Over And Back

We count ourselves fortunate that the wicked weather system dropping a foot of snow and blizzard-like conditions to the west did not impact our travel conditions today. We were able to get up early and on the road by 6:30 a.m., heading to Minnesota.

It was an over-and-back trip, which meant 9 hours on the road today. Hubby handled it fine. We only ran into a little snow and surprisingly decent roads!

Our goal was to get to the little village of Henriette (west of Pine City) for a memorial service at 11 a.m. With just two stops -- a drive-thru breakfast and one potty break -- we got there with 9 minutes to spare.

The service for my brother-in-law Ken's mother was a very nice, truly moving celebration of life -- with special music and memories. It was very well done and appreciated, I'm sure, by the entire family.

Since this woman was mother-in-law to my sister RoAnn and grandmother to my nephews Tim and Travis, I got to see all of them. I haven't seen Tim (who lives in South Dakota with his family) for over 2 years, which means my baby grand-nephew Tyler is a full-blown, can't-stop-moving toddler now and he has a new brother, Tyson, who is already 15 months old and I just met him for the first time today. What a bonus to an otherwise sad day.

It was also nice to see some of Ken's family I haven't seen in eons, plus my own siblings who could make the trek over.

Since we got home after 7:30, we opted not to show up at a Forty-Niner party late. So we're sitting home, watching the game and trying to keep our eyes open. A private jet or Star Trek teleporter sure would come in handy some days. For one, we could be over and back in no time. Secondly, we could take trips further over, like to Rapid City, S.D., so I wouldn't have to wait 2 years to see certain family members!

I guess no matter what the reason is for gathering, I have to admit that spending it with family is more than a person could ask for...

Other than having our OWN team to cheer for this weekend!!