Wow, it seems like you have such fond memories! I, too, spent my summers on a lake cottage, in Michigan. My mom was a teacher and had all the summers off, and we lived an idyllic life on the lake every year. She was artisitc, too, like your great grandfather, and even won a scholarship to the Art Institue in Chicago. Iver, Jr, was artistic - at least I know he once carved a small likeness of himself on a horse. And there was a Brack brother who carved the interior of his house and made jewelry boxes. I don't remember which one. Maybe there was some artistic gene, although I know I didn't inherit it.
I don't know if I've ever heard of Tena. But I remember the name Pederson (Elsie?). Am I on the right track? And I remember Elsie Torgerson, and her sister.

Anyway, I can tell you what little I know. My grandmother told me Grandpa Brack (Iver, Sr) was always smiling, and gave sips of his coffee to the small children. She said that in 1926, when she left to go live with her sister Alice in Wisconsin, Grandpa Brack gave her a $20 bill - quite a generous sum in those days. She tried to refuse it, but he said "Evelyne, I will never see you again". So she took it to make him happy. When her train stopped in Chicago she went to Marshall Field's and bought some trendy costume jewelry. Sure enough, Grandpa Brack died before she ever went home.

She said her parents were strict, and didn't allow dancing. They only drank wine at Christmas. And that her dad's brothers ate peas off a knife blade, not a fork. She also said her parents never spoke Norwegian at home, because her dad wanted them to only know English. Her dad, Iver, was married to a woman named Josephine, who died. Alice was his first child. Rena moved in to take care of Alice after her mother's death. Then he remarried, to my great grandmother, Thorine, who was the pastor's daughter. They had Irv, then Juel (a boy), who died at age 4. Juel liked to play on the washing machine, and one day the housekeeper had heated the water in the washer to boiling, and went to get a load of clothes from in the house. Juel hopped on top of the machine to pretend he was riding a stagecoach, and the lid tipped over and he fell in. I can't find his cemetery marker. My grandmother was 2 then. The other 2 boys were Joyce and Arvid. Such strange names. I don't remember them at all, or Irv.

I always felt so close to this side of my family, even though I never knew them. Iver died in 1930, before my mom was even born. Thorine died in 1923. But my grandmother was just wonderful, and talked about her family all the time. She used to say "My dad would have really liked you". Plus all the photos and jewelry, silver, china, and even Thorine's wedding dress made me feel a connection to them.

My address is:
Tracy Miller
18415 Stewart Ave
Homewood, IL 60430

I'll type more later. I have a great snapshot of Grandpa Brack I will send you.

Rena's daughter is named Elsie Helgoe. She lived near Rock Creek/Eau Claire. I check the SSDI every once in a while, and I think she is still living.
Take care,
Tracy