December is always the time of year that we think of family and creating family memories of Christmas and traditions.  We are either carrying on with old traditions or beginning new ones that future generations can carry on with their families.

It is a time to think about taking all of the pictures and writing down all that you can to capture those moments of joy when you see family you haven’t seen in a while or when you hear the giggle of the kids opening their gifts or even the dog running through the wrapping paper all over the floor.  Treasure each and every one of these moments, get them on film and takes notes so you will know exactly who the photo is about, what day it is, what they were doing, what was the occasion, who was there, what you had for dinner.  So much information slips by us and we think “I will remember this or that” and then as time goes on in our busy lives, some of the things that we thought we would never forget has slipped from our minds.

I know I am a little late in getting started on the 12 days of Christmas project, so hopefully you won’t mind doing a couple of extra days to catch up.

You remember the song, The 12 days of Christmas?  On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me, a partridge in pear tree.  Traditionally, The 12 Days of Christmas starts on Christmas Day and finishes on January 5^th.  This goes back to English times in the 16^th century.

To be a little bit different, I would like to start the 12 days of Christmas on December 14 and each day on a scrapbook page or in a journal, start writing down what you are doing, what are you thinking about, who are you buying gifts for or are you not able to buy many gifts this year, are you making gifts, what are your feelings about this Christmas in 2011?  Record these next days leading up to and on Christmas Day.

Just put in your name and email address and I will even send you a reminder each day for the next 10 days via email to get you started.

Start off the new year of 2012 as a completely new beginning and continue it all throughout the whole year. You will be much happier in your own life.

Don’t let this Christmas season go by with unkind words or unkind deeds still in the way.

Enter your name in the box below to receive the “12 Days of Christmas” email reminders or enter your name and email at the top right corner and start receiving the notices of your journey into scrapbooking your family tree and creating new Memories of Christmas for your children and their children to look back on and be proud of where they came from.

Many, many people do not have anyone to share their lives with and if you are able, please take a minute to share a smile or a hug with someone who needs it.  Donate some of your time; buy a little extra at the grocery store for a family who may not have anything this Christmas.  You will be amazed at the awesome feeling you have if you do just one simple little thing to make someone else feel special.

Christmas is the best time of the year to start anew.

I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a glorious and safe Happy New Year.

Let us all be Thankful for what we have.  Pray for those who don’t have what they need and strive to be a better person in the coming year.

As I joined my best friend and her mother for Thanksgiving dinner, I began to think back on how much things have changed.  Her family has grown so big that we had to have their family dinner 6 days early so everyone could attend.  As the children have grown up and started their own lives and families, the changes began.

I recall as a child growing up in Ohio.  All of the family came to our house for Sunday dinners and ALL holiday dinners.  My mom was what I considered the “matriarch” of our family.

She made all of the plans, did most of the cooking with the help of my aunts and my sisters who were older and had started their families already.  I was the youngest (13 years difference between me and my sister), so I was outside playing with my nieces and nephews and cousins.

It was so different back then.  Most families lived in the same town or very close by and kept in contact on a regular basis.  All 3 of my sisters still today live within a 25 mile radius of where we were born.

Now that Mom and Dad are gone, I live in Florida and some of my sister’s kids live in other states too, so there are no longer any family gatherings like we used to have.

I have cousins, great nieces and great nephews that I don’t even know their names.  I am beginning to realize just how sad that is.  The family unit is not like it used to be and I doubt that it ever will be again.

So today, Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year, the day AFTER Thanksgiving, I finally will spend time with my daughter and my 2 grandchildren.  Her family is split up now too and the kids spent Thanksgiving day with their father and his family.

Everything is ALL messed up…

I would like to try and encourage everyone to bring their families back together.  If not physically possible, then at least open the lines of communication with the members of your family again.  Keep in touch. Let them know what you are doing. Find out about what they are doing.  Do your family research; find out about your ancestors.  If you are not interested, there will be someone in the family who WILL be interested in learning about where they came from, who did they get their blue, green or brown eyes from, hair color, mannerisms, traits, etc.?

Start your own journal or scrapbook those 100′s of pictures you have stashed away in a box.  Don’t just slap a picture on a page and scribble “Aunt Betty 1952.”  There may be times that is all the info you have but if you have more information, put it down.  Aunt Betty had a life, she is a part of your history.  She had good things and bad things happen to her in her life that may have had an affect on you in some way.  Take a few minutes to write down what you know about Aunt Betty, when the picture was taken, where it was taken and what the event was when the picture was taken.

For example:  Aunt Betty (Martin -include her maiden name if she is married) Campbell, taken August 15, 1952 at Grandma Eileen’s house on Red Robin Road in Anytown, State at a summer BBQ.  If anyone else is in the picture, add that information also.  A future family researcher will LOVE you for it.

Even for some reason you only have a picture like this of hamburgers being grilled; put it in a scrapbook and write what you know about what happened that day, good, bad, funny, embarrassing, it doesn’t matter just get it written down.

I am working on some videos to give you some easy and very simple ideas on scrapbooking pages with pictures of your family and even just “hamburgers.”

I hope that each and every one of you that have read this had a wonderful family gathering, a lot of great food and catching up with relatives you may have not seen for a while.

Please add your family names to the “Add Your Family Tree” section of this blog and see if you can make some contacts with lost relatives.