Genealogy is... Creative

Before Michael and I were married, I graduated institute. After we were married we both continued to attend institute classes together and separately, which was a great blessing for us. We enrolled in a Family History course one semester and I was very smug as I sat down for the first class. The instructor had us fill-out a survey about our family history experience, what was completed and what we had yet to get done. I confidently checked box after box, indicating my familiarity with the subject, until the last question made me pause.
Do you have your four generations on display in your home?

...What? No.
I do now though, thanks to Sister Hopkins. My parents have theirs as well, and my son’s is in the nursery, I’ve given pedigrees as gifts, and by helping others create displays have made friends . Often when we think about doing our genealogy, we imagine ourselves hunched over a keyboard at the Family History Center in dim lighting for hours. Not so, though, unless you prefer your time spent this way… then… keep trucking, I guess… but you can be hunched over your craft bench as well.

Here are some ideas from around our home and out-and-about the internet:

From Our Home

Artifacts: Use family textiles, pictures of ancestors and genealogical landmarks or objects to decorate your home.

Pedigree display: frame your pedigree and showcase on a bookshelf or sitting area. If you need a template, I have templates for individual and couples' predigrees.

Activity Book: Fun for younger family memebrs. Take genealogical information and create cross-words, matching, and other activities.

From Out and About the Internet

Using Photographs as displays

Scrapbooking-This is from my friend Caitlin’s craft creations blog, I love her dearly and she is the most self-reliant woman I know. This display is a wonderful idea., and of course Caitlin is a great scrapper and can execute it perfectly.

Recipe books- Gather up recipes, family traditions, and other related material and make a recipe book for the family

They always said in school if you can make the infomation meaningful to you, you'll remember it better. Use your talents to make family history meaningful to you and others!

Until next Thursday,
Don’t worry, get scrappy!

Memorial Day Parade

I would share my thoughts on the town's memorial procession, the activities that were held, the popsicles given on the front porch of the American Legion, the sound of artillery in the morning and much more... but I have a lot of cleaning and planning to do before we have friends over for dinner this Friday.

Just know, life is great. And there's a reason for that... it's because it isn't free. Everyone needs to put their shoulder to the wheel. And what that means exactally, is different for everyone.

(Please click the pictures above and get a better look! I'm quite proud of them! Can't wait to photoshop them!)

Genealogy is... Preserving

Often our perception of genealogy is two dimensional, paper and pen, pedigree and charts, maybe a few pictures, maybe. Yet there is so much more that we can do. Let me tell you about some of our family’s treasures.
Recordings
Most of you know about my mother-in-law Ruth, some of you have had the pleasure of knowing her personally, a privilege I missed. I met Michael shortly after his mother’s death; therefore, I have never known the woman who raised my husband. You miss out on a lot of information without a mother-in-law.
Right after my niece Alyssa was born, Ruth recorded herself reading Little Golden Books and singing songs on tapes. Thanks to Shelly, we were able to record those tapes, so now we have the MP3s. We also have recordings of Michael’s grandparents reading books as well. When Caleb gets old enough he will enjoy being read to by his progenitors.
Recipes
One of the things I cherish is family recipes. Every time I make banana bread or Captain Grandma’s Rice Dish, I think about those ancestors who nourished their families and bothered to record the recipe, so the nourishment and tradition could continue.
Journals
My brother-in-law inherited a set of scriptures from his father, and I think they are the neatest token. What’s so special, you ask? Well, beside from the Bruce R. McConkie autograph in the back, my brother-in-law’s father basically journaled in his scriptures. He would date passages the day he read them, record answers to prayers, and identify a scribble or rip a child created with a byline and date. It is priceless.
Genealogy does not have to be two dimensional, it’s all about preserving. You take something that you want to remember, record it in some manner and preserve it for future generations. It could be a frugal recipe your great-grandmother passed down (that you end up serving on a second date with your-future-husband), silly songs or a lesson learned or a set of values or beliefs.

You know, the important stuff.

It doesn't always have to be about your ancestors either.
You can start working on your personal history now,
you know, while you actually remember it! ; )

Until next Thursday…
make like some jam and preserve!

Make a Wish

Caleb's Make a Wish

Foundation Corporation

Our company believes
everyone deserves a wish.

Just send us your name, a wish, and a money order to:

Caleb E. Thomson

Somewhere, MA

And our representive and CEO Caleb E. Thomson

will delicate and blow a dandelion in your name.

The Fine Print: Wishes will come true in 3-8 weeks, while supplies last or until we mow our lawn. Not responsible for wishes that are eaten or crushed.

Why some wishes do not come true...

Anyways. That concludes our Caleb endorsement.

Back to our original blog programming:

This weekend was Stake Conference, so that meant Mike and I did not have to prepare lessons this week for our classes. This resulted in an eventful Saturday. After Mike completed a few home improvements, we put Caleb down for a nap and sneaked outside to play a round of croquet. Mike won, despite my efforts. “Efforts” here meaning, cheating. When Caleb woke up we set out to the Millis Library to return materials, check out materials, and stop by the Millis Library Book Sale, which we have decided will become an annual family outing. The YA Lit and children’s books were 5 for $1 or a whole paper bag full for $5. Needless to say, we got a bag. We have added more Dr. Seuss to our Nursery library. We found some true treasures, like, Soup for President, Tuck Everlasting, Alice in Wonderland, and many more. After the book sale we played at the Choate Park in Medway. Caleb went down the slide, bobbed around on those spring stationary toys, and got down and dirty in the sandbox.

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE Massachusetts? Sure, I have been known to complain about the lack of turning lanes and the pollen, but there are some pleasant qualities I cannot deny.

If you were to drive down a residential street here, you may think it is trash day- with all the discarded furniture, lawn mowers, entertainment centers, baby strollers; but not so, these have become communal property and are free for the taking. At parks, people just LEAVE toddler toys (like trucks, slides, bikes, scooters, play houses, anything) so others can play with them. At Choate park they have four play houses, two play sets, a sandbox full of dump trucks and digging tools, and a small track for all the ridding toys they have. Although living in Massachusetts will probably make you poor, it’s one of the best states to be poor in!

Sunday was Stake Conference, which was amazing, and the talks given answered many of my prayers. When we got home Mike let me take a much needed nap (my anemia appears to be catching up with me again) and he took care of Caleb- this means feeding him Mac N’ Cheese and taking him outside to stroll around the yard.

Caleb has discovered dandelions. Mike showed him how to blow on one and now whenever Caleb spots one, he starts huffing and puffing.

Genealogy is... Interesting

I just got done preparing a four generations pedigree for one of Mike’s home teachees, and it turns out he is related to Annie Abbott "The Little Georgia Magnet"

Go ahead try to tell me that isn’t interesting.

Also.
I mentioned on another post that I’m helping out a neighbor with his genealogy; he already had his four generations, and wants my focus to be tracing his paternal roots to England (since his maternal roots were already established back to Benjamin Franklin).

Which I just completed this week (hooray for me), and I managed to find a book about his great-great-great-great grandparents and descendents, The Shropshires of Cumberland County and have purchased it for him (it was the least I could do- we came home to a mowed lawn on Sunday).

There’s a bit of folklore circulating the genealogy forums about my neighbor’s ancestors. No one really knows when or why the first Shropshires landed on American soil. Some say they were retired pirates who settled in America to rest on their “booties” and eat apple pie. Others suggest they were more Privateer than pirates, since they are recorded as Whigs, who may have had the courage to stand as marked men by signing the Oath of Allegiance back in the 1700s. Pirate or Privateer? Hm. Interesting.


The more research I conduct the more appreciative I become of the human experience.

Mike is my type of guy. He carries around copy of the infamous Beware of Pride talk in his scriptures. I didn’t know this until last year when we were taking a Book of Mormon class and the instructor passed around a copy of the talk and Mike promptly pulled out his own shrunken-down version from his scripture holder.
In the talk President Ezra Taft Benson describes the many facets of pride, he says, “Another face of pride is contention. Arguments, fights, unrighteous dominion, generation gaps, divorces, spouse abuse, riots, and disturbances all fall into this category of pride.”
I remember when we went over this in class I raised my hand promptly, probably too promptly, and inquired, “What’s a generation gap?”
Just in case you didn’t know either, a generation gap is not just the varied experiences of an older and younger generation, it’s more than that. It’s the irreverence for someone of another generation. After we reviewed Beware of Pride I began to see generation gaps everywhere, especially when studying the scriptures. The whole book of Ether: generation gap. Heck, the whole Book of Mormon: generation gap.

What am I trying to say? As we study those of different generations we develop a reverence for them and the lives they have led, and we forget our own. Yes, we can develop pride as we discover royals or novelties in our lineage, but as we realize that their true royality and novelty comes from being a Child of God, our pride escapes us.

So start digging!
Who knows what you’ll find in your family tree! You could be related to a former President of the United States, a survivor, a ring leader, an arsonist, a farmer, a martyr-

there could be epics in those branches

and scandals in ‘em roots!

The question, Paul Harvey, is...

do you want to know the rest of the story?

Until next Thursday…
mind the gap.

Caleb Aerobics

Now a word from our sponsor:

Don’t forget to check out the blog this Thursday for the second installment of Genealogy is… series,

"Genealogy is... Interesting"

-Angela

Genealogy is... Necessary

It is a pretty common dialogue among members of the Church when discussing family history. A member will say, “Our family history has all been done,” or speak of a shrewd great aunt who is the family record keeper.
By “all done” I can only imagine the person means the minimal four generation temple work has been completed, because I highly doubt they have traced their ancestral line back to Adam and Eve and can explain to me with confidence how we are related.
Regarding Aunt So-And-So, the keeper of the records, there are two stories to this common narrative. The first is that the Aunt will not share the records. I have met people like this and I am flabbergasted, they have a different idea of what ‘preservation’ means, I suppose. The second story is that the member is apathetic, Aunt So-And-So has it done, so why should I bother?
I’ll tell you why you should bother, brother.


An infamous story from the Book of Mormon illustrates my point perfectly. It’s a story we sing about in Primary, a story that we study in Sunday school, and in our homes. It is the retrieval of the brass plates. The value of scriptures is often discussed with this story, but a less-discussed theme is the value of genealogy, for the genealogy of Lehi’s fathers was upon the plates as well. To sum up my thoughts on this story in relation to genealogy, it is important to know where you are coming from to get where you are going- wherever that may be. That’s the simple summary. To read more about this story, here are the references: 1 Nephi 3:3-10, 19-21 and 1 Nephi 5:10-22


It is our duty to seek out our genealogy, no matter the price, despite the completion of temple work. If we seek out our progenitors for only the act of proxy ordinances, we are falling incredibly short of this most glorious practice, and the spiritual lesson it teaches.

I know that genealogy is necessary, not just the ordinances that are completed within the temple. And, that through this work, I have learned far more about the nature of God and the nature of the Atonement than studying any other subject. I know that God knows and remembers each one of His children. Through prayer, I have never fallen short in my searches and I have seen miracles, and I have become a miracle.

Through genealogical research I have developed Christ-like attributes, and have become more perfect. And I thank my ancestors for that.

Until next Thursday…

Please tell Aunt So-And-So

I’m sorry about comparing her to Laban!

Cooking with Caleb, episode one

Cabeza de la Ensalada
a recipe by Caleb E. Thomson

Indregents: Stuff You’ll Need:
-1 mom
-1 highchair
-Pesto spinach pasta
-Green Salad

Preparation time: Troublemaking: 10 minutes

Directions: The Stuff You Do:
Be placed securely in high chair. Have mom serve you pesto spinach pasta with a side of salad to nibble on. Wait for mom to leave the room…

Yields: just yield.

Now a word from our sponsor:
Don’t forget to check out the blog next Thursday for the first installment of Genealogy is… series, "Genealogy is... Necessary"
-Angela