a wonderful surprise

A few days ago, a relative contacted us. Some of us did not know that this relative existed. It was such a sweet surprise for everyone and we are all so, so very happy!!

Moving On

I am finished with genealogy for the time being.

I now need to wrap up my picture scanning, organizing and putting-it-all-back-together (I had to disassemble several photo albums) project.

My Christmas 2010 gift for my parents included eight pictures that chronicled the progression from my parents as boyfriend/girlfriend, married, both of them pictured with one child, two kids, three kids, four kids and finally all five kids (without my parents).

(When we realized that there are no pictures of my parents with all five kids, we took several photos out at the old house on Zion Road.)

I had over 3000 pictures to choose from and, after listening to that little voice in my head that said "it should be about your parents", came up with the theme of trying to find my parents pictured with us kids as the family grew over the years. It wasn't as easy as it sounds- it seems that there was almost always one person missing.

The interesting thing about this is that my dad put together a set of poems, some that he wrote along with some written by others, that followed the same theme as the pictures I chose! Wow!

It was a very moving moment when my dad had his poems read to my mom. He had planned on doing it privately until he opened my Christmas gift and felt compelled to share with the whole family how he felt about my mother. They have been together for 60 years and counting...

Be Nice to People?

Well, I was deathly ill for about 6 weeks and am finally ready to get back to work on genealogy, writing and scanning pictures.

While I was ill, I was reminded of how tenuous life on Earth is and how dependent we are on our physical bodies to keep us here...and I am grateful to still be here and be able to watch my grandson grow and see how my children are changing and growing in their individual lives.

I told God that if I lived that I would be nicer to people, but I think that when he heard that prayer, He chose to let me live anyway...because I am sure that He knew that I would continue to struggle with the "be nicer to people" promise.

I will keep trying though!

The Ritchey Family

I had gotten into a rut and didn't feel inspired to work on genealogy when my sister sent me an email that listed some names that she had copied from an obituary---that she had found amongst the pictures and slides that I had taken an interest in to digitize by scanning and tagging.

I dutifully printed the email and tucked it in with the other records on the Ritchey family.....

Then I get an email from a stranger who is working on the Ritchey family on Ancestry.com....

The two sources together helped us connect individuals that the other did not know about!!

The Lord works in mysterious and wonderful ways.

920 Slides!

Genealogy is more than looking up names on ancestry.com or any other website. It is connecting with your past and learning something about yourself and your family.

Last week, I finished scanning 920 slides (working 4-5 hours per day for 2 weeks) that my parents had taken during their travels (with kids in tow)that spanned 20 years (1953-1973). These slides included images from Germany, Maryland, Mississippi, South Korea, Vietnam, Okinawa, Philippines, Thailand, Hawaii, Arkansas, Texas,and Utah.

My father and I sat for several hours sorting through and tagging these images and only finished--- maybe 100---obviously there will be several more sittings with my parents to complete the project! It is really a process, but so worth it!

The story these images tell is a fascinating one and truly reminds me that we need to preserve our memories and stories for our descendants.

Back to Work

Well, I have been searching through mountains of work that my sister had done, but she never really organized it, so it has been time consuming.

Anyway, once the work of inputting all that she has done is finished, then I will be able to use the resources at Ancestry.com to confirm, print documents and then sit back to see where to go next.

That is where I am now, hope to have something more concrete for the next post.

Grant, Emery and Fields Family- Follow Up

The Mary Grant line is correct, so my ancestors include names such as Margaret Princess of Denmark, James Stuart King of Scot. Cool.

The Fields line is still in debate until the Great- Grandparents of John Fields (b. 1831). I know that the Great-Grandparents of John Fields of 1831 is correct (I am unsure of which grandkid is his father),nevertheless, Sussannah Emery and her line is correct. YAY!