David and Rebecca's Wedding

 

This really was an amazing day. We felt so blessed that we were able to go to the sealing in Manti and the reception in Midway.

The day of the wedding was perfect. Becca and David looked so happy and deliriously in love...exactly how it should be. It was really special for me because I love the Manti Temple. I have so many fond memories of growing up in the beautiful Sanpete Valley. It's a sacred, special place and I can't think of a better temple to get married in...except for Bountiful (where Chris and I got married:).

Also, something else that was very special was that one of my favorite seminary teachers, Brother Dennis Slack sealed them. The sealing was funny, spiritual and incredible in every way. Definitely one of the most spiritual sealings I've ever been to.

There is a picture of Becca sitting in the car waiting for Dave. We laughed hysterically at this...she was quite anxious to get the honeymoon started. :)

The reception was amazing, of course. Carl and Mary Ann's yard looked gorgeous and it was the perfect place for a beautiful garden reception.

I'm so happy for Dave and Becca...we love each one of them dearly. They are wonderful, amazing people and one day (hopefully soon:) they will have many beautiful little Shiddles (Shoff-Criddles). :)

Please Don't Die!

Dear Blog,

I was a little nervous about logging on...I didn't want to shock you into sudden death by causing a heart attack, stroke or other life threatening, death causing, phenomenon. Can you imagine if that happened??? I probably wouldn't even give you the time of day to write your obituary and then...well, I would feel completely terrible about the pain and suffering I caused you in mortal life AND in the hereafter.

All I can say is....I'm sorry and I regret not being better about blogging. I know you have serious issues with Facebook. Please do not be jealous of FB anymore. I have found that FB gives me instant gratification and you, well....you are kind of high maintenance and I don't always have the time or energy to give you the attention you need or deserve!

I have made some new goals and I will take it one blog post at a time. To show my commitment to you, I'm going to create a list of events that have happened since my last post in May of 2009.

NOTE: My plan is to make each item on the list into their own post. Some of the items don't require pictures, a long explanation or more details. Thanks for understanding...too much blogging too fast may push me over the edge.

1. May: Chris thankfully was admitted into the California Bar Association. Thanks honey for your brilliance and all of the hard work that went into your preparation and study for the bar exam. I knew that you would pass--didn't even doubt it once!


2. June: Rebecca Shoff and David Criddle were married for all time and eternity in the Manti Temple. This was such an amazing experience and I'm so grateful we were able to attend. We're so happy for both of you and I'm especially happy I get to have another Criddle-in-law!!!

3. July: My sweet little Caroline Fern turned two years old on July 1st. This for sure will have it's own post with details and pictures included!

4. July: The kids and I drove to Utah to celebrate the 24th of July in Fairview and spend time with our family there four-wheeling, rodeoing and we attended the Cook Family Reunion in Fountain Green. Chris later flew out and joined us for the Shoff Reunion. All my boys and I flew to Hawaii and stayed with Uncle Mark and Aunt Debbie. It was our first official family vacation--except for Caroline who had a vacation of her own getting to stay with Grandmas, cousins, and aunts and uncles. Believe me, she had the time of her life and so did we. Pictures soon to come!

5. August: Scotty-Wotty-Scooter-Tucker-Shoff turned four years old on August 25th. We had an amazing time celebrating at Disneyland...a birthday he'll never forget! Pictures soon to come!

6. September: School started. Hayes is in 3rd grade, Ty in 1st grade, Scott in preschool and Caroline started preschool. Pictures soon to come!

7. October: I had an amazing birthday that we spent at Disneyland with our good friends Damon and Rachel Afualo and we met up later with Heather and Bart Sadleir. NO KIDS! Words cannot express how much fun I had. I felt like a little kid. Don't get me wrong I love seeing Disneyland through my children's eyes, but I didn't get to go as a kid so I really enjoyed doing the things I wanted to do! Pictures soon to come!

8. October: Halloween was so much fun! All four of my little ghouls were all about trick-or-treating this year. Caroline was a trick-or-treating fiend! She loved it!!! Video footage and pictures soon to come!!!

The last six months have been amazing! I'm excited to finally be able to share it with you, my dear blog. Now that I've taken the first step...maybe it won't be as hard to do a better job at keeping you updated.

Love always (even though I may disappear for months at a time),

Dianne

I'm on TV Again

My adorable, sweet, funny husband sent this to me today. I laughed so hard Scotty became concerned and I caught him looking at me out of the corner of his eye with his "MY MOM HAS FINALLY LOST IT" look. I tried to show him what I was laughing at and his three and a half year old mind just couldn't wrap around what kind of comedy could be found in a news briefing....even when I would break into hysterics every time they mentioned my name!

THANK YOU my hot hubby and HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to everyone!!!

http://news.cnnbcvideo.com/?nid=aXXEzF2Gwy8ca05Qyg74WTExODYyNzc4&referred_by=15843300-paibH8x&p=moveon

We Were on Channel 8 News!

My good friend Rachel Afualo invited us to go to the beach today and who would've thought it would be our T.V. debut??? I have to say Rachel, you have an incredible T.V. presence....you were amazing! I think if you're that comfortable on camera...you could have a future in broadcasting! :) Our fame was SHORT, but they got some cute shots of the kids.....I'm just sooooo grateful I was in the background the whole time!!!! Being on the top story of the evening news in my bathing suit...is not my idea of a fun day at the beach!!! :)

One more thing....the reporter, Shawn Styles, was very friendly and even helped me carry some of my gear out to the beach. Also, he mentioned he use to live in Park City, UT.

We are on after the weather forecast, and directly after the lifeguard--if you listen closely you can hear the reporter say something about the Afualo and Shoff tribe.



http://www.cbs8.com/Global/story.asp?S=10215273#

Catching Up on 2009

We had a fun couple of days at Disneyland in January! The best part was there were NO LINES! We left Caroline home with my mom...she isn't old enough to appreciate the magic yet and she HATES her stroller!

Grandma Duck came to visit and we had a chilly, but fun day at the beach. Scotty is mad because I wouldn't let him go swimming in the freezing cold ocean so he would NOT cooperate with the photographer (me) in this photo.

Tyler turned six years old in February and we went to Lego Land to celebrate. The boys especially loved getting their driver's licenses. Every time they drive the little cars they get a license.

Caroline handed me the camera and said "CHEESE". Apparently, she wanted me to take a picture of us together because she climbed up on my lap and pointed to the camera and said "CHEESE" again. It was so funny!

Another funny thing...one afternoon, she grabbed her doll and went outside and hopped in her car like she had somewhere really important to go!











March 2nd is Dr. Seuss' birthday and he lived in San Diego so it is a BIG deal here. It was especially fun for us because we are HUGE Dr. Seuss fans at our house. We partied hard and we even made green eggs and ham for dinner. It was quite the party and the kids LOVED IT!

********BIG MOMENT********

Caroline discovered her belly button or BEBO as she calls it. She'd push it and say "BEEP BEEP" and giggle like crazy! SO FUNNY!

















A huge highlight for us was when Aunt Emily and Uncle Jake came and stayed with us the last week in March. We went to Lego Land, played at the beach and had a whole lot of fun! Tyler just happened to be studying the letter "Z" that week in school and desperately wanted to take Zachary to school for sharing (show-n-tell). We couldn't figure out a way to do that so we took a picture and he took that instead. He was so excited to tell his class all about his buddy/cousin Zachary Jacob Shoff. He keeps this picture on his dresser and always asks when Zach is coming back to visit!





In April we went to the Carlsbad flower gardens with our friends Rachel, Noah, Adam and Lilly. We had SO MUCH FUN! It was beautiful, fun and kind of windy, but thank goodness this is Southern California and plenty warm! :)






BEAUTIFUL!

Unfortunately, Scotty had preschool and missed out on this trip. We missed you little buddy!

A highlight for the kids was mining for crystals. They got some really cool ones too!

We had fun coloring and decorating Easter eggs. The Easter Bunny brought the kids boogie boards. We can't wait to go to the beach and try them out!

Tyler is Star Student!

Tyler got to be star student in his kindergarten class last week. Ms. Cannon (his teacher) said that she's never seen a little boy so excited to be her helper for the week. Hayes got to be the first star student in his class last September...so Ty has been waiting a really long time for his big week!

FYI, all of the answers on his questionnaire are totally his! I didn't write anything that he didn't tell me to write! He's very thoughtful about these kinds of things and it took us forever to fill this out because he had to ponder what each answer would be. Also, everything on his poster was specifically requested by him as well. He's a kid that knows what he wants!

We love you and we're so proud of all of the hard work you're doing as school!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TYLER!

Today is Tyler's birthday. He's has been so excited about turning six and that's all he's talked about for months!

I have to do the mushy, proud, mommy thing for a minute! I can't pass up the chance, on this special day to say a thing or two about my darling, sweet little boy! He is adorable, snuggly, funny, sweet, smart, fiesty, serious, and he's very passionate about what he likes and dislikes! He LOVES sharks! He LOVES the solar system! He LOVES legos! He LOVES his brothers and sister! He doesn't like meat! He doesn't like veggies (except raw carrots)! He doesn't like collared shirts!

Tyler has an incredible memory. He knew and read the alphabet before age two. He memorized the solar system at age three. He's continued to amaze us with the things he can memorize! He loves soccer and he just started taking piano and he claims he can do the fastest finger drills, EVER!

His current obession is sharks....and yes, he's memorized every kind of shark you can imagine....even creatures that I didn't know were in the shark family.
I love you Ty and you're such a special little boy and a blessing to our family! I've haven't met a person yet that doesn't melt when you look at them with those big, greenish-blue eyes. I'm so happy I get to be your mommy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TYLER!