It's time to go private...

I'm going to gather all of the email addresses given to me and then send invitations. If you'd like to be invited, but aren't sure if you already sent me your email address, either leave me a comment or send me an email at [email protected].

Thanks!!

Fun in the Sun

It's been cold and rainy the last couple of weeks, so I'm posting some of the fun we had a few weeks back. It was warm and beautiful. The kids just wanted to be outside all day, and so did I. I hear it rains A LOT this time of year out here, and I love the rain, especially because everything is turning green, but I am sooooo ready for some warm sunshine.

Lindy thought she was in a photo shoot. She kept running by me and saying, "CHEESE!"

This one is my favorite. Love the wind-blown hair.

Paigey LOVED just hanging out in the grass... and eating weeds.

More on the Great Race

So I failed to mention a few things...

First of all, more than just my family ran for Ginger. I know several (anyone know how many??? or at least a guesstimate?) ran for her.... many of her friends were there. Some ran the 5k, the 10k, and the half marathon. I know Ginger's husband, Jason, ran the half marathon! You're awesome, Jase! Thank you to all of the friends who showed so much care and support to our family. You are wonderful!!

Also, the red T-shirts were designed by one of Ginger's good friends. It says, "Happiness..." which was the title of Ginger's last post on her blog (the night before she passed away). I thought it was perfect idea for the T-shirt.

Hopefully I'll be able to post some pictures of the entire "Ginger" group soon. (Mother??)

The Great Race for Ginger

I love my family. Look at them. Don't they look great?? They all participated (ran or cheered) in the Great Race yesterday. This was a race that Ginger ran in just months before she passed away. She ran the 5k, which she was super proud of herself for. Her goal was to finish in under 30 minutes, and she did it! Here are her own words from her blog. She had thought she finished in exactly 30 minutes...

.

let's get technical...

my NEW finish time is 29:59.55

yes!! under 30 minutes! I knew I could do it! :)

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Awesome.

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I wish I could have been there to run for her. Let's just say that it gets a little tricky with 3 little tykes and a husband in medical school gearing up for an intense week of exams. Instead I did a 50 minute Jillian Michaels work-out video and gave it my all. :) I would have like to run out here, but that gets tricky, too. Mostly I thought about my family out there in CA running, and I thought about Ginge. I miss her. She has forever changed my life and she inspires me every day to be a better person. I can often feel her unconditional love and her confidence in me.

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I saw this on my sister, Heidi's, blog... a comment that my brother, Jason, posted on Ginger's blog after she passed away. I loved it... it's beautiful.

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He said, "Ginge, you ran a great race and you finished at 30 (at least this leg of the race). You didn't let anyone hold you back, but you definitely helped countless others along your way. You broke the tape first in our family and we look forward to seeing you when we cross the line and giving you a huge Ginger-style victory hug on the other side of the finish line. Until then, we know you will be watching us, cheering us on."

Sooooo close to crawling...

This one's for Gramma...

I've been telling my Gramma for a long time now that I would send her pictures of mine and Clint's heirloom quilt. Clint's aunt, Lynnae, made it for us when we got married. It's beautiful and we love it!! She makes the most amazing quilts... I need to take lessons from her! Some of our family and friends made a square with marriage advice or thoughts, and then Lynnae put it all together... incredible. All of the advice and quotes are so great; Clint and I love looking at them again and again.

Here it is, Gramma...

This is the square that Ginger did for us. I love having it from her.

I love her cute bride & groom heart creation; it's so her.

This is one that Aunt Lynnae did... beautiful.

Here's yours, Gramma!! I love it! Great advice and I love the lips!

Thank you again, Aunt Lynnae!! I'm sure it took several hours... it is greatly appreciated!

Hair juice and flat n&ms

I posted this in my Simply Me blog journal, but thought I'd share it with you. Kaden is always making us laugh... just a few random things.

Kaden calls orange juice with pulp, "hair juice."

Today he asked for "flat n&m's" rather than the peanut m&m's we usually have.

Today while Lindy and Paige were taking naps, Kaden and I went outside to play baseball... he'd been asking all morning. We had a lot of fun (he's pretty good!), and when we came inside, I said, "That was fun!" And he said, "Yeah, it was... what do you say, Mom??" Of course I said, "Thank you." That must have been the right answer because he didn't hesitate to say, "You're welcome." He must have known I needed some fun playtime outside with him.

Just now as I was typing this I was trying to help Kaden and Lindy be nice to each other, but Kaden wasn't going for it. He had this scowl on his face, and he said, "look my elbows." Huh? ....I knew he actually meant eyebrows, but I waited. He said, "Look at my elbros.... eyebrows?" By this time he was smiling. Too cute.

Lately Kaden has had an extremely strong gag reflex... anything will make him want to "frow-up." If Lindy or Paige have a runny nose, I don't even have to ask him to get some tissue for me; he glady runs to get some, and says, "Mommy, please wipe their nose. I'm going to frow-up." Anything will make him feel queasy... like Paige's smashed up baby food... or changing Lindy's diaper... or watching parts of Planet Earth (worms, etc). Hopefully he outgrows this gagging thing soon; he has lost it a few times, and it's not very fun.

8 months of pure sweetness

Sometimes I just want to eat this girl. She is pure enjoyment for our family.

At 8 months:
She has one little (sharp!) tooth that she got at the beginning of February.
She is sooooo close to crawling she can hardly stand it.
She will eat pretty much anything she is offered.
She loves snuggling her blankets up to her face for naptime and bedtime... and she was sleeping through the night like a champ (what happened, Paigey-girl??)
She is chunkalicious!
She is completely in love with her big brother and big sister!
She loves to give and recieve loves.
She's loves to squeal like her big sister!
She's right-handed.
She's got Daddy (and Mommy) wrapped around her little finger.

She is so sweet and precious and she inspires me to be a better mother to her and to Kaden and Lindy. Sometimes when I am not being the nicest or most patient mommy with Kaden and Lindy, I'll look over at her looking at me as if she were saying, "Mom, it's okay" or "Mom, that's not the real you." She has this look of unconditional love in her eyes and smile that help me remember who I can be.

We love you Paigey-baby!

Bath-time for Paige

Paige loves bath-time! Usually I bathe her in the bathtub, but now that she's sitting up on her own, it's easier to bathe her in the sink. Ahhhh... no more breaking my back leaning over the bathtub.

Paigey-bunny... So cute!

Chasing Kaden and Lindy

Kaden and Lindy love being chased around the house. They were being so cute the other day, I had to grab my camera. These are my favorites... especially the one of Kaden holding Lindy's hand.

Bon appetite...

I can't believe Paige is already old enough to begin having solids. She started showing real interest when she was about 5 months old (now 7 months old). We are slowly but surely making progress with what she'll eat. She loves her baby oatmeal, and she's warming up to quite a few fruits and vegetables.

I think I'll have to invest in a bib for myself soon; she loves to spit and blow bubbles, and she thinks it's especially amusing when pears or cereal go flying all over Mommy's face and shirt.

Lindy loves to help with Paige. She's such a cute big sister. Today Clint and I saw her trying to clean the crusties out of Paige's nose with her fingers and then went to get some tissue to finish the job. Paige wasn't terribly pleased with it all, but Lindy (in her own little world) thought it was all very funny.

I love washable markers!

Lindy--caught red-handed by Daddy

Lindy's artwork

Washable markers are the best; all of it wiped right off!

Fun at Angie's

I have a great friend, Angie, who lives just down the street. Her husband is one of Clint's study buddies. They have a wonderful little family, and Cade is just a little older than Kaden. Kaden loves Cade; they get along amazingly well. It's really cute.

Angie took Kaden and Lindy for me for a couple of hours while I was able to get out and do some grocery shopping; it was a nice break for me, and the kids loved it. Angie sent me these pictures of this fun boat project they each got to do. How fun!

Lindy-girl

Kaden and Cade

I love this picture of Lindy. I just want to kiss those cheeks!

Christmas Paige

My sister, Heidi, gave this dress to Paige; it fit perfectly for Christmas-time... so I pretty much put it on her every week in December. She just looked too adorable in it.

I love this one; I can still hear her squealing.

Kaden loves squeezing those chubby cheeks...

Playing with her ruffles...

I love those chunky little legs....

A very Merry Christmas...

This was our first year being away from family for Christmas. We missed being with everyone, and especially this Christmas being the first without Ginger, it was hard to be so far away. I also knew, though, that if we were with everyone in California, it probably would have been a lot harder for me, seeing who was missing during that special family time. I definitely had my moments on Christmas Day, but it really mostly hit me on New Years Eve, which is always another special time for our family; I'll go into more detail later. With all of that being said, celebrating Christ's birth took on even more meaning for me this year, as I know it did for all of my family. What wonderful blessings are ours because of our Savior's life and His sacrifice for us.

Even though it was just us, there was no one else I'd rather be with on Christmas Day... Clint, Kaden, Lindy, and Paige. We had a very nice Christmas!!

On Christmas Eve, we got to have a nice dinner with a few families in our ward, along with a little program. It was a great night!!

Christmas Day...

Clint never ceases to amaze me. Breakfast was all ready when I woke up on Christmas morning... He made us eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, and orange juice... it was wonderful!
Opening gifts and emptying stockings. I LOVE the $1 spot at Target!! Perfect!!

Lindy got some pretty jewelry.

...messy hair, chocolate on her face, still in pajamas... yet stunning!!

Kaden got some little horses, tools, a bat... but his favorite, of course,

was the free orange shoe-horn Daddy got for him!!

Paigey-girl got some little books and had plenty of wrapping paper to play with...
Clint's family has a tradition where you have a different person to make a gift for each Christmas. We had Clara this year; we made her this magnet board. Thanks so much, Emily B. and Jen Z!!! Now I want to make one for myself! :)

Clint's sister, Kate, made us a super cute family scrapbook, and these adorable animal towels for the kids!! Thank you, Kate!!

Kaden (he's only 3 remember) took this picture for us! He's got the Zierenberg-camera-happy genes in him I guess; we thought he did a good job! Here we are with the scrapbook.

And here are the kiddies just out of the bath with their bunny, duck, and bear towels! Cute!!

We had Christmas dinner with our good friends from school, the Cox family. Angie made ham and all kinds of delicious things for dinner, as well as yummy pies (Brad made great apple pie!). We had such a nice time with them, including doing some Wii boxing!

It was a wonderful Christmas!! Just yesterday Kaden asked me if it was almost Christmastime again. :)

Catchin' up... starting with Thanksgiving!

Yikes! Life got so busy during December that I didn't even want to think about blogging. Well, that was a mistake, because I feel like I'm so far behind now! I took a break from posting, but I certainly didn't take a break from taking pictures, so hopefully I can catch back up to the here and now quickly! Here goes...

Thanksgiving...

We were able to drive up to Stafford, Virginia, to visit Clint's Uncle Dave and Aunt Lynnae, and their 3 children, Sam, Blake, and Emma. It was so nice to be able to spend a few days with them and get to know them better. They have such a wonderful family.

Thanksgiving morning, Uncle Dave took us to see D.C.! It was only about 30 minutes away from their home. It was freezing (and I mean FREEZING) outside, so we mostly just observed it all from the inside of the warm car. It was sooooo neat to be able to see all of the beautiful buildings and monuments (even from a distance). I absolutely loved it. Hopefully we'll be able to go back sometime when it's warmer and walk around and go inside all of the buildings and everything.

All of these pictures were taken from inside the car.

We did brave the cold to see the Capitol Building; it was really neat!!
And to see inside of the United States Botanic Garden (Christmas tree picture). And Clint and Kaden and Emma got out to see Einstein.
I would love to learn all of the history about each monument and place there. It was amazing, and with it being Thanksgiving Day, it reminded me of how grateful I am to live in this country, even with all of the challenges we are facing right now. It truly is a blessed land.

We had a nice Thanksgiving dinner together and with some friends of theirs. That night the whole family had fun playing an interactive guitar/band video game. I was completely entertained; I tried the guitar for about 2 minutes and then promptly gave up my dream of ever becoming a rock star. It was especially fun to see Uncle Dave and Aunt Lynnae sing these rock songs and get into it with their kids; it's no wonder their teenagers absolutely love them.



The drive to and from Stafford was so beautiful; we drove past ranch after ranch, and we were in awe over the lush green grass, the perfectly painted fences, the cozy-looking farmhouses with their nice red barns, etc... Wow!
We also drove past a few Civil War battlefields; driving past those open fields gave me a feeling I can't really describe. The only word that comes to mind is "sobering."


It was a great visit!! We're so happy that we have family who live fairly close to us! It was a wonderful and memorable Thanksgiving! Thank you Uncle Dave and Aunt Lynnae!!

64 and still good as new!!

...right? :)
Happy Birthday, Dad! We love you and miss you! Thank you for being such a great father, companion to Mom, provider, teacher, example, and Grandpa!!

I showed the kids your picture and told them that today is your birthday. Here's what they said.

"Happy Birthday, Grandpa. I love you, Grandpa." Love, Kaden

"Happy Ber-day, Gramma. (laughs) Happy Ber-day, Grandpa." Love, Lindy

Love you, Dad. Hope you have a good one! (card in the mail!)

Summer, Clint, Kaden, Lindy, and Paige

Lindy-hopper...

Guess who runs the show around our house these days? That's right. Our own little Lindy-hopper (this nickname came from the 50's (?) dance "the Lindy-hop"). She's our big two-year old...

This picture says it all!

She thought she was sooooo funny not cooperating with taking pictures. Can you tell Kaden and Paige weren't amused? :)

She's a smarty... speaking in full sentences... and always making us laugh!

Lindy's latest occupation is dressing herself... this is Kaden's shirt (inside out) and Paige's pants (also inside out).

Backward and inside out... but too cute!

Wow!!

Yes, that's right folks, she is reattached... We thought 4 or 5 months before the "baby" came would be sufficient to have her weaned from the binky. Well, when Paige came along, Lindy was super helpful at first... always giving Paige her binky, etc... then she started "jokingly" putting them in her own mouth and would laugh about it... Pretty soon she became the "binky-snatcher." Now she calls them "my binky." Yikes. To be honest, it's not a battle I have the strength to (fully) fight right now... and I am not getting rid of Paige's binkies just yet (I'm pretty attached to them myself). How do you say no to that?!

One of our favorite things about our Lindy-bindy is that she loves taking care of her babies. She is always busy with them...
For her 2nd birthday she got two babies! ... she was on cloud nine.

She is especially such a good little "mommy-in-training" with her baby sister... she adores her and always makes sure I am going to do something to help Paige if she's crying or something.

Lindy is our little "Ms. Personality" ...until we leave the house. Around people she doesn't know she is very shy and often mistaken for grumpy because she's so serious... but at home... she is so much fun and happy (most of the time)! She is a BIG tease (to all of us)... and it drives Kaden crazy; he is her main target!... BUT they're best friends; there's no doubt about that! She's also really good at sharing her toys and can be sooooo sweet and loving.

Eating a warhead...

Here she is trying to open the mother's lounge door, despite my pleading with her not to... fortunately the door was a little too heavy for her. She was having fun hanging from the door handle. Sorry about the mid-drift showing. :)


Nope, those aren't strawberries. They're tomatoes! She loves them!!

We love our little Lindy-girl!!! She is such a joy!