Thanks

Yesterday we saw a post of the Lapdogs, Tut, Sophie and Penny, playing in the snow. We asked if we could come play with them. But this morning when we woke up, we discovered that they had shared their snow with us.

We have enough on the ground to play in and it's still coming down. Mackey seemed a little confused at first.

Then she and Syd got together and decided it was a good thing.

Syd and Lola thought they should clear off the pool, but they gave up on that idea.

There was lots of  playing  and we had a great time.

  Mom was pleased with all the happy snow faces.

 But I think I had the very best time of all.

 Nothing like a good roll in the fresh snow.

Thanks Lapdogs, it was nice of you to share your snow with us.
Sebastian

A Special Birthday Boy

Happy birthday to Sebastian.

This is one of the nicest, most gentle, well mannered dogs I've ever known.

It's been our pleasure to have him in our family for the last five years. Today we'll have something special, with sprinkles, to celebrate his sixth birthday. Happy birthday, big boy.

My Medals

As long as I'm sharing my genealogy interests with you, I have another aspect to share. This is one I knew nothing about until I accidentally stumbled on a certain website late one night. I've since become fascinated with it.

I'm sure you're all familiar with the D.A.R. - Daughters of the American Revolution. Perhaps some of you or your family are members. It's a hereditary society open to women who can prove the are a descendant of someone who took part in the American Revolution.

Well, did you know that there are dozens of hereditary societies and they have some really neat insignia? I found this website that lists many of the societies and even shows the insignia. When I started reading the requirements of some of them I realized that I qualified for several.

Instead of applying to the D.A.R., for which I qualified, I chose a lesser known organization: The National Society  Daughters of Founders and Patriots of America. To join this group, you must be descended in an unbroken paternal line from an ancestor who settled in any of the Colonies during the period from May 13, 1607 to May 13, 1687 , plus an ancestor in an unbroken line who by personal service in a civil or military capacity assisted in establishing American independence during the Revolutionary Period 1775-1784.

Instead of proving one ancestor, I had to prove two and believe me, documenting the required proof takes time and lots of hard work. It took me months to gather all the documentation I needed, but I did it and am now a proud member. Here is my certificate.

And here is my medal.

While I was doing my research and gathering all the proof I needed, I also applied to the Society of the Descendants of the Founders of Hartford. One of my great grandfathers was among the founders of Hartford, Connecticut and I already had the necessary documentation, so I applied and was accepted. Here is my certificate...

and my insignia.

For now I belong to those two , but there are a couple more that I'm thinking about joining such as The National Society New England Women and General Society of Mayflower Descendants.

  There are some that I don't qualify for, but have really neat insignia such as the Order of Descendants of Pirates and Privateers...

 and Society of Descendants of Lady Godiva.

Have a look at the list and you might find that you qualify for one or more of these organizations that celebrate our history.

New Year - New Hobby

Happy New Year ! I can't say I'm sorry to see 2016 leave.

Last year I did get back into my genealogy research in a big way and I made a lot of progress. I do have one brick wall that I'm chipping away at and maybe this is the year that I'll find the documentation I need.

 Several years ago I located the cemetery where my 5th great grandfather, Hezekiah Wilcox, was buried in 1819. Hezekiah has become my favorite ancestor. He was born on December 25, 1731 in Westerly, Rhode Island, married Hannah Parker and they had twelve children. Hezekiah was a farmer and supplied the Colonial Army during the Revolution.

 He died in Watch Hill, Rhode Island and was buried in what was then called the Jonathan Foster Burying Ground along with about 150 others. Most of the people buried there were moved to another newer and larger cemetery but 10 graves remain and one of them is Hezekiah.

I really wanted a picture of his tombstone, but I couldn't get to Rhode Island, so I put a request on the internet for someone in that area to take a photo for me. A wonderful woman, Julie,  responded and I gave her all the info I had. She spent one Saturday driving back roads looking for the cemetery and she found it. It's now referred to as Rhode Island Historical Cemetery #31.

Most of the remaining stones are illegible and that includes Hezekiah's. Julie sent this photo along with the gps coordinates. She even checked out a nearby Champlin Wilcox cemetery.

It seems that Julie is one of an international group of volunteers that document cemeteries for the website Find A Grave.  The goal is to create a worldwide virtual cemetery that anyone can visit to leave a memorial or to find information on family for genealogical research. I have used the site and found links to ancestors that I didn't know about.

On the site there are dates and links to other family members and  pictures of the cemeteries and in many cases the  markers. Over the last few months I've found many relatives and sent links to their  spouses and children. Each link has to be reviewed by the sponsor of the individual burial. I decided t become a volunteer and added some burials I was aware of that were not already recorded, Hezekiah being one.

Now I have also become a photo volunteer and will try to answer requests for photos in my area. There is a large cemetery just two blocks from us which has been well documented and photographed, but I noticed that there are about 60 infants and young children buried there that have not had photos added of their headstones. Some date back to the early 1900s.

  Last week Rob and I spent several hours walking thru the cemetery taking photos of the baby's graves. Then when I got home I added them to the website. Some are incredibly sad, but I'm doing my best to find their identities.

Everyone should be remembered and this project makes that easier. If a husband and wife are buried in different cemeteries, this site can link them and their children. I get some deep satisfaction from reuniting families in this way. If you'd like to see what I'm talking about, here is Hezekiah's link.
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=173525389
His site is a work in progress as I haven't located his wife or most of his children.

If any of you are researching your ancestors, check out Find A Grave. It's a great tool and you'll lose yourself for hours looking for loved ones.

Year End Party and Review

Hi Everybody,
How were your holidays? I hope Santa Paws was good to you. You know peeps have a lot of holidays and it seems to us dogs that you spend a whole lot of time waiting around for something to happen. Think about it, if you celebrate Christmas, you wait for weeks while the peeps bring home bags of stuff that you're not allowed to see and you wait around while they cook stuff that you may or may not get to taste. Christmas eve is all about waiting. I guess Christmas morning makes up for it, but then you start waiting again for New Year's Eve which is all about waiting for a ball to drop. Heck, we can drop our ball any old time. I dropped mine off the deck the other day and it landed in the back yard for Mackey to chase.

So anyway, here we are on New Year's Eve and guess what, we're waiting. We just helped Mom do some cooking in the kitchen. We stand guard in case she drops something. We don't want stuff on the floor where Mom could trip on it, so we scarf it up as soon as it lands. Today she was pretty careful and nothing fell. 

Then Mom called me downstairs to talk to me. She said that she has something special planned for tonight. She said that Chewy sent us a bag of Merrick Wingalings and she's been waiting till now to open them. What better time for a Wingaling than New Year's Eve. She said she'd had a few New Years Eve Wingalings in her day and then she laughed. Peeps can be so strange.

She told me that I should try these before the party, so we went to the office and she opened them. See, they're these weird shapes, just right for a party. They're applewood and bacon flavor... yum!!

These great party treats are made in the USA from deboned chicken, sweet potatoes, peas, molasses, carrots, apples, flaxseed, applewood bacon, rosemary, sage and thyme. They're oven baked and grain and gluten free.

I was just ready to taste test these when along come Noah and Norma Jean. Boy, my kids are so nosey. They wanted to try them too, so Mom gave each of us one to try. 

 They are delicious, just right for our party tonight. Now I guess I just have to wait some more till it's time for the peep ball to drop.

Happy New Year everybody.
Your pal, Fudge

Chewy sent us this bag of Merrick Wingalings at no cost to us in exchange for our honest review.

Happy Kwanzaa

"We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color."  - Maya Angelou

We wish all our friends who celebrate Kwanzaa, a most wonderful and joyous holiday.

Who would have guessed that one month could hold so much joy for so many?

The Ghosts of Christmas Past

I'll share some of my Christmas memories with you.

An early one with my Mom.

A snowy December.
     My Mom and brother Eddie

Boots

Playing games with my brothers on Christmas afternoon

An old boyfriend plays Santa

Libby opens her stocking

Then she checks out my sister's stocking

My brother Dan amidst the mess

I made the elephant for  my cousin Jon's first Christmas

Luke rips into his gifts

 Libby with her new toy

Me with Brandy

Reading with my cousin Catie

 Pylon waiting for Santa next to our first tree. That tree led to an annual argument about the proper way to trim a tree.

Py waits for Santa

Bentley and Pylon check out their stockings. Those were Rob's favorite pants.

 Christmas at Williamsburg

 Christmas at Longwood Gardens

                       I especially liked this shot inside the cactus room with a blizzard outside

 Christmas in Moscow

  Christmas at Myrtle Beach

Christmas with our fur kids    

 We hope you're all making happy memories today.