Winter 2010 GeneaBloggers Games Closing Ceremonies

Time has come for closing ceremonies. The Winter 2010 GeneaBloggers Games have been a blast and I am so proud to have been a participant in them. As we parade around and close these ceremonies I wave and my flag proudly.



Can you see it flying once again through the breeze?

I am once again sharing my heritage, primarily Norwegian and Swedish but all in all a very proud American!


I am about to receive my awards! Are you ready? I am presented with the following awards~

In the number two and number four categories I am awarded a Bronze Medal each. Wow two Bronze Medals!

My accomplishments in the first category earned me a Silver Medal.







Category number six came with a Gold Medal!





Categories three and five have each earned me my highest medals, Diamonds!



Thank you Thomas MacEntee for sponsoring these GeneaBlogger games. Another thank you goes footnoteMaven for designing our wonderful medals. I look forward to the next GeneaBlogger games. Will you be participating?

Thank you fro stopping by!

Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts!

Roots Television Ending

Great sadness indeed. I just read the post from Dick Eastman over at Eastman's Genealogy Online Newsletter announcing Roots Television will be ending after three years! Why is it we are never ready for news like this?

I read Megan Smolenyak Smolenyaks announcement at EGON and have to admit it leaves me with a sad heart. However, I remember when George Morgan ended his blog and I was left with a sad heart also. George moved on to what is more beneficial for him, and we can find him writing columns for Dick Eastman's blog also. We still get a part of George, with his articles and lectures etc. As with other things, time moves on, we advance technologically and sometimes it just doesn't make sense to continue with something if there is a more advanced way of sharing or handling subject matter. I hope that is all it is for Roots Television, the fact that genealogy shows are making their way to television.

Megan, I hope you know that what you have done with Roots Television was awe inspiring, and we thank you for bringing information as you did to us in such a unique way. I can only hope there are bigger and better fish to fry in your world and we will still benefit from your interest in the genealogy field. The show will be greatly missed.

Roots Television will be closing March 10th, 2010.

Thanks for stopping by!

Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts!

Winter 2010 GeneaBloggers Games Final Status

Time to see how I fared with the GeneaBloggers games. This was the last standing I posted, which was yesterday.

#1- 21 sources = Silver Medal

#2- task C, E = ?????

#3- task A, B, D, E = Diamond

#4- task E= Bronze

#5- none

#6- task A, F, G = Gold

Since that particular post I can add these to the scores:

#2 task A - backup plan for your digital research files and a security plan for your hard copies and photos.

#5 task A - what my blog is about

task C = write several posts in draft mode and pre-post, I wrote 4 posts.

task E = using the new page listings, I set up a surname list. I actually did this a week or two ago.

task D = a biographical sketch of my grandfather Harding.

So, according to my records this is the medals I have earned:

#1-Silver

#2-Bronze

#3-Diamond

#4-Bronze

#5-Diamond

#6-Gold

#2, was suppose to be done in sequence, A, B, C...etc. Because I didn't do one of the steps, task B, I will earn a bronze medal in this category. If I had accomplished task B and or task D, I would have earned a higher medal.

I am sorry the games couldn't last a month, maybe by then I could have completed most everything. But hey, I did ok, in some ways better than I anticipated. This was great fun, and I am very happy I was able to participate. Tomorrow... Closing Ceremonies!

Thanks for stopping by!

Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts!

Family ChArtist by Generation Maps

This weekend at the St. George, Utah Family History Expo you will find Generation Maps doing on site printing and free consultations with their new added addition, Family ChArtist. Family ChArtist is a web application, and is suppose to be very easy to use, just a click of the button. The program is set up to assist you with making beautiful charts.

March 8 you will be able to log into generations.com and begin making your charts. For now, you can view the video tutorial here at Janet Havorka's site the Chart Chick. Mark Tucker of Think Genealogy introduces Family ChArtist in the the fifteen minute video tutorial. You can also view the tutorial on Mark's site here. I viewed this video and found it to be very exciting! The ease of the program makes this very inviting. I look forward to it's release and viewing more charts from this program.

By clicking either of these links you will be able to view each of the future events where this product will be shown. I can't wait to see all of the beautiful charts in person!

Thanks for stopping by!

Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts!

Sharing the Link to Each Episode of "Faces of America?"

It has come to my attention that some people have not seen any of the episodes of Faces of America. Last night was the third episode and actually for me, I saw an additional episode also. Did anyone else see the second program? It aired at least in the bay area, I know southern California wasn't able to tune in. I am assuming it was the fourth program, but I am not certain. I suppose I will know when it airs next Wednesday.

Here is a link to the first three episodes. You should start with the first episode and watch each program in sequence. The final show airs next week, at least in most areas. There is a sequence, so it is to your advantage to watch the programs in order.

I am biting my tongue as far as the second program I saw last night. I do not wish to ruin the program for anyone. You need to watch them all for yourself. The second program last night was a GREAT show, I just can't figure out why it was airing in the Bay Area last night. Maybe it won't be on here next week, another program may be airing instead. No matter what though, if you plan to watch the fourth episode, make sure you watch the first three first, and enjoy, I know you will.

Thanks for stopping by!

Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts!

Winter Games Participation Update-The Countdown and Clarification

Countdown time! There is only one more day to participate in the Winter 2010 GeneaBloggers Games! Time has gone much to fast! I want to give an update on my participation, evaluate it and see what I may be able to accomplish through tomorrow. So far this is what I have accomplished~

#1- 21 sources = Silver Medal

#2- task C, E = ?????

#3- task A, B, D, E = Diamond

#4- task E= Bronze

#5- none

#6- task A, F, G = Gold

I am not sure how to read #2. I understand it as finishing each task in order to bring you the next medal. Maybe I have to finish some tasks in between? Or does it mean you earn the reward for each of the tasks completed?

There definitely is room and a few hours left to improve. Let's see what I can possibly accomplish. It would be nice to complete a task for #5 and maybe get each medal to the next level. Can I do it? Find out tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by!

Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts!

Wordless Wednesday ~ Hallgeir Brenden, Olympian, 1952

A Tribute - "The List"

Vicki Everhart from BeNotForgot made this wonderful tribute for the winners of Family Tree Magazine's Top Forty Blogs. This was so wonderfully done I wanted to share it with you. Beautiful Vicki! Thank you so much for sharing.

Thanks for stopping by!

Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts!

Announcing the Family Tree Magazine 40 Best Genealogy Blogs and a BIG Surprise!

I was just checking out TweetDeck and catching up on all the "news" before I went for my walk when I saw Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak (yes, this is her real name for those of you who are unaware) tweet "Congratulations to those on the #FT40! Genealogy Insider - Announcing the Family Tree Magazine 40 Best #Genealogy Blogs"

You may remember back in October of last year when I posted this~

I am so very honored to have had my blog nominated for the "40 Best Genealogy Blogs" with Family Tree Magazine! (I love this "Nomination Wordle Cloud" that Vicki at Be Not Forgotten made!) For me this was quite the compliment! The company Heritage Happens was with on this list! Wow! The cream of the crop, and I was among them! I have accomplished so much more than I ever anticipated upon starting my blog. I appreciated the nomination soooo very much! Thank you to those who nominated me!

I went ahead and sent a "Retweet" of Megans tweet, congratulating all of the winners also. Then, I moved forward to read the list and appreciate these top 40 winners. I pretty much knew who should be on the list IMHO. The "best of the best" of the wonderful Genea-Bloggers would have chosen for the top 40 from this very prestigious magazine.

The official announcement can be found at this link, the Family Tree Magazine Blog by Diane Haddad. Here is part of the announcement and a list of the winners. Again, my congratulations to everyone!

"Congratulations to the following Family Tree 40 bloggers (listed in alphabetical order by category). We admire their writing, research and photography skills, and applaud their work to promote the pursuit of family history. I hope their blogs will proudly wear the Family Tree 40 logo!" All-Around Creative Gene by Jasia Smasha footnoteMaven by footnoteMaven GeneaBloggers by Thomas MacEntee Genea-Musings by Randy Seaver Cemetery The Association of Graveyard Rabbits by several authors Granite in My Blood by Midge Frazel Corporate Ancestry.com Blog by various authors Genetic Genealogy The Genetic Genealogist by Blaine Bettinger Heritage George Geder by George Geder Scottish Genealogy News and Events by Chris Paton Small Leaved Shamrock by Lisa Steve’s Genealogy Blog by Stephen Danko Tracing the Tribe: The Jewish Genealogy Blog by Schelly Talalay Dardashti How-To Family Matters by Denise Barrett Olson Genealogy Guys by George G. Morgan and Drew Smith Genealogy Tip of the Day by Michael John Neill The ProGenealogists Blog by various authors Local & Regional California Genealogical Society and Library Blog by Kathryn Doyle Sandusky History by the staff of the Sandusky (Ohio) Library Archives Research Center Midwestern Microhistory by Harold Henderson News & Resources The Ancestry Insider by theAncestry Insider DearMyrtle by Pat Richley-Erickson Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter by Dick Eastman GenealogyBlog by Leland Meitzler Photos & Heirlooms The Family Curator by Denise Levenick Shades of the Departed by footnoteMaven Personal & Family Ancestories: The Stories of My Ancestors by Miriam Midkiff Apple’s Tree by anonymous BeNotForgot by Vickie Everhart Educated Genealogist by Sheri Fenley Greta’s Genealogy Blog by Greta Koehl Heritage Happens by Cheryl Fleming Palmer Herstoryan by Herstoryan Janet the Researcher by Janet Iles Kinexxions by Becky Wiseman Little Bytes of Life by Elizabeth Our Georgia Roots by Luckie Daniels WeTree by Amy Coffin West in New England by Bill West What’s Past is Prologue by Donna Pointkouski What do my eyes see? They must be half asleep...where are my glasses???? I think I am having a heart attack! There is a mis print! Oh how embarrassing for the magazine...and me. No, I have exited the program, and gone back in several times. My glasses are on. I see my blog and my name in this list! I am really and truly beyond words. I can't talk, I can't think, I can't walk, I am in true shock. What I can say at this point is everyone of these blogs are most awesome! I believe my choices are all there and there are only 2-3 that I may have missed, not bad if I do say so myself. The biggest error I missed of course would be Heritage Happens. I am not sure how by blog made this list, but I do know my husband always tells me I do not give myself enough credit. This may be one of those times. Please, please, if you haven't read any of these other blogs, do so! You will see why I am so mystified on how I made it~ I personally would like to congratulate Jasia, footnoteMaven, Thomas MacEntee, Randy Seaver, Midge Frazel, Blaine Bettinger, George Getter, Chris Patten, Lisa, Steve Danko, Schelly Talalay Dardashti, Denise Barrett Olson, George G. Morgan, Drew Smith, Michael John Neill, Kathryn Doyle, Harold Henderson, The Ancestry Insider, Pat Richley-Erickson, Dick Eastman, Leland Meitzler, Denise Levenick, Miriam Midkiff, Apple, Vickie Everhart, Sheri Fenley, Greta Koehl, Herstoryan, Janet Iles, Becky Wiseman, Elizabeth, Luckie Daniels, Amy Coffin, Bill West, Donna Pointkouski, and all of the authors at The Association of the Graveyard Rabbits, Ancestry.com blog, The ProGenealogists Blog, and Sandusky History. I have met nearly half of you and hope to meet everyone else one day! I am so very honored, proud and shocked to be listed amongst what I consider to be the BEST OF THE BEST in the genealogy field. I am off to deal with the shock my body seems to be in and hopefully get past the idea that my blog was listed here by mistake. If it is not a mistake, I must not forget to thank Family Tree Magazine and Dianne Haddad for all of the work they have done and thinking enough of my blog to chose it. Thank you to everyone who voted for my blog also, you are all so very awesome! I really have my work cut out for me now with what I need to live up to! Oh and yes, if this is truly legit I will most proudly post The Family Tree 40 Logo! Thanks for stopping by! Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts!

Am I Dreaming or Playing?

I went to bed last night (or early this morning) and wondered to myself...if I enter 90 source citations, can I earn three gold medals? Or, do I earn one diamond and one platinum? Or, do I just earn one platinum?

All of these thoughts were because of my wishful thinking for these GeneaBlogger Winter Games. I felt so proud that I had entered some sources last night, and thought about how many more I really need to do. Maybe I should just focus on citations for the games? Maybe I could earn each available medal just for that category! What an awesome feeling that would be to enter 150 source citations, and earn a bronze, silver, gold, diamond and platinum medal all in one category! I am dreaming on I am afraid.

I visioned accomplishing so much with the Winter Games, and yet over half of the games are already over. I can honestly say I did do a few more citations, 10 to be exact (a total of 21) which brings me to a silver medal in that category.

The little free time I may have had to work on these games, I have actually been spending on filing over 100 digital files I needed desperately to organize. I have been receiving many pictures, stories, obituaries and files on one leg of my Norwegian side of the family, thanks to a wonderful, fantastic, sharing cousin! Upon doing this, I didn't realize that I actually accomplished another task or two or three (yeah) with the games under the category "Organize your files!"

Without even trying hard, I accomplished these tasks ~ #B, #D, #E which earns a gold medal so far in that category. I am beginning to think I have been playing the games all along, performing tasks and not even realizing it. I need to really take a closer look again at those tasks...

Now I just need to figure out how my Norwegian transcribing fits into these games.

Thanks for stopping by!

Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts!

Updating Awards Earned in the GeneaBloggers Games

This day (Sat) is almost over, it is 3 minutes to midnight as I write this post. I did want to say that I was able to enter a few source citations on my tree tonight. I entered eleven sources/citations, and yet have so many more to accomplish for my own personal satisfaction.

I found that entering ten citations earns a bronze medal, so that is what I have earned today, a bronze medal!

My standings at this point are:

Gold Medal - 1
Bronze Medal - 2

Hopefully I will have a day this week to really concentrate on accomplishing more in these games. At this point though, I am very happy I was able to do something today! Chipping away a little at a time...

Thanks for stopping by!

Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts!

My Standings in the Winter 2010 GeneaBloggers Games

Wow, I haven't been able to attend these Games as much as I would have liked thus far. A week has already flown by. Life sometimes gets in the way of genealogy, but I can say I have been busy collecting information on an ancestor of mine who won gold in the Olympics! More on that later however.

Thus far, in the GeneaBloggers Games I have earned:

#6 = A Gold Medal (Reach Out & Perform Genealogical Acts of Kindness!)
#4 = A Bronze Medal (“Expand Your Knowledge”)

I really hope to accomplish much more this week and I am looking forward to earning more medals!

Thanks for stopping by!

Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts!

Carnival of African-American Genealogy, "CoAAG"

A brand new carnival is kicking off in the Genealogy World! The Carnival of African-American Genealogy has named this to be it's first theme:

" Restore My Name – Slave Records and Genealogy Research."

March 19th is when you can expect to read this very first edition.

Submissions to the carnival will be accepted through March 12th. Luckie over at Our Georgia Roots will be hosting this event. If you are interested in entering a post for this carnival and/or have interest in becoming a future host of the carnival you can find more information at Luckies post here.

This is very exciting news to have a new carnival! I am helping to spread the word. Congratulations to all involved! I know I am looking forward to reading this carnival next month, how about you?

Thanks for stopping by!

Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts!

Surname Visual from Wordle

For this posting of the Winter 2010 GeneaBlogger Games I am sharing my Wordle Surname Visual!

#4 - Expand your knowledge-

• Task E: Create a surname visualization using Wordle, Word It Out or a similar application. Post the graphic to your blog.

I chose to use Wordle to make my surname visual. I have been wanting to make one of these for a while so it was a natural for me to do this at the beginning of the games! It was fun!

Thanks for stopping by!

Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts!

Genealogical Acts of Kindness for the Winter 2010 GeneaBloggers Games

I had fun and played with the Winter 2010 Games a bit today!

#6. Reach Out & Perform Genealogical Acts of Kindness, seemed to be my calling today.

• Task A: Comment on a new (to you) genealogy blog. See the New Genealogy Blogs tag at GeneaBloggers for the newest blogs.

I have been trying to make it a practice, even before these games started, to leave messages on new to me blogs, along with posting more comments on the blogs I already am aware of. Today though I chose a new to me blog, Family History for Beginners and left a message. I believe it is great timing for this blog, with the new TV shows enlightening others to our fabulous hobby!

• Task F: Join a genealogical, historical, heritage or lineage society.

It just so happens my membership to two of the genealogy societies that I belong to are up for renewal. I belong to my local genealogical society and the California Genealogical Society, and both memberships have and/or are expiring. My check for the local society has been mailed and the check for California Genealogical Society is ready to drop in the mail tomorrow.

• Task G: Use the Follow feature on a Blogger-based genealogy blog and follow one or more blogs.

I went to blogger this afternoon and actually clicked to follow fourteen genealogy blogs! Now, I have to admit that several of the blogs were not new to me, but I had not seen them on blogger before to follow them. I just went back and looked at all of the blogs I checked to follow (I made a list of each of these blogs), there were eight that were new to me, more than I thought!

So this gives me three tasks completed so far for #6!

Thanks for stopping by!

Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts!

Opening Ceremonies!

Heritage Happens is very excited and proud to be a part of the Winter 2010 GeneaBlogger Games! Can you see me proudly carrying my flag? I am sharing my Norwegian, Swedish and American Heritage.


I have decided to enter in these competitions:

• Go Back and Site Your Sources!
• Back Up Your Data!
• Organize Your Research!
• Expand Your Knowledge!
• Write Write Write!
• Reach Out And Perform Genealogical Acts Of Kindness!

Or, in other words, each of the six categories! Of course I would love to strive for the Platinum Medal in all categories, but is that realistic for me, really? Remember you can view the categories and medal requirements here in case you are not sure what they entail. My plan is to at least strive for a gold medal in each category. I would like to win at least one Diamond and one of the Platinum Medals. In what category I may win these is a mystery to me. I believe it will depend on which category I get most involved in. I know I will strive for the best of my ability in all categories.

Looking forward to seeing everyone having fun and participating in these marvelous games. For now, I am off to set up my plan and see the rest of the opening ceremonies myself! There should be some beautiful flags!

*The official opening ceremonies are Monday, February 15, 2010 over at the GeneaBloggers site, here. Hope to see you participating, but if not, be sure to follow along and enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by!

Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts!

Competition Categories & Medals for the Winter 2010 GeneaBloggers Games

Here is the complete list of the Competition Categories of which we may choose to enter, along with what it takes to earn the various medals.

COMPETITION CATEGORIES – WINTER 2010 GB GAMES

1. Go Back and Cite Your Sources!

We all know how important our research is – but it is only worth the evidence that supports it! Have you ever looked at an entry in your database and wondered, “Where did that come from?” or “How can that be?” All events can and should be backed up by linking them to sources and evidence using a consistent and clear citation format.

Create proper citations of sources for as many events possible using either Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace by Elizabeth Shown Mills or How to Cite Sources by John Wiley.

Qualifications for “Go Back and Cite Your Sources!”:

• 10 Citations – Bronze Medal
• 20 Citations – Silver Medal
• 30 Citations – Gold Medal
• 40 Citations – Diamond Medal
• 50 Citations – Platinum Medal

2. Back Up Your Data!

Backup data to choice of formats (flash drives, CDs, DVDs, online) or storing hard copies properly (safety deposit box, safe, etc.).

• Task A: Prepare a comprehensive backup plan for your digital research files and a security plan for your hard copies and photos.

• Task B: Secure your hard copies and photos in waterproof containers.

• Task C: Backup all your data using a flash drive, an external drive, CDs, DVDs, or an online resource

• Task D: Have all your hard copies and photos scanned and secure them either in a fire-proof safe or offsite in a safety-deposit box/secure environment

• Task E: All your data is backed up digitally and secured physically and you can recover from any disaster while losing only one month or less worth of research

Qualifications for “Back Up Your Data!”:

• Complete Task A – Bronze Medal
• Complete Task B – Silver Medal
• Complete Task C – Gold Medal
• Complete Task D – Diamond Medal
• Complete Task E – Platinum Medal

3. Organize Your Research!

So you have plenty of research – that’s okay if you can find what you need when you need it, right? Take time to review your collection of documents and photos, both hard copy and digital, and work to organize those items for easy access.

• Task A: Organize at least 20 hard files or ancestral items (books, fabrics, inherited items) into file folders, boxes, envelopes, containers, etc.; archival-quality where appropriate.

• Task B: Organize at least 20 digital files into folders, label, add metadata, add descriptions, add tags, etc.

• Task C: Organize at least 20 photos into photo albums, scrapbooks, collages, protective holders, boxes, etc.

• Task D: Organize at least 20 digital photos into folders, label, add metadata, add descriptions, add tags, etc.

• Task E: Create at least 20 data entries in your database, or scan 20 photos, or scan 20 documents.

• Task F: Create a master list of your files and notify your family members of where it is stored.

Qualifications for “Organize Your Research!”:

• Complete any one task – Bronze Medal
• Complete any two tasks – Silver Medal
• Complete any three tasks – Gold Medal
• Complete any four tasks – Diamond Medal
• Complete five or more tasks – Platinum Medal

4. Expand Your Knowledge

Very often we get “settled in our ways” and are afraid to try new things. Or we’ve convinced ourselves that we already know how to complete certain genealogical tasks. Try out these challenges to get new perspectives on your genealogical skills.

• Task A: Use Google Maps to map out an ancestral location. Create a map that you can then embed into a blog post. To learn more seeGoogle Maps and Carnival Posts at Bootcamp for GeneaBloggers.

• Task B: Create a timeline related to one of your lines of research, a specific ancestor or location. Get creative using a free application such as TimeToast. Post your timeline on your blog.

• Task C: Create a memorial page for an ancestor using eitherFootnote’s Create A Page feature or their Facebook application I Remember.

• Task D: Visit tutorial and learning pages of popular websites such asAncestry.com or FamilySearch’s excellent articles repository.

• Task E: Create a surname visualization using Wordle, Word It Out or a similar application. Post the graphic to your blog.

Qualifications for “Expand Your Knowledge”:

• Complete any one task – Bronze Medal
• Complete any two tasks – Silver Medal
• Complete any three tasks – Gold Medal
• Complete any four tasks – Diamond Medal
• Complete any five tasks – Platinum Medal

5. Write, Write, Write!

Do you find birth dates, death dates and all the data boring if there’s no narrative behind it? Don’t you find the stories about ancestors more attractive than cut and dried census data? It takes time to be able to write about your family history and the more you write and the more often you write, the easier it is to bring your family to life for others to see.

• Task A: Write a summary of what your blog is about and post it on your blog – you may not have done this since you started the blog and it is a great way to have new readers learn more about your site. If your blog uses the Blogger platform, consider using the new Pages feature as described in Blogger Announces New Pages Feature.

• Task B: Participate in a genealogy or family history related blog carnival. See the AnceStories post February 2010 Calendar of Eventsfor a list of these carnivals and their submission URLs and deadlines.

• Task C: Prepare several posts in draft mode and pre-publish them.

• Task D: Write a brief biographical sketch on one of your ancestors.

• Task E: Create a page on your blog listing surnames, ahnentafel reports or using some other topic. This will help new visitors to your blog understand your area of research. Again, consider using the new Pages feature as described in Blogger Announces New Pages Feature.

• Task F: Participate in a 52 Weeks To Better Genealogy Challenge.

Qualifications for “Write, Write, Write!”:

• Complete any one task – Bronze Medal
• Complete any two tasks – Silver Medal
• Complete any three tasks – Gold Medal
• Complete any four tasks – Diamond Medal
• Complete five or more tasks – Platinum Medal

6. Reach Out & Perform Genealogical Acts of Kindness!

• Task A: Comment on a new (to you) genealogy blog. See the New Genealogy Blogs tag at GeneaBloggers for the newest blogs.

• Task B: Post one or more gravestone photos at Find A Grave.

• Task C: Invite other genealogists to join Facebook, GenealogyWise,Twitter or some other social media network where genealogists meet.

• Task D: Assist another researcher with a research request or lookup. See AnceStories “Random Acts of Kindness Week” posts for ideas for this item and Item E

• Task E: Participate in an indexing project.

• Task F: Join a genealogical, historical, heritage or lineage society.

• Task G: Use the Follow feature on a Blogger-based genealogy blog and follow one or more blogs.

Qualifications for “Reach Out & Perform Genealogical Acts of Kindness!”:

• Complete any one task – Bronze Medal
• Complete any two tasks – Silver Medal
• Complete any three tasks – Gold Medal
• Complete any four tasks – Diamond Medal
• Complete five or more tasks – Platinum Medal

Thanks for stopping by!

Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts!

My Heritage Flag

Here is my Heritage Flag I created for the Winter 2010 GeneaBloggers Games. As you can see, the majority of the flag is the Norwegian flag, which is red, white and blue. The colors of the Norwegian flag represent democracy: they feature in the democratic states (France, Us and Britain) Blue may also represent Sweden. The cross represents Christianity.

Next you see an insert of the American flag. The red in this flag represents Valor; the blood spilled for independence. The white represents liberty; purity and the blue represents justice; loyalty; perseverance. The fifty stars represent the individual states; the heavens. The thirteen stripes represent the original colonies, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Virginia.

The second inserted flag is the Swedish flag. The colors of this flag originate from the Swedish Coat of Arms. The cross represents the Scandinavian countries.

My paternal grandmothers family stem from Norway. My maternal grandfathers family also comes from Norway. My paternal grandfathers family originated in Sweden. My maternal grandmothers family came from England/Wales originally, way back when. I chose instead though to enter the American Flag because several generations of my family have been born here in the good ol' USA. I am proud to be American and wanted to share this flag also.

Thanks for stopping by!

Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts!