Aunties in paradise

Ah, the blue of ocean and sky in fair Hawaii. Lively Sprick sisters Alverna and Anna traveled there several times on Elderhostel trips. Put a conch shell to your ear and check out these shots from their March 1997 trip to Kauai, where they stayed at the Coconut Beach Resort.

Pretty as a painting

As we've opined before, the Dutch masters would have loved to have painted youthful Aunt Emma, with her classic features and luminous eyes. Here are some undated photos from her youth: With a happy little boy whose identity we don't know. This photo, like the two below it, was probably taken in the 1930s. Despite her early beauty, Emma Mabel Sprick Krociel (5/9/1916-), pictured here in 1995, didn't lead an easy life. Here's a toast to her!

Lovable LeRoy

Found some cool old photos of Uncle LeRoy in Anna's old scrapbooks: This would have been taken in late 1912 or early 1913, when LeRoy Friedrich (his mother always wrote Friedrich, not the Frederick it was later Americanized as) Sprick (6/1/12-1/29/85) was less than a year old. Already, he had a twinkle in his eye that signaled the wry sense of humor that characterized him as a grown-up. LeRoy regaled baby Pam, your scrapblog editor, with a joke in 1957. In this photo of an exceedingly large, delicious cake, you may also notice LeRoy and wife Violet. Don't have a date on this one, but it was probably taken for a major wedding anniversary.

History matters

As regular readers of the scrapblog know, whenever we're not just horsing around, we're all about showing how personal history is inextricably linked to broader history. The arrival of a new flu pandemic offers an opportunity to show a prime example. We're using a photo of cousin Noah by the World War I memorial near our Robbinsdale, Minn., home to illustrate the story. Noah, and all your beloved Miller cousins (yes, that includes CMill!CMill!), would not be here if it weren't for the great scourge that came hard on the heels of WWI, the Great Influenza. Military travel helped spread this deadly strain, which killed tens of millions of people around the globe, including one Charles Norman Martin from Winston-Salem, N.C. Charles Martin was the husband of Mamie Louella Jackson, the scrapblog editor's grandmother and mother of Uncle Bill (William Alton Miller). Five years after her first husband died of the flu on Nov. 4, 1918, the young widow remarried, this time to Clyde Clifton Miller, grandfather of the Miller cousins and great-grandfather to their kids. Charles' death must have been a great sorrow to Mamie and his little daughter Norma (our beloved Aunt Norma, now in her 90s), but had it not have happened, twins William/Brother and Arlene/Cissie and their kid sister Marilyn, Millers all, would not have been born. That, spookily enough, is how history works. To read more about the Miller side of the family, go to our Miller family scrapblog. The scrapblog editor highly recommends the two spellbinding, bone-chilling books pictured above if you're interested in how pandemics, including the one at hand right now, work. "Flu" is by Gina Kolata, science reporter for the New York Times; "The Great Influenza" is by John Barry, an author and historian. The scrapblog editor owns both books if you want to borrow them.

Prom-inent moments

It's the prom season, and at least a couple of young cousins prom-enaded to one last week. Some snapshots: Moriah Miller, radiant in a gathered and tucked kiwi-green gown with beautiful sparkly things on it (the scrapblog editor is a pretty good fashion reporter, eh?), and handsome-date-with-matching-tie Eric Peterson visited the Walker Art Center's Sculpture Garden before Centennial High School's prom. Eric and Moriah are smart cookies! At a fancy restaurant before the big dance, they took care to wear napkin bibs lest they spill delicious food on their priceless outfits. Are we really related to young people as beautiful as Moriah and Katie Jo Sprick? Yes indeed, cousins! Katie, the youngest of cousins Dave and Sarah's brood, was resplendent in a single-shouldered gown. She was not only the loveliest young woman at her Eau Claire prom, she was ROYALTY -- note the "Prom Court 2009" sash. Later, she was voted queen of the prom. Of course! Katie posed with proud dad Davy. We're guessing that young Lamars in Katie's generation get a very stern look from him.

An Alle Augen moment

Grandma Maria Augustine Sprick was born 122 years ago yesterday (April 27, 1887). To mark the date, we're rerunning some photos from past postings: All the cousins have Grandma's prayer, "Alle Augen warten," memorized. Right, cousins? Janie? How 'bout you? Here it is with some of the lovely flowers from Grandma's funeral in April 1986. She lived to be 99.

Grandma, in her fav blue sweater, nifty cotton housedress, hairnet and sensible shoes, posed with some of her grandkids and great-grandkids, one or two of whom was behaving, in the 1970s. Front row: Richard, Sammy, Chris, unidentified cute blond girl, Danny, Tuk and Joe. Back row: Leah, Pam, Leah-Jean, Patty, Chats, JoAnne, Grandma, Darrell and Sandy.

Wearing her fav blue sweater, Grandma lined up her eight lovely daughters: Adelaide, Emma, Alverna, Grandma, Katie, Annette, Anna, Marion and Florence. Taken sometime in the 1960s.

Grandma held new granddaughter Pam in spring 1957. Your scrapblog editor hadn't developed manners yet, much less hair -- note how she was rudely yakking away on her plastic cell phone, probably calling Rewrite with some hot story. Cousins, do any of us dress half as well for anything, much less dish-washing? Check out the fancy aprons, too, during this session in Aunt Adelaide's basement kitchen. Grandma supervised Aunts Adelaide, Mavis and Anna.

To read more about Grandma Sprick, simply search for the word "Grandma" in the little search box in the upper-left-hand corner of the blog page. One fun entry from our archives blog is this one with Grandma's 1960 calendar. It contains Grandma's taciturn one-line accounts of what she did every day in 1960. Sample from one day in January: "Went to see remains of Mrs. W."

Happy 20th Birthday to Nathan Pepin!

Our dashing young U.S. Marine cousin is an electrician at Camp Pendleton, which will be his permanent station unless he's deployed to Afghanistan or on a ship (perhaps fighting pirates??!!), according to his proud mom, cousin Patty Pepin. He gets his mail through his friend Drew's address, because it's faster than military mail, she said. He loves baked goods ... hint, hint! Nathan can be reached at: c/o Drew Renauer 603 Seagaze Drive, #281 Oceanside, Calif. 92054 Attention: Nathan Pepin Some photos of Nathan: With Great-Aunt Annette Sprick Kulseth and step-grandpa Virgil "Bud" Bye. In 1995, the Red Wing Republican Eagle published this great photo of 5-year-old Nathan swinging away like Justin Morneau. (To read the cutline more easily, click on the image to make it larger.) Little Nathan and a pretty big sunny. U.S. Marine Nathan and his Great-Aunt Anna Sprick Smith, September 2008.

The Cookies at Easter

Thanks to proud grandma cousin Cindi Sprick O'Donahoe for sending this cute photo of the Madison Cookies with their Easter baskets: Sonya, 7; Maria, 5, and Perrin, 3. The photo was taken outside Cindi and DanO's Eau Claire townhome. Cindi with Sonya and Perrin.

Happy Birthday to M-Bear!

It's hard to believe that Mary-Bear, wife of cousin ChrisMiller!ChrisMiller!, is 51. She never looks older than 29! Today is her birthday; have a happy one, Mary! A lovely photo from the Millers' 2008 cruise. Though Chris wrote of it, "Only after 10 pina coladas would I agree to this photo," we think he looks pretty happy.

Mary with her girls, Hannah, Moriah and Elizabeth.

Easter Sunday at Sam's

Alas, your scrapblog editor had to work Easter, as she does every Sunday, so missed a delicious dinner and fun time at cousin Sam's. Thanks to Mary for these snapshots: Chris, Mary, Zack, Elizabeth, Moriah and Hannah. Next year Xin will be in the picture!

Back row: Dan, Alex, Marty, Tyler, Bridget, Sam. Front row: Zack, Lavone, Nick and Sarah.

Remembering dear ol' Dad

Dad/Uncle Bill/Uncle Brother (William Alton Miller, 4/13/25-3/1/96) would have been 84 today. A couple snapshots of the dear ol' fella: With Pam, Chris and Cathy in Monterey, Calif., in the early 1960s, when he was attending Army language school at Fort Ord.

With first grandchild Zachary William Miller in 1988.

For the story of Dad's North Carolina roots, go to www.brotherandcissie.blogspot.com.

The very newest dear little cousin

Here she is: the darling new little Miller who will join us in June. Her name is Xin Qian, which means something like "Beautiful Traveler," and she now lives in an orphanage in Guangdong Province, in southern China. She will be 1 year old on April 9. Her proud parents are, of course, cousins Chris and Mary Miller.

More cruisin' cousins

Once again, some cousins have gone on a glamorous cruise and not taken the rest of us along. This time it was Texas cousins Sandy Kirkwood Turner and daughter Kelly, sailin' on Carnival Cruiseline to Mexico and other places more sunny than, say, Dumfries, Minn. Looks like they had a great time!

Save us!

Your scrapblog editor has a humble request, cousins -- check out a website called http://www.savethestrib.com/ and sign the petition praising daily newspapers if you're so inclined. The website, and the campaign, was put together by yours truly and other Stribbers to try to save our beloved newspaper. Could be a losing battle, but it's worth having! If it doesn't work out, cousin Chris and I may be moving into your basements with our assorted kids, pets and knickknacks. So hey, it's a good cause!

What is this thing you call ... "spring"?

It's snowing yet again in Minnesota, so if you want to see signs of spring, you have to go to the Internets and google it. We found this recently snapped photo of a bluebird and other cool seasonal images on one of our favorite blogs, Red Wing Nature Notes. Check it out in particular for a fascinating and funny essay by Bruce Ause about hauling a road-killed deer to a site where bald eagles could use it to feed their young.

Kinder im Deutschland

A couple old slides of the Miller kids in West Germany in the 1960s. We loved playing in woods and meadows near our dowdy military housing in Ansbach. We called it Fairy Valley, but I don't think that was its real name.

Chris and Pam in a deer stand.

Pam, Chris and Cathy playing on downed logs. Bet they picked up some chiggers.

A '70s moment

In this 1970s photo, the scrapblog editor, inexplicably well-dressed, pursued her favorite activities, reading and sitting in a lawn chair, as Aunt Annette worked hard nearby. This weekend, the scrapblog editor made up for it by working hard on Annette's former Old Frontenac land, now hers, picking up 6,000 sticks and raking out a weed bed or two. She looked for signs of spring as snow clouds gathered, but the only one she found was the happy fresh bright green of new creeping charlie, ready to roll, baby.

Beautiful Wanderer is closer to home

This photo doesn't really have anything to do with this family news flash, but for some reason it popped into your scrapblog editor's head when she learned that the latest Miller child has finally been identified in southern China's Guangdong Province (see map below) and will be taking the epic journey to Minnesota in June. The photo is one of many Dad/Uncle Bill took of ragged street children in South Vietnam in 1967-68. The little ones, who had been rejected by their parents (often because they were the offspring of U.S. soldiers) and who took care of each other in the streets, rent his heart. We think Dad would have been thrilled to meet little Xin Qian, just as he'd have loved Elizabeth, now 5. According to proud prospective serial dad Chris, Jiang Xin Qian (Jiang is her last name, the name of her orphanage) will be 1 year old on April 9. She now lives at Guangdong's Yang Jiang orphanage. Writes Chris: "The internets are unclear on what Xin Qian means, but 'Beautiful Wanderer' is one interpretation. Jiang (her last name) is the name of the orphanage." Chris and Mary are accepting nominations for her English name. We hope to have photos next week. Meantime, the happy faces of the little ones in Dad's long-ago photo will suffice.

A happy meeting

Life takes strange twists and turns, and sometimes happy moments lend healing grace to long-private sorrows and passages. We're happy to report one such moment for cousin Cindi, who met her birth daughter, the lovely Angela Messick-Foster, this weekend. We are so glad they got to meet, and holy cow, look at those identical smiles! Angela, whose 1972 birth adds yet another layer to the many adoption narratives in our extended family, recently wrote to the scrapblog editor that she, too, collects priceless blue plates.

The Fisherman's Almanac

After a week whose highlights included a bad case of torso flu, a snowstorm and another flurry of mice invading the newsroom, your scrapblog editor sent a couple of poems she'd read this week to Elmer and Mavis that reflected the somewhat unliterary feel of her week: CHOICE OF DISEASES Now that I'm sick & have all this time to contemplate the meaning of the universe, Father said, I understand why I never did it before. Nothing looks good from a prone position. You have to walk around to appreciate things. Once I get better I don't intend to get sick for a while. But if I do I hope I get one of those diseases you can walk around with. -- Hal Sirowitz (and) WHEN SOMEBODY CALLS AFTER TEN P.M. when somebody calls after ten p.m. and you live in wisconsin and you're snug in your bed then all's I can tell you somebody better be missing somebody better had a baby or somebody better be dead --Bruce Dethlefsen Uncle Joe was not terribly impressed with these masterpieces, having already read them on Garrison Keillor's "The Writer's Almanac" when he'd gotten up hours earlier. So he did us one better, his own almanac poem, cast in a Neopostconstructionist Minimalist style with Haiku-Dao overtones: A FISHERMAN'S ALMANAC A robin holds reveille outside my bedroom window. I dress quietly so as not to wake my bride of sixty years. It is not yet daylight and she needs her rest. I turn on the computer in the den. Weatherbug gives me a favorable report. The fish are calling. I click on Pam's family blog: It is Janie's birthday today. I click on Garrison Keillor's "Writer's Almanac." The bottom line reads: "Be well, do good work, keep in touch." To be well, I eat a bowl of oatmeal and walk to the lake. What will the lake give me for a hook and a worm? A sucker? Once pickled, it will make a Norseman's day. A catfish? Second only to lutefisk for my partner, a Happy Dane. A carp? If smoked, it will go well with beer and crackers. A walleye? The thinking man's fish goes to Dorothy. Her late husband once provided her with the best of fish. Bluegills? Anna will enjoy them for a break from Meals on Wheels. So we do the best we can -- but it don't amount to much. We try to keep in touch with the fish -- old fishermen will understand. -- Elmer Sprick