Family Calendar Honoring My Dad

My dad turned 89 in September. I really wanted to make a family calendar using family photos for his birthday, but I'm glad I waited. About that time I decided to learn how to use Photoshop Elements -- which made this so much easier and the results are probably better than they would have been.

I downloaded some scrapbook page templates from Pixelscrapper. Then I resized them to fit the 8-1/2 X 11 inch size that the calendar pages needed to be. Finally I plugged in the photos. I needed to find a bunch of photos, so I talked my dad into letting me look for photos on his computer. But, I had to do it without telling him why I wanted them.

Here are the resulting pages:

The earliest photo we have of my father is in the upper left corner. (His great-grandson Zeke looks just like him in this photo.) And what a great photo of my dad with his older and younger brother at the top. He also has another younger brother and a younger sister. The other photos are from his US Army and pre-college days .

 This page shows the iconic tower with the A for Aggies from Utah State (Utah State Agricultural College when my dad attended) in Logan, Utah. The Logan Temple is where my parents were married. The photo on the left shows my mom getting her blood test for them to get their marriage license. The lower right two photos are from their first apartment. And the baby is the upper right corner is me. I was born while my dad was in college.

Various photos of my parents. The most recent is the one on the right, in front of the Logan Temple where they were married, exactly 60 years later to the day. They have now been married for 66 years.

There aren't a lot of photos of my dad with his siblings. In fact, I don't know that there was ever a formal family photo done of them professionally. But here are some photos: one with my dad and his three brothers; one with all of the siblings with their father; and one of two brothers and their father. My dad's mom died in her 60s and was not around for any of these pics.

My dad's parents. 

My dad's father was quite an entrepreneur. He operated several gas stations ("service" stations in those days because they actually offered some service!). His last station was a
Beeline gas station in Elko, Nevada. 

My dad's mother was born to Icelandic immigrant parents who had been in the U.S. only a few years when she was born. If she had been born in Iceland, her last name would have been "Bjornsdottir". Her parents anglicized "Bjornsson" be be "Bearnson" after they came to the U.S. She became a school teacher before marrying my grandfather. The picture in the lower left shows all that is left of the Thistle school, one of the schools where she taught. About 20 years ago a devastating flood and mudslide destroyed what was a beautiful schoolhouse.

These are some of my father's ancestors on his father's line. Far left is Andrew Jackson Allen who was an 1847 pioneer to Utah, arriving only a few months after Brigham Young's pioneering party arrived in July. He kept a journal which is a wonderful history of his life and experiences. The photo on the far right is Absalom Wamsley Smith. He, along with Andrew J. Allen, was a pioneer who settled in Draper, Utah. One of the buildings Absalom's property became a Pony Express Station known as Traveler's Rest. The top center photo is Andrew's son, Thomas, and the bottom center photo is Absalom's daughter. They married and are my father's paternal grandparents.

These are my father's maternal grandparents who immigrated from the southern coast of Iceland to Spanish Fork, Utah. In 2000, my parents, one of my brothers and his wife, and I visited Iceland and were able to find their home/farm. Such a beautiful part of Iceland, with lots of waterfalls and not far from black-sand beaches.

Various photos of my parents' 13 grandchildren. They are all grown up now and married, and all but two have children of their own.

And the legacy continues, with 25 living great grandchildren, one who was stillborn, and one due to be born this month. 

This was a fun project. I printed them with VistaPrint. I simply uploaded jpg files of my layouts in the order I wanted them and they did the rest. I uploaded them about a month before Christmas and the price was $19.95 per calendar. So I ordered only 6 -- one for my dad, my mom, my three siblings, and for me.

About a week later an ad popped up on Facebook promoting a sales price of $9.95. I was not too happy and was expecting some push back when I called VistaPrint. (I had my speech all ready about how I was going to do everything I could to let the world know of my dissatisfaction if they wouldn't honor the sales price.) But they were gracious, I didn't have to get dramatic, and they immediately refunded me about $60. So, I think it's only fair that I sing their praises. Not only did they refund the difference between what I paid and the subsequent sales price, the calendars turned out beautiful!

I know my mom wants one about her legacy as well. Maybe next Christmas.