Petra and Nenni were teenagers when they fell in love. Their relationship was traditional and marked by long periods of separation. Nenni spent much of his time at sea, while Petra worked in various jobs on land. She worked as a hired hand on two farms in the fjord and took on any work available at other times.

The winter of 1941–1942, when Petra and Nenni were around twenty years old, their lives took new directions. Petra attended a home economics school in Blönduós, having previously spent a few weeks studying at a similar school in Hallormsstaður. Petra's dream was to become a nurse. At the time, a certificate from a home economics school met the requirement for admission to nursing school. That winter, Nenni stayed in Reykjavík, where he worked for the American forces stationed in Iceland.

When Petra returned home from school in the spring, she chose not to pursue nursing after all. Another dream had taken hold - the desire to establish a home with her childhood sweetheart.

Shortly after her return, during the summer and autumn of 1942, Petra and Nenni started talking seriously about marriage. They started preparing for the big day, and Nenni even bought his wedding suit. They had to postpone the wedding, unfortunately. Many years earlier, Petra and her siblings Magga and Björgólfur decided that they would all marry at the same time. Around this time, Björgólfur fell ill with tuberculosis and was admitted to the tuberculosis sanatorium at Vífilsstaðir. His stay there lasted three years, and during that time the sisters waited. Nenni outgrew his wedding suit while they waited. At last, on August 6, 1945, Petra and Nenni finally exchanged their vows.

On the morning of her wedding day, Petra did not feel well, so she went for a walk up into the mountains. Whether she was searching for stones is not recorded, but it seems likely, as she had done so instinctively since childhood. The rest of the day was everything it should have been. The brides wore black dresses, made for the occasion, and a grand celebration followed, attended by friends and relatives. The moment was a meaningful one: a beloved brother had returned from the brink of death, and life seemed to smile upon them all.

Petra and Nenni set out to build a home of their own the year they were married. They dug the foundations just above Árbær, Petra’s childhood home. Once the concrete had been poured, however, Nenni fell ill. Because of his illness, they abandoned their plans and instead bought a small wooden house in the village called Sunnuhlíð. They gave the foundation to Petra’s brother Björgólfur, which proved helpful to him as he recovered from his long illness.

The small wooden house soon became too small for their growing family, and they decided to build a larger house on the same plot. They did so in an unusual way: by building the new house around the small wooden one, which they continued to live in during construction. The new house kept the name 'Sunnuhlíð'.

Petra and Nenni had four children: Ingimar, born in 1945; Elsa Lísa, born in 1946; and Sveinn Lárus, born in 1949. Their youngest child, Þórkatla, was born later, in 1962. Nenni spent much of his time at sea, while Petra managed the household and cared for the children. For several years, they kept a small farm with around twenty sheep and one cow. The cowshed stood behind the house, roughly where the small wooden house now stands in the garden. There were also other outbuildings on the property, as well as a doghouse where their dog, Nafna, lived. They also tended a vegetable garden on the slope behind the house.

In 1974, their lives changed. Petra and Nenni were in Denmark when Nenni, who had suffered from heart trouble for some time, had a heart attack. He held on for a week in the hospital with Petra by his side before passing away at only fifty-two.

On the day Nenni was laid to rest, Petra made a decision: her home would be open to anyone who wished to see her stones. On that day of grief and loss, she did not dwell on her own sorrow, but instead found the strength to offer us all the gift her collection has become. It speaks volumes about her generosity and inner strength.