War is hell and I often bristle at the presentations and concept of war enthusiasts. I just wrapped up at a genealogy conference with one such war enthusiast, which got me thinking about my family’s role in the Civil War and holes in my genealogy. For the most part, half…
Traditions Continue Reading
Birthday Fun, Traditions and CAKE!
Sometimes it’s fun to think about traditions and their origins. Some are cultural, some of hyper local and all evolve and change over time! One that we are in the thick of right now is ice cream cake for breakfast! It started when the kids were little and waiting until…
Slovenian Roots Continue Reading
The Setinas Immigrate to Kansas
We were very fortunate to get to visit with our Setina cousins in Slovenia, as well as meet many of them online via my genealogy work. With multiple generations to share, let me start with who/what/when they came to the United States. Grandma Jennie Setina came over with her mother…
Slovenian Roots Continue Reading
The Zajc Family
During our trip to Slovenia, we had the blessing of meeting the family that currently owns the house and farm where my great grandmother Mary Podobnik was from. Tracking this line of the family down was hard, especially as grandma had 5 sisters, but started with inheriting a pile of…
Slovenian Roots Continue Reading
The Big Trip
After some genealogy breakthroughs during the Covid shutdown regarding our family in Slovenia I set a goal of one day traveling there to get a better sense of what our family left and what they left behind. In March of 2024 I was able to make this trip a reality…
Family Friends Continue Reading
Two Women and WWII
Meet a dear friend of my grandma Jennie’s, Kimiyo Kawasaki. We know that Kimiyo and grandma met in Chicago, Illinois around the time of WWII. They were both born in 1919 but would go on to have very different experiences with the war but crossed paths in Chicago (likely post-war)…
Slovenian Roots Continue Reading
The Majdič Mill and Mansion
Digging into and understanding why our family immigrated to the United States has been a key point. And much like most genealogy I started asking the questions too late and the stories I’ve heard are hazy with time and history on the exact factors that pulled the family to the…
Slovenian Roots Continue Reading
Al. Jenko
While I didn’t get a lead on the letter I posted previously, I did finally make some connections. Here’s the letter: I assumed the Al was short for Albert, Allan etc. but while doing some research into the previous Firehouse photo and the possible families that it could have been,…
Slovenian Roots Continue Reading
Firefighter School Mystery
Sorting letters and photos and found this postcard. It was unsent, but says “These are the houses where I live for 25 years. I live in the small one in the back.” My best guess is that someone from our family was a caretaker, staff and/or lived nearby. The school…
Mystery Photos Continue Reading
Mystery Photos
One inspiration to bring this blog back is to help broaden the number of people who can see the unidentified photos I’ve inherited. My grandmother inherited boxes and albums of photos from the “old world” that went unidentified due to language barriers and like all of us, too much to…
