Apr 4
All of us in the United States are descendants of those people who left their ancestral homeland for a fresh start to a new land. It never could have been an easy decision to uproot your family and travel thousand of miles across unknown waters and landscapes for an even more uncertain life. Each person and family that made that journey has a ...
Dec 28
New Year’s Resolutions - the Beginnings The time honored New Year’s resolutions go back to 2000 B.C. when the ancient Babylonians of the Middle East held their spring and fall equinoxes festivals. A new year was the New Moon, the first visible crescent after the Vernal Equinox, the first day of spring. Back then, people marked the beginnin...
Dec 24
The singing of Christmas carols began in England in the early 1400s. They were mostly ‘tall tales’ of the first Christmas in Bethlehem. During the Puritan reign in England of the 1600s the celebration of Christmas was stopped including the singing of carols. By the early 1800s the singing of carols began again with singers known as ’Waits’,...
Dec 22
A great expanded updated search engine site done by Google is titled ‘Google Patents’ and it allows you to research for any and all patents submitted by any person in the United States from the 1790s to the present time. This is far more complete than earlier databases for patent searches. Its sources are the official United States Patent and...
Dec 8
Have you ever made your own Christmas tree ornaments? Maybe not since you were in elementary school. I still have a few of my ornaments that I made when I was a kid, and while they aren't the most beautiful on my tree, they definitely are the most meaningful ones. Besides, now that my kids are helping to decorate the tree, they like to see the old ...
Dec 8
Here are some suggested ideas to blend family history with some holiday gifts and cards: Rather than placing a written name tag on gifts instead us an old photo of that person, especially as a child to identify who is getting the gift. It might just keep everyone guessing. Place on cardstock and print the images out. It s...
Dec 5
The Christmas tree is the focal point of most Christian holiday decorations in the home. It is usually decorated with a lot of love, and care, and varies in shape and size. Maybe you have a huge one, or maybe you have a little one, but this Christmas tradition is definitely one to cherish. When my husband and I first got married, w...
Nov 18
Have you ever gotten a thank you note that was so wonderful you wanted to cherish it forever? Or, have you ever felt regret at not sending a thank you note to someone that is no longer in your life? Then this layout idea will be perfect for you. And, it is perfect for the Thanksgiving holiday as well. Often times, we don't realize how thankful ...
Nov 14
When was the last time you did a scrapbook layout about yourself? Whenever I look through the pages of my scrapbook albums, I find plenty of scrapbook layouts of my kids, or other family members. Sometimes, I even find one of myself with another person, like one of my children. But, when I look through the pages of my scrapbooks, I don't find many ...
Nov 10
When a parent passes away, often times this is the first experience that your child might have with death. Most people lose a grandparent first before any other type of family member. I know that my first experience with losing someone I loved was when my grandfather passed away. I was young, and didn't quite understand it. Subsequently, I have los...