So we went to see the new Harry Potter movie on Friday night (good, not great), and got ready to go to the Matta's. We headed down to Cedar Rapids and went to my parent's. Joseph wanted to to show off his growing grilling skills. So we had grilled pork chops, some watermelon, a nice salad (most of the ingredients from my mother's garden, including basil) and some potatoes with broccoli and cheese. So...The potatoes with broccoli and cheese were good and Joseph said they usually spice it with some cayenne pepper. And he was right, it did add a bit of a zing to it. The pork chops were pretty good...he is getting better and taking much more care of what he is doing while he is cooking. He also payed attention to the cooking time too (knowing that the potatoes need to be cooked for longer), which is a sign of really starting to think about what he is doing. The pork, however, was a over done. To start, I think he needs to get himself a meat thermometer and make sure that he starts paying attention to the doneness of the meat, because it's a thin line where pork (or other meat for that matter) is done and when it gets tough. This is an important thing...but he is much improved, much much improved. Finding a passion is an important part of finding your path in life. My older sister's kids were there (visiting before they move to Texas so their dad can do some post-grad work in physics).

Afterwards, we dropped of our things at the Matta's, put the Eiswien in the fridge, we headed over to Shannon's parents and visited with her mom for a while be fore her dad got home. We setup a relative time or idea of a time to pick up some films that we're going to try to convert to a more usable format. We got a call from Nathan saying he wouldn't make dinner, then we got one from Jenny, so we left Shannon's parents and met Jenny at Panera to pick up a meal for all of us and head back to their house. We all ate dinner...which was...well...one side the toasted bread on my sandwich was perfect, the other was a soggy mess. Maybe I am being to picky...but I feel picky. After dinner we helped the Matta's do the final prep for Jenny's birthday party.

The party went pretty well. I think Jenny, Nathan and I were the only ones to get really silly and by the end of the night it was Us, the Matta's and Jane and her husband. I had a good time...Happy Birthday!

This morning we headed to get some breakfast and afterwards we spent some time with Shannon's sister and family.

We stopped back at the Matta's said hello to their girls and after we were all fighting the nap monster. We headed back home.

Good weekend, It was very timely.

While I am saddened by the Matta's inability to attend Spamalot this coming weekend (Jenny's best friend's wedding, with short notice), I'm really looking forward to it.