Sweet times in Iron River

I think the title pretty much sums it up! I got up here without too much difficulty Friday night. Saturday morning Amy and Tim and I went out to the Delta Diner. They make just the best food there. I usually go for their blueberry-and-mascarpone-stuffed French toast, but I branched out this time and tried the red-eye biscuits and gravy: espresso flavored gravy with prime rib and bacon smothering two of the most delectable biscuits you ever tried. Rich, but YUM!

Next up was making cookies! It had been forever since I'd had a chance to bake and Tim's upcoming birthday provided the perfect opportunity. My friend Mary sent me a picture of the recipe since I didn't have my favorite cookbook with me, and the outcome was a hit.

Then it was off to a break-your-own-trail, lovely sort of skiing. Tim did most of the trail breaking and we made our way through the woods and out onto a nearby lake for a good-sized loop before heading back.

The evening was filled with messing about with Amy and Tim's laptop - it needed some cleanup - and then a few games of Up-and-Down the River. Then it was time to celebrate Amy and Tims' upcoming birthdays! The four kids went together and got them kindle cases with lights, and they were a definite hit. Amy had been talking randomly all weekend about how she was thinking about getting one, so it was fun finding something that she already was thinking about.

Mix into all of that good conversation and catch-up, fabulous food, and everybody going off at times to do their own thing, and you pretty much have the perfect weekend.

Until I realized that the weather was just too nasty for me to want to brave around 300 miles of rainy-icy-snowy roads. The entire north side of the state was swathed in too-warm-for-safety weather for pretty much the entire day Sunday. After all sorts of internal debate, I opted to stay for another day. And that has been a luxury in and of itself. How often do you just let yourself take an unplanned day to do... nothing?? I read, took a tiny nap, and then Grant and I headed to the After Hours trail for a nearly-5 mile ski. Wow is that trail gorgeous - particularly when the entire sky has turned to snow and is falling off your head. More bumming around, a 1 1/2 hour Young Life meeting over the iPhone, and then tucking in to blog a bit... stuff I never get (take?) time to do. Here's hoping the roads will be good tomorrow (but - don't tell - with as nice as it's been, I wouldn't mind if I were forced to stay another day!).