Early Bird Holiday Sale

I like the peaceful feeling that comes when you have everything ready early for the holidays and you know you can relax and just enjoy being with your family.  So at the risk of jumping the gun, we'd like to extend an offer to all you early birds out there to help you feel better knowing you've saved some money too.

For any custom decorative charts completed by October 31, 2015, we are offering Buy One Get One Copy Free.

It's the perfect holiday gift. So check out our new gallery of chart ideas and then just send in any genealogy file and we'll get started on your family history chart early. We'll have plenty of time to work back and forth with you and make sure everything is perfect before we print.  You can start the process with our free consultation and we'll get back with you with options on prices and sizes for what you are looking for.  Ancestry users can start on our special Ancestry page.  If you like to use FamilySearch we can download your information using our FamilySearch download page.  We'll look forward to making your family the perfect chart.  Get ready to impress your family members.

Fun Halloween Memes

Rearranging things

So we've been going back and forth with the blogging over this last year and I think we've come to some new conclusions.  If you've been a regular reader you may have noticed some subtle changes.  And I think you'll notice as we make this next change.

I've been caught in the typical small business exchange between the many hats you juggle as a company starts to grow.  We've hired wonderful, competent people and I've tried to figure out what to pass off and what is critical to keep my hands on.  Last year, we hired Michelle Phillips and she did a wonderful job of helping me keep the blogs and other social networking going. 
Then when she had to leave in February, we've had Christine Fazulyanov helping out along with many other critical things she does for the company.  Both of these ladies have added so much to our online presence, fleshing out my ideas and adding their own.  I don't know what I would have done without their help.

But we've decided that my blogs The Chart Chick, and Zap The Grandma Gap really are best when they are completely and entirely fleshed out by me and on a more regular basis.  So I've cleared my plate of some of my other responsibilities so that I can focus here.  Since so much of the work we do with our clients is online, we want you to know about who we really are, so that you can feel like you are working with real people--which we are!

We love getting to know you through your charts and your family history stories and pictures.  Just yesterday, our newest team member Wendy was excited about a lovely picture someone had sent her for a chart.  Discussion ensued about how discovering beautiful photos was one of the fun perks of the job.  We are privileged to share your family history with you.  So we want to be open and transparent with you about our lives here on the blogs.  So watch for more fun here.  And let me know what you think.  We always want to hear your ideas about what we are doing.  We love working with you to figure out this whole family history thing.

Customer Spotlight

Customer Spotlight: Dave D. 

We are so happy to highlight Dave D., a longtime loyal customer of Family ChartMasters. We asked him to share why he loves Family ChartMasters charts and how he uses them.

From Dave...
"Most of us have our family history and genealogy wrapped up in very high tech programs in our computer or contained in a black box hidden beneath our desk.  Why not bring it alive with pictures on a beautiful framed chart, hanging on a prominent wall in our home for all to see?  Our children and grandchildren can see how they fit into this mass of humanity we call our family.

My first chart was for my family in 2009.  Since then I have done 55 more for family, friends, and others I have met along the way. They have been given as birthday, Christmas, wedding anniversary presents, to be shown at funerals to honor the person passing and for family reunions.  

While gathering the information needed we always find names that can be shared with others to help in their search.  We also run into relatives we didn't know we had.

In doing these charts I have been introduced to some great genealogy websites that help with my research and get me in touch with others who share my love of this work.

I plan to continue to do these charts as long as my fingers can work the keyboard and my eyes can see the screen.  Happy hunting and may you find the next generation in your line. "

We thank you Dave for your longtime support!

How To Remove a Chart From the Shipping Tube

Great news! This is our team member Wendy in her YouTube debut with a video tutorial showing how to remove your chart from the shipping tube.  It's all in the finger placement with a twisting action.

After all your hard work researching your family, we want to make sure your chart arrives in mint condition. We encourage you to view this video after placing your chart order.  We hope this will be a great help to show you how to successfully retrieve your chart from the shipping tube!

May We Show Off Your Genealogy Chart?

I've been asked to speak at RootsTech 2016 and the title of my lecture is "Voila: 101 Ways to Design a Pedigree Chart." After 10 years of speaking on all different topics, it's nice to feel recognized that we really know what we are talking about when it comes to genealogy charts.

We've designed some magnificent charts over the years and I've always been a little bit shy about asking permission to share your chart because it's so personal--it's your family.  But now I'm asking! If we've done a chart for you and you would permit me to share it as part of the slideshow at my RootsTech presentation, please email me at janet@familychartmasters.com.  To protect your privacy, our company policy is to always change the personal information of any living people. 

Compared to how many we've printed in the last 11 years, 101 charts is a drop in the bucket, but I'm hoping our clients will help me put this slideshow together.  We want to show off our best work.  Let me know if you can help me with this presentation.  Not only would we love to share your chart, but we would also love to see your pictures of what you've done with your chart and how you have displayed it.  Send your photos to janet@familychartmasters.com

The Difference Between Working Charts and Decorative Charts

We often get asked the question:

What is the difference between a working chart and a decorative chart? In addition to price, design, paper type, and custom options, another important difference is the online preview.

Working charts are inexpensive, large, draft copies printed on 20 lb. standard bond with non-archival ink and paper. They are perfect for writing on and collecting more information--especially at family reunions. We print the file as it comes out from the data that you send us. There is no on-line preview, no edits, no decorative elements added to the chart to save you money. When you send your file in for a free consultation, we will send you back several layout and size options for printing your chart and when you place your order, we get it printed and sent right out to you.

Working charts have simple layouts

 

A decorative chart is a custom chart with your family information in any format you want to design.  We will add a title, border, background, pictures, or other decorative elements.  We can also add color-coding or other graphics and embellishments.  All of our decorative chart papers and ink are archival. When we create a decorative genealogy chart, we put together a preview and email you a link to it so you can check it and make sure it is what you are envisioning and the information is all right.  We can create virtually any design you can describe to us.  We work back and forth with you using more previews until it is perfect. Then when you give us the ok we'll take payment and print and ship it right out to you.

What is the cost? The cost of our charts is largely dependent on the size of the chart, the quality of paper you want and whether or not you want a preview. That is why our free consultation is so great. Once you submit your file and let us know what type of chart you are looking for, we will look at the size the chart will be as per your request. We will then e-mail you with options that will include the price of the chart.

Are there any discounts? For the Working charts and the Decorative charts, you pay full price for the first copy and then all additional copies are 1/2 off the original price. Orders for 10 or more copies receive an additional 10% off the whole order, and orders for 20 or more copies receive an additional 20% off the order.

How long does it take? Once we receive your order, it takes 24-48 hours to print your chart. Of course for Decorative charts you will want to allow for 2-3 weeks to make sure we can work back and forth with you to create exactly what you are envisioning.

How do I start? Go to our free consultation page at familychartmasters.com to submit your file and information.  We'll take a look and get right back to you!

Genealogy Charts

When you come to us, you can expect the best. After more than a decade of printing genealogy charts, we are confident that we can print exactly what you are looking for. You can relax knowing that we will create a beautiful representation of your family's history. 

Upload your file for a free consultation here.

Happy Customers

We have done some fabulous charts this summer including a chart for an adorable bride and groom to show off at the wedding, a 50th wedding anniversary celebration, several memorial services, a 90th birthday, and a few huge color coded charts for family reunions.  We've also done several Jewish charts that were taken back to their homeland to share with their families.   

We know these are very personal expressions of your family, so we are a bit shy about asking for them, but we love to show off what we have created together.
 

A couple of recent customer comments...
"I really want to thank you for for the amazing service you provided, answering questions, helping get the files organized, and printing and shipping so quickly. The wall charts looked fantastic, we had so many positive comments on them. Thanks again." ---Don Z.

"A belated thank you to Family ChartMasters for their awesome charts.   We've been using them for displays at our family reunions and I can't say enough about what a pleasure it is to work with Erin and Janet and how pleased we are with the printout of the family tree.  As others have said, everyone is very impressed with the results and I would highly recommend them. The picture shows my niece looking for her name on the family tree." --Karen R.

We love our customers! We love it when you share your photos with us. If you've done any charts with us and would like to share a photos, please email them to us at janet@familychartmasters.com.

BYU Conference 2015

One of the highlights of the year is attending the 2015 BYU Conference on Family History and Genealogy.  We enjoyed seeing so many friends at this conference. It's always a great time to visit and catch up with fellow genealogists.  It was a privilege to meet Jana Last, a good friend who I've known for a long time online but had never met.  We love this conference every year and the chance to hang out with the genealogy community.

We were thrilled to take our newest employee, Wendy Johnson, to her first conference.  She was a rock star in greeting new customers and we loved having her there as an addition to our team.  We love genealogists and we couldn't wait to introduce Wendy to the wonderful people we get to work with.  I'm sure you'll enjoy getting to know her as well and she is already becoming an expert in creating the perfect chart for your family.

Our new matching cardigans and shirts embroidered with the Family ChartMasters logo were also a big hit.  We garnered lots of fun comments and potentially inspired a few others vendors to take a look at matching shirts as well.  We are excited to have our matching green tops for RootsTech 2016.  It will be easy for you to see who the chart experts are!

Check our calendar for the upcoming family history conferences in Ogden and Riverton---we hope to see you there!

Family Reunion Relationship Chart

We have been printing lots of charts for family reunions this summer.  It is always fun helping people celebrate their family history with both working charts that family members can edit and add information to, along with decorative charts which are a beautiful way to show off your family members' information along with photos.

We recently published a new e-book to assist in your family reunion planning: "My Ancestor: Family Reunion".  This e-book, available for instant download, will keep your family members of all ages busy as they get to know each other and their heritage together. In purchasing the My Ancestor: Family Reunion e-book, you get to choose one of the My Ancestor Activity Workbooks (Pioneer, British, German, Danish, Jewish, Civil War, Swedish, or Mormon) with the rights to copy the pages for your family reunion activities. The workbook section of over 70 pages includes not only the heritage activity pages, but also general pages to get children and others interacting with their family history. Add to that the many ideas for meaningful games, contests, and projects and you have a recipe for a successful family reunion!

This Family Reunion Relationship Chart, included in "My Ancestor: Family Reunion" e-book, is a fun visual tool to help teach the relationships within families.  Use this at family reunions to help explain how family members are related as they get to know each other better.

MyHeritage Announces New Translation Technology

MyHeritage has just announced a ground breaking technology to assist in foreign language translation when doing genealogy research. This exciting new advancement automatically and accurately translates names across records in 17 different languages with more languages to come.  MyHeritage has played to their strengths in this beneficial innovation and is using their global reach in advancing the language capabilities available for family history research world wide. 

We are happy to see the successful growth of MyHeritage.  They have partnered with us as their exclusive chart printer and this summer we have especially experienced exponential growth as they continue to expand world wide.  We have printed their charts in many languages including Russian, Hebrew, Italian, Polish, Czech and Spanish and have shipped all over the world for MyHeritage including such exotic locales as Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Norway, Turkey, New Caledonia, and Ghana.  We are grateful for their partnership and look forward to their continued success. 

How much can you fit in a month?

I was gone 22 out of 33 days recently, and my oldest son graduated from High School in the 10 days I was home. (You can see why I haven't gotten much blogging done.)  Too much fun.  Here's the update:

First I got to go to the National Genealogical Association Conference in St. Charles Missouri.  It was a great venue and of course lots of good people to talk to.  We did our Outside the Box sessions in the vendors hall and I got to talk to lots of people about charts they wanted to create for their family reunions this summer.  It was a quick trip but very productive.

 Then I was home to mark some major passages in our current family.  My oldest graduating from High School and my youngest graduation from Jr. High.  I can't believe how fast a family grows up.  Time marches on.  Even though I'm a genealogist, I try not to think about that too much.  :)

And then we took off on an actual family vacation of our own.  Thanks to these wonderful ladies we were actually able to really get away.  Erin, Christine and Wendy took wonderful care of our clients while we were gone.  That takes alot of trust.  I'm so thankful for these ladies.  We are so blessed to have them. 

And where did we go?  Family History sites of course.  We started at Niagara Falls and worked our way around the great lakes region, down into Illinois and up to Wisconsin where Kim grew up. 

We got to see several sites where my ancestors lived and worked in New York and Ohio. 

This is me in front of a house one of my ancestors built in 1843.  There was actually a store in the part of the home on the left side of the picture.  My mother's ancestor who built the home was in business with one of my father's ancestors here.  How cool is that?

I actually caught a good smile in a selfie with another ancestor's home. The teenagers had fun, but they did there best to make sure I didn't capture any proof of it.  Here I outwitted him :)

And then we took the kids to see where my husband Kim grew up in Wisconsin.  None of them had been there since they were babies, so they had no memories of it.  It was so, so cool to teach my kids (and remind myself) about where my husband came from and the forces that formed his early life.  I gained a much greater appreciation of who he is, and how far he has come and I think the kids did too. 

We taught the kids about their grandmother who died shortly before my daughter was born.  We are so grateful now that we took the time to record her 40 page oral history shortly before her death.  While we were reading that history on the trip, my kids were excited to find out that she ate chocolate and coke for breakfast while she was in High School.  They learned alot of other things too of course, like her love for antiques.  We took the kids to a store where she had sold antiques and immediately they became antique hounds too.  It is funny how apples fall so close to the tree, even when they hadn't been exposed to that much before. 

A really special time on the trip was when we got to go visit Kim's mother's grave.  My kids had never been to their grandmother's gravesite.  Kim got to clean the gravestone and we talked and had some moments of reflection there.  It was really sweet to say a prayer at that site sacred to our family.  Such a family bonding moment for all of us. 

The property that Kim's grandparents owned and where he lived for a time is now a motel and RV park so we actually stayed on the same property while we were there.  So cool!  It is a beautiful area and I can see why Kim misses the beautiful lake he grew up on. I think Kim enjoyed showing us around and I don't think it will be so long before we go back again next time. 

Then, 24 hours after we got home, my son Matthew and I took off for the Southern California Genealogical Society conference in Burbank, CA.  One of my favorite conferences (more on that in the next post) I have taken one child with me every year for the past several years.  This year was Matthew's turn and it was even better since they had asked him to speak.  We had a good time, just the two of us.  We checked out the Aquarium in Long Beach before the conference, were able to hit a few DNA sessions and then set up for the conference. 

Matthew was a great help at the booth.  It was nice to know things were taken care of while I gave my lectures and talked to some of our partners.  I really appreciate how everyone is so welcoming to him when he helps us out at conferences. 

And of course he nailed his "Get to Know Your Geezers" lecture.  It was livestreamed and in it he mentioned that you could use Elizabeth Shown Mills' book Evidence Explained to cite numerous sources--even a can of soda or the Declaration of Independence--and it has a "great plot".  Someone told her about that on facebook and she got a good laugh from that.  I'm just stinking proud of him no matter what sources he's citing.

It was a whirlwind but oh so fun.  I came back home to family reunion season in full swing so it has been busy busy busy.  But I love it.  This is what I've chosen and my life is awesomely full.  I am so blessed to get to work with and work for genealogists.  We've been creating some amazing charts for people already this summer.  Let me know when we can create one for your family. 

5 More New Ways to Use Technology at Family Reunion Activities

This weekend my son Matthew and I are speaking at the SCGS Jamboree. One of our sessions includes sharing lots of great ideas about incorporating technology into your family reunions this summer.  When your family spends time learning about their family history together, it creates strong bonds in a way no other activity can. And guess what? Genealogy can be entertaining and interesting, especially when you get technology involved.

I'll be speaking on "Family History Adhesive: Science and Simple Tech for Binding Families" and "Family Links:Easy Interactive Online Activities to Share Your Family History".  And Matthew will be giving his "Get to Know Your Geezers" lecture.   If you are at Jamboree, we'd love to see you there.  If you're not, two of our lectures are being streamed live.  You can catch them on Sunday morning and Sunday afternoon at http://genealogyjamboree.com/2015/schedule-streaming.html 

I'll be talking about some of the new ideas we've put in our Family Reunion E-books.  Here is a sampling of a few of the new ways to use technology at your family reunion from the books:

1.  Family YouTube Channel. Be sure you are creating new family history for the next generation to enjoy by preserving the audio and video of these family history presentations. Record the talent show, the family lip sync and the family history skits and share them with family members or upload them to your family YouTube channel. 
2. Interview a Generation. Set up a couple of comfortable chairs in a location with good lighting
   and a video camera on a tripod. Let family members interview each other and tell stories and
   sing songs together. You could provide sample question prompts or a specific topic to talk
   about or just let family members come up with their own. Post the videos on the family website
   or your family YouTube channel. These videos are great to share online after the reunion or watch together at the next reunion.
3.  Health Survey. Create a family health survey to find out more about health trends in your
   family. Family members could answer the survey on paper, or electronically through
   SurveyMonkey.com or a Google Doc survey. If you have a health worker in the family they
   may be able to collect the surveys before the reunion and prepare a presentation about the findings or you might hire a professional outside the family to analyze the information. Discuss
   what the family can do to be healthier.
4.  Family History Prezi Presentation. Collect family photos, videos and stories into a Prezi.com
   presentation. (Ask a younger family member to help assemble the presentation if necessary.)
   Tell about the immigration of an ancestor, or a particularly hard challenge that a family member overcame. Or focus on the timeline of one ancestor and experiences they had in their lifetime. Deliver the presentation to your family with an LCD projector and make the presentation public and share it over your family’s social media so they can view it again later.
5.  Google Earth Presentation. Place your family history into a geographical context with a tour
   of where your family came from. Include photos, videos and map overlays to describe what
   your family’s past was like. Present your production to the family in a special show with an
   LCD projector.

If you are unfamiliar with some of these online resources, choose your favorites and delegate them to those who welcome technology.  It's a great way to get the techies in your life involved with other family members and showing off their skills.

These ideas along with many others are included in my newest book, "My Ancestor Family Reunion Version".  Over 100 pages of meaningful family reunion ideas and activities will involve all ages both in the family reunion planning and at the event itself.  Choose from 8 versions of "My Ancestor Family Reunion" that teach more about British, German, Jewish, Swedish, Mormon, Danish, Civil War, and Pioneer heritage.  Click here to purchase this e-book now for immediate download.  You will instantly have ideas to implement at your upcoming family reunion.  Happy planning!

Family Reunion E-book Versions of our "My Ancestor" books

As summer approaches, family reunions abound! Make your upcoming family reunion a huge success with unique and intentional activities to bring the generations, families, and individuals together with our newly released "My Ancestor: Family Reunion" e-book version. This multi-page resource includes 3 sections:

• 50 pages of culturally specific activities from one Children's Activity Workbook with rights to copy and use for the duration of the family reunion (choose Pioneer, British, German, Danish, Jewish, Civil War, Swedish, or Mormon)
• 20 pages of FUN family heritage family reunion ideas
• 35 page children's workbook with interactive pages that are perfect for completing at the family reunion

Compile any genealogy information you have into a working chart printed by Family ChartMasters and let attendees grab a pencil to update the chart directly with family updates of new births, marriages, and deaths.  This is a great ice breaker or time filler before the real festivities begin!

Our new "My Ancestor: Family Reunion" e-book includes carefully selected activities to bridge the gaps between generations, families, and individuals.  These are not generic group activities, but rather purposeful games and experiences which teach and educate family members about their present and past roots.  With over nearly 70 suggestions to choose from, your attendees will have fun, enjoy a little competition, and even put their technology skills to good use with social media, blogs, and other online resources. 

Print the activity workbook pages and distribute as desired during your family reunion to explore your family history with fun and games!  This e-book, available as an immediate download, has over 80 activity pages specifically written to engage children with their parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and siblings at the family reunion.  As they strengthen modern family bonds, they will strengthening their link to the past.

Click here to order now to use at your upcoming family reunion and we'll get it send right out to you.  This an e-book and will be sent electronically as a PDF, so it's perfect for last minute planning! 

Outside the Box Sessions for NGS 2015

The National Genealogical Society 2015 Family History Conference is just a week away in St. Charles, Missouri. I'm excited to be presenting these four sessions as part of our Outside the Box lecture series:

• Wednesday 10:00-10:30 Family Reunion Ideas: If you have a reunion coming up, this is the class for you.  Come gather many fun ideas to encourage multi-generational conversations and interactions including storytelling, games, crafts, and contests that all incorporate your family's history. You'll also get a sneak peek at our new family reunion activity e-book available this summer!
• Wednesday 1:30-2:00 Pedigree Challenge: Come take a break and have some fun as we play Family History Jeopardy, enjoy a storytelling contest, and challenge your pedigree chart skills.  Prizes for the winners!
• Wednesday 3:30-4:00 10 Ideas to Zap the Grandma Gap: Family history doesn't have to be boring for your children and grandchildren--make it fun! I'll be sharing my top ideas to help bring generations closer together through activities that engage children in learning about their past.
• Thursday 10:30-11:00 Beautiful Family History Charts: Now that you have the information, show it off with a custom family history chart.  This visual display not only shows off your research, but is also a great conversation starter for family and friends alike.  Get the details on how to submit your information, multiple design ideas, and printing options.  

I'd love to chat and visit with you all so hurry on over to the booth on Wed and Thursday.  I'll be taking off Thursday afternoon to return home for my oldest son's high school graduation. I wouldn't want to miss this important milestone in our family's history.  I'll be sure to have my camera ready to document this special occasion for future generations. Can't wait to show my grandchildren how handsome their dad was on his graduation day!

Fan Chart for Star Wars Fans

We did the most awesome chart recently for Virginia Kysh.  Her grown kids suggested the design and she said we could share it with you. Our in-house artist created a background sketch of the Death Star, the space station from "Star Wars", that is capable of complete destruction of an entire planet with a single shot of its superlaser. Though the space station is still a work-in-progress, what a great way to catch the eye of the younger generation.  My boys think this is the coolest chart ever.

As the chart experts, Family ChartMasters can make any chart to fit your needs and this is a perfect example. This Death Star chart was a special request and we were happy to accommodate Virginia's need.  The key to getting others, especially the younger ones, involved in family history is to bring it to them on their level, instead of trying to fit them into the traditional family history mold. I love that the background sketch is the unfinished Death Star because the circle chart is unfinished and needs more research too.  Isn't that great?  Though Family ChartMasters has many existing designs for your chart, we are always open to new ideas.  

So in honor of this new chart design (which we could do for you of course too) I'm going to post one of my son's favorite Studio C videos. Studio C is a family friendly comedy sketch television show whose members have headlined the closing events at RootsTech for the past two years.  They are popular in this area and because of their fun entertainment value at RootsTech, many of my genealogy friends enjoy them now too.  Enjoy this Studio C video parody on a acquiring a new Death Star!

If you are interested in the Death Star fan chart, go ahead and send your info to us via our free consultation.  Be sure to mention "Death Star" in the box for details and we will get happily get back with you on pricing and shipping.

We are happy to develop custom artwork specific to your needs.  Give us a call! 

Changes and Additions to the Family ChartMasters Team

Janet and Michelle at RootsTech (Courtesy Randy Seaver)

You've probably noticed I've been a bit quieter online lately.  We recently had to say goodbye to Michelle, our wonderful social networking specialist.  She brought such enthusiasm to her position and was very vested in connecting FamilyChartMasters among our online followers.  She kicked off a bright spot in our company of adding new team members who have brought an infusion of new excitement and fresh ideas.  She was a great help in finishing up the most recent Zap the Grandma Gap Activity Workbooks and also with working our booths at RootsTech.


I'm missing her help so much that I can't go forward without someone else to step right into her spot.  Christine, a current special projects assistant, is going to be jumping in to assist with social networking and also as a contributing editor to the blog.

Wendy Johnson

And then, we'd like to welcome our most recent addition to the Family ChartMasters team, Wendy Johnson.
She is taking on multiple roles as chart designer, printer, and special projects assistant.  Wendy was born and raised in Oregon and has a great love of the outdoors. She is the mother of 8 and enjoys getting together with family. Her love of family history began with her grandma, who was an amazing storyteller and sparked her interest in the past. Wendy adores a good book, a fun adventure or a vigorous bike ride. She delights in all things healthy, especially developing yummy eats.  Her favorite spots are the Oregon coast, Zions National Park and the Louvre. She is very energetic and loves a challenge.

We're so happy that Christine will be helping more and that Wendy has joined us.  These ladies are delightful to work with and we know you will love them too.  With all of us, they are ready and willing to help you create the perfect representation of your family tree.  Let us know what we can do to help you at http://www.familychartmasters.com/uploads or info@familychartmasters.com.

NERGC and Maureen Taylor--the most gracious hostess.

So I won the lottery at the recent New England Regional Genealogy Conference in Providence Rhode Island.  Not only was Providence a beautiful site for the conference, not only was the conference great with lots of people excited about what I had to say, but I got to stay with my dear friend Maureen Taylor who lives there.

Maureen was a most gracious hostess and took such wonderful care of me.  She lives in a beautiful turn of the century home which was built with servants quarters in the attic and two sets of stairs, one for the family and one for the servants.  So fun.  We built our home, and most of my local family members and neighbors have built their homes, so it was really awesome to stay in a historical home like that.  And it was in such a beautiful neighborhood too.  Maureen and I stopped at the local private library- the Providence Athenaeum where she has is a member.  A librarian's dream. I wish this library was closer to me--I could spend days and days there very happily.

The best part was getting to know Maureen better and learning more about her life.  I understand now how she keeps so young and healthy and how historically minded she is and so smart.  She lives close to the University and walks everywhere.  I wish my life had more walking in it.  And best of all I got to meet her wonderful husband Dexter and her two adorable Maltese dogs Tucker and Bella. I don't know if Dexter was up for the whole social networking thing but he let me snap this picture of them with his beeeeaaaaautiful antique Ford Mustang. 

Maureen let me do a little studying on her side desk in her office.  It was nice to have this gorgeous painting of her Great Grandfather watching over me.  I didn't get a picture of her beautiful desk and the fireplace and bay window.   She has an amazing personal library about the history of  hair and costume and all things genealogy.  I could have stayed here and read and read too. It isn't hard to see how much Maureen has studied to gain all her expertise.  She really is marvelous when it comes to photo identification.  And now I could see why.  She is called the Photo Detective, but I call her the Photo Whisperer.  If you need a photo identified she does brilliant consultations and she can tell you all sorts of things about your photo to help you identify who and what and where and when.

As always, it was fun to hang out with all our genealogy friends at this conference. It was so nice to see social networking friends that we don't often see out west like Marian Pierre Louis and Midge Frazel.  The Outside the Box sessions were really well attended as usual and we had some great discussions over dinner with Dexter, Lisa Louise Cooke and her husband Bill and with Biff Barnes.  I think we almost have the whole genealogy world figured out. And good food too.  Who knew all the good food was in Rhode Island?

Before I left, Maureen even took me out to the coast and we got to spend the day in Newport.  What a fun place with the Ten Mile Drive, Tennis Hall of Fame, and the best clam chowder ever, ever, ever--and great company of course.  The summer mansions along Ten Mile Drive were gorgeous--so fun for a historian. 

It was great to get to know Maureen better and see more of what her life was like.  Her nice husband, her home, the historical neighborhood she lives in, her offices and her dogs all suit her perfectly.  I was really spoiled to get to spend some time with such a great lady. 

New England Regional Genealogical Conference Fun

Lisa Louise Cooke, Maureen Taylor and I are up for more fun this weekend at the New England Regional Genealogical Conference in Providence, Rhode Island.  I can't wait to get started.

Rhode Island is a new location for me.  How beautiful it is!  I'm already impressed with the historic buildings and all the people with such a historical background.  It has already been really instructive of how disconnected we can be in the west.  When you live so close to where your family has been for generations, and just down the street from the archive, genealogy is so different.  How exciting to get to meet New England genealogists who know so much about their history.  I can't imagine how anyone could live here and not become a genealogist. 

We're starting out tonight with our Game Show and Pedigree Challenge.  Come win prizes and have some fun.  Besides the other demos listed above I'll be teaching:

• Friday at 8:30 Beyond Scotch Tape: Charts to Fascinate Your Family in room 206.
• Saturday at 8:30 Trip the Tree Fantastic: Intriguing Family History Trips for the Whole Family in room S-308.
• and Saturday 10am Zap The Grandma Gap: Leave a Heritage Workshop in room S-316.

Come see us.  Win some prizes.  Eat some candy.  Have some fun.  It is always a party with these lovely ladies.