And the winner is...TEXAS!

Ellie & Lola (my dear pal Gina's daughter)
me and Amy:) date night with our hubbies at pf changs

our big girl!

Santa Anita race track! Too bad we didn't bet because I asked Emmaline and Brooklyn and Ben who their favorite horses were, and they picked the first, second, and third place! (my horse came in 12th)

Ben and Lola at in-n-out!

We were almost sure it was Washington.... Ben went out to TX last month and fell in love with the area, and a practice, and met some wonderful friends, and after praying about it we feel like it's where we're going! It will be so hard to be far away from family and our dear frineds here. Luckily we'll be just North of Dallas, about an hour from the airport so we can visit often. Plus house prices there are AWESOME so we'll get one with room for visitors.

Speaking of visitors, we had a great time seeing my cousin Shane and his sweet little family! They came to Disneyland and we got to go out to dinner with them. My kids asked about their cousins for days!

Ben has completed all of his requirements and has the dancing congratulations sign on his USC page to prove it. Has anyone seen that? funny! Anyway, Emmaline lost her first tooth! And then her second. Grandma and Grandpa Duffin came out to visit and we had such a nice time. Emmaline wanted Grandpa to pull out her tooth, I highly recommended him as being able to pull out teeth practically painlessly. Ben applied topical anesthetic (I know, we are totally spoiling her) and Dr. Duffin pulled it! So funny because (and I am sure all of my Duffin cousins will back me up) usually Grandpa is so eager to pull baby teeth that you really didn't want to let him wiggle yours, it ALWAYS ended up in his hand. But this time Emmaline had to beg him! I think some grandkids after me must have put up quite a fuss (I think it was Anna) and he didn't want to be the bad-guy.

And ahhh...there's Brooklyn. This spunky little girl keeps me hopping constantly! She is so funny, I just wish I could push pause and enjoy the humor in the bottle of shampoo being dumped into the tub, or the 1.5 hours it takes to feed her a meal...she wants to run around after each bite. We are truly raising a princess! Lately she runs up and kisses my hand, then asks "Mommy, did you feel my love tingle all the way up your arm?" I love it!

Lola is getting very mobile. She is pulling herself up onto things and peoples legs. She is as smiley as ever and now likes to hiss with a big grin on her face. this kid likes to smile so much that you can even get her to do it while she's crying.

I have been having fun with highlights. With my dear friend Gina as my tutor and guinnea-pig, I am really having fun playing beauty-shop! I did my moms hair yesterday, and it's pretty fun:) I just got released from my church calling as the enrichment leader. I had a lot of fun doing that and getting to know the women in the ward better. It's weird to not have a calling, but SO NICE to be able to concentrate on all the things we need to do to get ready for the move. We are flying out to TX next month to look for a place to live, and check out the schools, and finalize the details on where he will be working!

The problem with blogging...

Is that when you get behind, it feels impossible to catch up. And then, oh, what to write. Ben is almost DONE!!!! Can you believe it? I am so proud of him, and proving all of my confidence by sitting in his chair this Friday. I grew the perfect cavities for him to fill for 1) an upcoming test, and 2) to be his boards patient. Both of his Boards patients really. It was a difficult task but with the help several pregnancies and avoiding dental floss, I was able to do it. This really is a big deal because if you can't find this, you actually have to buy your patients, sometimes it is several thousand dollars. I won't bore you by posting my x-rays, but really, they are beautiful. I did however post a picture of my guy with a few of our girls and their cousins at the much anticipated wedding of Michael and Jenae! It was perfect, She looked amazing, and I would be hard pressed to find a more happy couple. Congratulations Mike and Jenae!

halloween 08

Halloween was a blast this year! Nana, Papa and Madelyn joined us for trick-or-treating, and then watched our kids while we went to a party dressed like this...

We are Captain Hook and Mr. Smee, courtesy of my mom the costume designer! I forgot how much fun it is to show up in one of her costumes! It was always one of my favorite holidays growing up because of her artistic enthusiasm. My poor kids always end up store-bought. They are still pretty cute though...if I do say so!

Emmaline is enjoying kindergarten and spelling everything in sight! I am now having to tell secrets in the super secret language of double-dutch instead of the spelling method. I broke the Duffin woman law and taught it to my husband so that we could communicate in front of our kids/friends in front of our kids/friends. Ben insists that I am not as sneaky as I think, but if you have never heard it I think I could confound the cleverest of linguists. Try me. Anyhoo, I am so excited for the elections this week! My parents watched the kids for us this morning so Ben and I could deliver fliers to protect traditional marriage. I have never been so passionate about an election before, it is exciting, but I am also looking forward to my blood pressure slowing down on November 5th.

it's been forever since I have posted, but life is so crazy now! How am I supposed to keep my house clean and read the latest Stephenie Meyer novel, watch the Olympics, and entertain fun sibling visitors? Anyway, that's why I'm slow to post. The girls are getting big, Emmaline is into the Taylor Swift song "our Song" and sings it at the top of her lungs. I love how she sings about the "slammin green door" instead of the slamming screen door. She takes after me. I love to sing along to whatever the ipod plays, and I only know about 30% of the lyrics of any of my favorite songs. Doesn't stop me! Brooklyn is obsessed with trolls right now. Apparently they eat poop. It's great because if she ever gets hurt, we ask her if a troll did it, and she says yes and comes up with a wild story about her injury. I love her imagination. This morning she woke me up by running into our room naked, holding up the pull-up that was completely soaked up to her ear saying "look at my phone mom. HELLO??? HELLO???" Sick. Lola is a happy little girl, we are enjoying her so much. She loves to smile, and the girls love to entertain her. She is our biggest so far at 4 months weighing in at a whopping 18.1 lbs. Ben just finished up another semester!!!!! This means he is officially a senior, and will be graduating in May of 2009. I am so proud of him! He has worked so hard, and I am so relieved that he is doing so well in school...after all, he will be my dentist for the rest of my life:)

Thanks Gramma Lynda!

We were on our way out the door the other day, and of course I am running late after looking for a headband for Lola. We open our front door and lo and behold there is a package with matching headbands from Gramma! We love them! And as you can see, the girls look adorable (oh I do hate to brag...) We went to the Arboretum in Arcadia and had a great time. Lola is laughing now, last weekend Papa (my step-dad) was holding her and making her laugh, and he asked if she was always that happy. We couldn't believe it! We hadn't been able to get her to laugh yet! We grabbed our camera and ran to capture the moment, and my little brother J.R. piped up and said,"I didn't know that was a big deal. She was laughing like crazy last week." So funny...especially if you've met JR. That kid is hilarious!

Why Ben can't be trusted...

Sooo... the baby is 2 1/2 months old, and after 8 years I decide to try wakeboarding again. I LOVE wakeboarding, and every time an opportunity has come up, I have been pregnant. So I asked my husband to take a picture of me wake boarding, and I get this. He did take some others, but I really didn't do anything fancy, I was too chicken to jump, so I thought this would probably make my readers the happiest. Sorry for the looooong span of nothingness, but HOLY COW can 3 kids keep a girl busy! We've had so much fun with them, and time is flying. We had the girls in swimming lessons the last 2 weeks. Brooklyn was in a parent/child class with me, and Emmaline was in a big girl class. I could hear her teacher asking her to pay attention over and over and over again. Good luck to the kindergarten teacher next year! She must take after Ben, he says that when he was a lad playing soccer meant just running after the ball and kicking it so hard that you fall every time. That's Emmaline. Who cares about form, she is just making huge fast splashes with a HUGE grin. Brooklyn is now jumping off of the side without checking to see if anyone is going to rescue her, so I taught her to dog padle to the wall and hand-over-hand make it to the steps to get out. Still not completely fool proof, but it maybe could save her life under the right circumstances. I am still keeping an eagle eye on her just in case. She is hard to keep alive. Over the 4th of July weekend, my mom saw her put what looked like a chocolate covered nut into her mouth and start chewing. My poor mom was sticking her finger into Brooklyn's mouth swiping the food out screaming "spit it all out!!!" (Brooklyn is VERY allergic to tree nuts and it always means a stab with the epi-pen and a trip to the emergency room). Brooklyn at the same time is trying to scream "it's no nuts Nana!" and sure enough, the 2 year old was right. Just chocolate covered graham cracker something. Oh well, your efforts were appreciated Mom! Anyway, back to swimming lessons. I think the most memorable thing about swimming lessons 2008 was hearing Emmaline's description of her teachers bathing suit at the dinner table. She said, "Well, it is like a tu-tu, but there is no top....and at the bottom it is black, and shiny, and smooth...except for, well, (makes a fist) there is like a knot (fist goes down to crotch) right here." you guessed it folks...he was wearing a speedo.

Michael is CANCER FREE!!!! he finished up the last radiation treatment 2 weeks ago. Thank you to all friends and family for your prayers and support! We are celebrating this weekend at his fiance's parents house. He looks great, feels better, and we are so relieved.

Okay, so here is our little Lola at 22 days old, on her actual due date. I am so glad that she came when she did! This little baby has been so great, she sleeps literally 23/24 hours a day. Still, I cannot believe how crazy our lives have been! It is a full time job keeping her alive when we have such loving older sisters mauling her. Brooklyn picked her up the other day, and got quite a talking to. It's crazy how much longer it takes to get ready for the day, or clean the house, or really to do anything. I am so thankful for all of you my sweet friends who have shown mercy on us and brought us dinners! We appreciated it so much, and I am excited to get back to normal so I can help out other adjusting moms. Ben is doing great in school, I am so proud of him! He finished a root canal today in one appointment, and is so excited about every new thing he learns. We are heading up to Ben's parents for Mothers day weekend, so we are excited to take our first family road trip as a party of 5. Emmaline shared with the entire primary on Sunday that she is now wearing panties to bed, so I guess I am not violating her privacy by posting it on the blog. We are so happy! Bedwetting is such a bummer, she is so proud of herself, and we are proud of her too. Brooklyn is as spunky as ever, today when she ran down the apartment hallway and just lay down by the elevator, and wouldn't come back, she got in trouble. I asked her why she didn't listen to mommy, and her reply was, "I am sleeping beauty, and I was asleep!" Always has an answer to everything. Lola is very sweet, and is still hanging on to her umbilical stump at 25 days old. Sheesh! I think we'll just go for the Guiness book of world records. Anyone know the longest?