Good dogs

Knoxie is cousins Chats and Michael's very gentle pit bull-lab mix. Even Aunt Alverna, who wasn't that fond of dogs, liked Knoxie. Riley, one of the dogs that inspired Laurie Hertzel's "Three Dog Blog," posed with his Christmas gift from Pam.

Cousins start early with that Christmas thing

Cousins Jane and Ted graciously hosted a gaggle of noisy cousins at their lovely Woodbury home today. Some snapshots from our day: No, that's not Coca-Cola Black that cousins Dan and Tuk are toasting with. It's Dan's excellent home brew, a robust dark beer. We're hoping Danny can market it, get very rich, and support us all. Note how cousin Tuk wears his last name on his shirt, just in case he forgets what it is. Sprick sisters Anna and Katie kicked back after dinner. Dinner was excellent -- many large plates of heaping, colorful, delicious food. Just to be polite, the cousins went back for several helpings. Anna was pleased, or pretended to be, to get the Polish swing during the white elephant giveaway. The Polish swing is an old family heirloom, passed down from Annette and Hart years ago. Izzbee and her lovely mom, Mary, shared a tender moment. Izzbee was explaining to Mary about how she wasn't going to eat any vegetables and no one was going to make her, and Mary was explaining to Izzbee why she should and what might happen if she didn't. Cousins Sarah and Pam put their heads together. Sarah was the gathering's best singer, warbling Christmas carols in a really sweet voice. Unfortunately, Pam had the wrong setting on her camera and the little videos she thought she was taking didn't work. Cousins ChrisMiller!ChrisMiller! and Sarah schmoozed with Uncle Charles John "Deadeye" Kirkwood. The Broberg boys got ready to play the white elephant game. What a handsome bunch! Marion and Wally would be so proud of their five grandsons. We're proud of them, too. Cousin K. hung out with her granddad. K.'s visiting friend H. was officially declared a cousin for the day. Thanks to Jane and Ted for a lovely time! And congratulations to Teddy Hagberg, who's just been accepted for next year at Bethel College in Roseville! We're very proud of him.

Mo on the go

Proud cousin Chris passed along this link to a story in the St. Paul Pioneer Press about Centennial High School's girls basketball team. Note our very own Mo in the photo!

Feels like Christmas spirit

The scrapblog editor welcomed the Christmas season today by going to a morning show of the Guthrie's "The Christmas Carol" and then lunch at Spoonriver with her excellent pal Holly, right, and by walking in a lovely snowfall. The Guthrie's Christmas chestnut is always delightful, and it was fun to see it in the new blue theater overlooking the Mississippi River. Raye Birk, above, starred as Scrooge. Here's a quote from Dickens' classic we always liked:

Scrooge's nephew to his Uncle Ebenezer: "I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round -- apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that -- as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys."

Look who's feeling better: Turtle the cat lives on

The scrapblog editor woke up with a sore throat this morning, and thus postponed a planned get-together with cousin Dan to design a Frontenac cabin. Probably a good thing, since we are having one serious snowstorm this afternoon. So the scrapblog editor is having a rare quiet day at home, watching it snow and bothering her cats. Luckily, Turtle, the cat who was almost lost for good to illness, then to being lost, is enjoying her ninth life, thanks to prescription food and medication. Thought we'd include these little videos of Turtle so Noah in Duluth can see how she's doing: First, here is one that demonstrates Turtle's personality: mild, passive and not terribly smart. Lucy and I are trying to get her to play with us. Turtle remains oblivious: Below, we get her to play a little: The tweeting in the background is from our parakeets, Odysseus (Noah's bird, named during his Greek mythology phase) and Booger (Zachary's bird, named during his -- er -- booger phase).

Noah and the Dylan look

Noah loves Bob Dylan, and it shows in his personal style. We think he could have starred in the new Dylan movie "I'm Not There." Here are a few photos from recent weeks: He ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more. All along the watchtower, Noah and his friends Steve, David and Sam. Love minus zero, no limit -- yep, that's Noah and Tara.

Scrapblog Basics 101

Every once in a while, we'll stop and offer tidbits on how to use the scrapblog. Let's say you're tired of most of the stuff on the blog and only want to look at specific photos without going through 700 photos of cousin Chris as a bullet-headed tot or of the scrapblog editor's spoiled cats. All you have to do is type whatever you want to see into the SEARCH BLOG box at the top of the page, and voila, those scrapblog entries will come up. (Though you may have to vary the search words a little bit to account for the scrapblog editor's erratic spellings and commentary.) For instance, you could type in: SEARCH BLOG: Aunt Katie SEARCH BLOG: cousin Tuk SEARCH BLOG: knuckleheads SEARCH BLOG: fishing SEARCH BLOG: ChrisMiller! ChrisMiller! SEARCH BLOG: rosettes SEARCH BLOG: Stump-in SEARCH BLOG: delicious food SEARCH BLOG: L-shaped farmhouse SEARCH BLOG: strange rituals SEARCH BLOG: funny outfits SEARCH BLOG: Alle Augen SEARCH BLOG: priceless blue plates ... and so forth. Also, if you want to save a scrapblog photo in your own computer or e-mail it to someone, all you have to do it right-click on it, and it's yours, baby.

We brake for good literature

The scrapblog's senior research associate and principal literary essayist, E.W. Sprick, recently submitted a wonderful piece that you can now find in the scrapblog reading room. Said E.W., who is 80 years young, of his writing plans: When I took early retirement, I had lots of hobbies, did things with my grandchildren and provided some elder care. I wrote some stories along the way, some good and some not so good. They are all in some form of booklet or newspaper column. Now that I am getting less mobile, I have had to give up some of my more strenuous activities and can foresee the day when I still may fish a little but will spend more time indoors, especially in winter. My current thinking is to take all of my stories, rewrite them and put them in chronological order for one booklet. The stories might have to be massaged a bit to make them more interesting. We have a new computer, and it may be a long winter. I want to include more about Mavis if she will let me. The scrapblog editor, and indeed all the cousins, are thrilled to hear this. We want more E.W. essays! (You can read several good ones at the aforementioned archives site.) By the way, we've run out of old family photos again, at least until we stumble over the next treasure trove of them. So modern photos and essays of all kinds are WANTED for the scrapblog!

Millers make merry

Friend of the family Sarah Ringdal recently forwarded these photos of some people we know: Sarah with Izzbee, H.B. and Mo. H.B., Sarah, Zachary, Mo and Izz go all urban. Zachary in large shades.

More from the Miller family Thanksgiving

Thanks to Sarah Ringdal, friend of cousin-nephew Zackaroony Miller, for these snapshots from our Miller family Thanksgiving: Noah (who has since shaved off the red beard), imparted some Noahesque wisdom to his little cousin Izzbee, who is now 4 going on 18. Noahesque wisdom would include Hermann Hesse quotes; a rapid-fire list of American presidents (and again, backwards); vegetarian recipes; Bob Dylan trivia; obscure facts about European history and 1970s fashion tips. Izzbee looks impressed! What's the first thing you think when you see this photo of cousins Zachary and Noah lounging on Zack's bed with friends Sarah and Tara? We know, we thought exactly the same thing -- that their feet are really big!! Princessa H.B. and Sarah smiled for the paparazzi.

What to get your cousins for Christmas

On the day after Thanksgiving, we should be eating leftovers, taking walks and naps, watching football and reading good books. But instead, we are out shopping, wondering, what in the Sam-Broberg-Hill am I going to get the cousins for Christmas? Well, cousins, the answer, frankly, is NOTHING, because all of us have way too much stuff. Our houses are fuller than a Sprick stomach after second lunch at a Stump-in! But let's say you just can't resist -- you have to get Elmer, or Chris, or Leah, or Tuk, a little something. Never fear, because today we present the Official Scrapblog Cousins' Christmas Gift Guide! Did the aunts and uncles ever have trouble picking out Christmas gifts for each other? Heck, no! We've taken a cue from them to create our list. Here then, in ascending order, are the TOP 10 THINGS TO GET YOUR COUSINS FOR CHRISTMAS: No. 10: Yes, cousins, fruitcakes are versatile, durable and pretty. The only problem is, they tend to get dry. We suggest pouring a bottle of rum over yours before giving one to, say, cousin Dave. No. 9: Hard sausage or braunschweiger! Ed, Hart, Gus and Bill always looked so happy when they got theirs! Back then, they had to go down to Huettel's to get their festive meats. Now you can just go to the mall, to one of those little booths festooned with pretty boxes of sausage, cheese-food and jelly to get your gift for Tuk or Dan! No. 8: When presenting the ever-popular can of peanuts to cousin Sam or Sarah, be sure to say, "You are what you eat!" No. 7: Here's something for you cousins who have an artistic streak. There's nothing that says, "I appreciate you, cousin [Bridget, Chats, whoever]," better than a homemade gift, and what better homemade gift than this festive ... uh ... thing made out of old ice-cream buckets? We know you have 40-50 of those buckets in your basement. No. 6: Who cares if every Sprick already has about 100 decks of playing cards? Everyone, especially cribbage-playing cousins Zack and Chris, can always use a fresh, unmarked deck. No. 5: You can't ever have too many lawn chairs, cousins. The scrapblog editor has several that look just like this one, so she wasn't pleased to find when she went to Google a photo of one that the photos were attached to an URGENT RECALL of said lawn chairs. Apparently they can fold up and trap you! Anything that dangerous is bound to be marked down. Just the thing for cousin Pam, who likes nothing better than to sit around. No. 4: Chh-chh-Chia! You know you've always wanted a Chia Pet. They come in a number of creative varieties this year. We like this "Chia Al Gore." Just the thing for Aunt Anna or cousin Noah, who looks a little like a Chia cousin just now. No. 3: This is a little high-end for us, cousins, but isn't The Clapper cool? We can just see cousin Sandra using this smooth machine to turn the lights on and off at her Nacogdoches estate! No. 2: What Sprick cousin hasn't wanted a perfectly round hairdo, the hallmark of the aunts in the generation before us? And yet none of us has been able to achieve it. Now we can, with this lifelike wig of perfect spheredom! Just the thing for Chats, Jane, Sheila and Barb! And finally, the No. 1 gift for your cousin: Ah, naturally -- a priceless blue plate! However, don't spend your whole inheritance on one of these! Just check your basement -- there are probably some there. Dust off the box and give it to a cousin. If you're lucky, your cousin will give you one, too!

Spricks get together to dig holes, act solemn

Like a Stump-in, this 1975 cabin ground-breaking party at the Brobergs' land in Old Frontenac, Minn., was one of those you-had-to-be-there events (or, you had to be a Sprick) to really understand it. Before the Spricks began their hole-digging frenzy, they had a ceremony involving gunfire, funny hats, live music, wisecracks and Lord knows what else. Why? Ask not why; ask, rather, why not? Grandma Sprick donned a hardhat as she dug in. Seems like Florence, Joe, JoAnne, Marion, Alma and Tuk could have helped her, since she was 88 years old and all, but noooo, they just stood there and offered commentary. Cousin Sam had just the right dead-serious, no-irony attitude, and just the right hat, for this gala event. Behind him were Wally, Marion, Annette, Alverna, Vi, Grandma and Joe. Sam and Dan stood at attention ... ... and fired! Criminy! Hope they didn't hit anything. This event also featured music by Chats Miller, who played a hot jazz flute. Pam stood by, offering commentary and being generally annoying.

Why, you little .... Kirkwoods

Cousins Sandy, Joe and Janie played outside their rural Lake City home in these 1960s-era photos.

Beam her up!

We always knew Anna was a world traveler, but this 1993 photo, taken at Cape Canaveral, Fla., appears to show her ready to board a rocket. We wonder if they let her take her purse?

Another day, another party

Ed and Katie helped Anna celebrate her birthday in October 1978. Hope she got some good loot.

The last photo of Adelaide

Alverna always said this was the last photo taken of Adelaide, the oldest Sprick child. Adelaide Sprick Detlefsen was killed in a car accident in Red Wing, Minn., on Aug. 23, 1973. Here she was with Florence and cousin Danny. Not sure whose house this was.

A visit to Castle Haven

Anna visited with Mark Lind, proprietor emeritus of Castle Haven resort along the North Shore, in 1991. The bench overlooking Lake Superior was always a favorite spot at this beloved vacation getaway place. The Millers and other Sprick relatives often camped or got a cabin there. Annette and Hart discovered the place in the 1940s, when Mark and his brother, Edgar ("By-golly, the pressure's really on!") Lind were Norwegian immigrant fishermen who ran the resort on the side.

A great grandma

Grandma Sprick posed with her first grandchild, Leah Sprick Davidson, and her great-grandson, Richard Davidson, in 1980. That's Ed, in his loud shirt, in the background. No, that's not a giant curl coming out of Leah's beehive hairdo, it's a spot on the photo where the scrapbog editor spilled some Tab. (Quality control is not Job One at Scrapblog Central.)

It's those cute, smart cousins again

Cousins Paul and Kelly Turner posed nicely for their mom, cousin Sandy, in 1995.

Y'all are everywhere

Occasionally the Miller family would travel to North Carolina to visit their other relatives, the Scottish-Appalachian Millers, a fascinating bunch in their own right. But somehow, a Minnesota cousin or two always seemed to pop up right in the middle of the Millerfest. Very eerie! For instance, check out this photo taken in Winston-Salem, N.C., in the 1980s of Alverna, Bill and Chris Miller with Bill's cousins, Virginia and Everette Harris; their grandson, Ryan Harris; Bill's twin sister, Cissie Edwards, and her husband, Bill. But wait! There's more. Isn't that Anna right smack in the middle? And there's cousin Dan, too!