2010 Genealogy Goals - 87th Carnival of Genealogy

As we close out 2009, here are my goals for my genealogy research for 2010:

Research:

• Finish fixing source citations in database and organize digital files (just my grandma's line to go, too bad it's half the database).
• Finally order some film from FHL.
• Gather more original sources and find more ancestors and their stories.
• Visit a cemetery or local library for information on my ancestors.
  
• Write up some of my research as ancestor narratives to give to family. (I would like to do one a month, but I'll say that I want 6 done by the end of the year since I don't know how easily I will be able to put them together.)
  
• Finish Vevay Newspaper Index (18 years to go).
  

Education:

• Attend genealogy conferences (should be attending Indiana Genealogical Society conference in Fort Wayne, Ohio Genealogical conference in Toledo and hopefully FGS in Knoxville, Tennessee).
• Attend Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana meetings.
• Attend other genealogy events at the Allen County Public Library.
  
• Continue working on National Institute of Genealogical Studies courses.
• Attend monthly NGSQ study group chats.
  

Blog:

• Figure out exactly where I want this blog to go.
• Continue my monthly to-do lists and get others to participate.
• Write more about my own research findings and family memories.
• Comment on other genealogy blogs more.
  

Family:

• Continue to gather family stories, photos and memorabilia.
• Convert grandfather's 8mm movies to DVD.
• Get husband to work on his own family tree some more.

I hope that 2010 is a great year for all my genealogy friends and that we all break down some brick walls. Happy New Year!

December Genealogy To Do List Reviewed

Time to wrap up December and see what I accomplished on my genealogy to do list for the month.

For December I wanted to:

• Finish sourcing ECK line. Finished!
  
• Create a sharable CD of my ECK side for my dad to view. I'm trying this out in Rootsmagic and will have some posts about my experiences soon. Finished! Haven't heard if my dad has tried it out yet though.
  
• Research my new STULL lines from Canada. Finished! Still need to do more research, but I added everything that I had to my database.
  
• Talk to my grandma and get all the birth and marriage dates for my aunts, uncles and cousins. For some reason I never completed this for that side of the family. Finished! And entered into database (plus I got lots of new photos from her house!)
  
• Renew membership to National Genealogical Society and Indiana Genealogical Society. Finished!
  
• Work on POTTER and RICKETTS lines that are sitting on my desk. Finished! (And I can't believe how long these sat on my desk because it took me no time to deal with them.

I also was able to put a large dent in my genealogy bookmarks and loose files. Plus I scanned a bunch of photos that I got from my grandma and dad. I now have lots more old photos of my family and am in the process of putting them in new albums (since they were in magnetic albums). Two years of my Vevay Newspaper Index were also completed and uploaded.

It was a good month, hopefully it will continue into the new year!

Merry Christmas Geneabloggers!

I just wanted to take a moment and wish a very merry Christmas to all my fellow geneabloggers!

Thanks again to Thomas for the wonderful Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories. I really enjoyed remembering all those Christmases past and using the same questions to interview my parents and grandma.

This year we celebrated Christmas by reenacting scenes from a Christmas story (the pictures are up on Facebook for my friends there) and ended it with a trip to the Chinese buffet.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and got something for their genealogy research. (I received a hard drive for back ups and Genea-Santa got me Getting the Most out of RootsMagic. (Thanks again Bruce!)

Mom and Dad's Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Christmas Eve

Day 24 of my mom and dad's Christmas memories for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 24 - Christmas Eve
How did you, your family or your ancestors spend Christmas Eve?

Dad:
When we were young Christmas day was when we opened presents then went to church to celebrate the nativity. Eventually as we got older Christmas Eve became our time to exchange presents. If we were going to mid-night service, we opened our presents when we returned home. If we were going to church Christmas morning, we opened the gifts around 9:00 o’clock. Snacks, drinks, and holiday cheer were all part of the celebration. Sometime our grandparents would also be there.

Now at our church we have Christmas services on Christmas Eve. There is children’s service at 3:30 PM and an adult service at 6:00 PM. No one wants to get up early on Christmas anymore (other than the kids for toys). Our old 8:00 AM service was cancelled and only late morning services are held on Christmas. I doubt that my grandparents could understand the changes. Christmas Eve was always the preparation day to celebrate the Nativity on Christmas day.

Mom:
When I was a kid, we watched some Christmas shows on TV and were sent to bed. Then mom and dad decorated inside including the tree after we were in bed and asleep (sometimes pretending). Presents were opened on Christmas day.
When we all got married, we still came to mom and dad’s house for Christmas. All the kids, aunts/uncles and pets would be there. We opened presents either from the youngest to the oldest or tried to switch the order when the kids got older. That way mom and dad finally got to open their presents first. When our family gets together now we sometimes play a gift exchange with both funny (useless) or nice presents.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Christmas Eve

Day 24 of my mom and dad's Christmas memories for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 24 - Christmas Eve
How did you, your family or your ancestors spend Christmas Eve?

Many Christmas Eves (after Santa) were spent with my mom's side of the family. Either at my grandma's house, our house, or an aunt's house. That left Christmas day to be spent someplace else (for us it was usually at home but my aunt would go to her in-laws).

Later we would be able to have one present on Christmas Eve and eventually all our presents. (I think my parents just didn't want to wake up early and didn't want me waking up my brother before noon.)

Mom and Dad's Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Christmas Sweetheart Memories

Day 23 of my mom and dad's Christmas memories for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 23 - Christmas Sweetheart Memories
Do you have a special memory of a first Christmas present from a sweetheart? How did you spend your first Christmas together? Any Christmas engagements or weddings among your ancestors?

Dad:
Being a man I generally do not like to shop. I had been dating my future wife for about 6 months when our first Christmas rolled around. I had no idea what to get her and her mom was no help. I asked a group of secretaries at work for some help. They asked if I wanted the gifts to be serious or funny. I said how about both. They gave me great ideas for the serious gifts which I took care of buying myself. Next let me tell you about the funny one they dreamed up. They wouldn’t tell me what it was going to be. I had to trust them. I gave them some money and the next day they delivered a beautifully wrapped package.

On Christmas I thought we were going to swap presents while we were alone. Wrong. We exchanged presents with her whole family in the room (mom, dad and 3 sisters). I asked her to open the serious packages first not knowing what to expect from the funny one. She liked them all especially the sapphire earrings. Finally she got to the “package” and started opening it. Inside the wrapping paper was a box from Victoria’s Secret. I thinking “Oh no they set me up” and start stammering. Her sisters are gathering around closer to see what sexy item is in the box. The box gets opened and inside is a one piece red….. NO! it’s not what you are thinking…..it’s a one piece red insulated long underwear union suit with a trap door bottom. I immediately admitted my shopping deficiencies and how I got help. We had a good laugh at my expense, but I never asked those secretaries for help again.

I have to add that one year when I was home from college my dad and I planned to go shopping for my mom's Christmas present the next day. That morning I got a call to go into work (I had worked at my old elementary school's office and they needed a sub for the secretary.) My dad "Mr. Get A Job" freaked out that I wouldn't be able to go shopping with him and we had to go before I went into work.

Mom:
The first Christmas with my husband was at the house he had bought before we got married. He seldom was in town for Christmas so he never got around to buying a tree or many decorations for the house. We bought our first tree and it was a real one we bought from the boy scouts. I started getting ornaments and stuff to decorate the tree. My mom and dad come over and I cooked a dinner for everyone. The tree made a mess of needles on the carpet and we decided to find an artificial tree on sale after the Christmas holidays. We had that artificial tree for many years until it started to fall apart. My daughter and I went to replaced it, and we couldn’t find a tree that was as nice. So the one we have now works but takes a lot of effort to fluff it up and needs more work to decorate it.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Sweetheart Memories

Day 23 of my mom and dad's Christmas memories for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 23 - Christmas Sweetheart Memories
Do you have a special memory of a first Christmas present from a sweetheart? How did you spend your first Christmas together? Any Christmas engagements or weddings among your ancestors?

So I don't remember what my husband gave for our first Christmas, so I asked him. He told me that he gave me a bracelet. That's probably right. I still have it somewhere but never wear it. He has since learned and this year for Christmas (I already got my presents), I received a hard drive and speakers.

Our first Christmas was spent hundreds of miles apart. I was in the Cincinnati area and he was in the Philadelphia area. We were home with our parents during Ohio State's winter break and exchanged presents when we were back in Columbus.

Our first Christmas together was several years later when I traveled to his parents' house for Christmas. That was the only Christmas we have spent there (and the only one we ever will).

This year's Christmas celebration will be spent at the Chinese Buffet!

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Christmas and Deceased Relatives

Day 22 of my Christmas memories for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 22 - Christmas and Deceased Relatives
Did your family visit the cemetery at Christmas? How did your family honor deceased family members at Christmas?

My grandfather, Roy Suckling, died 31 December 1993. In the years after that we would stop by the cemetery and my mom or grandma would put flowers on his grave. My grandma continues the tradition, but I haven't been there in years.

Mom and Dad's Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Christmas and Deceased Relatives

Day 22 of my mom and dad's Christmas memories for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 22 - Christmas and Deceased Relatives
Did your family visit the cemetery at Christmas? How did your family honor deceased family members at Christmas?

Dad:
Unfortunately my father-in-law passed away during the Christmas season in late December. He has been gone about 15 years now. He was a good friend and helped me with many things in my house. We remember him often by sharing stories. My mother-in-law found photos he took in WWII when stationed in Alaska. My daughter took those pictures and organized them into a nice coffee table type book. He is missed.

Mom:
My dad passed away in late December about 15 years ago. After he died, mom and I would take a trip over to the cemetery which was located fairly close to mom’s house. When we went to my dad’s plot, sometimes we put a flower or a candle on his marker.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Christmas Music

Day 21 of my Christmas memories for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 21 - Christmas Music
What songs did your family listen to during Christmas? Did you ever go caroling? Did you have a favorite song?

My family always enjoyed the "odd" Christmas songs. Here is a list of some of my family's favorites:

• All songs from "Claymation Christmas", but our favorite was "We Three Kings." Of course when we remember it, it is a lot faster and really lives up church services.
  
• "Rusty Chevrolet" by Da Yoopers
• "The Twelve Pains of Christmas" by Bob Rivers
• Adam Sandler's "Chanukah (or Hanukkah) song", although not a Christmas song it still counts for the season

One year my aunt recorded a bunch of Christmas songs from the radio to a cassette tape that we would listen to in the car on our trips during the holidays. There was one problem though, she never got the entire song. She would hear the song come on the radio and have to stop whatever she was doing and hit the record button across the room. Most of the songs started half way through and some were just the ending, but it made the tape memorable.

Nowadays I would like to know why the radio thinks that Christmas music should be playing at the beginning of November. Seriously a person can only take so much Christmas music, wait until Thanksgiving at least!

Dad's Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Christmas Music

Day 21 of my dad's Christmas memories for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 21 - Christmas Music
What songs did your family listen to during Christmas? Did you ever go caroling? Did you have a favorite song?

Generally Christmas music filled the house starting the Sunday after Thanksgiving. My mom kept the record player loaded. My sister started taping songs off the radio too. At church “Silent Night” has to be the hands down family favorite.

My kids like funny Christmas songs too. We used to play them and sing along on our Christmas trips to Pennsylvania. Two that pop in my mind were “Grandma got run over by a reindeer” and “Rusty Chevrolet”.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Religious Services

Day 20 of my Christmas memories for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 20 - Religious Services Did your family attend religious services during the Christmas season? What were the customs and traditions involved?

My dad is Catholic so my brother and I were dragged to church usually on Christmas Eve. (It might have been Christmas morning when we were very young, but I don't remember.) Later we would have Christmas with my mom's side of the family right after church so it was always a rush. With all the standing and sitting, I could never take a nap.

Now my husband and I are not church people and do not attend any religious services.

Dad's Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Religious Services

Day 20 of my dad's Christmas memories for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 20 - Religious Services Did your family attend religious services during the Christmas season? What were the customs and traditions involved?

When we were young kids it was all my mom could do to get us dressed and ready for church on Christmas morning for the 9:30 service. Wrapping paper and bows littered the floor. But we always made it and enjoyed the service. As we got older especially in high school we often went to Christmas mid-night service. When I was in junior high I was an altar boy and often got picked to serve for the bigger ceremonies including the Christmas mid-night service. I love to see the church all decorated. I’m always surprised at the number of people that show up too. Many we hadn’t seen since Easter.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Christmas Shopping

Day 19 of my mom and dad's Christmas memories for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 19 - Christmas Shopping
How did your family handle Christmas Shopping? Did anyone finish early or did anyone start on Christmas Eve?

My mom was always in charge of the Christmas shopping. When I got older, I would usually go with her. This meant that I would pick out my presents and there would be no surprises for me Christmas morning. (Which was a good thing except my mom would always find some stupid present that I didn't want to give me as a surprise).

Now all of my shopping is done online. It was fun for a couple of times to go out with all the crowds, but it got old pretty fast. I like to get all my shopping done in advance to keep from the crowds and shipping delays.

Mom and Dad's Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Christmas Shopping

Day 19 of my mom and dad's Christmas memories for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 19 - Christmas Shopping
How did your family handle Christmas Shopping? Did anyone finish early or did anyone start on Christmas Eve?

Dad:
My mom and dad shared the Christmas shopping load. My mom would walk downtown to shop while we were in school. She would wrap and hide the presents before we got home. Mom would make a list of things she wanted my dad to get too. She never drove a car so anything that needed a drive to get was dad’s job. They would slip the stuff in the house and have it wrapped and in hiding before we knew. My older sister was a snoop and always tried to find the hidden presents. So certain parts of the house became off-limits like the attic, their bedroom, etc.

Now my father-in-law was the ultimate last minute shopper. Not until December 24th did he venture anywhere near the stores. He always said that is when you get the best buys, and the selection is low and less confusing to pick from. One of his daughters was picked at random to help shop for their mom. You often got a newspaper or magazine clipping of something in an envelope for your Christmas present when he couldn’t get the item on time due to his late shopping methods.

Mom:
My mom always did all the shopping. My dad would wait until Christmas Eve and would take one of us daughters to the store with him. He would also look for a sales person who was about my mom’s size when looking for clothes. He’d ask her what size she was and if she liked the clothes he picked out.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Christmas Stockings

Day 18 of my Christmas memories for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 18 - Christmas Stockings
Did you have one? Where did you hang it? What did you get in it? Do you have any Christmas stockings used by your ancestors?

At my parents house, our stockings were hung on the banister on the stairs in the foyer of the house. I don't know why they were never hung by the fireplace. Probably because the Christmas tree was in the living room and it opened up on the stairs. That way every gift was in one central location. They were also the first things my brother and I would look at when we could come down the stairs on Christmas morning. This was one of the decorations that I enjoyed doing because it was easy to put the garland on the stairs and tie the bows and stockings on the banister. It also didn't take nearly as much time as the tree and I didn't need supervised to do it.

We had four stockings, one for my dad (the giant one), one for my mom (red cloth that I think was from something else) and one for my brother and one for me. Besides my mom's stocking the others were the boring red and white furry ones. My mom made stockings for my brother and me as one of her many cross-stitch projects. But then she never put them together (like many of her projects). So we have some half made stocking somewhere.

My grandma also cross-stitched stockings for all the the grandchildren (and she actually put them together!) They were always hung above the fireplace at my grandparents' house.

Both of our stockings would be filled with our presents that would fit in the stocking. (Usually the junk presents.) We would also get some candy.

Mom and Dad's Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Christmas Stockings

Day 18 of my mom and dad's Christmas memories for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 18 - Christmas Stockings
Did you have one? Where did you hang it? What did you get in it? Do you have any Christmas stockings used by your ancestors?

Dad:
The house I grew up in did not have a fireplace. So every Christmas we tied our stockings down the stairwell banister. Mom and Dad’s stocking at the top and the oldest to youngest kid’s stockings after that. Candy and popcorn balls were the typical things that filled the stockings. My dad said when he was young on the farm, an orange or an apple were usually in his stocking. I don’t remember any of us getting coal, although I believe there were times when we deserved it. Although we have a fireplace in our house here, we have always tied the stockings on the stairwell too.

Mom:
Yes we all had a Christmas stocking. My first home had a fake fireplace where we hung our stockings. Our second house did have a fireplace and the stockings were all hung there. The one and only stocking I have is the same one I had as a child.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Home Videos

Day 17 of my Christmas memories for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 17 - Grab Bag
Author’s choice. Please post from a topic that helps you remember Christmases past!

My dad's family lived in central Pennsylvania while we lived in the Cincinnati area. Sometimes we would visit them for Christmas and some years we would stay in Ohio and spend Christmas with my mom's side of the family.

My grandfather was always interested in photography and had a video camera. My dad would borrow that one before he got his own. So there are lots of videos of my Christmas past.

But there is only one word to describe these videos: unwatchable.

That's not to say that it isn't fun to see what we all looked like and what we got for Christmas. It's what my dad would film. He didn't film us opening our presents or playing with them later. He filmed up telling the camera everything we had received for Christmas and who gave it to us and usually a comment about what a great gift it was.

My dad would then send the video to his parents for them to view. I can't imagine them getting through the entire tape. They were so boring. And I know this because two years ago I converted them all to DVD and it was painful to watch. I edited them all down so that 2 hours of each Christmas became more like 15 minutes. But now they only have to good parts, like the presents I remember and the one year that we were actually shown playing with our toys.

My grandfather also filmed my mom's Christmas pasts with an 8mm camera. I took them from my grandma's this past weekend in hopes of getting them copied onto DVD. Anyone have any experience doing this?

Dad's Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Boxing Gloves

Day 17 of my dad's Christmas memories for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 17 - Grab Bag
Author’s choice. Please post from a topic that helps you remember Christmases past!

I don’t remember this but my dad has told it to me many times. We went Christmas visiting one of my dad’s friends that lived in walking distance to our house. They had 2 young boys that were older than me and my brother who got to go along with dad on this visit. Turns out the other boys got boxing gloves for Christmas. My dad loved to listen to boxing on the radio with his dad, and to watch it on TV too. As the story goes, he put the boxing gloves on me and he pretended to box with me. He said I popped him in the nose, and got blood on the neighbor’s carpet. After they cleaned up the mess, I thought I was going to get a paddling. It didn’t come and when we got home my dad promised my mom that he would never buy boxing gloves for us kids.

Mom and Dad's Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Christmas at School

Day 16 of my mom and dad's Christmas memories for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 16 - Christmas at School
What did you or your ancestors do to celebrate Christmas at school? Were you ever in a Christmas Pageant?

Dad:
My dad lived on a farm in the country and like all the other school kids he volunteered to be part of the children’s choir that sang in their country church on Christmas. My mom was a city girl and they also got to sing at church. I actually went to the same elementary school as my mom, and also participated in the children’s choir. I remember one year as part of the service several of us were picked to help act out the nativity gospel. Since I was the biggest kid you can probably guess what part I had --- yes I was the donkey. Now when my kids were real young, our church also had a kids’ nativity scene. We helped by lending our daughter’s tricycle to play the part of the donkey. Funniest thing you ever saw … Mary riding a tricycle to the stable. Everyone in the church had a good laugh.

I never knew my dad was a donkey. My husband will find this hilarious and never let my dad live it down.

Mom:
We had a Christmas party at school..We also drew names from the class and bought a gift for that person.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Christmas at School

Day 16 of my Christmas memories for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 16 - Christmas at School
What did you or your ancestors do to celebrate Christmas at school? Were you ever in a Christmas Pageant?

We always had a Christmas party the last day of school before our winter break. There would be lots of treats and a video.

In elementary school, each year one grade level (3rd or 5th maybe?) would put on the Nutcracker. I was in the chorus part, but my brother was a tree when it was his year. Later I would have holiday chorus concerts and my brother would have holiday band concerts.

Dad's Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - The Holiday Happenings and Tombstone Tuesday

Day 15 of my dad's Christmas memories for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 15 - The Holiday Happenings!
Often times December to mid-January birthdays and anniversaries get over shadowed by the Christmas/Hanukkah/New Year holidays. So we're going to shine a spotlight on those family members and ancestors this time around. Select one or more December to mid-January birthdays and/or anniversaries on your family tree. Write a short tribute to or memory of those birthday guys and gals and write a toast to the anniversary couples.

My mom’s older sister, Catherine, was born 8 December 1921. Aunt Catherine married Norbert Bower and had 4 children. Their daughter Judy was as old as me, and we went to school together. Aunt Catherine (some called her Aunt Kate) lived next door to my grandparents and she spent a lot of her time helping them in their older years. She would cook, clean and even drive them around to all their appointments. She was pretty quiet of all my mom’s family members. She spoke real soft and always gave out hugs. She was a great cook like my mom too. Her anise cookies were always hits at Christmas time. Although both Aunt Catherine and Uncle Norbert have passed on, she was a great sister for my mom and he was like a brother to my dad.

I will add for Tombstone Tuesday:
Norbert A BOWER was born 14 May 1919 in Williamsport, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania and died 23 Jul 2008. He married Catherine Eleanor ECK on 17 May 1945. Catherine was born 8 Dec 1921 in South Williamsport to Eugene J ECK and Magdalena HAEFNER. She died of her injuries after a car crash on 8 Oct 1998.

Norbert A and Catherine E marker, Saint Boniface Cemetery, Williamsport (Lycoming), Pennsylvania; photo taken by DKE, 2009.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - The Holiday Happenings

Day 15 of my dad's Christmas memories for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 15 - The Holiday Happenings!
Often times December to mid-January birthdays and anniversaries get over shadowed by the Christmas/Hanukkah/New Year holidays. So we're going to shine a spotlight on those family members and ancestors this time around. Select one or more December to mid-January birthdays and/or anniversaries on your family tree. Write a short tribute to or memory of those birthday guys and gals and write a toast to the anniversary couples.

Here is a list of all of my ancestors who were born or married in December and the beginning of January:

8 December 1793 - Roswell WASHBURN born
8 December 1858 - Theresa BANK born
22 December 1838 - Carley H BASCOM married Elizabeth POTTER
25 December 1772 - Henry CLEVELAND married Elizabeth ROYCE
30 December 1890 - William Watson SUCKLING married Lavina Victoria FARRELL (my ancestor)
31 December 1800 - William B SANDERS born
1 January 1803 - Leura CLEVELAND born
1 January 1916 - William Watson SUCLKING married Mabel RICHARDS (second wife)
4 January 1868 - Willard Theodore BASCOM born

Grandma's Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - All in One

This past weekend I visited my parents, grandma and aunt. I finally got around to getting all the dates of my aunts and cousins for my database and lots of new photos which I will blog about later. I decided to ask my grandma the questions for the Geneablogger's Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories. She didn't remember much from Christmas when she was young, so I'm just going to post all of her answers into one post.

They had a real tree and she remembers that because she had to water it regularly.
She doesn't remember any special holiday foods and said they just eat what they would normally eat.
The family would send a few Christmas cards to close friends and family, but not nearly as many as she sends today.
The family didn't do any outdoor decorations when she was small. After she was married, she would help her mother decorate her house and she hurt her back one year and had to go to the hospital.
The family would all get together over the Christmas holidays.
Her mother made Christmas cookies.
She didn't remember any specific presents that she received, but she said that they were lucky to get anything, usually just one present for each child.
She doesn't like fruitcake.
They celebrated Christmas at school with a treat from the teacher.
Their stockings were hung and an apple or orange may be found inside on Christmas morning.
She remembers many Christmas songs and is tired of listening to them all now.
Before she met my grandfather, she dated a marine/actor who gave her nothing for Christmas. He did give her a cross with diamonds for a present, but not for Christmas. My grandfather didn't give her anything for a long time. After they were married he would give her jewelry such as a watch or necklace.
She doesn't remember visiting anyone at Christmas. They would just open presents and eat dinner.

As a bonus she remembered during the 1930s and the depression how her brothers and sister and her would go to get their rations with her little red wagon.
She also said that her father moved the family around a lot because he said that it was cheaper to move than to pay rent.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Fruitcake

Day 14 of my Christmas memories for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 14 - Fruitcake – Friend or Foe?
Did you like fruitcake? Did your family receive fruitcakes? Have you ever re-gifted fruitcake? Have you ever devised creative uses for fruitcake?

I have never eaten fruitcake and will never eat fruitcake unless someone ties me down and forces it into my mouth. But they should be warned that I bite.

Growing up I don't remember any fruitcakes getting passed around or receiving any. But one year my husband (boyfriend at the time) and I saw packaged fruitcakes at the store and decided to give one to my dad. At our Christmas party with my mom's side of the family, we played our card and gift exchange game. We decided to add the fruitcake to the game, but wanted to make sure that my dad was the one who got it. So we didn't wrap it and put it with the other gifts to choose from. Instead we hid it until we could find the right time to give it to my dad. My dad decided to give my grandma a gift instead of taking one for himself. So we gave him "The Most Generous Player" Award. He probably almost fell out of his chair laughing when we gave him his fruitcake award.

But instead of waiting for Christmas, we would exchange the fruitcake at birthdays and anniversaries and other holidays throughout the year. Eventually we gave my dad a fruitcake at our wedding (yeah, we're weird). My parents found it when they were helping to set up and stole it. So my husband had to go buy another one before the wedding. My brother's wedding speech was all about giving the father of the bride a token for allowing his daughter to be married. My dad saw it coming, but had no idea that another fruitcake had been found.

Dad's Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Fruitcake

Day 14 of my dad's Christmas memories for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 14 - Fruitcake – Friend or Foe?
Did you like fruitcake? Did your family receive fruitcakes? Have you ever re-gifted fruitcake? Have you ever devised creative uses for fruitcake?

Well as far as I know only my great Aunt Agnes liked fruit cakes. I can eat a very small slice now and then but I much prefer cookies. If my dad got a holiday fruitcake from one of his business associates, we would try to pass it along to Aunt Agnes. Fruitcake must be good for you as she was 93 when she passed on.

I think fruitcakes are perfectly made to re-gift. If you get one, I say pass it along. We once tried to see how long a fruitcake would last. We shuffled it back and forth between family members for a couple of years. Needless to say no one would volunteer to eat a piece of it, even though it looked like the day it was made for the most part. Right now I think my son-in-law has the latest fruitcake that we are passing around.

As far as I know there is no fruit cake in my house. But this post may inspire a mailing.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Holiday Travel

Day 13 of my Christmas memories for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 13 - Holiday Travel
Did you or your ancestors travel anywhere for Christmas? How did you travel and who traveled with you? Do you remember any special trips?

When I was young, my family would regularly travel to from Cincinnati to Williamsport, Pennsylvania to visit my dad's family. We would all pile into the van and my dad would cram more than you could imagine in the back (that's where I get my awesome spatial skills). All our presents from Santa would make the trip out to Pennsylvania and then back again. I still don't know how we got everything in there and back. My grandparents were always shocked by what would come out of the van.

I remember one year that we couldn't leave early because my brother had to go to his friends' party. And we had to leave the next day because that was Christmas Eve. And of course that day was filled with snow and ice. The roads were awful and we saw many accidents along the way. We made it the 500 miles safe and sound and who knows how much longer it took to get there. I think that was the last time my dad ever traveled in bad weather. Now if it is snowing anywhere in the lower 48, he won't venture any distance. It's annoying but it makes a little sense remember that trip.

Dad's Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Holiday Travel

Day 13 of my dad's Christmas memories for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 13 - Holiday Travel
Did you or your ancestors travel anywhere for Christmas? How did you travel and who traveled with you? Do you remember any special trips?

As a kid, we didn’t have to take any long trips for the holidays. My parents and nearly all of our relatives all live close by. It made it easy to visit everyone. That is not true anymore though. I live about 500 miles from my hometown, and my brother probably 1000 miles. Heading to Pennsylvania in December is not always pleasant.

When my kids were younger, we tried to head home for either Thanksgiving or Christmas each year. Most of those trips were cold but we always came and went with the best weather days. One year we got caught in snow. The weather report was for flurries, but a heavy snow kept building as we drove home. Our trip time more than doubled, and I could hardly open my hands from having a death grip on the steering wheel for that long when we finally arrived. I think that was the last December trip to Pennsylvania. We visited in the summer from then on.

SNGF - Another Wish List

This week's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun from Randy Seaver is:

Define one or more genealogy or family history databases, that are not currently online, that would really help you in your research. Where does this database currently reside?

I asked my husband what I would want (and after explaining what it meant) he said Pennsylvania records. That is a good choice since I would love to see birth, marriage and death records for Pennsylvania available online and easy to access.

I would also love to see all of the records from Switzerland county, Indiana digitized. I have many of my grandma's family from this county and would love to do lots of research online for those ancestors. I want all of the records: births, marriages, deaths, land, probate, tax, court, newspapers, etc.

Thanks Randy for another awesome SNGF!

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Charitable Work

Day 12 of my Christmas memories for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 12 - Charitable/Volunteer Work
Did your family ever volunteer with a charity such as a soup kitchen, homeless or battered women’s shelter during the holidays? Or perhaps were your ancestors involved with church groups that assisted others during the holiday?

My dad's work did lots of charity things including a gift wrapping day for the gifts that were bought for the needy. Other than that I have never done any charity or volunteer work for Christmas. I don't understand why it is so important to help the needy this time of year. Why not the entire year?

Dad's Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Charitable/Volunteer Work

Day 12 of my dad's Christmas memories for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 12 - Charitable/Volunteer Work
Did your family ever volunteer with a charity such as a soup kitchen, homeless or battered women’s shelter during the holidays? Or perhaps were your ancestors involved with church groups that assisted others during the holiday?

Growing up, I remember our hometown church always had a clothing and toy drive around Christmas. Similarly today we have a tree at church that has the different Christmas wish lists of families that are struggling to make ends meet. At work we always volunteered at the Freestore/Foodbank in their pre-holiday preparations. One early December family volunteer activity we love to help out is a Christmas wrapping party. A local family lost a sister, and set up a foundation to buy Christmas presents for the needy in downtown Cincinnati. They obtain thousands of gifts that need wrapping. We have been helping do this for the past 10-12 years. Our kids volunteered and earned community service points at school too.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Other Traditions

Day 11 of my Christmas memories for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 11 - Other Traditions
Did your family or friends also celebrate other traditions during the holidays such as Hanukkah or Kwanzaa? Did your immigrant ancestors have holiday traditions form their native country which they retained or perhaps abandoned?

I wish that I knew what traditions that my ancestors brought with them from their home countries. Unfortunately I don't and I don't think they have been carried forward into my own family.

Growing up I was friends with people of many different faiths and knew some about their traditions, but never celebrated with them. We learned about all the different December holidays in school, but not much. Today working with many English Language Learners in the schools where I substitute has given me a greater understanding of the traditions of many different cultures. I just need to learn more about the ones that my ancestors practiced.

Dad's Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Other Traditions

Day 11 of my dad's Christmas memories for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 11 - Other Traditions
Did your family or friends also celebrate other traditions during the holidays such as Hanukkah or Kwanzaa? Did your immigrant ancestors have holiday traditions form their native country which they retained or perhaps abandoned?

We went to a parochial school run by our church, so most of our traditions focused around Christmas. However I had a neighborhood friend who was Jewish and he invited me into their house during their holidays. Although I never celebrated any Jewish traditions with him, he and his family took time to explain many of them to me. His dad always said that “Jesus was Jewish”. He was one of best friends all the way through high school, and a multi-sport teammate of mine.

Dad's Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Christmas Gifts

Day 10 of my dad's Christmas memories for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 10 - Christmas Gifts
What were your favorite gifts, both to receive and to give? Are there specific gift-giving traditions among your family or ancestors?

One of the fun things that we did in school was a gift exchange on the last day of school before the Christmas break. We brought in wrapped low cost toys to school. They were all placed in a large sack and the teacher walk around and pass them out as she went. We weren’t allowed to open them until they were all passed out.

When our kids were small our family made a game out of a gift exchange. It started at my brother’s house but was carried on at others too. On the floor there would be a pile of low cost wrapped presents of all different sizes and shapes. Two decks of cards were shuffled. One deck of cards was handed out equally to all game participants. The other was used to randomly call out cards. If one of your cards was called, you got to pick a present out of the pile. When the pile was fully depleted and your card was called, you got to take a present from one of the other players. When one of the Jokers came up you had to pass a present to your left or right. When all the cards were called you finally got to open your presents to see what you got. A lot of swapping deals followed.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Christmas Gifts

Day 10 of my Christmas memories for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 10 - Christmas Gifts
What were your favorite gifts, both to receive and to give? Are there specific gift-giving traditions among your family or ancestors?

I have enjoyed the giving more than the receiving for many years now. I am too picky to make the getting any fun. I usually dislike most things that other people think that I would want. For many years I really liked cows. Everyone in the family found out about this and thought that was all I would ever want and that I would want every single cow thing ever made. Well I didn't. I just liked them. I wanted a few things to keep around, but not a ton. It was really annoying. One Christmas I opened my present from my grandma and she had gotten me a set of cow mugs. I looked at her and said "Grandma, I don't like cows anymore. I like penguins." After she got up off the floor, I told her that I was just teasing her. But ever since them I did like penguins. But then every just got me every penguin thing. So I guess I need to pick a new animal (maybe a turtle).

On the other hand, I have always enjoyed finding a present that someone else would really enjoy, especially when it seems on the surface that they wouldn't. For example, one year I got my brother a shirt. Normally, he would never want a shirt for a gift. But I got him a shirt from our favorite artist. He loved it!

A tradition in on my mom's side of the family was to pull names out of a hat and that was who you had to buy gifts for instead of everyone buying presents for everyone. It made it a lot easier, but there were definitely people who you would rather buy for than others.

Mom and Dad's Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Grab Bag 1

Day 9 of my mom and dad's Christmas memories for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 9 - Grab Bag
Author’s choice. Please post from a topic that helps you remember Christmases past!

My mom’s sister, aunt Dot, was also my godmother. Each year while I was still in elementary school, Aunt Dot would give me a Christmas present. She always picked things that made you think, use your hands, and create things like puzzles, Lincoln Logs, and an Erector Set. Along with eventually working with my dad in his construction business, I think she helped inspire me into becoming an engineer.

Mom:

What I remember the most as a kid is waking up on Christmas morning and the tree would be up and lots of presents under the tree. My dad would always have his movie and 35mm cameras going with bright lights on the movie camera blinding everyone. You eventually got a headache because of the bright lights.

Now if I can just find that film and convert it to DVD...

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Peeking

Day 9 of my Christmas memories for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 9 - Grab Bag
Author’s choice. Please post from a topic that helps you remember Christmases past!

So I was never one to like a surprise. Probably because I usually didn't like any gifts that I didn't pick out myself. One year my parents with to a holiday party (the only one I ever remember them go to) and left my brother and I home alone. So what are two kids going to do in a house, home alone, after they have learned there is no Santa? Of course we did it!

My brother and I searched everywhere. Usually my mom would put everything in the guest bedroom. But they weren't there that year. We finally found them under my parents' bed. We enjoyed finding out what our presents were going to be.

But my parents found out. I don't remember how they knew. Either things were different with the presents or with us. That year we each got a box of unwrapped presents. Why bother wrapping them when the kids already know what they are getting? (I also have proof of this from a home movie my dad made that year to send to his family that I recently converted to DVD.)

Mom and Dad's Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Christmas Cookies

Day 8 of my mom and dad's Christmas memories for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 8 - Christmas Cookies
Did your family or ancestors make Christmas Cookies? How did you help? Did you have a favorite cookie?

Dad:

Boy did we make cookies in our family. My mom and aunts love sweets and boy can they bake. Each of my aunts had a cookie specialty and they would make large pretzel can full of different cookies. My mom liked to make oatmeal cookies with dates of figs. I remember that she cut slices of apples to keep them moist.

My mom and aunts would pick a day and do a cookie exchange. If we were lucky and the exchange was at our house, we kids got a chance to pick a cookie to sample. I still think the chocolate chip Tollhouse cookies were the overall family favorite. My Aunt Catherine would make these special old German cookies that were anise flavored. I don’t remember the name of them, but I know they were good.

Mom:

I do not remember making Christmas cookies. That was mom’s job and she made them while we were at school. We lived in Norwood and a lady opened up a cookie shop just down the street from us. Miss’s Alice’s Cookies became the one stop shop for my dad to get cookies. We all had our favorites. Mine were any cookies that were buried in powered sugar, but I guess the favorite was an almond cookie.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Christmas Cookies

Day 8 of my Christmas memories for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 8 - Christmas Cookies
Did your family or ancestors make Christmas Cookies? How did you help? Did you have a favorite cookie?

I don't remember making many cookies when I was little. There were always Christmas cookies around, I just don't remember anyone baking them.

What I do remember were the awesome cookies that my mom's entire family would buy from Miss Alice's Cookies in Norwood, Ohio. There were so many different varieties: almond crescents covered in powdered sugar, red and green sugar cookies shaped like wreathes, oatmeal cookies, and chocolate stars are the ones I remember most. Unfortunately, when we went to get cookies a few years back the store was gone. I miss those cookies. They were the best.

When I got married, I started baking my own Christmas cookies. I have made the almond crescents, but they just aren't the same. I can never get enough powdered sugar to stick to them to make them taste just right. I made tins of cookies for my brother and parents.

And I really wish I could get some of those Christmas stars again.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Holiday Parties

Day 7 of my Christmas memories for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 7 - Holiday Parties
Did your family throw a holiday party each year? Do you remember attending any holiday parties?

The only holiday parties that I remember are the one's with my dad's side of the family when we traveled to Pennsylvania for Christmas. Most of my aunts and uncles (except for the one that wouldn't let anyone into his house after I crawled around it when I was one and dusted his floor and his sister endlessly made fun of him) would have a party at their houses. Every night we were in town, we would go to a different house and have a different get together. (This was apparently passed on from a tradition with my great aunts and uncles.)

One of my uncles came up with a crazy, fun game that we would play every year. He would go and buy little "gifts" and wrap them up. When everyone arrived, he would put the presents on a table in the center of everyone. He would pass out a deck of cards and keep a deck to himself. Then he would call cards from his deck and the person with the matching card would get a present from the pile. When the gifts ran out, you had to "steal" one from someone else. At the end, you would open the presents that you had kept. They were always crazy things that nobody every really wanted, but that's what made it so much fun. Eventually other relatives would play the same game at their parties as well.

The first year my husband spent Christmas with my family, he and I decided to play the game with my mom's side of the family. We went to the "Good Dollar Store", a subsidiary of the Goodwill store and bought all of our "gifts" and wrapped them before we went to my parents' house. The most memorable gift was the toilet plunger that we wrapped very obviously. My dad, knowing this game well, didn't want any of his gifts, so he kept trying to pass them off onto other people. But we had something to take care of that: we awarded him a fruitcake for being the "most generous player". (You'll have to wait until December 14 to learn more about this fruitcake.)

This game was always the best part of the holidays when we traveled to Pennsylvania. I wish we could play it again, but it's more fun with lots of people and we don't have the big family parties in Ohio/Indiana.

Mom and Dad's Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Holiday Parties

Day 7 of my mom and dad's Christmas memories for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 7 - Holiday Parties
Did your family throw a holiday party each year? Do you remember attending any holiday parties?

Dad:

The Christmas season was a time to visit. Somehow my mom and my aunts worked out a rotation so that we could go visit each home to see each other’s gifts, share some more cookies, and drinks and fun. Every now and then the schedule would get broken and we would have all the families end up at one house. We got to know our first cousins better that way too.

This must be why whenever we went to Pennsylvania for Christmas, we always went to all of my aunts' and uncles' houses for a different party.

Mom:

----The family on my mom’s side of the family would all get together on Christmas Eve to party. I do not remember going to any other parties, just those with our extended family.

Mom's Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Santa Claus

My mom has now decided to participate with my dad and me in the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories.

December 6 - Santa Claus
Did you ever send a letter to Santa? Did you ever visit Santa and “make a list?” Do you still believe in Santa Claus?

I do not remember sending a letter to Santa. We would visit shopping department stores Santa’s and tell him want I wanted that year. We did this every year when I was small. That was because there would be no tree or signs of present until Christmas morning. Now everyone wants to have Christmas decorations up right after Thanksgiving. Some stores start right after Halloween now.

Dad's Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Santa Claus

Day 6 of my dad's Christmas memories for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 6 - Santa Claus
Did you ever send a letter to Santa? Did you ever visit Santa and “make a list?” Do you still believe in Santa Claus?

When we were little Santa was a big deal. We believed in Santa and my parents took all kinds of steps to keep the mystery going. When they put us to bed Christmas Eve, my parents would wait until we were all asleep, and then start decorating the tree, setting up the train set, and putting the presents under the tree. With 7 kids in the family, my parent also made sure that the older kids (I was one of them) didn’t ruin the Santa mystery for the youngest kids. It was always someone at school that eventually ruined the Santa mystery. My parent always took an afternoon nap on Christmas after lunch. Can’t blame them!

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Santa Claus

Day 6 of the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 6 - Santa Claus
Did you ever send a letter to Santa? Did you ever visit Santa and “make a list?” Do you still believe in Santa Claus?

I love Santa! The only reason to celebrate Christmas and get presents is Santa. I still believe in Santa and sent him a letter just yesterday. That's the first letter I remember sending to Santa. I'm sure that I wrote some in school growing up or at home, but I really don't have a memory of them. I remember more of my Christmas lists from after my parents kicked Santa out of the house and bought our presents themselves. Presents are a lot less fun when you know what you are getting and go shopping for them yourself.

When we were in college, my brother and I would always want to take our picture with Santa and give it to our parents. But my husband would never let us. (He also says that Santa can't give me any presents because he can't get in our house because we don't have a chimney. But I keep telling him that Santa will find a way.)

Roots Magic Shareable CD - My Impressions

I've been posting about the process that I went through to make a shareable CD using Roots Magic 4 (RM4). I have already discussed how to make a shareable CD and export a GEDCOM. Today I'm going to discuss my own impressions with the CD.

I really like the opening screen of the CD. It gives a title, photo and menu. In the menu, you have:

• View Family Tree (Opens the tree)
  
• About this Disc (The introduction that you wrote.)
• Contact the Author (Can include address, website, email and more)
• Rootsmagic.com (Takes you to the website for RM4.)

The CD is read-only, meaning that a person can see everything, but can't make any changes. You can search the database, view the media and sources, and print reports.

The CD is slow compared to running the RM4 from your computer. But this has to do with the CD drive and not the program itself. I found that it showed the profile image on my home person (my grandfather) but did not display other images on its own. It would show a file image so you would know something was there, but you would have to click on it to see it.

For the sources, it left the main part of the source and text I had entered from the source, but did not keep the source details (for example, it give the source as 1930 census, but does not give the city, county, page, etc.). I'm not sure why this would not be in the CD, but it is a major disadvantage to me. I want someone who sees this CD to know exactly where I got the data and how to get it themselves (even if they have no intention of doing so).

I also wonder how easy it is for people who have never used RM4 to find the source media. How many people are going to go to each fact, find the source, then find the media. It seems like it would be hidden to people who have never touched the software. I am interested in what my dad will be able to find when I give him the CD.

I didn't spend a lot of time with the CD. I know what's in my database and would never use it to copy my own information. It's also not something that I would give to a fellow researcher. They can handle the GEDCOM and media files on their own (at least I think). I think that the shareable CD is for sharing your research with non-genealogists, but I am not sure how well they will be able to figure it all out on their own. After I give my shareable CD to my dad, I will report back on how easy or hard it was for him to figure out on his own and how much I had to explain. So stay tuned.

Full Disclosure: I am not an employee, contractor or affiliate of RootsMagic. Just a happy user.

SNGF - Dear Genea-Santa

Dear Genea-Santa,
I have been such a good little genealogist this year and all I'm asking you for is one small thing. All I want this year is the book Getting the Most Out of RootsMagic. I really want this book so that I can learn how to do everything with my RootsMagic 4 software that I got in the spring and and loved using. (You see how it's for learning and not for fun. I'm getting all growed up now.)

I have been so good this year, so it shouldn't be a problem to get just one little present from you Genea-Santa. I've been working very hard on my "To Do Lists." I have fixed many source citations and organized many of my genealogy media files (the Eiswerth and Suckling lines are done and I promise to finish the Eck line this week.) I scanned all of my grandfather's WWII photos and created a book for my relatives so that they can enjoy them too. I've gotten good grades in my genealogy classes from the National Institute for Genealogical Studies. I even got my husband to start working on his genealogy too!

If you just give me this one little present, I promise that I will try harder to keep my genealogy bookmarks under control and keep up to date on my "to do" piles on my computer and desk. I promise to keep most of my binders and books on the shelves where they belong instead of the floor (of course this only applies to when I'm not using them).

I hope that the reindeer are ready for flying this year.
Love,
Tina

P.S. If you want to get me something else because I've been so good this year, you can bring me the parents of George E. Hillis.

Thanks Randy for another great Saturday Night Genealogy Fun.

Dad's Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Outdoor Decorations

Day 5 Dad's memories for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 5 - Outdoor Decorations
Did people in your neighborhood decorate with lights? Did some people really go “all out” when decorating? Any stories involving your ancestors and decorations?

As I recall, our house had a nice tree in the front yard and we always strung lights on it. Later we added lights along the gutter and across the garage. Somehow I got assigned the job of untangling the lights on many occasions. Although we had wreaths and red bows and some lights to decorate the outside, inside is where we really tried to decorate the most. I think most of our neighbors did the same thing.

Roots Magic Shareable CD - Creating a new GEDCOM

Yesterday I discussed the process of making a shareable CD of my database with Roots Magic 4 (RM4). Today I'm going to discuss how I exported a GEDCOM from RM4 to make my database and media fit on one CD.

In order to get my database to fit on a CD (since I was trying to use them up), I had to export a GEDCOM of my database to include only my paternal grandfather's side of the family. It was a little tricky to get just the part of the database that I wanted.

1. Select File from the menu, then select Export.
2. Check which pieces of your database you want to include (notes, sources, addresses, etc.) At this point you can also privatize living people.
3. At the top, you will see a drop down box. It will say Everyone by default. Choose select from list to choose just those individuals that you want.
4. A new box with a list of everyone in your database will appear. You can choose them from memory or select one person and choose people linked to them. I chose my grandfather, then clicked the "Mark people" button. Choose "Ancestors of highlighted person." Here you can choose direct ancestors, ancestors and their children or collateral lines. I chose "ancestors and their children" because that includes my ancestors, their siblings and their sibling's spouses. (Which is about all that's in my database. You could also choose collateral lines if you want all of the cousins.) Then I clicked the "Mark People" button again with my grandfather selected and chose "Descendants of highlighted person" then chose "Descendants and Spouses".
   
5. Choose a name and place to save the new GEDCOM.

Now I have a GEDCOM of my grandfather's side of the family (ancestors and descendants). If you choose collateral lines of ancestors, you can get all of the cousins. But if you choose collateral lines of descendants, you end up with the ancestors of everyone else. For example, all of my mom's side of the family will end up in the database, when I don't want a tree of that side.

It sounds more confusing than it is. Play around with it for a little while and you will start to see who gets connected with each option.

Tomorrow I will post about my own impressions with the shareable CD that I created and later will post about my dad's impressions when I give it to him.

Full Disclosure: I am not an employee, contractor or affiliate of RootsMagic. Just a happy user.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Outdoor Decorations

Day 5 of the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 5 - Outdoor Decorations
Did people in your neighborhood decorate with lights? Did some people really go “all out” when decorating? Any stories involving your ancestors and decorations?

Our neighborhood never went all out on the decorations. A few trees and bushes lit up, some candle lights in the windows, bows on the porch and a Christmas tree in one window was about it. At my parents' house we would put up some icicle lights on the porch and bows on the railing and lamp post. We also had a Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer decoration that was supposed to go in the ground but ended up tied to the porch.

Although we never went all out on our own decorations, we always enjoyed driving around and seeing what other people had done. I remember one big display all over these people's yard that we went to for many years.

Roots Magic Shareable CD - Creating CD

I've been looking for easy ways to share my family history data and images with my family. I have an online tree on Ancestry where I attach records that I find on the site. My dad is able to see the images that I have attached without a subscription (at least until he lost the password). I also have a tree on Geni, but I have not attached any documents.

One of my annoyances with online trees is that they do not update with my database. Therefore, I have to update every new fact I find 2 or 3 times to get it where everyone can find it. Although I will update my Ancestry tree with records I find on Ancestry, I do not add any other records that I find elsewhere. My online tree on Geni does not get updated often because I would prefer to upload a new Gedcom, but it does not allow that feature and I don't have the time to update every tree continuously.

In the spring, I purchased Roots Magic 4 (RM4) for my new database software. I have been very happy with it and have been using it to fix my source citations and how I organize my genealogy media. RM4 offers the feature of a shareable CD. It will create a CD or DVD using your database and also incorporate your media and sources. I decided to try this feature out and give a copy of my current database to my dad so that he could see all of the media that I have attached.

In order to make a shareable CD in RM4, you need to:

1. Select Tools from the top menu and choose "Create a Shareable CD."
2. A menu will prompt you that the CD will be created from the database that you have open or you can create a new database by exporting a GEDCOM file.
3. You are prompted for a Title, Photo and Introduction for your CD.
4. Then you are prompted for your contact information. At this point you can preview what it will look like.
5. Then RM4 will collect your images and create a temp folder of the CD. This will take a while depending on the size of your media collection.
   
6. You are given the option of burning the CD from RM4 or using your own software.
7. Insert CD. Burn. You are done!

This is fairly simple to do, but I ran across some problems.

• RM4 does not let you decide where to place the temp folder of your shareable CD. It places it in a very odd place (in my opinion) and is hard to find. (Mine was found in C:\Documents and Settings\Tina\Application Data\RootsMagic\Shareable CD.) If you don't have space on one drive, this process will most likely fail. It would be nice to be able to choose where the shareable CD files are created.
  
• My genealogy files take up around 3 GB. There is no way that this can fit on a 750MB CD. But RM4 did not warn me about this. Instead, it chose to try to burn the CD and then failed when it ran out of space, wasting a CD. Now I was aware that this would be an issue and wanted to test out what would happen when you used media that would never fit your database, so it was no big deal for me an my many CD-Rs. But this is very annoying to someone who doesn't want to be wasting CDs (even more so for more expensive DVDs). It would be nice if it told you which size media you would need and warn you when you did not have enough room before it started burning the CD and wasting it.
  

These are two items that I would add to my wish list of things that I would like to see added or changed in RM4. Tomorrow I will discuss how to export a GEDCOM of just the people you want. Sunday, I'll post about my impressions of the shareable CD I created. When I give it to my dad next weekend, I'll get his impressions and post those as well.

Full Disclosure: I am not an employee, contractor or affiliate of RootsMagic. Just a happy user.

Dad's Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Christmas Cards

Day 4 of my dad's Christmas memories for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 4 - Christmas Cards Did your family send cards? Did your family display the ones they received? Do you still send Christmas cards? Do you have any cards from your ancestors?

With a large family and lots of friends, we always made a production out of getting our Christmas cards out every year. Mom kept the mailing list and addressed the envelopes, Dad picked the right cards and wrote notes inside, and the kids jobs were to put on the stamps and maybe add some decorative stickers. For a time we used the cards that were sent to us as more house decorations. We taped them on doors in the form of trees or wreaths. Later we got a big basket to put the cards in and it sat on the living room coffee table so anyone could see and read our Christmas cards.

When our kids were little we adopted a similar Christmas card production line. It was fun. The kids often gave hand-made cards to their grandparents and their aunts/uncles. Sometime the card inspiration came from school, but other times it was draw your own. I’m sure you can see them hanging on their grandparent’s refrigerators now.

That's interesting because I have no memory of making and sending Christmas cards to the extended family. But I'm sure it might have happened.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Christmas Cards

Day 4 of the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 4 - Christmas Cards Did your family send cards? Did your family display the ones they received? Do you still send Christmas cards? Do you have any cards from your ancestors?

My family has always sent Christmas cards. We would set up a production line at the kitchen table. My dad would be the one to write any messages in the cards and put the address on the envelope. Then my brother and I would put on the stamp and return address. I don't really remember my mom helping at this stage, but she was always the one to buy the cards during after Christmas sales.

The cards would end up in a basket on the fireplace. I loved getting the mail during December and opening all of the Christmas cards. It was always exciting to see all of the different cards. My uncles would send us funny ones many times and those were the best.

When I scanned my grandfather's WWII photos, I found a few copies of the ones that the men had sent from the Aleutian Islands in Alaska.


Today I still send cards, but not nearly as many as my parents send. I keep the list short with only close family and friends. And I still enjoy getting the cards in the mail.

Dad's Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Christmas Tree Ornaments

Day 3 of Dad's version of the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 3 - Christmas Tree Ornaments
Did your family have heirloom or cherished ornaments? Did you ever string popcorn and cranberries? Did your family or ancestors make Christmas ornaments?

When I was growing up we each had our own favorite ornament. Most of these we made at school with a lot of help from our teachers. They lasted for a couple of years despite a lot of rough handling. We had an angel for the top of the tree that made it to the top every year and still does today. It was one of the first things after my mom and dad got married that they bought for Christmas decorations. It is over 60 years old now. I remember one Christmas that our tree fell on the floor when a support wire let loose. Ornaments went flying everywhere. Many of the old glass ornaments broke and had to be replaced.

Today, each year we try to find a new ornament for each of our two kids. Over the years these ornaments always got special places on our trees too, and usually were hung by the kids themselves. As our kids grew up, the plan was always to give them all their ornaments for their own trees as they moved, got married, etc. My wife still shops for a new ornament for the kids even though they have moved out of the nest.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Christmas Tree Ornaments

Day 3 of the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

December 3 - Christmas Tree Ornaments
Did your family have heirloom or cherished ornaments? Did you ever string popcorn and cranberries? Did your family or ancestors make Christmas ornaments?
(Note: this post can be used for Treasure Chest Thursday as well)

For many years, the Christmas tree at my parent's house was in two parts. The paper ornaments that my brother and I had made at school were at the bottom and the glass ornaments were at the top where we couldn't reach and break them.

Then my mom started buying Hallmark ornaments. My brother and I would each pick out one we wanted (or my mom and me would pick one out for my brother). These were ornaments for us to keep when we moved out. (I have mine all down in the basement and could use them if I was going to put the tree up this year, but I'm not.)

One year, my brother got a rocket ship ornament that plugged into the string of lights. When the lights were on it would light up and "Blast off!". The Christmas tree lights were hooked up to a light switch in the living room. The whole house knew when the lights were turned on because you would hear the rocket going off. I think we would fight over who got to flip the switch.

Eventually the taking the ornament out of the string of lights every year, started to make the connector break. My husband had to permanently connect the ornament to the lights. So my brother will have to take the lights if he wants his ornament to "Blast off!"

Dad's Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Holiday Foods

Day 2 of my dad's memories for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories made possible by Geneabloggers.

Today's Prompt:
December 2 - Holiday Foods
Did your family or ancestors serve traditional dishes for the holidays? Was there one dish that was unusual?

Cookies, cookies, cookies are what we made every year. All kinds of cookie varieties got passed around and exchanged with aunts. I remember several cookie making parties. As far as an unusual or traditional dish for the holidays, we stuck primarily to the turkeys and hams. If Pennsylvania deer hunting season was successful, then we might also have some venison steaks or butterflied chops for a change. Once we even had a black bear roast that was given to us by my Uncle Norbert and the way my mom cooked it, it was delicious.

My grandparents always came to our house for Sunday dinner during the holidays. It was a blast for us kids. My Grandfather Eugene Eck, (aka Pop-Pop) always sat the head of the table and said grace before we ate dinner. Pop-Pop was always making jokes and had all kinds of stories from his days as a mail carrier. After dinner, he’d park himself in the middle of the sofa and we would all pile in around him to get him so we could hear his latest jokes. If we had turkey, for some reason he needed a nap for 15 minutes before the jokes and stories began.

My Grandmother Eiswerth (Catherine) would usually have to wait until after Christmas day to visit us. She worked as a cook/housekeeper at a parish rectory, and was always very busy at Christmas time. She lived about 3 hours away. Grammy was greatly loved by us kids and we always had fun when she came for a few days visit. One year she was coming to see us and her old Ford car broke down. She had to have it towed to a repair shop. In true Christmas spirit, the repair shop owner and his wife drove Grammy to our house that evening. Dad tried to give them money, but they wouldn’t accept it. My mom managed to give them a big can of her cookies. After that when she travelled, Grammy always stopped at their gas station to say hello to her new friends.

I remember that bear. My brother and I were told that it was deer and only found out after we liked it what it actually was.