Hanging with family

Hi neighbors! I've just gotten home from a vacation with my daughter in Iowa! It was great fun and felt really good to get to spend time with her and her family.

While my daughter taught a couple of hours of dance lessons at her studio, my granddaughter, Alyssa, and I had a wonderful adventure at a nearby mall in Des Moines.

We didn't buy much, but we had a lot of fun shopping, chatting and talking about school, homework, styles, friends, how to figure out technical equipment, music, make-up, books, movies, and trying to understand boys!

We took in a movie and visited the Des Moines library to research an ancestor who was associated with helping Elliot Ness take down Al Capone in Chicago.

After a nice meal out, we returned home to watch some television and enjoy the fashion show where my granddaughter modeled her new outfits.

We were startled to hear the city tornado warning sirens going off one morning; but the television announcement said it was an emergency preparedness exercise including all schools, hospitals and businesses in the extended Des Moines area. Finding out it wasn't a real emergency was a relief and knowing the sirens were easy to hear at my daughter's house was comforting.

There were a couple of days of rain, some snow, and an almost constant high wind. I've seldom visited Iowa without being impressed by the winds! But overall, the temperatures stayed above 32.

My son said Nevada had its share of snow and cold weather while I was gone.

We all met in Liberty last night for a nice meal at an Italian cuisine restaurant and to transfer me from my daughter's transport to my son's.

They are both so good at taking me out of town or state when I don't want to drive long distances alone.

I want to talk a little more about the research my daughter and I were doing on the Secret Six of Chicago and their role in demolishing Al Capone's empire. This secretive group of Chicago businessmen was also responsible for solving several hundred other police cases, including kidnappings, murders, smuggling and theft.

My interest in this group started when I read an online article about my second cousin, four times removed, Colonel Robert Isham Randolph, who was the leader and spokesman for the Secret Six group.

It was only after several decades passed that the names of these men were confirmed.

I'm continuing the hunt for information about the group, connected relatives and descendants of other members of the legendary group. If anyone who reads this has any information about The Secret Six of Chicago in the 1930s, please contact me by phone 417-667-2024 or email me at nancymalcom@sbcglobal.net.

My daughter has become very interested in genealogy and has helped a great deal in doing research, collecting photos and contacting other researchers or family members.

My son, who has far less interest in genealogy, has spent many days tracking down old cemeteries and sometimes unmarked graves of our ancestors.

It's always a great idea to make family history a family affair.

It is always a wonderful idea to spend time with family near and far! I had a great time at my daughter and her husband's house in Des Moines and am looking forward to spending time with my son and his wife here in Nevada.

But home is home and I'll be happy to feel my little house all around me once more. Well, at least till the next opportunity to go on vacation!

Have a blessed Easter and enjoy time with your family!