Blue Elephants and Dairy Cows

On Friday night, Dad and Tanya came back from Minneapolis, and stopped in Cedar Falls to visit me and go to the UNI Women's Swim Meet.  They took me out to dinner before the swim meet...we went to Hu Hot Mongolian Grill...YUM!!!  Then we went to the swim meet, which was senior night.  It was a little weird being there, because it would have been my senior night too, had I decided to continue swimming after my freshmen year.  Kelly Rose's mom made her famous scotcheroos....YUM!!  I'm pretty sure that made my night 100 times better.  Right before the National Anthem, Jill came upstairs to ask if I could help time during the meet.  I decided it would be a lot more fun to be on deck near all of the action, so I agreed.  I'm really glad I chose to help time, because I got to wish Kristin "good luck" before her dives and I also made a new friend (Jill).

On Saturday afternoon after Alec's basketball games, we drove to Cedar Rapids to see my grandparents (Grammy and Gramps).  We always love seeing Grammy and Gramps, which is why we made this special trip to Cedar Rapids to see them.  Grammy made spaghetti with homemade sauce (which contained homemade meatballs) for dinner...it was yummy.  And then she made cherry pudding cake (Gramps' grandma's recipe) for dessert.  It's one of my favorite desserts!  After dinner, we talked about the construction that will take place at the family cabin in Colorado during the summer of 2012 and Grammy and Gramps' trip to Alaska this summer.  I was a little jealous that they were going to Alaska and I wasn't, but I was more disappointed that they made it to all seven continents before they made it to all 50 states (currently they are missing Alaska, Mississippi, and Alabama). 

This morning, I went to church with Mom and Jen.  After the service, Jen and I helped Mom clean up the kitchen from making coffee.  I really wish I liked coffee, because I love the smell and it is a lot of fun to make a pot of coffee...measuring the beans, grinding the beans, and listening to/watching the pot fill up.  After church, I watched "Bolt" with Rachel.  I always cry at the end when Bolt rescues Penny from the burning building...what a great dog!  Then I played Bananagrams with Dad, Tanya, Jen, and Rachel.  We changed the rules for Rachel, so she could have up to three puzzles going at once instead of only one, so it would be easier for her to play.  She ended up winning the first round she played like that.  GO RACHEY!