It's been 2 years. . . remembering Mark

It has been two years since Mark passed away from this life and into heaven.  We still miss him so much.  But here are some of my favorite memories of him:

Mark and Evette flew into Jackson to surprise Aaron on his 21st birthday.

Mark and Evette visited Jackson and celebrated my birthday.  I think this was the first year we were married.

Together again in Virginia- at Jamestown- in 2006.

Mark and Aaron in Lake City in 2009.  Mark was so patient while trying to teach me to fly fish :)

This was in March 2010- we drove to Colorado to introduce Hannah to her Papa Mark and all the rest of the Gentrys.

Today I am a little teary-eyed thinking about all the love and joy that Hannah will miss out on from her Papa.  But Mark will be forever in our hearts and lives.  Hannah can now pick him out in pictures and that makes things pretty special.

Happy Birthday Robyn!

Today is my sister-in-law's birthday.  Robyn is such a kind and gentle person.  She is an encouragement to me and a role model as a mother.  She loves our family!  I can not even begin to tell you how EXCITED she was when I called her with the news: "We were going to Memphis to adopt a baby girl. . . and by the way, could we borrow all your baby stuff?!"

The day Robyn joined our family :)

Thanksgiving- with her wonderful family

I love how much Robyn loves Hannah!  I have some super wonderful aunts in my life and I am so thankful that Hannah does too.  We will just have to work on getting a picture of you two together :)

Thank you, Robyn, for everything.  I am so happy that we are family!

Life is not easy when you have to obey

Our life is not perfect, not even close.  And Hannah's life is particulary hard when she is really hungry and won't obey :(

Climbing the wall

Climbing on the retaining wall in the front yard is one of Hannah's favorite outdoor activities.  It is even better now that the flowers are blooming and she can play in the dirt :)

Jumping in puddles

Here are a few shots of Hannah jumping in the rain puddles we had a few weeks ago.  She had a blast!  I think we both had to change into dry clothes after this adventure, but it sure was fun :)

Mississippi Trip, cont.

Here are a few more pictures: Above- Mom and I put out new flowers at the Magnolia Cemetary.  We let Hannah roam around while we worked.
Below: We got to visit with Aunt Pat and Uncle Marcus for a bit- what a blessing to see them!

Just before we left on our 7 hour return trip to Texas, I asked Hannah and Daniel to give a hug and kiss and smile for the camera.  This is what I captured: 1. I missed the hug because it was so quick!  2. Hannah says "come on, Mama!" as Daniel walks away. 3. Oh- Daniel walked away to climb on a tree stump to pose for me!  Love that boy!

On Sunday, we went to church with Mimi and Papa and saw lots of friends.  Then we checked out the home where I grew up.  Hannah had fun exploring.  She even got to see Grandma Gardner's house and play on the steps.

We enjoyed an outside supper with Mimi that night.  Then Hannah explored the yard and swing.  So much fun for a little girl!

Papa brought home some french fries and a shake for us- yum!  Papa enjoyed laughing at how much Hannah loved her frosty :)

Hannah and I spent a few days in Mississippi visiting with friends and family. Here are some highlights from the first few days:

We spent the night at Mimi Jane's house on the way to Jackson. 

Playing and playing with cousins!  Malorie introduced Hannah to crowns :)

Playing outside with Chloe and "Dangle"

Hannah loved playing in Chloe's playhouse! 

A surprise birthday breakfast for me!  I had a doughnut with a candle in it.  Streamers! Singing!  And here is Hannah eating Mal's "polka dots" aka sprinkles :)  Hannah was also introduced to marshmellows on this trip.  She now goes around saying "need marshmellows."

We went down to see Mimi and Papa for a few days.  Mimi surprised me with a birthday cake- yum!

And here is Hannah showing off her empty cake plate.  I am pretty sure she asked for some more :)

More exciting pictures to come. . .

Nana's visit

Nana was here for a quick visit.  Hannah loves spending time with her Nana~ reading, singing, and most of all talking with Nana :)  Thanks for everything and for entertaining the jabber box early in the morning!

Easter 2012

Here are some pictures of all of our Easter weekend activities.  We dyed some eggs on Friday.  Hannah was really excited at first, but lost interest because we didn't let her help too much.  Did you know that Aaron had never heard of drawing on eggs with crayons before you dye them??? 

 Hannah decided that laying on the floor and rolling around with Molly was more fun than coloring eggs :)

On Saturday, we met some friends at a park for lunch.  After we ate, we tried to feed the ducks but they were not interested.  We did discover a flock of ducklings wandering around though.  Hannah was thrilled to pet one!  She has not stopped talking about the ducklings since then.

We let Hannah open her Easter basket before breakfast on Easter Sunday morning.  She was happy to find some books, a dvd, a new coloring book and a fun necklace she could wear to church.

Hannah was thrilled to discover that I was on nursery duty!  She had fun playing with her friends and some extra visitors.  None of the kids were very happy when a rainstorm started up- boom! boom! boom! goes the thunder.  Hey- the lights went out!  But only for a minute or two :)  It rained and stormed throughout the afternoon.  We went to the Smith's for lunch but the egg hunt was scrapped due to the flooded yard.  We took these pictures after nap time in the evening.

Here are some out-takes from the photo shoot.  Getting a toodler and a rabbit to cooperate at the same time is pretty hard!

And a quick trip down memory lane: our Mama/Hannah/Molly pictures from 2011 and 2010

Happy Easter from the Gentrys!