Thank you!

Gentry is one VERY loved little boy. He received so many packages in the mail these past few weeks. He get so excited when I put a package on the floor and let him "help" open it.

Opening his package from Grandma & Grandpap. I wonder what's inside??

"Mmmm puffs! I love these snacks!"

"Books! Mommy LOVES when I get new books." We've already read these a few times.

Checking out his present from Aunt Esther & Uncle Michael.

A VT football jersey and a VT sippy cup! We can always count on Aunt Esther & Uncle Michael to keep him stocked with VT gear :) Caleb is also very interested in what Gentry got.

On Tuesday, 3 BIG packages arrived. This is from Grampa Genge.

"Mommy, stop taking pictures and open this thing! I want to press more buttons!"

Grampa picked this out by himself. It's a big hit with Gentry. He loves to push it around the living room.

The next box had this awesome Case tractor in it. Mommy was a bit surprised that she had to put the whole thing together, but she figured it out. She didn't want Gentry to have to wait until Daddy got home from the field. This picture is cute because it looks like Gentry is checking out how it works.


He's not quite big enough to ride it so he's found other uses for it. He put the dog bowl in the seat and was pushing the tractor around the kitchen. He also likes to lift the lid to the engine and try to put things in there. Thank you so much Grandma, Grandpap, Aunt Amanda, & Uncle Jeremiah!

Gentry is trying to help Mommy put his water table together.

"Thank you Aunt Laura & Uncle Matt for my water table!"

Look at the pure joy on his face. He was so delighted!

"Look, Mom! This table came with boats!"

Gentry was so excited to be playing outside with the water table. He was also close to walking to me while I was recording. He's getting closer!

Mother's Day

Mitchell was in the field for Mother's Day, but Gentry somehow managed to get me flowers. They were so pretty and I've loved having them on the counter this past week. It puts a smile on my face every time I walk past them.

My friend Lianne and I decided to go out for Mexican together for Mother's Day. We said it was our treat from our boys (her son, Evan, is about 3 months younger than Gentry). We had a yummy dinner and of course, we each had a margarita...it was Mother's Day after all!

My beautiful flowers from "Gentry."

Mommy and Gentry after dinner at El Torito. It's impossible to catch him looking at the camera. And of course, that tongue is out :)

He's almost looking here. I just realized how tired I look in these pictures...must have been a rough 2 weeks without Mitchell!

Wild Animal Park

While Mitchell was in the field, I did my best to keep busy. Some friends and I decided to go to the Wild Animal Park in Escondido. Escondido is much further inland, so it's always at least 10 degrees warmer there than where we live. It's a good thing we didn't wait until later in the summer to go....it was HOT! It was nice to go on a weekday because it was crowded at all. It's a large park with a lot of walking. I'm sure I got some good exercise that day.


The girls we went with. The other baby, Patton, is 2 months younger than Gentry.


Gentry popping out of a hole in a tree :)

Casey and Gentry walking through the tree.

Momma elephant with her baby. I think this baby was born in April. There was another one born in February.

It's impossible to get Gentry to look at the camera...

It looks like these giraffes were looking in a mirror. This was on our Safari Tour...exciting! Gentry was NOT pleased that he was expected to sit on Mommy's lap for the 30 minute tram ride. There was a lot of squealing involved. I'm sure the other riders just loved us.

This is how Gentry felt by the end of the day. He was so incredibly tired but refused to take a nap in his stroller. At least he slept all the way home.

Gentry's First Birthday (Party)

Preparations for the party began about 3 days in advance...
I had the great idea that I would make a special cake for Gentry's 1st birthday. I decided to make a farm cake since we have stuck with this theme for the past year (his nursery, toys, etc). I baked 5 cakes (3 9x13's and 2 loaf pans) on Thursday. On Friday, my good friend Casey came over to help construct and decorate the cake. It took us about 7 or so hours to finally finish it.

Here is our masterpiece....

Yes, the whole thing is edible (minus the animals).

And again on the day of the party....

The farmyard and barn were all made from cake. The silo was sugar cookies stacked on top of each other with frosting in between. The roof of the barn is chex mix. The haystack was a mound of cake with icing on top. The road/driveway was crumbled teddy grahams. The fence was pretzels "glued" together with chocolate. All of the icing was homemade butter cream. Again, I couldn't have gone this without the help of Casey :)

We had a small get together at the house. We rented a bounce house for the kids to play in. Surprisingly, Gentry wasn't scared of it and actually liked sitting inside and bouncing with Daddy.


Reaching for Daddy.


He couldn't really bounce on his own, but he had fun crawling around.

Gentry getting ready to blow out his candle.

"Yummm this is good!"

Daddy, Gentry, and Mommy :)

After having a few bites he decided to play with the cake...

This is the face of an innocent child.

"Yay! Cake everywhere!"

He wasn't very happy once I took it away and told him it was time to clean up.

He only sat still for 2 presents, then Mommy was stuck opening them in front of everyone.

Gentry LOVES the wagon that Grammy Genge got him!

Thank you to all of our military family who came and celebrated with us. We can't wait to get to the East Coast and celebrate some more with our families.