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