"Oh, say!" (as Anna would say)

Anna, a U.S. Navy veteran of World War II, modestly but proudly wore her veteran's medal. At 86, Anna is slowing down a little, but we bet she'd still beat everyone to the basement in case of a tornado warning, purse in hand. She's our heroine, our Anna.

At the Pepins', pomp and the prom

Nathan, Christine and Ben Pepin all graduated from high school this month. (Nathan and Christine went to Goodhue, Ben to Red Wing). A few photos from their festivities, taken by Aunt Florence: 1. Nathan and his date, Kaitlin. 2. Christine and her date, Willie (are we hallucinating, or is that our very own Anna standing between them? Anna crashed the prom??!!); 3. Ben at the graduation party. Congrats to them all (Anna too)!

Grrrrl power

Someone, we won't say who, scanned these lovely photos into the scrapblog editor's computer. The young woman on the right looks kind of familiar. She mugs just like a Miller. Oh wait, she IS a Miller! Her friend on the left is acting like a Miller wannabe.

Woods men

Some photos from the Broberg men's (and canine Rosie's) recent trip up the North Shore.

Smooth operators

Cousin Dan's softball team wears scrubs. Why? We trust Danny (top row, second from left), their champion hitter, will weigh in to tell us.

Tara gets a haircut

Tara, whose side Noah hasn't left for weeks now, got a haircut this weekend (with Noah hovering nearby). Now her hair is shorter than Noah's.

When you can't beat 'em, join 'em

In a high honor for the scrapblog editor, the Friends of Noah made her pose with them one day when she stopped in Noah's room to drop off a stack of freshly laundered tie-dyed T-shirts and paisley boxers. Noah took the photo of Brian, Spencer, Dain, Pam and John.

Noah on his 18th birthday

A couple photos, all shot by Aunt Mary-Bear, from Noah's grad party/18th birthday fete. That's him with his girlfriend, Tara, and with his dad and grandparents Johnson.

Izzbee and the kitty-cat

Izzbee was busy as a bee at cousin Noah's graduation party today. She continued to try to make friends with Lucille the old cat, who is usually very social but terrified of little ones like Izzbee.

Just another day at Stately Wayne Manor

Noah, a meek and shy only child, often sits in his room, brooding and lonesome, quiet and sad. Oh wait! Actually, that never happens. More typically, this is what the scrapblog editor finds when she goes into Noah's room with an armful of freshly laundered socks.

Noah graduates from high school

Noah graduated from Robbinsdale Cooper High School in New Hope tonight (June 7, 2007). The ceremony was held at the school's football field, but not before the crowd had to be evacuated into the school for a sudden squall. But the rain passed, a rainbow came out, and the ceremony was relaxed and fun. Noah's Uncle Chris, Auntie Mary and cousins Zachary, Moriah, Hannah and Elizabeth were there to see it. Photos, from top: One: Noah with cousins Zachary, M. and little E., who fell asleep, and Uncle Chris. Two: Noah with pals Chris, Kiel, John, Joe and Ryan. Three: Noah with friend and Quill co-editor David. Four: Noah with his brown-eyed girl, Tara. Five: Last and not least, Noah with his very proud mom, the scrapblog editor. Noah will go to the University of Minnesota-Duluth in the fall. His mom hopes he continues to enjoy life, people, baseball, music, art, literature and all things beautiful and good. He's a fine young man.

Alverna's favorite comedian: The Great Dane

Aunt Alverna would have loved YouTube. This clip of Danish comedian Victor Borge and his son doing the "Page-turner" segment would have been her favorite. Check it out. Victor Borge was born in Denmark, the son of accomplished musicians. His real name was Borge Rosenbaum, and when he started taking comedic shots at Hitler in 1933, he was in deadly territory. Luckily for everyone, he was able to flee on the last passenger ship that made it out of Denmark after the Nazi occupation. In the United States, he learned English, became a citizen, adapted his comedy to American audiences and lived happily ever after. He died in December 2000.

Uncle Joe featured in Madison newspaper column

Uncle Joe and his wise ways, at fishing and life, are featured in this delightful column from the Madison (Wis.) Capital Times. (Click on each part to make it larger and easier to read.)

Pre-Lamars

Cousin Chris hauled cousin Davy around on an air mattress in Lake Pepin. They hadn't yet developed into Lamars.

A grand dad and granddad

Uncle Bill/Dad doted on his kids, and even moreso on his grandkids. From top: Dad with grandson Zachary, then with Pam, Chris and Cathy.

Grandma and grandkids

Grandma Sprick with baby Pam, then Pam and Chris. Notice how, in the top photo, Pam appears to be taking a call on her toy phone. "Hello? Rewrite? Can't talk now, am bald, with grandmother. Call back in 30 years."

All dressed up in Old Frontenac

The family must have been celebrating something special at this gathering, judging by how they're dressed. That's Grandma; her sister, Emma (we think); Uncle Bill and Aunt Vi.

Fish food

Cousin Sammy was usually pretty sweet, but he must have been acting up this day, because cousin Chats was trying to feed him to the monster muskie.

The fisher man

The family archives are packed with photos of Ed fishing or showing off a catch. Here are a few.

Raspberry Island express

Anna and Marion enjoyed the relative quiet of a boat cabin (the kids were outside) on the way to Raspberry Island.

Cousins Cathy Miller and Sammy Broberg topside.

Don't try this on your home

Most advice about dealing with ice dams includes this warning: "NEVER, EVER USE AN AX ON YOUR ROOF!" In other words, don't do what Uncle Bill would have done. Here he whacked away cheerfully at roof ice with a large hatchet as cousin Chris watched and learned. Apparently Uncle Bill hadn't seen too many ice dams in his youth in North Carolina.

Bear with us

The Miller and Broberg kids posed with a stuffed black bear during a vacation up north.

Winter sports

Back in the 1970s, the Old Frontenac field's hillside didn't have any buckthorn on it, and made a great skiing and sledding hill. Cousin Janie was the only good skier; the other cousins preferred the dangerous tobaggon. Every cousin was injured at least once on the hillside, but that never stopped them from going back.

Deer and dear

Uncle Wally was Sammy's bodyguard as he sidled up to a reindeer on a ranch near Brainerd.