I was on a bit of a blogging hiatus in February due to the passing of my grandmother, Norma.  That's us!! --------------->

Throughout my childhood, my grandmother spent many holidays and week long trips visiting us in Syracuse and I never got a chance to meet her friends in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where my mom grew up.  After my grandmother passed away, I enjoyed hearing the stories about her life in Minnesota and meeting all her friends.  She was very involved in the community and her church, where we held her memorial service.  Photography runs in my family -- my grandma always had a camera in her hand and loved seeing all the photographs from my travels.  She loved to knit and was so proud of all the adorable little sweaters and hats she made for needy children in the community.  She was proud to live in her own home up until the age of 95 and show off all the adorable photos of her grandchildren.

As part of her memorial service, I created a slide show of old photographs of her life from what my mom had on hand.  When you lose someone, you truly understand the value of photography.  On both sides of my family, everyone had children a little later so I never got to meet any of my great grandparents, or my mom's Dad.  I loved looking through all the old photos and seeing what my relatives looked liked.  And it's kinda cool to see what your grandparents looked like when they were 25 and crazy in love!

While looking through the old photos, there were a few pieces of writing my grandmother had done when she was younger.  One of the pieces was a story about how she was looking for a new job and was able to sneak away from her current job to go interview for the new one.  Something about it made me laugh; it's a good feeling to know my grandmother had many of the same experiences I did.

As part of my trip to Minneapolis, my parents and I took a mini day trip to Afton, Minnesota to see the Little Red House, where they got married.  This is my mom and Dad in the back yard of the Little Red House, August 1974.

And in February 2011 (plus a lot of snow)...

Here's a photograph I took in downtown Stillwater, Minnesota, where my mom's family is from.   Her grandparents lived there until they were forced out to build a power plant.

Here's some of the youngest photos we have of my grandmother.

On the left is one of my favorite photos of my grandmother - she looks gorgeous!  On the right is my grandparents wedding photo.

These next few photos are reeeeeeeally old.  This first one is my great-grandfather's family (including my great-great-grandparents.)  My great-grandfather, Nels, is the one standing in the back.  His father was a politician!

These next two are of my great-grandmother, Minnie, and great-grandfather, Nels.  If you've ever been lucky enough to eat some of my home-made crepes, they are Minnie's recipe for "Swedish Pancakes."  When my grandmother passed away I inherited Minnie's old recipe box and am looking forwarding to trying out some of the dishes and desserts.

***Checkout the professional photography studio's name.... MARTIN & Co.!  How cool is that?!****

This is a four-generation shot of my Uncle Larry, my grandmother, great-grandfather Nels, and his father.


This is one of the last photos of my grandmother and I together - Allison, Norma, and I from Christmas '09 in St. Louis.  I'll miss you grandma!

This is the back.


This is just another photo of us that I really liked, but didn't make the card.


Happy New Year!