A little fan mail...

Tricia Harmon from British Columbia stitched up Allison's Ring Pillow (Lacey Thread Designs) for her daughters wedding coming up in April and was very kind to allow me to share her picture of the finished pillow with you all. She modified the pattern a bit by choosing wedding colors, substituting a pulled thread stitch and adding the names of the bride and groom and the wedding date along the outside edge of the design. I am so thrilled to see a photo of one of our stitched designs. Thanks for sharing Tricia!

A new "obsession"

"The First Thanksgiving"

I've been bitten by the genealogy bug.  A chance finding by my brother while he was waiting at my parents house unearthed an old family tree/history on my father's side that had been hiding in a drawer for 15 years.  One of my cousins had done an excellent job of researching the family clear back to the 1400's.  In reading through this "book" one night, I discovered that I have not one, but two, direct ancestors that came to America on the Mayflower. Both of these men, Edward Doty and Francis Eaton signed the Mayflower Compact.

"Signing the Mayflower Compact"

Now, I realize that there are millions of Americans alive today who can claim direct ancestry to the Mayflower, (so, you may say no big deal) but for me and my family it was hugely exciting!   I have a first cousin who says another cousin has traced the family back to Charlemagne...I have seen names back to 1200 AD, so another 400 years worth would really be incredible.

My brother and I spent some time commiserating about the wonderful history papers we could have written in school if we had had this information before now.  I don't want to see this happen to my grandchildren...I am going to do what I can, as I have time, to document the family history and archive it in a very public place.  Has anyone done this with their family history, and do you have any suggestions in how to do that?