Pictures, pictures, pictures!

I'm still in Texas and will be for a another week. The moving van comes Thursday, hopefully in the morning, so we can get half a day's driving done to come home. We're getting pretty homesick! And my poor husband keeps saying it's bad enough the kids and I are gone, but he doesn't even have a dog to keep him company.

The hard work is mostly done, so I've been spending a lot of time doing something that has been put off for, literally, generations. Sorting photos. This is a look at the dining room table earlier this week.

My mom's mom, whose house always looked perfect, had a big secret. She saved everything. One time when I visited her at her house, I forgot my toothbrush and toothpaste. No problem! Grandma pulled out two shoeboxes -- one full of toothbrushes, the other full of miniature toothpaste tubes, all saved from years of dentist visits. Part of it was due to living through the Depression, but Grandma was also very sentimental. The boxes of photos and keepsakes she passed on have many treasures. But they are a disorganized mess!

Some pictures I'm able to recognize pretty easily. Grandma was always lovely in her photos.

I wish I could go back in time and attend her wedding.

There are many, many photos of my mom -- this one being from high school.

This has always been one of my favorite photos of my mom. I think my dad took the photo. She looks like she should be in a magazine.

Then there's the stuff Grandma saved. Receipts. Report cards. Greeting cards. Programs. You name it. Some of it is truly fascinating.

Mom was just like Grandma. Here is her blue book from an art history course at Michigan State. I'm surprised the high school Valedictorian saved this one, because she only got an A- on this test!

The saddest part of going through these boxes is that, because Grandma and Grandpa and their only two daughters are all gone, many of these precious stories are lost in the mess. I would love to know who this guy was. To me he looks like someone with connections, yet not exactly trustworthy. But if I knew the story behind the picture, I'd probably find he was a favorite uncle or grandpa.

Apparently, there was a baseball player in the family tree because this is just one of many baseball photos I found.

But the biggest mystery of all is this picture. WOWZA!

I have no idea who that is! I don't think it's my mom or my aunt. Maybe some mysteries are better left unsolved.

Stayed tuned and I'll show you more. Remember this picture? It gets even better!