I’ve been gathering up all the children’s books about family history that I can find. There are lots about family trees, and some about family heirlooms! My Mother’s Pearls Story and art by Catherine Myler Fruisen My Mother’s Pearls was originally published in 1999. It’s out of print now but you can still find used copies on amazon. I got a copy from the library. The inside flap reads, “A young girl’s love of an heirloom opens a door of discovery to her rich and wonderful heritage. … My Mother’s Pearls beautifully evokes the special bond between mothers and daughters,...
Do you need a fun activity to help the youth in your ward get interested in family history? How about a Family Home Evening or Sunday activity for the whole family? Try MISSION POSSIBLE and see that it is possible to do family history! I created the MISSION POSSIBLE youth activity in response to Elder Anderson’s Find, Take, Teach Challenge. Purpose We wanted to give the youth in our ward an opportunity to teach their families about family history. After discussing this in our family history committee, we decided to train the youth with FamilySearch.org and some of the great apps associated with...
For Christmas last year, I hosted a craft night for my friends. We made these easy, quick photo pendants! I first saw these at a family reunion, where some of the adult granddaughters had created them for the girl cousins. I thought they were so pretty and so symbolic of keeping memories of family close to our heart. These photo pendants make unique, affordable gifts. For the girls in my husband’s family, I made six of the same pendant with a photo of their grandmother. I made one for each of my grandmas with pictures of their mothers. Later, my ward asked me to...
Let’s make a simple picture pedigree chart! It’s perfect for printing at home, displaying on the wall, sharing with your kids, or impressing your cousins at the next family reunion. Read about how I printed this 36″ x 24″ chart for my family reunion here. Ready to get started? Here are the steps: 1. Create a folder on your computer with copies of the pictures you want to use. Crop your pictures to be tall rectangles, like the portraits in the picture pedigree. 2. Sign up for our email list. After you confirm your email address, we will send you the template for...
Picture Pedigree At our family reunion this summer, we had a “family tree gathering” on Monday night. Each family selected a story about one of our ancestors and created a skit about it. We all wore costumes, brought props, and performed the skits. In between each skit, I pointed out on the picture pedigree who the story was about. It was a memorable night! My picture pedigree chart made using PowerPoint This picture pedigree was inspired by the 5 generation family photo chart on TreeSeek.com. It’s FamilySearch.org certified, so I just logged in with my username and password and TreeSeek downloaded my family...
This is my new goal: Make a family mission statement, then attach several anecdotes from our family’s past that exemplify the values and principles outlined in our mission (honesty, hard work, etc). This is a work in progress but I will update the blog as we go along. Why do I want to do this? Well, I learned a couple years ago that sharing family stories with our children can be more than just an interesting pastime, when I read the article “The Stories that Bind Us.” Bruce Feiler detailed some of the findings of psychologists Marshall Duke and Robyn Fivush of Emory University about children...
