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Great aunts and third cousins

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Sometimes, it’s not so easy to fit your entire family neatly into one of those pre-made family tree templates. After you fill in the space for yourself, your parents, and your siblings, everything gets a little bit more complex. Does someone in your family have a great aunt? Can you identify who is your third cousin? These are the kinds of relationship terms that tend to make genealogy into something of a challenge. Before you delve too deeply into the connections between you and your ancestors, you might want to take some time to get a good understanding of some … Continue reading →

Grandma’s Coming

My mom arrives in Dallas from L.A. today. I am beyond excited. I love living in Texas and the life my husband and I have created. Our toddler daughter is ours because we’re in Texas. Nevertheless, I miss living in Southern California with my large family. I wish that Jessie could spend as much time with her cousins and grandparents as my nieces and nephews do. Jessie knows that Grandma is coming. She’s been walking around the house saying, “Grandma,” for days. What an enjoyable time we will have too. According to the text alert, her plane lands in two-and-a-half … Continue reading →

Glossary of Genealogy Abbreviations

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I sometimes look back at my previous posts for inspiration for new posts, or sometimes to see which topics may need a bit more elaboration. Today I want to create an extension from my genealogy glossary post from a few weeks ago. However, rather than providing you, my readers, with more genealogy terms, I want to help you understand the many genealogy abbreviations that are often used. General Genealogy Abbreviations abt. – about (sometimes also abbreviated as a. or ab.) ad. – adopted (sometimes adCL for adopted child, adD for adopted daughter, or adS for adopted son are also used) … Continue reading →

Genealogy Glossary

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There are many words and phrases used in genealogy that we sometimes do not see or use in every day life. To succeed in genealogy, it is a good idea to familiarize yourself with them. Listed here are just some of the many words and phrases you may come across during your genealogical research. There is also a list of sites that offer more comprehensive genealogy glossaries. Ahnentafal: A table of someone’s ancestors in which a numbering system is used. This word derives from the the German Ahnen meaning ancestor, and Tafel meaning table. Ancestor: Any person that someone is … Continue reading →

Dates in Genealogy

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Dates are an important piece of doing genealogy. You will be coming across dates for all types of historical events, from births and deaths, to immigrations and naturalizations, to land purchases and sales. Each date you will come across in genealogy will have its own importance to your research, and so you will want to ensure you record them accurately. There are many ways to write a date, depending on where you reside in the world, or your personal preference. In genealogy, there is a standard rule of thumb for writing dates. You should always format your dates by day, … Continue reading →

Family Reunion Planning: Planning Activities and Games

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Now that you know why you want to have a reunion, whom you are inviting, your budget, and the type of reunion you will have, you can begin planning activities and games to do during the actual reunion. Icebreakers: Icebreakers are a good way to get your relatives mingling. Some ideas include introducing yourself by saying how you got your name, a game of truth-or-dare, without the dare, or a scavenger hunt to find relatives that have something in common with each other (same color eyes, your cousin, same age, same birth month, etc.). Family Memorabilia: I am assuming that … Continue reading →

Family Reunion Planning: Who to Invite and How

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As I discussed in my last post, there are different types of family reunions you could have-from a small gathering of only a few relatives, to a large event of anyone who shares your last name. The size of your gathering may be dependent on factors, such as the reason for the reunion, your budget, and how many people your venue can accommodate. Start by grabbing a pen and notepad and jotting down a list of everyone you want to invite. Don’t forget to include your relative’s spouses and children. Note which relatives you have addresses or phone numbers for. … Continue reading →

Family Reunion Planning: Types and Themes

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I may have gotten ahead of myself in this family reunion planning series, since technically this post should have come before my post about budget, venue, and food. Considering the type of reunion you will have, and any theme you may want, will help tremendously when determining your reunion budget. TYPES Small, intimate gatherings are probably the easiest and most inexpensive family reunions to plan. These often include just a few of your closest family members, and may be held in celebration of a special event, such as an anniversary, birthday, graduation, baby shower, etc. Medium-sized family reunions can also … Continue reading →

Family Reunion Planning: Why Have a Family Reunion

According to Genealogy.com, approximately 200,000 families hold family reunions each year. More than half of family reunion coordinators say their primary reason for holding a reunion is to keep in touch with other family members. Another quarter of coordinators hold reunions in an attempt to introduce their children to their family heritage. There are many other reasons why people hold reunions: to celebrate a birthday or anniversary, to get together one last time before someone dies, to carry on a regular tradition of getting together, and more. It is a common occurrence at my family’s funerals to hear someone say … Continue reading →

Breaking Down Genenalogical Walls With Cluster Research

Many genealogists are only interested in researching their direct descendancy, which stands to reason. We often begin genealogy with the hopes of locating our ancestors, and not all the other relatives involved. I also recommend researching this way in the beginning to avoid overwhelming yourself with too many names, dates, and places. However, eventually you will hit a brick wall in your research. To me, this is where genealogy gets really interesting. I love a good mystery! One way to break through these walls is by performing cluster research. This form of research involves looking at the siblings, aunts, uncles, … Continue reading →