I grew up with a close extended family of cousins and second cousins, and cherished that sense of family. It was only when I got older that I realized they mainly came from one branch of my family and I didn't know much about the other branches.

Most of my most recent ancestry comes from Iowa (where I grew up) and MO, but it wasn't until I moved to California 4 years ago that I had all this extra time and energy to put into family research.

Now I am trying to visit a cemetery or two each time I visit Iowa to do some on-site research and to photograph graves of my family members, those who MAY be family members... ANNND graves that just look wicked cool.

I grew up with a close extended family of cousins and second cousins, and cherished that sense of family. It was only when I got older that I realized they mainly came from one branch of my family and I didn't know much about the other branches.

Most of my most recent ancestry comes from Iowa (where I grew up) and MO, but it wasn't until I moved to California 4 years ago that I had all this extra time and energy to put into family research.

Now I am trying to visit a cemetery or two each time I visit Iowa to do some on-site research and to photograph graves of my family members, those who MAY be family members... ANNND graves that just look wicked cool.