Renee's Bridal Shower

Renee's mom, Mary Anne, Renee and Judy

It is late Friday morning and we just had our power restored. Severe weather struck our area again yesterday, knocking our power out at about 11:00 PM last night. We didn't bother calling Alliant Energy because we knew there were more storms coming. We probably had 6-7 storms come through, each bringing A LOT of rain, lightning and mild winds (I think other places had heavier winds, but we really didn't seem to get anything too extreme). It has been pretty surreal to see the footage coming out of Cedar Rapids, Lake Delton, Baraboo, Portage, and Spring Green. Our route to Rhinelander may have to be modified due to the flooding in the Portage area and the closure of I-39 where it connects with I-90/94.

Arwen, Kris, Cassidy, Jill, Renee, Holly and Liz

However, Mark and I are fine and the house is fine. We've had a little water in the garage, but nothing major. We are certainly more concerned about the erosion of the hill behind our house. Friends of ours haven't been as lucky though, and had to deal with a flooded basement from last weekend's storms. Mark spent all of Monday helping Paul and Sandy (they live down the road from the restaurant and are the breeders of our dogs) tear out the carpeting in their basement. They had to trash the carpet padding, but were going to try to dry out and save the actual carpet itself. Not fun or cheap.

Listen up! Renee is marrying Greg!

Now for some good news: This past Sunday was the bridal shower for Renee, who will offically become my new sister-in-law on June 28th when she marries Mark's only brother Greg. Karen and Heidi Seibel hosted the shower (they also were the hosts for mine) and, of course, they did an absolutely fabulous job. Karen is an excellent, excellent cook and provided many yummy treats for everyone AND she also had us play a couple of games which were actually really fun! I say this with no disrespect towards Karen...but I think most women would agree that shower games played typically are kooky and goofy. However, we the 2 games we did were unique and thought-provoking.

Karen, Renee and Heidi

I think Renee received a lot of nice things from everyone and had a good time. She will be having another shower tomorrow with her family.

Jill and Danielle

Other good news is that I am on summer vacation now. Tuesday was the last day of school. I've spent my first 2 days of vacation cleaning the house, walking the dogs and working at the restaurant. Believe it or not, I feel that this is a great start! This coming Sunday Mark and I will drive north for my parent's 40th wedding anniversary! We can't wait to see the WHOLE family who will all be together to celebrate such a wonderful event. Manny and Renee