Reid's 2nd baseball season

 

 

 

 

The Great Race of Life"

Trevor and I had the opportunity to prepare and train for a memorial run in memory of his sister, Ginger. Last year, just two months before she passed away, Ging ran in the same race. This is what she said in her blog about the race, "I wanted to have a goal for the 5K, so here's mine: I want to finish in 30 minutes or less. I'm not even sure that is realistic, but that's an average of 10 minutes per mile. Surely I can do that, right? thinking positive thoughts....wish me luck.." Her finish time was 29:59.55

Trevor's brother Jason wrote this after Ginger had passed away: "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."



This is a picture of all of the friends and family that ran in the race in honor of Ging. Our shirts all had Happiness... written on the front. That was the title of Ginger's last blog entry the night before she died.

"We are part of something amazing! Enjoy the memories!"(g.d.c.)

That is a quote from my sister-in-law, Ginger Dee Clinton. Ginger and Wendy put together a very special picture book for the whole family in 2007. That quote was on the inside cover.
I am part of something amazing. I could not have asked for a more amazing family to have married into. What a blessing it is to be a "Zierenberg". I will forever be grateful to Ginger for teaching all of us how lucky we are to be a part of this family. I can't wait til our whole family is reunited again.
The picture is of some of the family the night before our 5K run in The Great Race of Agoura.

Lilia THE MODEL

One night Lily decided that it was time for her very first solo photo shoot. She was hilarious as she posed for these pictures. She was eating the camera up.

Happy 9th Birthday Maddi! We love you.

We had a family party for Maddi's birthday this year.

I am so lucky to have Maddi in our family. She is a special girl. She looks so much like I did when I was her age. She even loves to be with adults like I did when I was young. She has blessed and touched all of our lives. Her smile is infectious and she is always happy.

Our Valentine's Day trip to the snow

Lilia's 1st birthday party

Our tradition is to let our kids have their own birthday cake to dig into when they turn 1. The expectation is that the child will just go wild and start stuffing their face. That has yet to happen at our house. I remember with Ali I had made a chocolate cake and she thought it was dirt. Anyone who knew Ali at that age, knew that she did not like to get dirty. She started to scream and tried to shake off the cake. So, one of the children in attendance (Brooklyn Benson) ate the cake for her.

This time I made the mistake of covering Lily's cake with sprinkles. So, she spent about 10 minutes just trying to pick off and eat every sprinkle.


Her brother and sisters were more than happy to help her eat her cake.

"My Goal"

I am letting you all know that after a year and a half break, I am back on the workout wagon. Hip, Hip Hooray! Nothing is going to stop me now. I had to include these two pictures because they are the only ones that show the smallest I have ever been. I know that size doesn't matter, but feeling good does. I was on top of the world in these pictures. I was working out 3-4 times a week and I felt great.

I have been meaning to start working out since I had Lilia (she is a year old now). I just kept having excuse after excuse as to why I couldn't do it.

Then, came my inspiration..........


Many family and friends of my sister-in-law Ginger are going to run "The Great Race" in her honor. This is the same race that Ginger ran in last year. Most of the family are running the 5K portion. I decided that I couldn't very well run a 5K without any training. So, I started last Tuesday at 4:30 AM. That's right, you read it right, AM. The time that I have to workout might give you all some perspective as to why I have been dreading getting back to it.
I thought that the first day after not working out for a year and a half would be pretty grueling, but I made it through. There was one point where I thought "Why am I doing this to myself? I can just stop right now and no one will know." Then I pictured Ginger cheering me on and I knew that I could go on. I am grateful for Ginger's cheering on in so many instances in all of our lives. I will run this 5K race and when I feel like I can run no more, I will remember who it is that I am running for and her strength will pull me through.

This morning was the 4th time that I have worked out and I ran two miles and walked one and I am still alive to blog about it. In an excerpt from Ginger's blog about her great race time she said, "I knew I could do it." Those words will continue to ring through my head as I train for this race. "I can do it!"

Kandrea's Interview

So, just when I was ready to quit, throw in the towel and just go to bed and leave the kids to fend for themselves while Trevor and Ali are at Mutual, I hear Kandrea answering some interview questions that my girls had prepared for her.

Heidi: "Why are the things you love about your Mom?"
Kandrea: "I love it when she cleans up my Barbies."
It's amazing how one sweet, heartfelt statement can turn my night around. I continued to listen to the interview and here are some of the highlights:

Heidi: What are your goals?
Kandrea: Red, blue and pink.

Heidi: How many kids do you want?
Kandrea: 5 daughters and 2 brothers

Maddi: When are your parents most proud of you?
Kandrea: When I clean up my Polly Dolls. When I first started singing.

Heidi: What is your least favorite part about school?
Kandrea: Recess

Heidi: What are your favorite days of the week?
Kandrea: Red, blue and pink.

Heidi: What is your favorite summer activity?
Kandrea: The Temple

Heidi: What is your favorite summer food?
Kandrea: Carrots and ranch, strawberries.

Make a Smilebox postcard

Make a Smilebox slideshow

A few of our Family Traditions

It has always been a tradition in my family to get to open one present on Christmas Eve and it is always our new pajamas. This year the kids requested robes instead of jammies. You will notice Reid and Lily are missing from the photo. Reid refuses to wear jammies and Lily was already in bed. Everyone loved their robes, except little miss Kandrea. As soon as she opened the present she ran away screaming and crying. I always love that reaction when you give someone a gift you thought they would love.

Got ribs?

This is Lilia's first taste of her mommy's ribs. She loved them. It is always funny to me to see my babies chewing on a big bone.

Merry Christmas

Every year we take the kids to Haggin Oaks here in Bakersfield. It is a really nice community that has their homes decorated to the hilt. One of the houses always has the Disney princesses and Mickey and Minnie to entertain the public. The Disney princesses and princes sing for everyone. Their house is always a favorite to visit. I just found out this year that they are members of the church. One of the young men from our ward played Mickey this year.

Gingerbread Anyone?

In case you can't read the signs, they say "We did these all by ourselves". They sure did. For those of you who know me, that is a big deal. I am somewhat of a control freak. I think I am turning over a new leaf.

Where did she get those eyes?

I wish I had eyelashes like these!

Happy 4th Birthday Kandrea

Shopping.......REALLY?

Don't I look pretty. I ended up getting the flu the night before Thanksgiving. I was up all night throwing up. It was one of the shortest, but worst flus I have ever had. Making Thanksgiving dinner the next day was the last thing I wanted to do. Luckily, Trevor and I had done most of the prep work the day before. Trevor did most of the dealing with the raw bird on Thanksgiving morning. I basically ate two to three bites of our Thanksgiving dinner.
I still don't know why I even bothered making a huge dinner. At 2:00 PM when we called all of the kids to the table for our Thanksgiving feast, let's just say they were less than grateful. Every single one of them was griping about having to eat. Hilarious. Here I thought I couldn't let my family not have a special Thanksgiving dinner and they could have cared less. At least I know Trevor enjoyed it.

Dress Up, Dress up Everywhere

So, is Kandrea a ballerina or a burger flipper? I never know what ensemble my children are going to put together when they go through our dress up box. It is fun to see all of the combinations and sizes that they come up with.