Our family, the girls at least, has a thing about shoes. For example, check http://franzenframe.blogspot.com/2008/04/shoe-fest.html on Emily's blog, or http://janscoresgoals.blogspot.com/2008/06/what.html on Janet's. One of the most fun parts of getting Joanna and Sarah ready for their missions was shoe shopping. Fortunately for us, missionary shoes are easy to find right now. I can't find it now, but in one of Joanna's letters, she said that she has more shoes with her on her mission (when she should be traveling light!) than the elders in her zone had all together. Rene even admits that he has more shoes than he ever thought he'd have. Even baby Afton, who doesn't even stand up yet, has a whole bunch of shoes. Of course, most of hers were gifts from people, including Grandma Allred, who sent her several pair.

Our upcoming trip to Alaska has precipitated a shoe crisis. How many pairs of shoes does one need for a trip to Alaska? We'll be there over a Sunday, so obviously, we need dress shoes. Plus, we'll need tennis shoes because there will be a lot of outdoor activities. But we'll also be doing some sightseeing, which in my mind, requires something a little dressier than my tennis shoes. And what about when we're kicking around at home? Flipflops, obviously. And Janet added another wrinkle today by asking if she would need footwear to swim in the lake. Good thing we have lots of shoes to choose from around here!

June 17--It's almost official summer, even here in the "northwoods." We have not really had many warm and sunny days at all so far this year. We had a long, cold spring, and then we've had lots of rainy and cool weather. We worked hard to get the yard in shape for Janet's graduation party, but it was windy and kind of rainy, so our yard didn't get used that much. But the flowers are looking nice, so I thought I'd post some pictures. The lady who lived here before us loved her flowers, so all of these are what she planted. It's a nice change from three feet of snow!

Irises

Bleeding heart

Clematis

These look kind of like a bleeding heart, but I'm not sure if they are or not.

These wild pansies are all over. They spread like crazy. Rene is all for digging them up, but I like them. We also have an area of our yard just on the edge of the woods that is covered with wild phlox. I thought we would miss those from Ohio, but no, we have our own.

It seems that our blog, along with others, has hit the doldrums recently. Are we all just bored, or is nothing exciting happening in our lives? Anyway, I thought I'd post some pictures that might be of interest.


It's been a busy few weeks around here. Wednesday was the soccer banquet. Friday was Janet's graduation party. Saturday, Rene and I, Emily and Preston went to the temple. Sunday, Janet's friend Casie was baptized. It was a pretty good week. Here are some pictures:


Janet was awarded the Most Valuable Player at the soccer banquet. And yes, that's the soccer coach. He is Joseph's age and not married.

Janet's cake was made by Sam's Club and was a steal of a deal. It cost $26.95 for a full sheet cake and was tasty, too.




Emily and I made the rest of the food. Emily spent most of two days here and this is the result. It was all good. But we do have lots of leftovers, especially cheese. Ben, the dairy addict, would probably love to have some. Sorry, Ben!



The trip to the temple was nice and relaxing. It does get to be a long day, though, by the time you drive three hours, spend two hours in the session and drive three more hours home. We did break it up a little with a stop at IHOP, which was yummy.



Casie is a wonderful girl. She is very sincere in her desire to do what is right. She bore her testimony at the close of the baptismal service. She said that at the first discussion, someone asked her how she knew the Bible was true. She said that that was the way she had been raised, to believe in the Bible. That night at home, she started to think about it and realized that she really didn't know for herself. So she started to pray about the Bible and the Book of Mormon and that was the beginning of her testimony. It was a joy to have her in our home for most of the discussions. Her sincerity and her dedication to the truth was an example to all of us.

We've reached another milestone in our lives. Yesterday was Janet's last sporting event in high school. Her soccer team lost to Wausau East 3-1 in the sectional playoffs. I think she started soccer and basketball in 2nd grade, so it's been ten years of following her sports. This year, especially, has been fun, but I don't think we'll miss it much. We might actually have some free time in our schedule next winter.

The game was also on her 18th birthday. We made some signs to hold up and had fun with that. Now that sports are over, she'll have time to look for a job and do some chores!

Yesterday was Janet's last day of seminary; thus, OUR last day of seminary, EVER! You all know that I am a big proponent of early morning seminary. But, for some reason, this has been a tough year. Janet has been ill more and has had other conflicts with seminary more this year than anyone in our family has ever had. And I guess that I'm just tired of getting up at 5 am. Other people say, well, why do you get up? I am not a good sleeper when I can hear other noises going on, so I figure I might as well get up. I don't think I could ever sleep through it.

I think Joseph started seminary in the 1993-94 school year. So that has been 14 years of seminary that our own kids attended. I taught most of those years, with the exception of two years when Joanna and Sarah were in seminary. But I think my first year teaching seminary in Mount Vernon was 1987-88. And I taught all that time, except for two years around the time Janet was born. I also taught one year of home study seminary when we lived in Columbus in 1979-80. But I have to say, I'd really have to think twice if I were ever asked to teach early morning seminary again.

I guess I still love the seminary program and I cherish the relationships with the kids I taught over the years, who are now all adults, but I'll leave the early mornings to you younger people.

By the way, the picture is of seminary graduation in 1997. I guess Joseph and Jenny were the only two graduating that year. (Wes Glover graduated from school early, if you remember.)

Today, I went for an interesting walk. I started near the library in downtown Wausau and walked north along what is called the "River Edge Parkway" along the Wisconsin River. It was green and enjoyable. There were historic markers along the way telling some of the history of the area. You can also go south from the same point along the river, passing the whitewater park, until you get to Fern Island. The whole thing is about three miles, I'd say. There are plans to develop it further on both sides of the river.

Other interesting walks I've been on here include a trail near the Rothschild Pavilion with a trail that goes out onto a little peninsula into Lake Wausau, a really nice new trail that goes from the Stoney Creek Inn up almost to the new pedestrian bridge across the river near Lignotech (Emily and I agree that this one is very bucolic and pastoral), and the Eau Claire River Trail in Weston, which is 1.25 miles and very well maintained.

Last summer, Janet and I also went to Stevens Point and walked through the Schmeeckle Reserve on the UW Stevens Point Campus. It was nice, too. You can see it here: http://www.uwsp.edu/cnr/schmeeckle/ .

With the price of gas, I wish I could walk to the grocery store, library, etc!

So, I spent the past week with Joseph, Tracy and Afton (and Cocoa) in Virginia. I really enjoyed spending time with Afton and I hope that I was a help to them in some way. Afton is so cute! She is smiling now and I think she started to recognize my voice. I'll miss her now. Anyway, here are some pictures.

On Sunday, Joseph gave her a name and a beautiful blessing. I think she's going to grow up to be a beautiful, smart girl who tries hard to live gospel. Note that she is wearing the dress I made. It turned out well. The hat fit a little funny, but it was cute. Here's a picture of the dress without her in it. Rene kept making fun of it, saying that it was so long that she could wear it when she gets baptised. And I cut about 7 inches off the length of the pattern when I was cutting it out.