What a busy week!

I had a great trip to Montana to see my little Valentines.  My super shopper brother spied some skis that he thought were what I was looking for, so he and the guy measured how tall they were, and all that, I did some research (mostly to see what colors they came in) and bought them over the phone.  It was a great deal and so I could hardly wait to get to MT to go skiing.

We (mom,dad, and I) got off the train bright and early and went out for breakfast.  The looks of glee on the boys' faces once they saw we were standing there was priceless/precious.  Oh they were excited and came running at us, full blast!  We had a quick breakfast - heart-shaped strawberry pancakes for me and the boys, Jen had some lemon-filled french toast with raspberry stuff, and I didn't really pay attention to what the others ate, and then Jonathan and I headed for the mountain.

The skis were just amazing - it was so much easier to ski on them and Jonathan even told me I looked 10 times better than last year, which is pretty good for my first time out of the season!  I'm so glad to have them. :-)

I wound up having a modified weekend but it was fantastic.  Rather than sitting home with the kids, which would have been its own kind of fun, I was invited to spend time up at the Williams' cabin, with Mark and his friends.  It was so much fun to meet nice new people and make new friends!  I had such a good time I almost felt guilty for leaving the kids and family behind.  Almost.  I'm sure they would've done the same if they were in my position! :-)  So I had a very fun time.

On Monday we went snowshoeing in Glacier Park and that was just beautiful.  The sky was as blue as the Save Now button below here, and the snow was so fluffy and it was just a perfect, sunny winter day.  Dave was our excellent guide, as always, and it was just a lot of fun and will be a great memory.  I think I like this snowshoeing stuff :-)

On the home ownership front, I bit the bullet and called for estimates from the tree removal people and gutter installers.  Unfortunately there's something funky about my roof so they can't put gutters on it, so ... phooey on that.  I met the tree removal guy today to have him update his estimate, decided it was a good deal, and he said they had openings today, so part of the stuff is already gone!  It looks like my yard went to the dentist or something, the way things that were once there are all of a sudden gone.  Or maybe it was a surgeon.  that's just what I thought of when I saw the holes where the dead little trees used to be.  I nearly missed the turn into my driveway because I'm so used to navigating by the hedge! 

In slightly less dramatic news, I found darling fabric that will ultimately turn into curtains for kitchen and sunroom.  It matches perfectly! Hooray!

Tomorrow Dad will be coming back over and the 3 of us will go to Oregon for his uncle Lester's  funeral.  He was a total character and a wonderful man.  It's hard to think of him without starting to smile, thinking of all the stories and memories.  What a guy.