Family Picnics

Kuphall Family Picnic's 

Circa 1913

Circa 1919 

Circa 1926

Circa 1938

1943

1953

I remember watching in amazement as my normally dignified Grandparents, Aunts, and Uncles become playful as they participated in games which included dressing up in old clothing, three legged race, and, water balloon contests.

1960

 1967

1974

 1980

My memories of family picnics are some my most treasured. Looking back I respect my Grandparents vision of keeping our families bond strong by creating these special times of celebration together. Thank you for taking the time to share in these memories with me. Fay 

Memories and Privacy

This picture makes me smile every time I see it. It is quintessential 1940's and the smiling faces intrigue me. I wonder what challenges each person is struggling to overcome, or blessings they are experiencing in their lives at the moment the photo was taken.

We are all entitled to our own private and personal journeys. However, there is something to be said of the validation that comes when we are remembered by others. It not only honors that person's experience, but also the generations of family members who are still here.

With the intention of honoring the memories of our ancestors, Mom and I are going to begin hosting an ancestor every week. Our aim is to include photos, memories, and accomplishments we have record of.

We ask you to keep in mind that the knowledge comes from family lore. We encourage you to correct any of the information we have wrong, and share new information for us to post.

We also acknowledge that posting these memories to social media may make some people feel uncomfortable. If this is true for your family, please contact us at cheri.m.linehan@gmail.com and we will take down the post immediately.

We look forward to sharing this journey with you.

Fay and Cheri

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Getting started again

Our family has a long history of being record keepers. They have passed down meticulous typewritten charts and books full of faded photos.

I guess you might say our inheritance from our families has been learning to honor our ancestors.

About 10 years ago we began the practice of scanning every one of those treasured photos. We have 12,000 scanned, edited, and annotated photos, slides, and documents saved to Flickr for all to be able to access. Though this was a great accomplishment, it wasn't our final goal.

As with most lifetime projects our interest would wax and wane. Eventually  we became overwhelmed and frustrated because the technology just didn't exist to allow us to archive all of the information to tell the story of our ancestors lives.

Then DNA tests became affordable and we decided to find out where we really came from. The excitement of seeing those charts with our history for eon's of generations initiated a new interest for my Mom and myself. Our Ancestors began calling to us!

This blog is meant to document and celebrate our old and new finds as we share this journey of honoring our ancestors together. Please join us.

Fay and Cheri