Busy bees

We've been a little busy here at our house the past couple weeks.  It's funny because I was talking to Trav the other day about stay at home moms being busy.  I hope I don't get any hate mail for this comment I'm about to leave but we really aren't "busy."  At least I'm not.  I hear people say I never have time to read, or I'm too busy I can't have a playgroup (maybe they're just trying to give me a subtle hint), or I just have too much going on I can't find any time for myself. Okay, I do have days where I feel that, but it definitely isn't every day.  My kids are still little and aren't involved in a ton of stuff yet.  Yes I have to get them to and from school and brain stimulation is really good so we play and try not to sit in front of the t.v. all day.  I do have a clean house but I clean one day a week.  I have to grocery shop but that's only a couple hours on one day.  I do have a calling that requires me to plan and prepare every week but that doesn't take me all day.  I do work one night a week too.  My kids are happy, healthy, my house is clean and I do cook dinner every night  but I still have time to read and yes, watch shows once in a while....(Downton Abbey anyone?)  Am I the only that feels like this?  My busy days are days when we choose to go out and do stuff but it's not like I HAVE to.  It's a choice.  I know I'm not more organized than everyone (or even anyone) so I'm just curious....why is everyone so stinkin' busy?  Yes I have time to update my blog too....imagine that.  I hope this doesn't make anyone mad but if I'm missing something that I'm supposed to be doing to keep more busy please let me know.  (Oh, and just as a disclaimer, I'm not looking to be more busy. I like my non-busy balanced life)

Okay, now onto the business......we've been busily brushing our teeth....

 And losing them....

 Growing bigger by the day,

 Putting our toys away,

 Gettin' older....

 

We got a new dog...

 or two.

 Or was it a Leprechaun and a dog?

 Oh, it was a dog Leprechaun!

 

Some of us are really scary...

We've been workin  in the garden,

 Building giant towers,

  And visiting the Hill Air Force Museum.

 

We've been swimming at the Bountiful Rec Center,

 And to the Tracy Aviary,

 With lots of buddies...

 We went to the park for a picnic and to play,

 And don't forget the swings.

This was all in the past 2 weeks.  Yep, we've been busy, but I think I'll go curl up and read a good book now.

80 happy years

So last Saturday we got to celebrate the birthday of my absolutely wonderful father-in-law. (I seriously married into a wonderful family that I adore)  He turned 80!!  The best part...it was a surprise party!!  First it was just the immediate family that was there.  We had lunch, a slideshow of pictures of grandpa, a cake......

 

 He got a totally awesome hat from a friend....

 We gave him a book of pictures from his life....

 His brother even came and surprised us all from California.

After a couple hours his friends started coming (which was also a surprise for him).  It was so fun to see how many people love and adore him (we're guessing it was over 100!).  He truly is a great man and has been a joy in my life and my kids life.  And he raised the best man in the world (my hubby)  so that goes to show you what kind of a man he is.   What a handsome devil!  We love you grandpa Maughan!

 We also took advantage of the last free zoo day of the season.  Too bad it was cold and snowy but we still had a good time!

 This monkey was so weird.  He just stood on top of the tree with his arms outstretched.  I don't know if he was trying to get some extra vitamin D or if he was praying to the Almighty.  Maybe a little bit of both?  I had to take a picture of him.  He did this the entire time we were in the monkey house.

 Then we had our dentist appointments (yuck).  Josh had his first cavity......at least it's all good for picture purposes.

 And after having a "trial emergency" at our house for family night a few weeks ago, and finding out that ALL of our food expired in 2005.  Ummm oops.  Same year Rachel was born.  Guess it's been longer than I thought......Let's just say our plan of eating dinner only from our 72 hours kits didn't really work.  But surprisingly the fruit roll-ups were still quite tasty.    We finally got organized again and I'm feeling lots better about our new 72-hour kits and food storage.