Audrey's 6 now!

This weekend Audrey celebrated her 6th birthday! It was a really full weekend with the MCC Sale on Friday night and Saturday...an event our family always looks forward to. This year, Randy and I helped out with the Penny Power booth on Friday night (we collected change that others had saved throughout the year that will go towards missions). We collected over $1200 in change during our 4 hour time slot! Saturday morning Randy ran the 10K race with his friend, Jaime Jacinto...and placed 3rd for his age bracket! He even made it home just in time to say "happy birthday" to Audrey as she woke up! The first thing Audrey wanted to do on her birthday? Open the package that had come from Grandma and Grandpa the day before...a horse for her Barbies to ride on. Unfortunately, the horse was supposed to whinny and even walk if you put batteries in...but we couldn't get it to work. We offered to take it back and exchange it, but Audrey refused. Grandma and Grandpa picked THIS one for me...and besides, "even broken horses need good homes" she said. So that was how her day started.
The whole family enjoyed the sale for the rest of the morning through lunch and then headed home for a rest before we had some family over for dinner. Well, Audrey's birthday dinner turned out to be quite memorable! Our power went out at 4:30 and stayed off until about 11:30 that night. So instead of making pizza, we ordered from a nearby Me 'n Ed's. Audrey opened her presents to candlelight and a battery powered lantern (thanks Uncle Mike!). And luckily, her cake was brought by Aunt Alli (a lemon cheesecake to go with the fresh strawberries Audrey requested)...so we had dessert too. Another reason it was so memorable? Audrey had some special guests for the weekend...the Wiens family!!! Actually, they drove down from Portland for the MCC Sale, and Audrey's birthday was a bonus! Violet LOVED Charlotte! She would reach out her arms and make grabbing motions with her hands to say she wanted to hold her and hug her. Charlotte wasn't quite as enthusiastic about all the love Violet wanted to give her. Audrey and Isaac loved on Charlotte all weekend as well...they just wanted to keep giving her kisses. Charlotte tolerated them without any crying. Well, back to Audrey's birthday...she had another small party on Sunday afternoon with some other little girls her age. They painted treasure boxes, ate some cake, opened some presents, and broke open a piñata...all while dressed up as princesses! Here's some photos of her with her friends. Rebekah Lee, Audrey Bergen, and Alyssa McNeely painting their treasure boxes.Lindsey McNeely with her box.Present time! And the present she hasn't stopped wearing since she got it? A pink headband/hair extensions from Audrey Nicole (a super dollar store find)!
The Belle Princess cake.
And, unfortunately, that's where our pictures end...our camera battery went dead. So we didn't get any pictures of the princess piñata getting broken open. But I did get out the video camera instead...probably a better option anyways. Every little girl, as well as Isaac and CJ Bergen, got a chance to hit the piñata. The birthday girl got one last turn again. And then Randy broke it open (it would have taken forever with just the girls hitting it). It was a lot of fun! Thanks to everyone who made Audrey's birthday so special with lots of cards, hugs, presents and prayers!!! We are so blessed to have spent 6 years with her already!