Search Results for: blog our broken family tree

Heart. Broken.

The holidays will never, ever be the same for the families whose loved ones were tragically gunned down yesterday in Connecticut. Life will never be the same for them. If you are a parent, life is also likely different for you following Friday’s mass murder madness. It can be. It should be. That is, if you are able to gain perspective from the senseless act of violence. It’s one of life’s cruelest ironies:  To gain perspective we must often lose something incredibly precious. In the case of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings, more than two dozen families lost their … Continue reading →

Teaching Your Children About Their Heritage

Today is a special day here in Utah, it is the day we come together as a community and celebrate our pioneer ancestors who settled here so many years ago. Children gather in the streets as they watch our biggest parade of the year. With floats, handcarts, horses, and wagons children cheer in excitement. This is a time for each of us to remember the great sacrifices they made as they continued on their journey west. Without this annual celebration, many children may never have the opportunity to see a handcart. As parents this is a great teaching moment. Whether … Continue reading →

Our Broken Family Tree

As Memorial Day approaches I have spent a lot of time thinking about those that have gone on before me. I have always had a very close family and have fond memories of spending time with both my grandparents and great-grandparents as a child; the latter of which have since moved on. It is often difficult to look at a family tree that has since been broken by divorce. My son’s family tree isn’t quite as clean cut as I would like it to be. It gets rather complicated after about the first branch, but I still want to be … Continue reading →

Tasty Traditions – Cookies and Family History

No matter what holiday your family is celebrating this time of year, one thing is probably a given. There are likely to be many sweet treats on your table that are not usually there throughout the year. Did you know that if you have European ancestors, they may have started baking Christmas cookies as far back in time as the 1500’s? Sweet treats have long been associated with celebrations throughout the year, as the ingredients used to make them like sugar and spices were too expensive for most people to have on hand all year long. The array of cookies, … Continue reading →

In The Shadow Of The Family Tree

For every wonderful genealogy topic that there is, there is also another that is not at all wonderful. Whether we are discussing physical traits like who the baby looks like or what your cancer risk is based upon your family history or personality traits like how you seem to have inherited your mother’s knack for cooking or whether your child will suffer from depression like her grandmother, there are shadows that are cast by the branches of many family trees. Some of the shadows loom larger than others and today, I would like to take a look at something that … Continue reading →

Familytree.com Is A Great, New Free Genealogy Resource

There is a new, free genealogy resource on the web – Familytree.com. I visited the site today, to see what resources it has to offer. Familytree.com has research resources, educational resources, and an interesting genealogy blog too. Since I am relatively new to the world of genealogical research, I checked out Familytree’s educational resources first. There is a great collection of articles about many genealogy topics, including some that are very useful for beginners. My favorite article is called “Steps Along the Genealogy Path”. The article really hit home for me, because I put off beginning my genealogy research for … Continue reading →

How to Store Your Ornaments without Buying Anything

Doesn’t it break your heart when you dig out your Christmas ornaments only to find that some of them have broken while in storage? Or perhaps you just cant locate that favorite ornament from your childhood or early marriage, despite turning everything upside down. This year, when I opened up our ornament box, we found a couple of little toys that my youngest must have thrown in sometime during the packing up process last year. It is just chaos. This year, I resolve to be more organized in storing ornaments. I might be tempted to go out and purchase some … Continue reading →

Jud’s Journey – Fay Waldemar McCracken

During the early years of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, many of the church members were forced to flee their homes to escape mob persecution. They traveled across the country with handcarts or covered wagons and made their home in the Salt Lake Valley, in the region that would become the state of Utah. They faced perils along the way, many dying from accident, disease, or hunger. “Jud’s Journey,” while a fictional young adult novel, is an accurate depiction of what many of those early Saints had to face. Jud is the only son and the middle … Continue reading →

Decorating Your Front Door

Spring has sprung in our neighborhood. I know this because Mrs. Malagday’s gigantic floral wreaths are hanging from her front doors. Mrs. Malagday is a lovely woman who lives in a huge home with a double door entrance a few streets down from us. My daughter and I pass her “mansion” on our way to the neighborhood park. Yesterday, we noticed that she had placed the massive wreaths up and also added a potted plant to her front stoop. It made me hang my head and wonder what people must think of our front door and porch area—-all I have … Continue reading →

Sunday Funnies: The Batmobile, A Broken Tooth, And A Bauble Gone Missing

THE BATMOBILE It’s considered by many as a cultural icon–the Batmobile–popularized in comics and movies has a new owner this morning. The Cape Crusader’s vehicle was sold yesterday at the Florida Collector Car Auction, but before it was its former owner (dressed like Batman) spent the day cruising the streets of South Florida trying to drum up interest for the auction. I don’t know about you, but seeing some guy dressed up in a Batman costume cruising down the street in a Batmobile is not half as funny as watching the looks on pedestrian’s faces as he drives by. The … Continue reading →