One Day, Nine Years Ago...

Audra was born! Okay, so this isn't a super little baby picture of her, but we didn't have a digital camera yet, back then!! 
The night before she was born we had dinner with some good friends and I knew I wasn't feeling quite right. They suggested Payton stay the night while we went to the hospital. On our way there we got stuck in a line for a SOBRIETY CHECK POINT!!! Seriously. At that point I was having contractions. When they realized where we were going, they radioed ahead and got the traffic moving through a little more quickly for us. 
Audra was born at around 2am. I couldn't sleep hardly at all that night-- just staring at the sweet little girl in my arms...

And now here she is! Already 9 years old. She hasn't lost any spunk-- in fact I'd say she's only gaining it as she gets older! 





For her 9th Birthday we invited a few friends over and had fun doing something that girls love to do:  

Crafts!!! (specifically this one)
 

This is a picture of their flower circles drying after a coat of mod podge...We had to get creative as to how we could let them dry. 

Next came the painting...

It was fun to listen in on their talk while they worked. 

And this is the end product. I was pleased with how well they turned out! 


 We ended up running out of time for the other craft ideas. I wanted to be sure we had enough time for...



 
 ...the jump rope game. The girls jumped rope 6 times holding a cup of water. The idea was to be the first team to fill up the cups I was holding.

It did not look easy-- jumping and keeping the water from splashing out! 

Next on our list was a water balloon toss / fight. 

It quickly turned into a water fight. Which was fine because the pool was the next place these girls were supposed to be!

I love how Audra's choice of friends included girls from the neighborhood, church and also school. They were a fun bunch! 

Our last game was to see how many balloons they could hold down underneath the water at one time. They decided two was doable, and three was impossible. 

And I guess what pool party would be complete without the hand stand? So here it is. Makes me want to hold my breath just looking at them!