Plans this weekend?

[81charduck]

Happy Saturday Everyone!

Does anyone have any xciting plans for the weekend?

I'm working today, but tomorrow, I'll be starting to work on my taxes. After getting everything organized, I'll move on to genealogy. I've been researching my family genealogy for nearly 40 years. I got hubby into it as well.

So watcha doin'?

[BlessYourHeart]

Well, we rarely have really Xciting plans these days, I really wish we did.. I have worked on my blog, placed a few ads and written some new ads.

My son is in the Young Marine's program, so he has drill every other Saturday for most months, however, this is the time for new recruits. He has drill every Saturday until the middle of March.....so, that pretty much keeps so from getting to do alot for now.

Julie, my son absolutely loves researching family history. A few months ago, he was really into it. He was printing off things from Ancestry and giving us all a lesson on our family. He was definately telling us things about both sides that we never knew.

[81charduck]

How fun that your son is interested in genealogy. I wish my (grown) sons were. When I'm gone, they'll probably burn all the records. No one really wants them.

How old is your son Shana? Does he have a subscription to ancestry.com? I wish I did, but I can't bring myself to spend so much money. There are lots of other sites I use and find lots of records. When I need ancestry.com, I go to the library.

Whatever you end up doing this weekend, I hope you enjoy it!

[BlessYourHeart]

Hi Julie, my son will be 13 in March. We signed up for the free month trial on Ancestry. We forgot to cancel it, so he got to use it for another month. He was glad his parents are forgetful.

He is also a history buff, loves WWII history. They call him the historian in Young Marines.

[81charduck]

It really is great when young people begin their genealogy research, because there are so many people still alive to ask questions! Genealogy is History, so no wonder he's interested. It just happens to be your own family's history.

I believe all libraries have free access to ancestry.com. Also rootsweb.com and familysearch.org are excellent free websites he can use at home.

Genealogy is an amazing hobby, and you never know, he may discover that you're related to someone famous - or infamous! We discovered that my husband, Leo, is related to James Dean (& they share the same birthday), Abraham Lincoln, one of the Manson girls (infamous), Daniel Boone and more! On one branch of Leo's family, we have records going back to the year 636! There were several kings and other royalty.

Mine is much more boring, but still exciting to me.

[CherylAH]

Well, I've had an Xciting day over here in Sunny Southern California! My 2 girls and my neighbor across the street spent the morning making tamales!! We made 8 dozen of them! We did three different kinds: veggie, chicken and sweet (pineapple) tamales. We're having a bunch of friends and neighbors over for dinner in about half an hour and can't wait to dive into those tamales!!

After the cooking marathon was finished, I put up some ads, wrote a blog entry and did some other blog stuff. I am dying to figure out how to add a "subscribe" button to my blog cuz people want to follow it. I've gotta say that I'm super excited about the comments I've been getting on my blog postings!!

Now I've gotta get ready for the dinner tonight so I'd better get movin'!!!

Tomorrow is Super Bowl Party at our friends house, and that's going to be so much fun with too much food!!

Hope that everyone has a great weekend!

[SanAntonio_girl]

Tamales, yum!

Julie, I'm also interested in genealogy and would like to start one. Any pointers for a beginner?

[DeeAmber]

Julie, I would like to know more about your new found hobby (genealogy).

As for me--I will be working as usual. Super Bowl will not slow me down.

[BlessYourHeart]

I had to ask my son if we had any famous people in our family history. My hubby's family has traced back and found ties to Princess Diana. My hubby also said Adam and Eve (LOL).

My son drove me crazy until I came back to this post to write down the free geneology sources that Julie posted.

[81charduck]

Cheryl, we just had tamales for dinner last night. We bought them at our local farmer's market. I've never prepared them myself, but I sure do enjoy them!

As for those of you who asked about genealogy...

I started my research in 1973, and I've been doing it ever since. It is an exciting hobby, but it can be frustrating as well. I have over 4000 individuals in my records. I have paper documents & software (I use Family Tree Maker) where I enter the data.

Start by recording (electronically is easiest, but paper is fine) all the information you can about your relatives... Speak to the older people before they are gone. Some of my favorite records are the stories I was told by family members. I included them in my records, not just facts, but their memories.

• I've seen free genealogy software online, but I haven't tried it. You can download paper "family group sheets" online free.
• Start with http://familysearch.org. It is connected to the Family History Center, operated by the Mormons. Many cities have Family History Centers (even my small city has one), where you can use all their record free, and order records from Salt Lake City for a nominal fee.
• RootsWeb.com Home Page is free & has tons of records.
• Cyndislist.com is quite comprehensive. It's lists of genealogy directories, but I find some are not current.
• If you watch TV, you know about Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History Records at Ancestry.com. It is fabulous, and you can get a free trial, but it is very expensive to buy. I believe all public libraries have it to use free, which I do frequently.

Have fun with it. You never know what discoveries you'll make. Let me know if you'd like help.