4/20!

Ali Horton’s birthday = 4/20!

That little fact always makes me giggle –but Ali embraces it so well. I think she might actually really love it!

We have been anticipating the day that Ali turns 21 for quite awhile. Dakotah & Ali have been such

On Monday at work, the girls constantly kept bringing up Ali’s birthday!! They have been SOOO excited to celebrate this special day with her. You can’t be around those two without at least one of them mentioning her name within the first 20 minutes!! They truly adore her.

I’m not sure if I’ve ever mentioned this before but the Brackin household produces some phenomenal sweets. I would legitimately bet that I’ve gained 5+ lbs just from trying all of the delicious treats that they introduce to me. I can count less than 5 times that I have been at their house without there being something scrumptious to fill my belly with. The girls consider baking and cooking an enjoyable hobby and are so disappointed in me every time I tell them that I’m not very skilled in the kitchen. [eh, you can’t win em all!]

So naturally for Ali’s big day, we had to prepare something in the kitchen for her.

Monday night the girls went to the store and bought 3 boxes of cake mix, cake tattoos, 12 containers of food coloring for the homemade frosting, the cutest cupcake wrappers and a few other things. Might I add, they purchased all that with their own money!! :)

Tuesday rolls around and we added a new class to our schedule for the semester; some may call it Home Ec. Taught by Braxie, of course!!

Every treat that comes from the Brackin household has something unique about it. Although we bought cake mix from the box – they added their own secret ingredients! We poured, mixed, sprayed, divided, timed, frosted, decorated, and tried our best to make sure these sweets would impress Ali!

I was blown away by how thoughtful the girls were being with this whole project – they wanted Ali’s favorite cake mix and made sure to use the color purple (her favorite) as much as possible. They’re cuties, huh?

After all the bowls were washed, dishes were put away, and the last group of cupcakes were being frosted - Braxie and I decided that I should come back over Wednesday morning so we could surprise her!

THE BIRTHDAY GIRL LOVED IT!!! She felt so happy & cherished – plus, anyone who doesn’t like a Brackin cupcake is crazy. They are simply divine!!!

After taking a few photos with the sweets, we fed the horses, & were off to Jimmy’s Egg for a birthday breakfast. Mayson wasn’t feeling well Wednesday morning and sadly, she wasn’t able to attend breakfast with us. We had a fantastic morning celebrating Ali’s life and making memories together.

Al,

There’s truly no way I could adequately express how much you mean to me. I am amazed at how close we’ve grown over the past 4 years and how the Lord continues to make our friendship deeper & stronger. When I was rushing you to be a Kappa, I hope and prayed you would love Kappa as much as I did. I knew it was the perfect fit for you; I just was weary of how well you’d adjust to sorority life in general. Goodness, you have surprised me!! You have been one of the biggest and most powerful leaders in Kappa the past two years and you are excellent at what you do. The way you think, act, and handle every situation is nothing short of astonishing. I commend you for how well you balance your insanely hectic lifestyle. Although the way you organize your life seems like a complete MESS to me – you always have your act together. I love you for countless reasons, but I love you for being such an encouraging, loving, and supportive friend to me. I could never say “thank you” enough. You truly deserve to have the best 21^st birthday in the world. I hope you’ve felt the depth of how much your friends and family appreciate you. You, birthday girl, are my super star!!!! :)