Best day ever

Yesterday was a great day. On August 29th Allison turned 8 years old and yesterday she was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Allison's best friend, Savannah came all the way up from North Carolina to be with her on her baptism day. Allison and Savannah's birthdays are only three days apart and they have been best friends since before they were even two years old.

Allison and her dad right before her baptism.

Savannah and Allison

After the baptism it was party time! She wanted a Harry Potter themed birthday party at home. I'm normally not a big fan of home birthday parties because the planning and decorating can be very stressful. I did it anyway because you only turn 8 once and I wanted our sweet girl to have her heart's desire for her party.

Since I'm an equally big fan (if not bigger) of Harry Potter as Allison, prepping for this party was really a lot of fun but also a lot of work. I was super grateful for some good friends who came and helped me make the decorations. Without them, there is no way I would have gotten everything done in time. Here are some highlights:

The first place every party guest had to visit was Olivander's wand shop. They were each blindfolded to make their  selection because, as we all know, "the wand chooses the wizard."

After picking up their wands they had to board the Hogwarts Express on platform nine and three quarters.

We recreated Honeydukes sweet shop with many wizard favorites.

Honeydukes was definitely one of the most popular attractions at the party.

Hedwig and friends were at the party too!

Guests made sure to steer clear of the dementor in the room.

Table quidditch was a big hit!

The kids had lots of fun dressing up for the photo booth.

I made this house flag banner to make it look like we were really at Hogwarts!

Wanted posters could be seen all around.

Floating candles and stars transformed our house into the great hall.

Allison enjoyed being the center of attention.

We even had a magic class with Professor Snape himself!

Everyone had a great time!

We made many great memories together yesterday with friends and family. It was a truly magical day and I felt a little sad when it was all over. Hopefully, one of my other children will request a Harry Potter party too so we can do it again.