Father’s Day is this weekend, and it is time to celebrate all of the fathers in our lives and the lives of our children. If a child is lucky, he will have the opportunity to enjoy a relationship with not only his own father but the fathers of both of his parents. Unfortunately, I never met either of my grandfathers because they passed before I was born. I had a step – grandfather, but he passed before I was old enough to remember anything about him. My husband was able to enjoy a relationship with his grandfather when he was … Continue reading →

As parents, we want our children to grow up with a strong sense of family. We want them to know where they came from just as much as we want them to discover who they are. There are many things that we do as parents that develop that sense of family, and many times we do them without even thinking about it. Each time you arrange for your children to spend time with their grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and other relatives you are creating opportunities for them to build relationships with those relatives as well as opportunities for learning more … Continue reading →

While family trees and genealogy research are important tools for learning about one’s family history, relationships with those family members that are still living are the means by which we develop our own understanding of what the word “family” means. Brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, parents, grandparents, and others whom we refer to as “family” make up a group of people that we are taught from birth are special to us. As we grow and develop relationships with these people, we learn more about them and they do in fact become special to us. I have always enjoyed the relationships … Continue reading →

Genealogy is the study of family. This includes research that involves digging through archives, both digital and paper. It also involves the collection of family stories. Often, those stories tell more about a person’s family tree than the vital records will. Mitt Romney and Barack Obama have videos that are vastly different from each other. Each one speaks volumes. Technology is a wonderful thing. Genealogists can now take videos of their family, and send it to relatives that live across the country or around the world. You can take old family photos and create slide shows from them. Genealogists today … Continue reading →

A St. Patrick’s Day parade is a great way for people of all ages to celebrate the holiday. Those who have Irish heritage are likely to be looking forward to attending a parade on March 17, 2012. Some places have decided to hold their parade a day early. However, there will still be plenty of St. Patrick’s Day parades being held on the day itself. Salt Lake City, Utah, will have their St. Patrick’s Day parade on March 17, 2012. It will begin at 10:00 in the morning. The parade route will go The Gateway. The Gateway’s Grand Hall will … Continue reading →

So, you are planning a family reunion for some time this year. You may have some of the details already taken care of such as the date, location, guest list, and food. All of these things contribute to a wonderful reunion. Activities are also important to ensure that your event is both fun and memorable. If the thought of planning activities for your family reunion has you rolling your eyes, do not worry. You do not have to schedule an activity for every age group for every minute of your event. In fact, sometimes less is more and activities that … Continue reading →

Now that you have decided to plan a family reunion and you have figured out who you will invite, the date of the event, and a general geographic area where the event will take place, it is time to get to the fun work of figuring out the rest of the details for the reunion. Choosing a venue for your family reunion can be a lot of fun. Of course if you are planning a summer reunion, the big question is whether to have it indoors or outdoors. Depending upon the geographic area where you will be having the reunion, … Continue reading →

If the cold, gray days of February have you wishing for warmer weather but a trip to a sunny locale is not possible right now, planning a family reunion for this summer may be a fun way to get your mind off of winter. Summer is a popular time for family gatherings both large and small. Whether you want to invite just a few people from one branch of your family tree or a large group of family who have not seen each other for a long time is up to you. Since it takes a few months to plan … Continue reading →

Genealogy isn’t only about looking up documents, and doing searches on websites. It can also be about documenting important pieces of family history. This includes the foods that you associate with the family member who used to make it. Here are some tips about how to track down long, lost, family recipes. In my family, there is a special recipe for potato salad that has been handed down from my grandmother. I can’t tell you all of the ingredients that are in this recipe, but I can assure you that it is absolutely delicious. One of my brothers has renamed … Continue reading →

If you are thinking of planning a family reunion, have you considered doing much of your event planning via Facebook? One of my husband’s second cousins is planning a reunion for this July. A few months ago she created a Facebook group for all of the family members that have Facebook accounts. I am subscribed to the group, so anything that any of the forty group members posts to the group page shows up in my inbox. Not only do I always know the latest developments such as the date, location, and who is bringing what food (important stuff!), I … Continue reading →