Karel's Make Your Own Holiday Blog Hop Day 2

My holiday is…..

“Who Do You Think You Are Day”

Welcome back to Day 2 of Karel’s “Make Your Own Holiday” Blog Hop. I don’t know about you but I was absolutely floored by yesterday’s projects posted for this hop. These girls really knocked themselves out and I was so impressed by the various projects. My holiday, “Who Do You Think You Are?” Day is all about discovering and sharing your roots. I believe that it’s important for our children to know their families history and to know the hardships that their ancestors went through so that they can live the lives that they have today.

If you arrived here from Bonnie's blog at A Scrap Above at http://ascrapabove.blogspot.com/, your on the right track. The next stop on this 2 day hop is Nicolette's blog at Beyond Scrapping at http://www.beyondscrapin.blogspot.com/. If you get lost along the way, please go back to Karel's blog at http://www.kareljcreations.com/ for a complete list of the blogs participating.

Ok…first I’ll tell you about the blog candy and then on to my holiday post.

“Karelj (http://www.kareljcreations.com) is offering an over-all blog candy for those who are hopping along with us. She thought it would be fun to have some holiday-themed candy for this hop--but, of course, made-up holiday items were hard to come by! She decided to do a whole bunch of *regular* holiday themed stamps for you to enjoy. From Fiskars, there is an assorted holiday set; there's an alphabet from All Night Media, a set of 100 plus clear stamps and a storage case from Family Memories, and 5 sets of clear stamps from various dollar bins in big box stores. How to win them? Follow along the blog trail, leaving a comment on each and every blog. On Monday, Karelj will ask her buddy Randy (random.org) to select a blog number (from the list), a day (Saturday is one, Sunday is two), and a comment number from that blog. Please make sure you have left a reliable way to contact you (email is best, in the safe format of **** at **** dot com) so you can be notified by her personally. If you don't, she’ll have to select another winner.”

I will also put together something for blog candy. I'm not sure what yet but I will pick one winner by random over the two day postings to win a prize. I'll try & get a picture posted soon.

If you get lost along the way, the list for the blog hop is on yesterdays post.
When I first started researching my family tree it was before I had a computer. I made several trips to the local cemeteries, the local museum where they have a genealogy department that had a fair bit of information on my mother’s father’s family (Doane/Doan/Decou/Lemon/Marr & Thomson’s of South Ronaldsay, Orkney Islands, UK) who for the most part remained in this area. I went as far as I could on this line and quit for a few years. When I got my first computer in the late 1990’s I started back at it & was amazed at the wealth of information. I started researching my Thomson’s of South Ronaldsay, Orkney Islands, UK and met a friend online who helped me connect my line back to the early 1700’s. Not only did I have the names & dates of my ancestors, I also had the documents to prove that these people were my family.

After putting together my family tree, I wanted a way to showcase this information for my son in a format that would appeal to him. I decided to combine my love of genealogy with my new love scrapbooking (a hobby I picked up after a 2003 auto accident left me unable to work again). I created a mini album with a “shadow box” type display to show it off. The first mini album I created was for my Thomson’s of the Orkney Islands. Inside the shadow box I have a photograph of my Great Grandfather who immigrated from the Orkney Islands, my Great Grandmother (who died of Tuberculosis in 1887 at the age of 29 in Denver, Colorado) along with my maternal grandfather & his sister. (This is the only photograph we have of them). Also included in my shadow box is a Parish Token from the Parish of St. Mary’s, South Ronaldsay, Orkney Islands, Scotland. My GF’s husband does metal dectecting and during a time when the town was tearing up our streets to put in new sewer lines he found this Parish Token. When I saw it & told them that it was from the Parish where my Great Grandfather was baptized, they gave it to me and it is now one of my cherished possessions.

Here is a picture of the paperbag mini album with shadowbox that I created for my son a few years ago. In my album I started off with the first generation that I was able to find and ended it with my son who was the 8th generation.

I also created a paperbag mini album of my father’s paternal side going back generations ending again at my son who is the generation.

This past summer I discovered Ancestry.com and thought that I would see if I could go any further on my mother’s maternal side that always stumped me as well as my father’s maternal side. I was amazed at the wealth of information that I found on both lines. I was able to go back 6 generations on my maternal grandmother’s side and 8 generations on my paternal grandmother’s side. (I ended at my son who is single and is the end of the line following me).

Now that I have discovered all this information on my mother’s maternal side of the family, I thought that I’d make her a mini album that she could show off. I plan on adding a shadow box as well before giving it to her.

My mother is 86 and has always been interested in learning more about her mother’s side of the family, relatives that she remembers and lost touch with over the years, etc. I know that she would love to have something to show off that tells the story of her mother’s side of the family. This is going to be her Mother’s Day gift this year from me. This is the album that I have created to give to her along with the journal/journal jar. I am sure that she will love them.

Thank you so much for all your wonderful comments and for taking the time to hop with us. I hope that you’ve enjoyed yourselves and that this might encourage some of you to want to discover your roots as well.