User:Crownedraven

My name is Stephanie Grant Guðmundsson. I am married to Friðrik Rafn Guðmundsson from Kópavogur, Ísland (Iceland).

I have graduated from Brigham Young University with a Bachelor´s degree in Marriage, Family, & Human Development and minors in Russian and Family History & Geneaolgy. My area of emphasis in Genealogy has been Scandinavia, namely Norway and Iceland. I have also done research in Russia. In addition to these I have done research in Eastern states: to name a few Virginia, the Carolinas, Kentucky, Indiana, etc..

I have had the opportunity to live in Siberia, Moscow, and St. Petersburg, Russia getting to know the language, people, history, and culture. I have also lived in Reykjavík and Kópavogur, Iceland doing much the same as I did in Russia. As different as these two countries are, they have very similar roots and traditions. While living in these two countries I have developed a passion to know their roots and to study geneaology.

Other than ties with my husband I have no known relations to either Russia or Iceland. My ancestors came from Scandinavia and Europe: namely, Norway, Sweden, England, Scottland, & Ireland. In doing research on my ancestors in Norway I have come across some wonderful but difficult challenges. I have overcome some, but others will most likely remain due to lost and burnt records.

Some of the most exciting parts of doing my family history & genealogy is the strengthening of my relationships with my family and relatives, such as my husband and his family, my grandfather, aunts, and distant relatives. Since embarking on my family searches my husband has joined in. We have been able to find out alot from his relatives and been able to find and translate Icelandic records. Lately, my grandfather, Owen Martel Pedersen, has added some wonderful pieces to this great work; he has been dilligently gathering and copying photos and records as well as telling stories and personal history of those he knew while he was young.