Welcome to the December 19, 2006 edition of the Carnival of Genealogy! The theme for this edition is genealogy gift-giving. With the holiday season upon us it's a timely topic for genea-bloggers and a popular one too! Looking for last minute gift ideas? Wonder what the other genea-bloggers are asking Santa for this Christmas? Want to read a "feel good" story about the best genealogy gift ever received? Well read on!
The bloggers are sharing their best genealogy gift-giving ideas with you here and now. So put on some holiday music... pour yourself a mug of hot cocoa (with whipped cream of course!)... sneak a Christmas cookie if you can find one... and enjoy!
Starting us off on this sleigh ride of fun we have Steve Danko presenting My Genealogy Christmas Wish List posted at Steve's Genealogy Blog. Good ideas, Steve. I like the festive theme on your blog post! Thanks for the tip about the Pigma Micron pen. I'd never heard of that before. And I'm pulling for you with the Canon Digital Rebel XTi. Here's hoping Santa's kind enough to bring you one!
Next stop on the gift-giving go-round is brought to you by JMK Genealogy Gifts presenting The Ultimate Genealogy Christmas Gift? posted at Genealogy Gifts Blog. There's some nifty DNA design shirts here but you have to act quick if you want them in time for Christmas!
A letter to the old man in red at the North Pole is charmingly written by Randy Seaver. Dear Genea-Santa is posted at Genea-Musings. Randy is looking for hints about some of the ancestors on his family tree. He hasn't forgotten his fellow genea-bloggers either ;-) Check out his post and smile.
Apple has a letter of her own to the jolly old elf. She thanks him for his kindness in the past and makes some suggestions that would be greatly appreciated this Christmas. It's a heart warming letter. Dear Santa is posted at Apple's Tree.
Cameron submitted his post, Empty Nest - » The Best Genealogy Gift Ever posted at Empty Nest, saying, "This post is about discovering historical gold in apparently unimportant paperwork. Its about the emotions that genealogy can stir in the heart." When you read this you'll no doubt agree this was a very special gift.
Dana Huff reflects back on some of the best genealogy gifts she's received over the years in her post Genealogy Gifts posted at Our Family History: A Genealogy Blog by Dana Huff. When you read this you'll recognize the sentiment that the best gifts are not bought in stores but come from the heart and attic (often in the form of photo albums and books). You're so right, Dana.
David Bowles presents Tis the Season for Genealogy Gifts posted at Writing the Westward Sagas, saying, "This is a little different take - on genealogy gifts to give rather than to receive." David reminds us that our own research, documents, and stories can make wonderful gifts. This will give you something to think about.
Miriam Robbins Midkiff writes about her wishes in My Genealogy Gift List: Victoria's Secret? Never! posted at AnceStories Blog, saying, "I divulge a few Secret wishes I have on my Christmas wish list...none having to do with a woman named Victoria!" You have to read this one... written tongue in cheek, Miriam gives a good giggle while telling us who's secrets she'd really like to discover! Very clever!
With both humor and practicality, Lee Anders shares with us All I Want for Christmas posted at A Matter of Life and Death. She even carries on her mother's Christmas wish for herself ;-) I hope your wish comes true, Lee. It would be the greatest gift for us all.
Susan Kitchens has two blog posts to share with us, Holiday Shopping at Library of Congress, and Holiday Gadgets I'd want if I were just beginning from her blog Family Oral History Using Digital Tools. Susan has put a lot of thought into her lists and has come up with some really good gift ideas. Recording oral histories is so important for future generations and Susan is on top of the latest and greatest stuff you need to do it right.
I've written a couple blog posts on the subject of holiday gift-giving myself. Jasia's Family History Christmas List (not a very practical list but very heartfelt) and What Would You Give a Genea-newbie for Christmas? (a more thoughtful and practical list).
I want to thank each and every one of my fellow genea-bloggers who contributed to this edition of the Carnival of Genealogy. To Steve, JMK, Randy, Apple, Cameron, Dana, David, Miriam, Lee, and Susan I say a great big thank you! This marks a special milestone for me. It's the first Carnival edition that I didn't have to go out and look for blog posts or web sites to supplement those submitted for the Carnival. I like to have somewhere in the neighborhood of a dozen (or more would be great!) posts to feature in each edition. I just think the Carnival needs to average that level of content to be worth publishing on a regular basis. I wasn't sure the idea of a genealogy Carnival would fly when I started it but I'm cautiously optimistic now that it will.
I also want to thank everyone who has contributed to the success of the Carnival of Genealogy. As this is the last edition of the Carnival this year, it seems like a good time to say a special thank you to each and every blogger who has submitted an article throughout this year. I couldn't have done it without you. I also want to say a special thank you to Randy who faithfully helps get the word out when each edition is published. And a super special thank you goes out to three really wonderful ladies who pitched in and helped out by hosting the Carnival while I was writing my NaNoWriMo novel, Kimberly Powell, Susan Kitchens, and Lee Anders. You're the best!
Merry Christmas! Happy Hanuka! Happy Kwanzaa! to all!!! I hope Santa is generous to you and that the New Year of 2007 will find you scaling brick walls like Marines over an obstacle course, writing family histories and blog posts like Pulitzer prize-winning authors, and finding family members you never knew existed. This is my wish for all the genea-bloggers and readers out there. May all your wishes come true!
That concludes this edition of the Carnival of Genealogy. And now comes the call for submissions! It's time to look forward to the New Year of 2007, and what better way to do that than with New Year's (Genealogy) Resolutions? Let's hear from you! What are you resolving to do, find, redo, record, organize, write, research, photograph, visit, transcribe, let go of, or forget about next year? There's nothing like a plan to start the year off right. What's your genealogy plan? What do you want to accomplish next year? Write about it and submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy using our carnival submission form. The deadline for submissions is December 31st. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.
And now in keeping with my Christmas greetings for all this season, here's another one of the ornaments from my collection:
(Click image to view larger)
Years ago, when my children were small, we used to take them to the carnival when it came to town. The kids loved the rides and I loved seeing the joy on their faces. It was about that time that I started collecting carousels... because they reminded me of the joy of childhood. I got them as gifts, I bought some myself (like the one pictured here), and I even made some carousel animals of my own. When I was putting up my Christmas tree this year I thought about those long ago years when my kids enjoyed going to the carnival. And then I thought about another carnival that has come to mean something to me, the Carnival of Genealogy. Sort of like a carnival for big kids ;-)
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