in the listing of the page of names it says it is a genealogy based list. If not it needs to be removed.

About Christmas........ My kids always shake the packages and guess what is in them befor Christmas.... They are all so nosey...... I started about ten years ago putting presents in different shaped containers, like toilet or paper towel tubes, empty cans, shoe boxes, etc... That worked for several years..... Now I number all the presents so nobody know what present is for whom.. It is a lot of fun on Christmas morning. Just don't loose your list where you have put the people to the presents.... Enjoy Charleann

On the Road of Life: I will not think that I have failed, or lived my life in vain, if to my credit I shall find one friend to be my gain. And though the road of Life is rough, with mountains hard to climb, I find there's joy along the way and the journey, it is fine. If there's a friend beside me, to cheer me with a song; to smile an understanding smile when everything goes wrong; it gives one strength and courage the mountains to ascend. I find that life's worth living as long as there's a friend. Make it a Great Day!!!!!!! Sharon :)

I thought some of you might be intrested in this...the excerpts from tha talks are wonderful =) Love Cora --------------------- Forwarded message: From: [email protected] (David Kenison) Sender: [email protected] Reply-to: [email protected] To: [email protected] Date: 97-08-29 05:38:35 EDT [Note - occasionally we recommend books on LDS-Gems that we think are worthwhile and interesting to our readers... here's one I enjoyed:] BOOK SUGGESTION: _Clothed with Charity_, Talks from the 1996 Women's Conference (Deseret Book, 1997, 285 pages), $15.95 Each year, a "Women's Conference" is sponsored by Brigham Young University and the Relief Society of the Church. Many of the presentations from those sessions are reprinted in book form in an annual collection - this is the 11th such book, from last year's meetings. The reading is interesting and profitable, for men as well as women. The talks are not doctrinal pronouncements, and do not profess to be; but they are thought-provoking, and many offer practical suggestions for daily living. The book has six sections or chapters: "Developing Spiritual Maturity" "Nothing Exciting Ever Happens" "Finding Holiness" "Family Matters" "The Works of God" "Awakenings" Each chapter contains several articles by different speakers, including Elaine L. Jack, Patricia T. Holland, Bruce C. and Marie K. Hafen, Robert D. Hales, Marilyn Arnold, Camille Fronk, and many other lesser-known sisters. Talks deal with growing in personal spirituality, dealing with troubled or handicapped children, decision making, communication, prayer, overcoming abuse, treatment of depression, the arts and the Gospel, the role of women in the Church, a number of experiences of international Saints, and many others. Here are a few excerpts I enjoyed: === (From Patricia Holland, "Filled with all the Fullness of God", pp. 7-8:) President Gordon B. Hinckley has spoken often lately of meditation. My husband has commented on how often, in speaking to the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve, he has asked that they make sure they take time for thoughtfulness, for pondering, for introspection, for meditation.... Somewhere in our lives there must be time and room for such personal communion. Somewhere in our lives there must be time for the celestial realities we say we believe in -- or when will millennial peace be ours? The kind of contemplation, reflection, and yearning for God I am speaking of can't be accomplished very handily in competition with cellular phones, computers, or a blaring TV. God can enter our realm only at our invitation. He stands at the door and knocks always, but someone has to hear that knock and let him enter. In this effort we ought to do whatever we can to make our homes -- or our apartments or our condominiums -- the temples, quite literally, that God intends them to be. Places for the Spirit of the Lord to dwell. Places for meditation, contemplation, prayer, and study. Places where good conversation and charity out of a pure heart can be present. Places where we find the fulness of God. We need to simplify and spiritualize and celestialize. If most of what we are doing doesn't fit these categories, if at least some portion of our day is not turned to heaven, then we have a wrenching, rending emptiness awaiting us -- isolation of the first order -- and we will find no cloak of charity with which to protect ourselves or our sisters. We simply have to see what we can eliminate, what we can replace with something higher and holier, more reflective, compassionate, and eternal. Second only to dedicated temples, our homes are to be the sacred edifices of the Lord, places of peace and holiness and sanctity. === (From Robert D. Hales, "The Family: A Proclamation to the World", pp. 145-46) One of President Spencer W. Kimball's frequent topics was marriage. He taught that there is no such thing as soul mates; that is, marriages are not made in heaven -- two people are not destined from the premortal existence to meet and marry. President Kimball felt that we had to work together and work through our differences, that we had to get over our selfishness and not be spoiled, that we had to sacrifice and to share with one another. I remember him telling us, "Don't just pray to marry the one you love; pray to love the one you marry." Praying together daily will help love grow. So will expressing love for one another daily -- more than once. Doctrine and Covenants 42:22 says: "Thou shalt love thy wife with all thy heart, and cleave unto her and none else." === (From Ann N. Madsen, "Pray With All Energy of Heart", p. 94) We can pray any place, any time -- beside a mountain trail at Brighton, kneeling in a closet, anywhere. We are the ones who choose the when and the where. No time is wrong. The only prerequisite is a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And I think *broken* can mean more than the painful process we think of in repentance. *Broken* can also mean open, not hardened and inaccessible but open and ready to receive, to make place for the Lord's direction. The scriptures teach us to "pray *always*, and I will pour out my Spirit upon you, and great shall be your blessing" (D&C 19:38; emphasis added). === (From Jeanne Edmondson Carraway, "An Earth-Life Thing", pp. 110-111) Elder Russell M. Nelson has said, "With celestial sight, trials impossible to change become possible to endure." Celestial lenses, I have found, reveal things that are invisible to the earthbound eye. Through them, we can see what we can become, and what it will take to get there. As Paul told the Corinthians: "Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:17-18). === _Clothed with Charity_ can be ordered online from Deseret Book; for details see the following page: http://www.deseretbook.com/~dsku=3328809 The Deseret Book "Superstore" website provides a great resource for those who don't have an LDS bookstore close by. See their homepage for more info about their services, including an "800" number to call if desired: http://www.deseretbook.com/ ---------------------------------------------------------------- Distributed on the Internet via the LDS-Gems mailing list. To subscribe, send a message to "[email protected]" with "subscribe lds-gems" (without quotes) in the message body; or to leave the list, say "unsubscribe lds-gems". LDS-Gems homepage: http://www.xmission.com/~dkenison/lds/gems/ Suggestions and contributions from subscribers are encouraged!

I had the totally frustrating experience of potty training one of my children who showed the interest and ability, but out of sheer willfulness, decided that she would absolutely NOT take the initiative to leave what she was doing and make it to the bathroom on time. I shared this frustration with a close friend who told me about a book that really works. Of course, I was totally skeptical. So she loaned me her copy. The book is entitled Potty Training in Less Than a Day and it was a blessing from above! I don't remember the author, since I gave the book to my sister years ago. But I highly recommend. The book was initially written to help people in the health care industry to train mentally handicapped adults to toilet themselves. Then the author realized that if handicapped adults could master this skill, so could totally capable children. Hope you can find the book at either a book store or library. -Sandy [Sewwith7]

Thought you all might like this. Its part of a Homemaking lesson I taught in July for how to have a stress free Christmas. My best friend just asked me where to start so here's the first steps. --------------------- Forwarded message: Subj: Re: Stress free Christmas Date: 97-08-28 22:08:07 EDT From: Sony116 To: Vivian3039 OK, first steps: Start locating all the Christmas stuff you stashed in January. Count up. Do you need to buy Christams cards, wrapping paper,etc. That way when you go to the stores and see good deals you'll know what you need and what you don't. Start dropping by Good Stuff Cheap weekly to grab the new cheap stuff before its gone. Make rough draft Christmas lists for each kid. If you see something you know they're going to want buy it now. (Leave the price tags on so later when you're tryiing to remember how much you spent on each kid you'll remember. Or if you need to wrap to keep little hand sout keep a list of what you've spent on each child. Start practicing Christmas Carols. LOL Love, Sonya

--------------------- Forwarded message: From: [email protected] (Mail Delivery Subsystem) To: [email protected] Date: 97-08-28 21:18:22 EDT The original message was received at Tue, 26 Aug 1997 11:05:50 -0400 (EDT) from [email protected] ----- The following addresses have delivery notifications ----- [email protected] (unrecoverable error) ----- Transcript of session follows ----- ... while talking to rootsweb.com.: >>> RCPT To:<[email protected]> <<< 550 <[email protected]>... User unknown 550 [email protected] User unknown ----- Original message follows ----- Return-Path: [email protected] Received: (from [email protected]) by emout04.mail.aol.com (8.7.6/8.7.3/AOL-2.0.0) id LAA27696 for [email protected]; Tue, 26 Aug 1997 11:05:50 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 26 Aug 1997 11:05:50 -0400 (EDT) From: [email protected] Message-ID: <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Subject: Fwd: <WOW> August 26, 1997 Thought you all might enjoy this one1 I have been down on myself lately, but this will help me, I hope! TakeCare....LeeAnn --------------------- Forwarded message: From: [email protected] (W. Denis Nurmela) To: [email protected] Date: 97-08-26 06:28:35 EDT Please don't nag yourself with thoughts of failure. Do not set goals far beyond your capacity to achieve. Simply do what you can do, in the best way you know, and the Lord will accept of your effort. Gordon B. Hinckley (November 1989 Ensign, page 96) =================================================== Words of Wisdom Home Page http://www.nurmela.com/wow Send all messages to [email protected] Include the following message text: To join: join wow To leave: leave wow Any Questions?: help wow Want to search through all the previous messages? Go to: http://www.nurmela.com/wow/search.asp

--------------------- Forwarded message: Subj: Fwd: THINK OF THOSE WHO LOVE YOU - Poem Date: 97-08-28 20:47:21 EDT From: TERESA50 To: MdnghtSnw,Kuolabear --------------------- Forwarded message: Subj: Fwd: THINK OF THOSE WHO LOVE YOU - Poem Date: 97-08-28 20:15:40 EDT From: SNOMAX2 To: TERESA50,DaveOrl31,OrlCasper To: DAlli1107,BHaley4926,HURLEY717 To: DGMindyLou,DRobles614,JRoman1010 To: OCEANAIV,Marylew39,Hunie59 To: Flit7fly,EllieNut,Caring1944 To: Klatta --------------------- Forwarded message: Subj: Fwd: THINK OF THOSE WHO LOVE YOU - Poem Date: 97-08-28 12:12:26 EDT From: NU2PLBS To: JFlem31219 CC: Sunrise128,Frarat,RHill64774 CC: SNOMAX2,Quiltingbc CC: [email protected] CC: [email protected] --------------------- Forwarded message: Subj: Fwd: THINK OF THOSE WHO LOVE YOU - Poem Date: 97-08-28 12:03:45 EDT From: DMartin730 To: NU2PLBS,Babyonb722 To: [email protected],ELT452 To: GE235C,FChiv,Expmiata,Lilly524 To: LisaLouSr,Junkgal,Bru Bear To: Vogue ll,Low Rain10,SGregory To: Pamap333,MDFALCON To: [email protected],LACEVE0 To: [email protected] To: [email protected] To: [email protected],Crostcher To: [email protected],[email protected] THINK OF THOSE WHO LOVE YOU If someone shoud hurt you and say a thing unkind, Remember what I write to you, and keep these thoughts in mind. For everyone that makes you cry, there are three to make you smile, And a smile will last for a long, long time, but a tear just a little while. Don't let someone who hates the world cause you to hate it too, Behind the clouds is a Golden sun, and a sky that's full of Blue. If someone said a thing that's cruel, don't let it get to you, Your achievements are greatly numbered, and your faults are very few. So if a certain person should act a certain way, Think of those who Love You. And Don't let it spoil your day! Author Unkown --------------------- Forwarded message: Subj: THINK OF THOSE WHO LOVE YOU - Poem Date: 97-08-28 03:14:39 EDT From: Tkocian956 To: SRivera368,FKruse8286,DMartin730 To: Trvljnkie,GRKrey957,Roxilady To: Quincyone,DaxKitten,I be 1 Gem To: BelindaAM,BDoug53290,Babeblu43 To: RKerri3151,Mklady4055,DeZignsbyG To: Mombakit,GBH123,NCROS814,Dpgss To: Rusty43F,LESLIE4U,CINDRA69 To: Fooster,TAMEME10,RBurianek,Miki63 To: KJP51,Scootr210,Rnabes,CHERYL009 To: KPaige1043,Mrsogreman,BrenMann To: LdyNBlk954,GoRangergo,SWood5796 To: Imvidpro,CLarson557,KALUHACAT To: Jetney72,JanetSte,SweatinMom To: BluEyz2507,BMRS4306,Deb42f To: TCDIAMAN,GLAZhalful,Dare2BeDif To: FraniZe,Bex Elttil,Nitoco49 To: Sin1957,ME1ST37,NIPS MOM,Odie1139 To: PR254 THINK OF THOSE WHO LOVE YOU If someone shoud hurt you and say a thing unkind, Remember what I write to you, and keep these thoughts in mind. For everyone that makes you cry, there are three to make you smile, And a smile will last for a long, long time, but a tear just a little while. Don't let someone who hates the world cause you to hate it too, Behind the clouds is a Golden sun, and a sky that's full of Blue. If someone said a thing that's cruel, don't let it get to you, Your achievements are greatly numbered, and your faults are very few. So if a certain person should act a certain way, Think of those who Love You. And Don't let it spoil your day! Author Unkown

have ya tried getting brand new under pant, or "big boy pants" with simba or buzzz lightyear and telling your son that Buzz doesnt like to get wet? Make the outing to get the new underpants a big deal with some fun in volved! good luck, Ill be trying this road once again in a few months! Connie

In a message dated 97-08-28 07:51:34 EDT, you write: << [email protected] >> Actually this is the Momz in Zion list it is a lsd Moms list not a geneology list although we dicuass many topics here. I have to say I loved all the geneology info you shared and I am very excited about goito some of the web sites to do research. Thank you so much for sharing. Perhaps you accidentally got on our list instead of the geneology list. Our Gain =) ...but I thought it might answer your question as to why we were discussing potty training and not geneology =) Cora

Well, we're into the 7th month of our "FINALLY GET ORGANIZED!" campaign. We are more than halfway there! Close to independence! Ha......I just got back from a huge research trip in MAY and I haven't done a thing with all my photocopies and pictures! <giggle> I guess I'd "better get crackin' " as they say down south! I realize this month marks the beginning of travel for many of us, so our genealogy activities are then changed from the usual home front to "on the road" activities. This month's ideas revolve around that theme. WEEK ONE: FIND OUT HOW TO SIGN ON TO YOUR COMPUTER SERVICE WHILE ON THE ROAD. Most of my readers are on AOL, but many other services also provide some variety of out-of-town access numbers. The ones that don't include local internet service providers. However, if your service is national in scope, you'll have options much the same as we do here on America Online. To my AOL readers, here are the easy guidelines to follow before signing on under your usual screen name in a new town: -click the down arrow by your screen name -choose NEW NUMBER from the list -click SIGN ON -your computer will then sign on to an 800# -enter the NEW area code when prompted -choose the closest city on the list by clicking on it -make your second choice for access from the list when prompted -your computer will ask if you want to save or swap these phone numbers before saving those choices -you will then be automatically signed off the 800# phone access inquiry number once you click OK (Your computer now has only the numbers for the new locality in its memory. Go through this procedure for each town you visit, and of course, one more time when you return home!) Neat! WEEK TWO: 1. PLAN TO TAKE LOTS OF PICTURES ON THE ROAD... pictures of important family sights including the old homes, schools, churches, and pictures of old pictures. Keep a steno pad on hand & number each exposure and describe WHAT you have taken a picture of. This is important for several reasons. First, if the picture fails to develop, you KNOW what you'll have to go back for! Secondly, you'll need to identify EVERYONE in the picture, so have each sign the steno pad in order of their appearance in the photo. With pictures of old pictures, ask everyone to play WHO'S WHO to identify the images! Be more specific than "great-grandma Dolly" Get the full name, including the maiden such as: Dolly (Yockey) Weiser The maiden name is in parenthesis. 2. USE YOUR HAND-HELD TAPE RECORDER. My readers will remember that my generous husband Harold bought me a GREAT hand-held tape recorder before our trip south last fall. Luckily it takes the regular size cassette tapes, so they are easy and cheap to find. Anyway, I find that during photo shoots, and WHO'S WHO, people share little bits and pieces of anecdotal history....and it helps just to pick 'em up on tape. 3. WRITE YOUR IMPRESSIONS ON YOUR STENO PAD. Seeing the old homestead, and walking through church cemeteries seems to get my memories flowing. When Harold takes his turn driving, I use this travel time to jot down my recollections. Someday I can transcribe them, but if I died tomorrow, these little notations provide little glimpses of the past not found in my current family history notebooks. WEEK THREE: PREPARE FOR THE FAMILY REUNION WITH COMPUTER PRINTOUTS. One fantastic new genealogy product I saw at the NGS Conference in May was a program called GENMATE (and PAFMATE) which can take GEDCOM files (or PAF FILES) and make huge pedigree charts with SIBLINGS listed. This would be great for your next family reunion! That way everyone can see their name on the pedigree chart! There is a service to have a wall sized chart printed commercially by this same firm. WEEK FOUR: TRANSCRIBE YOU TRIP NOTES TO COMPUTER. You'll want these ready to insert as notes in your genealogy program, or as entire chapters in your future family history book. If you handwriting is anything like my dad's, you and you alone can decipher them. You might even find that the process of transcription will trigger even more recollections. Use the lazy days of summer to computerize these anecdotes bit by bit. No pressure, no worries. Just ENJOY! Remember how in the olden days, our elementary school teachers asked us to write papers by that last title? Yes, those ol' school days... I used to walk through seven foot drifts of snow uphill (both ways) to get to a school room with a pot belly stove in the back! As a bridge between the laxy days of summer, and knuckling down to reading, writing and arithmetic, they'd have us do the usual summer vacation essays. Well, among the items on this months checklist are a few new fangled twists on that theme! 1. While traveling about, take your video cameras and tape recorders with you! Record what things look like! Tell how you feel about visiting that old homestead, or the cemetery hidden in the backwoods. 2. When visiting relatives who have possession of the precious family bible, ask if you can take it to the local photocopy shop. Invite them with you for lumch, if necessary. Just get COPIES of the original, don't trust yourself to transcribe the information perfectly. Remember there are 24 hour places like Kinkos to help you out! 3. As grandchildren visit, be sure to do a yearly interview with them on tape! As you splice together 10-15 years of video clips they'll be amazed at their changes and growth. And what a record for posterity! THEIR children will be able to see their parents as babies, and the the wonderful interaction with you, the great-grandparents! That is a window to the past I would certainly cherish! 4. As an extension of this activity, those of you with grandchildren could begin "grandchildren books." This consists of a personalized three-ring binder. Then, every week, compose an interesting letter on your computer and send copies to all grandchildren through the mail. They'll love getting something special addressed to them. You'll be able to share anecdotes from your childhood, old family stories, the lives of their parents, or little quote or stories you run across in the course of the week. Following these guidelines, you'll be able to accomplish your goals to finalluy make progress on the PERSONAL HISTORY side of family history research. Think how thrilled we are when we run across an original document which our ancestor held! Well, you are literally making memories and documenting lives in the process! Well, the kids are in school, most of us have finished our traveling and sleuthing (not necessarily in that order), and its time to settle down for a long winter's nap! NOT! Here's the lineup of this month's assignments! WRITE BACK and let me know how you are doing on these projects! Your comments keep Harold and me in stitches! Week One: At the family gathering on Labor Day, be sure to take LOTS of pictures, tape record interviews and post your descendant charts so people can SEE their name in print. Perhaps this will entice them to fill in the blanks for their birth and marriage dates, etc!!! Week Two: Transcribe taped interviews ASAP to NOTES in PAF (Personal Ancestral File) or whatever genealogy program you are using. Do this right away, while the conversations are still fresh in your mind! Describe the time of day, what your interviewee was wearing, etc; doing all you can as a reporter to describe the setting. You'll want your readers to be able to imagine they are right there experiencing this interview first hand. If your interviewee stumbles for words, or skips words use ... or (mumble) to deliniate. Do NOT fill in the gaps with your own words. If you MUST, add your editorial notes at the end, clearly labeling them as your own, and not the words of the interviewee. Week Three: Remember all that great stuff you gathered at the family reunions, summer picnics and such?!!! Well, this is the week to enter that information into your computer genealogy program. This may take a bit of doing, but do it NOW! Systematically, page by page, until like the Ragu Spaghetti Sauce, "ITS IN THERE!" Week Four: Write for copies of birth, marriage and death certificates on all this newly collected information. Sending a friendly, newsy letter to your extended family members requesting these will serve to strengthen the bonds you developed over the summer at your family gatherings. Send a photo or two! Gi ve, don't just ask! I realize this is a LOT to do in one month! But then this is the first chance after the hustle and bustle of the summer to get things really organized again! You'll feel a sense of accomplishment, and I'll certainly be proud of ya, too! Well, here we are in our 10th month of our new lives as organized genealogists! (No giggling now!) Harold has a really great idea, so I'll get right to the list! Week One: Before the weather gets too bad, take great-grandma's old rocker outside and take a picture of it! The same goes for quilts, baby cradles, pickle crocks, canning jars and other artifacts. Photo-documentation is a valuable tool for family historians. I remember visiting the Conrad Weiser Homestead in Womelsdorf, Pennsylvania. How I thrilled to see the walking stick and silver spoon actually used by my ancestor in the 1720's! I was also very touched to see the effort the restoration committee took to use period stoneware and other appointments to decorate his home. Without careful attention to these matters, visiting a restored home would not put is in the other century. More than just years separate us. Customs, life style and technology change throughout the decades and centuries. So, use those cameras to capture the images of the past. Photos make delightful and informative additions to our family history books! Week Two: Scan the photos for easy insertion as graphics in your family newsletter, or upcoming book. (You ARE planning to publish SOMEDAY!!) You can send the film of your artifacts to Seattle FilmWorks, or scan them in yourself, if you have the equipment. Thanks to my friend Barb, I have been learning about MSPicture Publisher which is a software program for scanning and editing photos. I also use PaintShop Pro (32bit) available for download in AOL's <A H REF="aol://4344:431.page_pgr.1369532.516864034">Graphic Arts Forum</A> . Week Three: By now, the original documents you sent for last month are beginning to arrive. Remember to put them in top-loading sheet protectors, and file them this week with the appropriate family group sheets in your notebooks or files for each family! Week Four: Plan an old-fashioned harvest party for family members, instead of the usual Halloween trick-or-treating! (That's getting too dangerous now!) How about a nostalgic hayride, and bonfire with marshmellows? Even a good old-fashioned square dance or simple songs by the campfire with a budding guitarist to accompany! Round out the activities with a few simple games like bobbing for apples, ring toss (on old fashioned coke bottles), and a cake walk! In the early part of the 20th century before radio and TV, people entertained eachother by singing and playing together, even as adults! 1. This is your 11th month of the organization checklist. To prepare for next month's assignments, you must make one last push before the holidays to get the last of your direct-line ancestors and their families into the database, using whatever genealogy management program you have chosen. NOTE: I am often asked what to do with INDIRECT (cousin) relations. I definately put them into the database whenever I run across them. It is short-sighted to put only direct (parent, grandparent) relations in the computer. One of my most exciting genealogy "finds" was when someone else had done work, on the ancestors of my mother's great aunt. If I did not have mention of her in my database, I would never see the connection to the other person's database. 2. Begin preparation for holiday gift giving, with genealogy in mind! :: Prepare gift-sized portions of chutney or pickles from great-grandma's recipe file complete with a bound photocopy of the entire recipe book printed on interesting parchment paper. :: Buy 4X6 inch wooden frames for the copies of old pictures you learned to make with your camera this year. Give the same photo to all family units on your gift list. Include a name list, and date on the BACK of the matboard. :: Prepare a family history video for your descendants. Take videos of old family portraits, narrating anecdotal information to spice up the sound track. One reader mentioned a unique way of combining old and new. He copies his old 8MM films to video, one segment on one tape. He makes a point of narrating the background, and funny recollections prompted by the old home movie. Interesting to hear grampa's voice recalling the "olden days" of the 1950-60's! He saves these until he has a chance to go to step two, below. During the last few years of his retirement, he and his wife have been visiting the same old haunts, to capture the "new look" of Hawaii, Banff, Canada, Ocean Shores, Washington, etc. on the appropriate video tape. In one case, he had his two grandchildren stand in the same pose eating sugar cane in the same field, as grandma had done in the 1961 8MM version!!!!! However, as he panned the background scenery (as in the earlier 8mm transfered to video) one notices the stark contrast of the former row of swaying palms with the so-called progress of modern development! Except for repeated references to Puffin Island in one video, his efforts have been applauded by his descendants. 3. Get an old suitcase to put your papers in if you need to clear off the dining room table for Thanksgiving. Then, force yourself to deal with 10-20 papers per day by filing, entering data, whatever is needed. When you work through that suitcase, reward yourself by ordering a subscription to your favorite genealogy magazine! Well, we are closing in on our last month of organization activities. (See the <A HREF="aol://4344:167.myrtfina.1412348.529459588">Finally Get Organized !</A> folder in my column area on AOL.) Several of you have written letters detailing your very human shortcomings in this area. But we all have fallen short to some degree or another. However, had we not started to follow any guidelines, we would be even less organized than we are at this point! I consider any forward motion, however slight, to be an improvement over things as they were at the beginning of the year. You will recall last month that I asked you to make a push to computerize the rest of your direct-line ancestry (grandparents, great-grandparents, etc.) , filling in the collateral lines (cousins, spouses, children) as you run across the information. For culminating activities, may I suggest that you: 1. Create a GEDCOM file of your genealogy data and send the floppy disk to the LDS Family History Library in Salt Lake. Use the following address: Family History Department Ancestral File Submissions 50 East North Temple Salt Lake City, Utah 84150 We want YOUR data to be added to the next edition of the ANCESTRAL FILE (tm) which is the huge CD-ROM pedigree database available at the over 2,000 local Family History Centers that are equipped with Family Search Computers. During the creation of your GEDCOM file you will be asked to include your name/addressand phone number. PLEASE add your e-mail address in the extra address line. (For example, [email protected]) This increases the avenues for communication with your distant and here-to-fore unknown cousins who may find your data in the CD-ROM collection. When you DO get a response, you will be able to exchange photocopies of documents that support your lineage claims and add names the cousin may have traced that you are unaware of at this point. OF COURSE, it will be easy to retrieve the documents, since you have them all neatly filed away in the top-loading archival sheet protectors! 2. Make a genealogy calendar to share with other family members. This can be done using programs like Calendar Creator Plus or certain add-on programs to PAF (Personal Ancestral File Genealogy Management Program). In this way, all family members will be aware of upcoming birthdays and anniversaries, as well as share recollections of such dates for important ancestors. Here are some additional ideas: :: print full page monthly calendars in horizontal page format :: print or photocopy on colored parchment-like paper :: on the back of the previous month copy a page with a decorative border and photos of ancestors or grandchildren :: bind all pages and cover sheet for roughly $1 each at Kinkos or Office Depot. They use the plastic spiral binding method which will work fine for this one-of-a-kind annual family gift. 3. Prepare special notebooks to give to each family member. These can be as simple or as decorative as you desire. They will use the binder to store the weekly e-mail print-outs and letters you are going to send. This idea worked very well for a friend of mine. Each Sunday afternoon he wrote a letter detailing a family story, anecdote, or tradition. Sorta like a Redbook's "Complete on this page" mini-story. In this manner, the gentleman was able to begin his personal and family history by telling stories of the old days on the farm, before radio and television, back in the horse and buggy era. Sometimes he would recall something he had done with his grandfather, sometimes he'd report on a current visit with a grandchild. Sometimes he'd embarrass his children by recalling their mischievous activities, much to the delight of the grandchildren. Other times he pasted up a photocopy of a DearAbby column or comic strip that caught his eye. Whatever struck his fancy that week he wrote about to his children and grandchildren. All he had to do was make one, then photocopy it for all the others. REMEMBER, this was in the days before e-mail, which will make your task even MORE doable! What a WONDERFUL way to begin a NEW YEAR!!!!! And that will be our MONTHLY assignment next year........ideas each month to help you write your PERSONAL HISTORY! Don't you wish you had even a small diary or a few handwritten letters from each of your great-grandparents? Any scrap of paper that they once held, however insignificant! Well, let's think of your descendants, and prepare an interesting personal history! So, there will be NO RESTING ON YOUR ORGANIZATIONAL LAURELS... soon we'll be on to the next year with new and exciting projects to tackle! Happy holidays, Myrtle :)

DearREADERS, How readily we recall the WWII fighter pilot's last plea for help, "MAYDAY, MAYDAY!" Is THIS how you feel about the accumulated paraphrenalia associated with your family tree climbing? Photocopies, pedigree charts, old photo albums, folders, certificates, old letters, faded lace fans, pocket watches, dust, computer disks, homestead papers, family bibles, maps and the like!?! Well, that's exactly WHY we have this monthly ORGANIZATION CHECKLIST. Just tackle the problem bit by bit, and it isn't so overwhelming after all. Here's the plan for this month: WEEK ONE: 1. Finish organizing all those documents for surnames Q-Z. Remember the past few months you've been putting these in top leading sheet protectors, and placing them in the folders or three-ring binders with the correct family group sheets! If you have been following along, you will ACTUALLY be caught up in your filing, provided you *never* do any more genealogy research! (Ever again!) :) WEEK TWO The rest of the month is devoted to a not-so-talked about part of family history, and that is the accumulation of fabric relics, such as old bonnets, handkerchiefs, wedding dresses, leather booties, mittens and quilts. Perhaps your precious collection includes infant's christening dress. 2. Go to the public library and check out books on care of antique quilts and the like. This will serve to educate you to the special care and handling of these family heirlooms. WEEK THREE 3. Each item needs to be carefully hand laundered, whenever possible using Woolite or Ivory Flakes. There are also special preparations at fabric stores in the quilting department, designed to soften the fibers brittled by age. REMEMBER that wollen baby jackets or mittens cannot be cleaned with water, and doubtless would not hold up to the stress of commercial drycleaning. Proudly place them in a shadow box, archival storage box, or on a padded hanger thinking of those spots as badges of honor! WEEK FOUR 4. You'll need to order the blue ACID FREE tissue paper, and acid-free storage boxes from a company such as LIGHT IMPRESSIONS, which we talked about at length in January. Remember that placing items in plastic only hurts them, because it traps moisture inside, which can cause mildew. It is also important to periodically open each item and fold in a different place, so there will be no damage along the fold lines. Although you'd like to display such valuable items in your home, remember that light and heat can adversly affect the fibers. If you do wish to show that great-grandmother's quilt, do so for special occasions, and return it to its rightful storage place. It deserves a rest! This way future generations will also enjoy the glimpse into the past through this glorius medium! DearREADERS, Congrats! You have made it to the half-way mark in your "year to finally get organized." Just look at what you've accomplished! After completing last month's assignments, you have now successfully collated all supporting documents into the notebooks or folders designated for each surname, and placed them behind each relevant family group sheet. For the first time, it is possible to show someone your family history without having to go here and there throughout your computer room (or entire home) to get the relevant items proving each person's connection to your family tree. Whereas last month we began to handle the soft goods like quilts, old christening dresses and sun bonnets, this month we'll tackle the old medallions, etc. Remember that $5 gold piece great-grampa always kept in his pocket? The pocket watch from great uncle Arnold? How about that curious turkey bone with the tatted lace overlay! (I have one, and have yet to understand it's significance!) There are uniform buttons and swords from the Civil War, as well as stripes and ribbons from later military conflicts. Other precious items might include: tiny baby-name bracelet, a ring, evening purse, a ladies fan, collar stays, a punched paper book mark, a bow tie, old spectacles, a shaving brush and bowl, a ladies' lace collar, a tiara (not too many in my family), old keys, a pocket knife, a leather golf ball, a few old postcards, a marble pouch, a set of jacks, a single crystal goblet or silver baby cup, a special plate, an old flour sack, a pillow with tatted lace trim, a crazy quilt piano shawl....oh the list goes on and on! Here's the PLAN: ASSIGNMENT AMERICA.... #1 Let's create a shadow box or two, using these precious items. I have a curious looking button with a blue ribbon attached which reads CONRAD WEISER DAY. I received it at the 90th anniversary of the dedication of his homestead as a park in Wolmelsdorf, PA in the late 1980's. I have also collected several printed summaries of his life. I plan to use these with a replica calligraphic letter "W" created by the women in the 1700's at the Ephrata Cloister. In this religious setting, Conrad and two of his children lived several years of their life, dedicating their efforts to God. I plan to create a very nice grouping in a shadow box to display these items proudly in my family room. I can place the shadow box on the fireplace mantle next to my trailing ivy or mount it directly on the wall next to the book case. Why not decorate our home with these unique collections? What conversation pieces! It also takes those items out of that old great grandma's trunk or secretary desk into the light for the whole family to enjoy?!! And speaking of that old trunk, why not use it as a coffee table or end table? This is a great idea, UNLESS it is a camel-back trunk! In that case, I'd recommend you open it, and place plexi-glass across the opening to protect a display of larger family heirlooms like entire uniforms, stuffed teddy bears and the like! For the family reunion, you might consider making a decorative flower box out of that old wooden child's wagon. First protect the wood with a heavy plastic bag liner. Arrange several ten inch plastic pots of impatiens or bright geraniums and marigolds in the bed of the truck. Use spangum or spanish moss around the edges to hide the pots, and increase the humidity for the continued growth of the plants. Put this wagon somewhere along the walkway to your front porch for all to enjoy. You might laminate a sign created with old-timey lettering on your computer, and place it on a stake near your creation to let everyone know the history behind the wagon! You might even go so far as to accept: ASSIGNMENT AMERICA #2 Remembering all you've read of your compiled family history, why not plant some of your ancestor's favorite flowers in your garden or window boxes? If Grampa Joe used to talk of the rope swing in the oak tree, why not make one for the kids to enjoy this summer? (Hopefully you have access to an oak tree.) Flowers like bachelor buttons, delphiniums, and tall purple bearded iris are frequently mentioned in my mother's writings. Why not plant an apple tree, so future generations can actually see where those red things come from? You might make it an event at the family reunion. Something like an ANNUAL PLANT A TREE PROJECT. If you are blessed to actually have a front porch, why not make a wooden porch swing? Hang out a few "parlor ferns!" Build a rose trellis, and be sure to get "climbing" and not "bush" roses to plant on each side! You wanted to make the yard prettier this year, why not decorate it with the colors and scents familiar to our ancestors? While only a select few have cuttings from the actual plants our ancestors once tended carefully, others will have to settle for the best readily available at local nurseries.

APRIL 1996 Organization Checklist Dear Readers, Well, the time has come! Its our FOURTH month of organization checklists. Is it an editorial comment on our current performance that today's list appears on APRIL FOOL'S DAY? ::::giggle:::: I have already heard lamentable tales from several of you who are "organizationally challenged" shall we say???? Well, fear not! YOU CAN DO IT!!! This month's program provides opportunities to catch up. Just insert your procrastinated tasks in the blanks provided amply below, to round out our research checklist for the month. Those not so organizationall challenged will still have lots to do, but can rest on their laurels a bit this month. All will be in readiness for NEXT month's list which proves to be a dilly in my estimation! ::::mysterious giggle:::: WEEK 1: Plan to attend Myrt's "Beginning to Use Your Local LDS Family History Center Chats" Each tuesday in April! These are held in the Family Tree House Conference Room at 10pm on Tuesdays. GFSBarb is the co-host(ess) WEEK 2: Continuing in our project to list all documents in notes for each named individual on our computer genealogy program, work through notebooks (or folders) M-R. (Procrastinators: That's M THROUGH R inclusive!!!) For organizationally challenged, go back and complete notebooks (enter your unfinished ones here!) WEEK 3: Begin writing to other family members for additional input. Check for long list relatives and friends of the family using the Genealogy Forum's link to the PHONE CD's. You'll find this under GENEALOGY RESEARCH. You can specify an area of the country, or do an all inclusive search. Good Luck! WEEK 4: PLAY CHATCH UP! Be sure to (enter your topic here!) in order to be TOTALLY organized as of April 1996!

MARCH ORGANIZATION CHECKLIST Dear Readers! What wonderful ideas you have been having...and what GREAT PROGRESS you are having in attempting to organize your genealogy and photos! I am really proud of you! I may have to break down and work at things a little harder myself! - :> Well, enough resting on our laurels...here's the plan for this month! GOOD LUCK everyone!!!! WEEK ONE 1. To continue our project, this month we'll be taking the file folders or surname notebooks for letters G through L and verify that EACH document we've collected is listed in NOTES for that person in our genealogy program. The importance of systematic and thorough documentation cannot be overemphasized. As we grow in our experience as researchers, we understand the value of primary records to support a lineage, rather than heresay evidence from old family stories. WEEK TWO 2. This is the month to venture outside the protection of old habits, and join your local genealogy society. Ask around at the public library, and perhaps you can discover its meeting times and dates. You may not have ancestors who lived in your immediate area. You WILL, however, meet many interesting folks with varied talents and experiences who might be able to help you learn better research techniques. On my local genealogy society, I have found friends who are much better than I am with their computers. They are willing to share their talents with others. In the past six years of membership in two local societies, I cannot think of more than two meetings devoted to Florida research. Topics have included tracing immigrant ancestors, reports on research trips overseas, spotlights on what's new at local FHCs, migration patterns, New England research, etc. I attend every meeting, and found a new cousin during the intoductions of new members. Our society maintains a five generation chart collection of members, upstairs in the genealogy section of our library. All I can say is try it! You'll like it! WEEK THREE: 3. When planning your summer vacation, check to see what towns of interest to your ancestors are along the way! Make a point to stop by, even if the focus is not genealogy. You will learn much about the lay of the land. For instance, in a recent trip to Germany a friend noticed a striking similarity between the place of origin on the Neckar River and the Tupelhocken Valley of Pennsylvania where her Palatine immigrant ancestor eventually settled. (Brought tears to her eyes as a matter of fact!) WEEK FOUR: 4. Plan to attend the four-part FHC (Family History Center) overview given in DearMYRTLE's Beginning Genealogy SIG on Tuesdays at 10pm Eastern in the Tree House Conference Room in April 1996. Use this time to pose questions you are running into when using the facilities at your local LDS FHC. Remember that not all volunteers at FHC are as experienced in research as you might be. Some centers are most fortunate to have well-trained, experienced staffers. But whatever your situation, stop by on tuesdays for a fun hour of spirited comments and insights on using a FHC! GFS Barb is also on hand to help you with your beginning research questions!

Hello everyone, Here is part two of getting organized. After I finish these lessons she has excellent classes in beginning genealogy and how to use a FHC. FEBRUARY ORGANIZATION CHECKLIST Dear Readers, THANKS for all your letters about our FINALLY GET ORGANIZED January Checklist. For many it gave us the chance to do some of the things we've been putting off for a rainy day. For some of you in the blizzard zone of the winter season, you had more time than the rest of us to organize your computer desk, and get papers filed! CONGRATS to all! Now for this month's list: WEEK ONE: 1. Decide in a genealogy management program, if you don't have one already. There are demos of many in AOL's Genealogy Forum Program Libraries. These are easy to download. Perhaps my best advice is to be SURE that the program is GEDCOM capable. That means it can create for export, or import GEDCOM files so you can share your data with others. If you have questions about what program to use, hang out in the Ancestral Digs Conference Room most thursdays at 9pm and again at midnight. The hosts are discussing genealogical computing at those times. If you already have a genealogy program, you can REST UP this week! Or better yet, buy that new one your've been dreaming of, and tranfer your data using the GEDCOM option. Check out all the new options! WEEK TWO: 1. Take the surname folders or notebooks A thu F (which you created last month), and check to be SURE that each name is in your genealogy program. 2. Remember all of last month's filing of genealogy papers? Well, this is the time to verify that everything you have on paper is IN THE COMPUTER! This means list every document as a note under each person listed on the document! Be very specific, naming things as follows: Seattle, King County Health Dept, Birth Certificate #12345567, dated Jan 28, 1951 lists female child as XXXXXXX with father YYYYYYY and mother ZZZZZZZZ. Report date: February 13, 1951, signed by Dr.XXXXXX, attending OBGYN. WEEK THREE: 1. Take that huge pile of photos you've been putting together since last month and begin to sort them into generations such as: Mother as a child Dad's parents our children vacations we took unknown relations from great-grandma's trunk Put these into huge manila envelopes which have been clearly labeled. You need to go through this overview process, in order to determine how much work you'll be doing in later months' assignments. Be sure as you add newly developed photos, that they end up in the correct manila envelopes. You'll find stray sets of prints and negatives all over the house, even months later. Just get them together, and in the right manila envelope! WEEK FOUR: 1. Learn how to join a genealogy related NEWSGROUP from the Internet. Check the column each day for details on the proces, and how to use newsgroups as an effective learning tool! .............................................................................. ....................... Now, that list wasn't all that bad, was it? Indeed, you did the worst part last month. Yet, I have been honing the schedule for the remainder of the year, and have come up with some dillys. So stay tuned each month on the 1st for the FINALLY GET ORGANIZED CHECKLIST!

http://pages.prodigy.com/WMercer/index.htm(---Genealogy, our labor of love) http://biz.ipa.net/genrecord/library.htm(--GRS our Library) http://www.ancestry.com/(---Ancestry Home town- it has Social security death index and marriages pre 1800) http://home.earthlink.net/~middleton/topten.html(---lots of great links from here) http://www.oz.net/~cyndihow/sites.htm(--Cyndi's list has lots of links too) http://users.aol.com/johnf14246/gen_mail.html(--genealogy resources on the net) http://www.rootsweb.com/roots-l/roots-l.html(roots-L homepage) http://www.rand.org/personal/Genea/(Rand Genealogy Club) http://www.usgenweb.com/(US GenWeb) http://www.mit.edu:8001/geo( Geographic namesearcher) http://www.lycos.com/( they have a people finder for living persons with the same surname--you can even get thier e-mail address) Part one of getting organized( those not on aol cant get this any other way OK! This is it! Day one in your life as an *organized* person! (No giggling now!) As promised, here is the checklist of things to accomplish this month. By the end of the year, we SHOULD have just about everything of a family history nature organized. The kitchen, laundry and yard work will go to pot, but then, who's perfect? <Grin> WEEK ONE: 1. Clear off the computer desk and make piles for everything: To Be Filed Letters to Write Research to Do Pictures - for now put all the pictures in a box, we'll tackle them later. 2. Check your office supplies, and replace any missing or lost items, so you have all necessary tools. Here are some suggestions: pencils, pens, formatted disks, page protectors, insertable 3 ring binders, oversize divider tabs, toner or printer ribbons, paper for printer, business sized envelopes, 10X14 manila envelopes, disk mailers, postage stamps, etc. 3. Set-up the computer desk the way you really want it! Get that new mouse pad and matching wrist rest, a copy stand that hooks on your monitor, and the special lamp you've always wanted. Fix the chair leg or get a new ergonomically correct desk chair. We want to be as comfortable as possible at the keyboard! 4. Designate a special red clipboard as the WHEN HELP ARRIVES clipboard. Use this to scribble notes when you run into computer problems, so the next time your computer nerd friend stops by, he/she can teach you or fix the problem! - Drop me a line if you really get stuck, if I can't help, I can probably find one of the other hosts who can! WEEK TWO: If you haven't developed a filing system, consider the following: a. Create a SURNAME NOTEBOOK for each major surname. You can combine them now, and divide them out when they grow too big. I prefer notebooks rather than file folders, because the pages won't fall out.) b. Put all direct line family group sheets in chronological order (youngest to oldest) in each notebook, with a divider tab clearly labeled: DIRECT LINE. c. Put all collateral lines in chronological order in the same notebook, with a divider tab clearly labeled: COLLATERAL LINES. d. File papers on any suspected, or not-yet known relatives in the same surname notebook, with a divider tab clearly labeled: UNKNOWN RELATIONS. WEEK THREE: 1. Buy tons of TOP-LOADING SHEET PROTECTORS (box of 100, about $8 at SAM's or Office Depot.) 2. Take a deep breath. 3. Actually put all important documents (from your TO BE FILED PILE - week one) in page protectors, and file everything away in the notebooks or folders for each surname. If necessary make photocopies, if they are needed in more than one file. Note: Some people advocate a numbered document system. I prefer to put copies of the wedding certificate right after the family group sheet where the couple are listed as the father and mother in the family. That way each family history notebook makes a GREAT coffee table book. Everything is there, and I don't have to go hopping all over to get every document, picture and diary photocopies on one individual to show my grandson when he visits. Also, a document numbering system is only good to the user of MY personal collection of genealogy. And IF, I am there to explain where everything is kept. Most visitors are NOT genealogists, and have no idea what to look for on a person. If I print a family group sheet with reference to document CENSUS #004, it means nothing to the reader I will send it to. My documents must be right there with the family group sheet, so it is easy to photocopy and forward to a newly found cousin. I merely take the one notebook to the copy store, later, simply replacing it on the shelf. No more picking through the numbered filing system for all documents on an person, and then having to refile all 23 documents in their various places! WEEK FOUR: 1. Learn to use ROOTS-L. Having read the discription of the ROOTS-L e-mail digest, take the plunge and subscribe! Then so a surname query to see if anyone else with your surname belongs to the list. What an easy way to locate a cousin with similar computer/genealogy interests! 2. Write the letters you said you'd write in week one, if you haven't already! 3. Congratulate yourself on all you accomplished this month! NOW, you gain 50 points for each item completed, plus the personal satisfaction of knowing that you're really going to accomplish your goal this year to FINALLY GET ORGANIZED! (At least now, you can see the top of your computer desk!) The organized skills are set up in a yeard time- I will send part 2 next time. C

The Teacher Lord, who am I to teach the way To little children day by day, So prone myself to astray? I teach them knowledge, but I know How faint they flicker and how low The candles of my knowledge grow. I teach them power to will and do, But only now to learn anew My own great weakness through and through. I teach them love for all mankind And all God's creatures, but I find My love comes lagging far behind. Lord, if their guide I still must be, Oh, let the little children see The teacher leaning hard on Thee. Leslie Pinckney Hill

--------------------- Forwarded message: Subj: Fwd: Friends Date: 97-08-27 21:28:29 EDT From: TERESA50 To: MdnghtSnw,Kuolabear --------------------- Forwarded message: Subj: Fwd: Friends Date: 97-08-26 19:24:14 EDT From: SNOMAX2 To: TERESA50,DaveOrl31,OrlCasper To: Klatta,Caring1944,EllieNut To: Flit7fly,NU2PLBS,Marylew39 To: OCEANAIV,JRoman1010,DRobles614 To: DGMindyLou,HURLEY717,BHaley4926 To: DAlli1107 --------------------- Forwarded message: Subj: Fwd: Friends Date: 97-08-26 06:22:33 EDT From: EllieNut To: MY 14 KIDS CC: Rainey425,JudyJudee,AWells3614 CC: MyBestLine,Lizzbeth43,Gmabets CC: SAVSHOPPER,PEADINKLE,Gailsmyers CC: Fransews,Bambi1062,Ferris1 CC: LT 4 nuts,Dse818,Goars,SNOMAX2 CC: Midas8888,LWelp15320,BPritch892 CC: SandraKend --------------------- Forwarded message: Subj: Fwd: Friends Date: 97-08-26 03:40:16 EDT From: GBFoggy To: JudyJudee CC: EllieNut Kinka nice, huh? --------------------- Forwarded message: Subj: Friends Date: 97-08-26 01:49:58 EDT From: Nancy7175 To: Don 112807,Fast 987,LRiemer894 To: JazziBear,JOQQO,PA42CPN,RyanAtUTK To: OIdHippie4,URBANCNTR,GloriDays To: Goose5375,Lkiwki,WGerloff,CPassen To: [email protected],Xtedebear1 To: Da Bom9236,Debabe01,ILLFLORENC To: [email protected],FishinBee To: GBFoggy,Nancyhd,OLDlady70 To: Cowz4Cows,ML Mill 2,DeedHolly To: Marilyn FRIENDS ARE HARD TO COME BY Friends are hard to come by especially the ones you trust It's when you find a true friend that you know what you've been missing someone to laugh with someone to cry with someone to joke with someone to understand you someone to accept you for you someone to be there when the chips are down someone to always be there for you in times of need no matter what the problem true friends are the ones that never let you down they are there for you always thats what friends are for to be on your side and there for you, always.... THE BEST WAY TO HONOR YOUR FRIEND IS TO BE THE BEST FRIEND THAT YOU CAN BE. WHAT YOU GIVE ..... YOU GET BACK....... TEN TIMES OVER...... SMILE AND BE HAPPY!!!!!! >> God bless you all, Nancy

We have had 5 children, and of those, only one (the 4th) did the same thing--constant crying. But it would start around 4:30 p.m. and he wouldn't stop crying until the wee hrs. of the a.m., usually around 4 or 5 a.m. The doctors said he did not have colic or any physical problems, but that he was also probably frustrated. The dr. suggested strapping him into his car seat, placing him on the dryer, and turning the dryer on. It mimics the action of a car in motion, and lulls him to sleep or keeps him entertained by the steady thrum. Try it. -Sandy [Sew with 7]

My oldest had and still has a hard time sleeping. Yes, the hair dryer worked for him. Also we would go on rides too. Lorraine