On October 31st, after much preparation to make this a very special day, we celebrated Allie and gave her a Blessing Ceremony.

~ the party favors ~

I made these to give to our guests, and we asked that when they see them, that they would remember to pray for Allie.

~ Dad & the birthday girl ~

~ Mom & the birthday girl ~

~ Allie with her brothers ~

~ the centerpieces ~

Allie told me that she loved orange daises, so I had these centerpieces made with orange & purple flowers - her favorite colors.

~ Gibbie & Poppie with the birthday girl ~

~ Jack & Corey during lunch ~

~ Happy Birthday, dear Allie ~ ~ making a wish ~ ~ my sweet Allie ~ ~ Corey blessing Allie ~

A few nights before her ceremony, Corey & I took Allie out for a special dinner and asked her to prayerfully consider some specific things. At her ceremony, we asked her if she would commit to those things. When she did, we gave her a ring to wear to always remind her of those commitments. When I was looking for a ring, I just did not find anything that I loved. Then I dawned on me, I still had the ring that my dad had given me when I was 13, so I decided to give that ring to Allie.

~ me & Allie ~

We also had a necklace made for Allie by a local jewelry designer. It has two "tags" or charms. The first one has her name inscribed on it. The second one has the word "Blessed" on one side and the date of her Blessing Ceremony on the other side. It also includes her birthstone.

The next gift that she received was something that I had been working on for many weeks. I asked people that are close to Allie or have been a big part of her life to write her letters of blessing, encouragement, advise, etc. Then, I made all of those letters... along with many, many photos from the last 13 years into a scrapbook. I hope that it will be something that she will look back on for years to come and realize how loved and supported that she is.

Cooper was excited to help during the ceremony by giving Allie her scrapbook.

Jack said a prayer for Allie at the end of her ceremony.

~ our family ~

~ Aunt Adrielle & Allie ~

~ Beau, Sassy, & Allie ~

~ Emmie, Allan, & Allie ~

~ Gibbie, Poppie, & Allie ~

~ our party guests ~