Pictures from the drawer

The Thoe family has a drawer full of photos that has found its home in my grandma and grandpa Thoe's house (primarily because the photos never left the farm that has been run by Thoe's for five generations). Last year my sisters and I scanned in most of the photos and uploaded them to a shutterfly account. We labeled them with the help of Grandma, Grandpa and my Grandpa's sisters. Of course, this process involves a narrative that gives personality to the family members we have never met. Bonnie and I have developed theories about who was mischievous and who was a grump, based on their facial expressions in photos over the years.

I've tried to write down most of the stories that have been passed down to us, and match them with the corresponding pictures. Someday, when I feel that I've gotten the stories polished, I'll share them as well. In the meantime, I thought it'd be fun to share some of my favorite photos from the drawer- the photos that have no story. 

We've spent hours speculating the nameless folks in these photos. We've tried to match the architecture of the buildings in the background to a farm we know. We've tried to find anyone that resembles the people in these photos in any of the other photos in the drawer. We have a few theories, but overall, these are the orphan photos. 

First, there are two pictures of a beautiful and stylish young lady having what appears to be a very fun day. Grandpa thinks it might be his mother, Ethel Grovedahl; I choose to think it is.  (-: The third picture is one of my personal favorites; a young man in a business suit and another in overalls.  The fourth photo shows a young girl on her confirmation day in a beautiful dress, probably hand sewn. Grandpa thinks it could be his aunt Lorraine (Ethel's sister). The last picture is simply labeled 1921. We think it could be a picture of the old farm in Norway sent in the mail from relatives.