Good to see you Sharon M. How is Sally Beagle? My beagles are very hyper today. Onyx has played and played and wanted attention. They might be 7, but they think they are still puppies.

We had snow today! First of the season. It didn't stick, it was raining and cold and sometimes the rain was snow. We were out running errands, it was a yucky day to be out. I had to go to JCP because I had ordered Erich 2 shirts for Christmas, and when they sent me the items, I had 1 shirt and 2 pairs of women's pants. The mall was SWAMPED! You would have thought it was 2 weeks before Christmas, not 6. It makes me glad that I have most of my shopping done. All I have to get is something for the 4 dogs (my 2 plus my sister's 2) and one more thing for my mom. Wow, Christmas shopping is SO much easier on the internet! LOL!

Today another envelope came from my Aunt. It had my grandpa's high school diploma. That was a nice surprise.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

I have finally finished the preliminary sort of everything my aunt sent to me. Some of what she sent to me was junk; but then I have found a lot of treasures. In addition to what I already mentioned, let's see what else there is: 2 LIFE magazines from 1926 plus a Harper's Weekly newspaper from 1861, which is in really poor condition. A TON of family photographs (truly numbering in the hundreds), mostly from my grandfather's side of the family. Until last night, only about 20% of the photos had been labeled. Last night I opened a box that was full of old photos, from the 1890s and early 1900s. And of those, probably 80% were labeled. I now have pictures of my great grandparents, and even a few of  a couple of sets of great-great grandparents. There are a lot of pictures of my grandfather's aunts. It's neat to look at the hairstyles and clothing. I've got a lot of work to do on the family history now!

I also found what must have been Grandpa's treasure box when he was a boy. It was an old candy box that was full of things that were obviously important to him. Things from boy scouts, birthday cards he received as a boy, the notes of congratulations he received when he graduated, the souvenirs from his senior class trip to DC. It was a neat glimpse at my grandpa as a boy.

It has been pretty emotional to go through all of this. But I know I'm lucky to have such valuable information for the ancestry. My grandfather had a lot of aunts who married but didn't have children. He cared for them as they got older, and he was the one who had to take care of their possessions when they passed away. So I'm sure that's how we ended up with all of this. I have the pictures loosely sorted, now I need to just go through everything one piece at a time.

I'm so exhausted! I've been swamped at work and then I come home at night and go through the boxes. I'm glad the weekend is coming soon, but I've got so much to do!

    I am looking for a Crumpleton,his name is Nicholai S. Crumpleton. He is a Santa holding a wish list. Thanks, Susan

Amy-  You are so fortunate to have all of those treasures!!!  Just recently I saw pictures of my Great Grandparents for the first time.  This past summer we made a trip to Alabama and we were able to find some information we have been searching for.  After coming back we started receiving letters in the mail from relatives that heard from the Hall of Records lady that we were interested in our family tree.  Because of all the letters and emails going back and forth between all of us, it was decided that a family reunion is needed, so in May we will be heading back to Alabama to meet even more family members.  Genealogy has become an addiction of mine!!!!

Buffy- Sharon is right. You've got to take care of yourself too!

Sharon- sending prayers & hugs for your nephew & wife. I hope they will be able to find people nearby that are comforting to them. I know when Laura went through it, she had a lot of support from many women who'd been through it too. I think that helped her.

The other 2 boxes arrived today. Nothing as truly exciting as the first box. Some of my Grandpa's books though, and to me those are priceless. My grandfather always wrote his name in the front of the book, and when he got it. One says 'Christmas 1986' and I think it is one we bought for him, because it's about the Civil War. Another one says '1932'. He has the books all marked with bookmarks and napkins and even old popsicle sticks. It's like there was something on that page he wanted to remember, so he found what he could to mark it. I will have fun reading those and trying to figure out what interested him. I'm just so grateful to have some of his books. He was a bookworm, like me. And I know how much his books meant to him, so I feel like it's a part of him. And I am so proud that Sydney loves books, and loves to read. I felt like Grandpa gave me that gift, and I am giving it to her. A couple of times my sister has put Sydney down for her nap and gone back in to find the munchkin sitting up in her bed reading one book, with several others spread around her. Of course I use the word 'reading' loosely, at 2 she can't read yet but she's doing her best.

I have recently started communicating with a woman who is a distant relative of mine. Her grandmother and my grandmother were first cousins. So I don't know what that makes us. But she was talking about her aunts & uncles, and a lot of them are people we know in town. I even went to school with some of her cousins. It's always so funny to see how small the world is.

Enjoy the weekend everyone! It is supposed to be cold here, but I've got to get the house cleaned. Ugh. I do NOT like cleaning.

Amy Brat:    I would give alot to have a box similar to the one you recieved!  What a treasure.   I do have a couple of letters from my GGGrandfather  a Union officer Calvary during the War Between the States.   

My aunt said there are 2 more large boxes headed my way.... I've got to find places to put all this stuff until mom comes. I did order acid free proctectors and stuff, as well as white cotton gloves to wear while handling it. So I guess while I'm waiting for that to come in, I'll have to spend my weekend cleaning the house; which is what I planned to do until my treasure box came.

I'm so excited!!! I just had to come share with my buddies, because I know many of you are into genealogy and history. Erich isn't, so he doesn't share my enthusiasm. The box from my aunt arrived today. At first it was photos of me through the years, but then I found stuff from WWI. There are pictures of my grandpa's uncle by marriage in his army uniform, his discharge papers, his medals, and currency from Germany and France from WWI. I went further into the box and found pictures of my grandparents as young adults, and their engagement announcement. There are letters that my Grandpa wrote to his mother (who apparently was away from the family with an illness) in 1924--Grandpa was 8 years old. On one of them he traced his hand. There are copies of birth certificates and original marriage licenses, plus death records of various family members.  There's my Grandpa's high school senior yearbook. Each of the students put their activities and then they put a quote or phrase with it. Many of them are literary or philosophical. My grandfather's is:
"I've Never seen a purple cow, I never hope to see one. But I can tell you here and now, I'd rather see than be one". I laughed until I cried reading that, because Grandpa often recited that 'verse' to us. And then-- there was the real find. A letter from my Great-Great Grandfather that is dated July 6, 1863- Gettysburg, PA.  !!!! It is a letter to his mother, telling her that they had a great battle but he is ok. Mom said we will have to get that framed.

There are also other random documents dating back to the late 1700s and early 1800s: like receipts and IOUS and stuff. Then there are several envelopes labeled 'family records', and they are lists of names and dates. I looked at them briefly, but it looks like different generations of my ancestors took time to write down some brief family history. It gives the names and sometimes birth/death dates of the writers' parents, and grandparents, and siblings, etc. They seem to be just random pieces of paper, like they thought 'I should write this down while I'm thinking of it'. There's even one for Grandma and one for Grandpa- with information I thought was lost to the ages.

I've spent almost 3 hours on the floor going through this box. Mom & I are going to really go through everything in December when she's here, because I'm hoping she can identify the people in the pictures. But I'm just so excited--I feel like a kid at Christmas. I doubt I'll get much sleep tonight!

Anyway, thanks for letting me share. I'm so glad the election is over--but I'd forgotten how annoying general commercials are too. LOL!