I have neglected my poor blog for far too long. Here's a little catch-up on our lives as of late. Here's how the Ellsworth Family spent their Christmas morning.

This doll house was the big gift from mom & dad. We did a good job being sneaky and getting it all assembled and hidden from the girls until just a few days before Christmas. Someone accidentally left our bedroom door open and the girls threw off the sheet and started to play. I came into our room and found the whole thing set up and a whole slew of little people making themselves at home. I was bummed that it wasn't a surprise, but it was still a big hit. (Thanks grandma for your part in all of this. ) Audrey's favorite present this year: Barbie & The Island Princess dress. She absolutely loves to play dress-up hasn't really taken this dress off since Christmas.Nicole's favorite gift: Art supplies! Nicole's our little artist. Santa knew what he was doing when he bought her every single art supply he could think of. We've had some pretty great projects come our way!Khursten's favorite thing this year: A whole box full of books! Khursten is our little reader. Santa thought she would love a box filled with The Babysitter Club books. Santa knew that her mom loved them as a kid and was hoping she might too.Mom's favorite gift: Well... there were many this year. I forgot to get a picture of the beautiful necklaces that my two oldest girls made me. They were very special. I guess this will have to be the runner up. A gift card to the Gap! A girl can never have too many clothes.

Ryan's favorite gift: (Well maybe it was more for Sarah) I saw these Heroes action figures and thought of Ryan right away. He is now the lucky owner of the entire set! He's thrilled, I'm sure. He's also sporting some pretty 'hot' pants. These were from the girls. Just some other random pics of the girls on Christmas. Please note the beautiful princess jammies that Aunt Jill made for them. They have lived in these things! Also... I can never get enough of the Christmas Morning bed-head! All in all we had a pretty great Christmas.

My sister already told me that I'm the meanest mom in the world for doing this. I know it's true, but what do you do??? It works so well.

I had dinner with the prophet last night! It's true! I'd like to say it was just he and I, but if I'm being honest I would have to say that the entire Mormon Tabernacle Choir and their +1's were there too. My mom invited me as her date to the Tabernacle Choir's Annual Christmas Party at the Grand America. I thought it was such a neat experience watching President Monson and his wife at the head table just chatting it up with their friends. And me... just a few tables away. It was also fun to hear him speak in a non-scripted way, making jokes with his friends. He's so human and such an amazing man. How blessed we are to live in this dispensation with a modern-day prophet to lead our church! Thanks mom for bringing me along!

The Suspects:

P'Elvis Swagarin & Dee Adela Muerte
(Enos & Audrey)

Wanted for suspicion of murder!

This year the girls got to decorate the tree all by themselves. I think they did a fantastic job!

This past Wednesday I made it my goal to live more in the moment, to try and see life through your eyes. The absolute thrill of seeing a giraffe and a giant turtle isn't going to last forever. We may as well enjoy every step of the way. I had it in mind that I was going to be uber chill. No rushing through all the exhibits and back out to the car in an hour or less. You want to sit and watch the penguins stand around for 20 minutes? Let's do it! You want to drive all the way to the zoo just to play on the playground? Why not? Today was a different sort of day. I put the mountains of laundry and the dirty house out of my mind. Today I had no worries. No places to go. Today was all yours.

The first thing you wanted to do was hit the playground. In the past this would have frustrated me immensely, and you would have heard me say something like, "No. We're here to see the animals. You can play at one of the playgrounds in our neighborhood." That wasn't the case today. We found a bench smack dab in the middle of the park and settled in for some fun.

Khursten, you loved watching the pelicans that were swimming just a few feet away. My favorite quote of the day came from one of the Beebe boys, "Pelicans are really nice. They like to give fish a ride." (Thanks Nemo for being so informative. )

Audrey, you spent the entire time going down the slides. You stayed with the little elephant slide for a long time, but eventually you got really brave and ventured out toward the big slide. You were so proud of yourself! That was a big step! I was proud of you too.

You two are so cute together. Are arranged marriages still legal?

It could be a great set-up!Finally it was time to go and see the animals. We let you lead the way. You each had your favorites, and it was fun to sit and watch you watch them.

But we couldn't go home before heading back to the playground for a little while longer.

Khursten spent the whole time trying to climb up the big, padded pole.

I just sat on my little bench and watched. This was a big step for me. Usually I'm be the mom running over and trying to stop you from being a hoodlum. Not today. You go ahead and have fun. I'm just proud you finally made it!

You guys are lucky to have each other.

Thanks girls for the fun day. Who knew I could have fun at the zoo for 3 1/2 hours? I would never have believed it before today. Thanks for helping me slow down and enjoy life just a little bit more. I really love being your mom!