My Maternal Side - Family Photos

I am starting to print photo to hang on my walls.  It's about time!

The following are my mom's side of the family.  They definitely took photos regularly and hung onto them.  All of these families lived in Napa, California.

I will be retouching these photos for printing.  So thankful to have them (and know who everyone is in them, too.)

John Henry Vienop & Family - 1900

Henry Borchers & Family - 1899

Patrick Flanagan Family - Without Patrick - 1890s

Thomas M. McLaughlin and Family - 1919

Monterey Bay Trip

My children's school believes strongly in learning in the field.  They spend many hours in the classroom working toward state standards but they also create by working on art and projects.  Recently, my 5th grader completed her 10 page report about the Monterey Bay and the aquarium.  She wrote about 4 animals and wrote 2 pages about the aquarium.  Part of the report required each student to illustrate by hand each of those 4 animals and label their basic parts.  My 5th grader has a pretty good hand at art.  Once the report comes home, I'll post her hand drawn illustrations.

In the meantime, the following photos were part of the field experience.

Fixing Photos and Other Stuff

It has been a really long time since I posted but I am still alive and well.  My children's activities and my many volunteer jobs keep my time full these days.  I work on my genealogy about 2 hours per week.

I am slowly going through everything that I have in boxes again.  I've restored my mom's photo album so that it can be used again.  The cover was completely broken off and the photos were falling off the pages.  Now, she has a new album that I found on Amazon.  It was challenging because of the nonstandard size.  The photos are back on the pages and the book is back in her possession.  Someday, I will go through that album and scan each photo.

During the Fall, I scanned my dad's photo collection of his time in the Air Force during Vietnam.  I created a photo journal on Shutterfly and printed books for myself and family.  The books turned out great including some of the sillier photos.  It is hard to believe that he passed away just over 11 years ago.

I challenged myself last week to finally get a photo out of a frame.  The photo was stuck on the glass.  Over the years as the photo slowly became dry and somewhat brittle, it has released.  To get the remainder of the photo off of the glass, I used a hair dryer.  With some damage, I fixed the photo with some acid free markers but not before I scanned it.  I was also able to fix the scanned version in Photoshop.  Jack and Minnie Flanagan are now free of their frame if they need to be.  I was able to return the original in the frame back to my mom.  She'd been missing that photo for quite some time even though she knew where it was.

Before the fix

After the Fix 

I have more things to "fix", scan, and return to my mom.  So, for now, my blog will sit.