Roots Tech Already?

The Ancestry.com team speaks at RootsTech 2012

 Yep, it's time to register for the 3rd Annual RootsTech Conference! Now, you may be thinking, "I don't live anywhere near Salt Lake City so I won't be able to participate." Well, you may not be able to physically participate, but bookmark RootsTech.org because they live streamed the keynote speakers and a few other classes last year. Trust me, you won't want to miss it! Go here to learn all about the next RootsTech Conference!

March 21-23, 2013   
Salt Lake City

Family History and Technology Conference

Go here if you want to watch the RootsTech 2012 videos!

Which Family History Software is Best?

How do I keep them all connected and straight in my mind?
 Photo is possession of Rayanne B. Melick

The question is "Which family history software is best for you?" I always tell people that the best family history software for them is the one that is easiest for THEM to use and understand. Never mind what your brother, uncle, sister, mom, cousin, etc. think! You need to spend a little time working it out for yourself! If you want a comparison chart, click this link.

October is Family History Month!

Our precious family bible from the 1830's

Did you know that October is Family History Month? Well, it is! So what are you going to do about that? Click on this link for some great ideas on how to celebrate Family History Month. These ideas come from About.com Genealogy!

If you don't want to do that, come up with some of your own great ideas! Here are some of mine:

1. Create a collage of school pictures for your kids. It reminds them that they were small once!

2. Write a story about your life? Any of your kids starting to date and drive? Write about your   experiences and share it with them.

3. Take a picture of your house. Add memories from this particular house.

4. Pull out a picture of a relative and write what you know about them. Share with those you love.

5. Organize that box of stuff from high school!

6. Call someone special and tell them that you love them.

7. Write about a special honor you received. I will write about the time that I won the "Best Soup" award at a church activity!

My "1st Place Soup" Award

8. Trace your children's hands and feet.

9. Sit down in a family group, pass out sheets of paper with the current month and year at the top, grab a stopwatch and tell everyone that they have one minute to write down everything that they can remember about this month. You could also do this for a year at a time. Share with each other the funnies of the month! DO NOT TELL YOUR GROUP THAT THEY ARE DOING FAMILY HISTORY! The word tends to scare people!

10. Write a letter to someone from your past. Express your appreciation to them for what they contributed in your life.

These are just a few ideas. I'm sure that you can come up with a hundred more on your own!

Family Tree on FamilySearch

In the very near future Family Tree on Family Search will roll out! Are you ready? Here are some reasons that we should be excited!

Did You Know?

The 1940 U.S. Census was indexed in record time! Read this article to learn more about the reasons it went so fast!

Just a Little Slice in Time!

Time flies! Here's a Christmas present that we created for grandparents when the kids were 5 and 7 yrs. old.  We had just moved and the kids were excited to share the mountains with their grandparents! The grandparents talked about these pillowcases for years afterwards. Maybe this will give you an idea for a Christmas present this year!

Never Forget!

God Bless the USA

Who Are You and Who Am I?

Another video from FamilySearch. Their videos make so much sense and get me excited about finding out who I really am! So...what's your story?

What is FamilySearch?

FamilySearch does not own Ancestry.com and Ancestry.com does not own FamilySearch! So, what is FamilySearch? Here is a brief video that explains what FamilySearch is. Hope this helps the confusion that still abounds!

Granite Vault, Pt. 2

More info on how the records get from the granite vault to you!

An Idea to Involve Kids in Family History

How do you involve little kids in family history? Age old question, I know. Here is one thing that we did that was so fun! We wrote and illustrated a Book of Melick Stories. As you can see in the pictures, the illustrations are done by young kids (ages 5 and 7) at the time. We had a blast!

1. We thought of funny/cute/silly/ stories.
2. The kids did their best drawings to illustrate the stories.
3. We printed them and sent them to family members.

Easy as that! We didn't do it in one fell swoop! I think that we took about a month to put it together. Remember the attention spans of your kids. It won't be fun if you hurry the process. Best of all, our family members got to know our family a little better because we didn't live by any of them. Try something like this! My kids (now ages 23 and 26) still gush about how fun this activity was! Don't forget to make an archival copy for your family and kids!

Since we are LDS, we patterned after the Book of Mormon. You could do anything that fits your family!

This was our family reasoning!

The following pages are some examples! They are bits and pieces pulled randomly. It will get your started and you can expand from there!

In Case You Were Wondering...

A great introduction to FamilySearch and the granite vault. Enjoy!

Utah County Readers

Here are the Family History classes at BYU for this coming Sunday, August 26, 2012. If you have the opportunity to attend any of them, they will be well worth your time!

Something New to Index!

Immigrants at Ellis Island

Since the 1940 U.S. Census is now indexed and the hoopla has died down a little, it's time to focus on a new goal. Enter the next big thing...Naturalization and Immigration Records. Since the United States is a melting pot from many nations, most of us probably have immigrant ancestors! I'm excited to work on this project. Maybe I will find those elusive Lithuanians that I have been looking for! Maybe I won't, but at least I know that I will be helping someone else find their family. If you want to get involved or at least learn more about the project, click here. Maybe you will end up indexing the very people that you are trying to find! Happy Indexing!

Slovakian Records Added to FamilySearch

The Slovakian online record collection at FamilySearch is now over 5 million! If you have ancestors from that area or other former eastern bloc countries (like I do!) don't just think that you can't do family history. Many, many records are coming from those areas. So, no more excuses! Since records are being indexed so fast for so many different areas, be sure and check each week to see what has been added. You may be surprised at what you find! By the way, if you would like to help index these great records, go here for more information.

The 1940 Census Indexing is Complete!

Look...it's my dad!

This is so cool to see my dad in the context of a son with his parents! What a treasure the 1940 Census is! If you haven't yet found your ancestors on the 1940 Census, give it a shot at FamilySearch.org or Ancestry.com. The 1940 Census opened up a whole new world for lots of us. It's like we can touch our ancestors! For more information on the 1940 Census, check out this article published in the Daily Herald a few days ago.

Indexing Update on the 1940 Census

Did you know that the 1940 U.S. Census on FamilySearch.org is 92.47% indexed? Below is the list of the states that are not 100% done yet.

Maryland 83%                    South Carolina 58%
Massachusetts 63%            North Carolina 78%
Wisconsin 95%                   Georgia 85%
Michigan 61%                    New Jersey 41%
Tennessee 74%                  Connecticut 92?
Ohio 90%


If you would like to help with the indexing (there are many, many records to index besides the 1940 Census), click here for more information!

Dennis Brimhall (Managing Director of Family History Department) Speaking in Orem, Utah

Dennis Brimhall (Managing Director, Family History Department) will be speaking Tuesday, July 10th (tomorrow) at 7:00 pm at the Family History Training Center in Orem, Utah. The topic is "The Doctrines of Family History Work." If you are interested, the address is 1075 South Geneva Road, Orem. This building is a double stake center. The meeting will be in the east chapel. Enter through the northeast corner of the building. All are invited for this fabulous evening of instruction!
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BYU's Annual Family History and Genealogy Conference

It's that time again! Plan on attending the Family History and Genealogy Conference at BYU, July 31-Aug 3, 2012. For more information, click here!

What's Happening with the IGI?

The July 5, 2012 entry on The Ancestry Insider blog offers up insight into the International Genealogical Index records that are so important to genealogists. There has been quite a bit of hoopla concerning how FamilySearch.org has indexed these records in their new system. If you want the straight up talk about it, listen to this webinar. If you want the shorthand version from The Ancestry Insider, click on the link. Either way, it should help clear up IGI confusion (at least for now)!