Genealogy Blog Family History

Family Holiday TraditionsPosted by Administrator on December 21st, 2009

If you think about it, the holidays are all about traditions. Traditions keep the whole thing going. Some families get together to watch It’s a Wonderful Life. Others gorge themselves on ham and football. Still others go hunting.

What traditions does your family carry on year after year to make the season special?

In our family, we make and deliver treats to our neighbors. Cookies, brownies, that kind of stuff. When I was a kid, we would dress up like ninjas, place the goodies on our neighbors’ porches, ring their doorbell, and then run like mad. We called it elfing. Maybe we’ll try out elfing when the kids are a little older. 

We re-enact the Nativity story by reading from the Book of Luke. Then we pull out a box which is decorated in brilliant silver wrapping paper- this is Christ’s present. On little slips of paper, we write what gifts we are going to give to Christ in the coming year. Then we insert those slips into the box. It’s our way of remembering what we are celebrating. Of course, then comes the presents and the food- oh yes, the food-, and the board games. There will likely be hours spent on video games and sledding and drinking hot cocoa. All of that. 

Make sure your holidays come with some kind of holiday. And make sure you spend it with those you love the most.

Ancestry.com proves Obama and Buffett CousinsPosted by Administrator on December 15th, 2009

When Warren Buffett was promoting Obama for the presidency, neither of them could have imagined that they were actually related.

That’s right. Reuters released a report today saying that Ancestry.com has found that President Obama and super-investor Warren Buffett are cousins… er, seventh cousins three times removed. Apparently, waaaaay back, their family trees meet at a 17th-century Frenchman named Mareen Duvall. The discovery was made by accident on Ancestry.com by researchers doing work on Obama’s roots. It is just another cool example of how Ancestry.com’s tools can help us learn unexpected things about our family histories.

Ironically, these same researchers found that Obama is also related to Dick Cheney. But something tells me they won’t be having a family reunion anytime soon.

Nothing like a Family Recharge WeekendPosted by Administrator on December 8th, 2009

Thanksgiving and Black Friday took a toll on our household. After playing flag football, playing a few rounds of basketball, braving the Black Friday crowds, going to other family functions, and so much more, we were just plain wiped out. Add to that our normal routine of school, church, and work, and you have a very exhausted family. In fact, a week later, we were still wiped out. 

So we decided to recharge this weekend. We slept in on Saturday, cleaned up a little around the house, played some video games, and had some mac and cheese for lunch. I found this great, little-known playground online and took the kids to it. It was about six times the size of a normal playground, all crafted from wood into the shapes of castles, rocket ships, volcanoes- basically, everything that little boys love. So we played there for at least 2 hours. Then we went home for some hot cocoa. 

The rest of the day was hot cocoa, movies, and popcorn. On Sunday, we hung out in the morning, went to church, and then came home to watch Christmas movies. 

In short, it was the perfect, vegging, recharging weekend. When I woke up on Monday morning, I could not have been more invigorated. 

So, in this busy holiday season, don’t forget to relax and recharge. Also, don’t forget to do it with your family. You won’t regret it.