Independence Day Parade

For Independence Day I had the brilliant idea to have a parade after reminiscing about the parades I participated in as a child. I came to the conclusion that the reward of having 14 grandchildren meant I had enough people to have our very own parade. Sooo I called the kids and told them to meet at our house that morning with the kids dressed to indicate the date and something to ride on push or pull. I provided red, white and blue decorations and "pop-its" for their use. We decorated bikes, stroller, wagon and scooters with flags, pinwheels, crepe paper and sparkley stuff. Our neighbor Oleeta who has lived in this neighborhood since it's beginnings asked what we were doing? When we told her it was a parade she said "It's about time there was a parade here on Brookview Dr. We used to parade many years ago." We also noticed a few kids down the street riding their bikes and invited them to join us. They did and our journey began. The kids ranged in ages from 14 down to months old. We crossed the street carefully to be on the downhill side and lined up to show off for Oleeta and her friend. He honked his horn and we started off shouting "Hooray for the red, white and blue." As we paraded around the block waving and shouting our motto and popping the pop-its I noticed something sad. Most of the people who acknowledged us were older people whose sense of patriotism is stronger. But many still smiled and waved, who wouldn't when you saw those adorable children. One older gentleman stopped and asked us "what was going on?" Of course we reported with joy the reason for our celebration and the kids again celebrated with pop-its. We had a grand time made new neighbor friends and started our country's celebration in style. I think we will make it an anual event.

Family History Goal

One of my goals this year was to find out more about my ancestors and gather personal histories.I knew their were journals and published books which have my ancestors in so I began to actively search for them.I found a book called "Beloved Ancestors" which is about the Gordon, Nelson, Smith and Orgill families. I purchased the book and have enjoyed many hours reading about my family. I am in the book as the reader of my grandmother Bessie Orgill Gordon's life story at her funeral. I was 14 and had lost the copy of her history which I had read. I was so excited. The book is filled with many personal histories. I also found a book called "How Beautiful Upon the Mountains". It features my same ancestors above as they helped to settle the Wasatch area in Utah. My grandmother and many of her sisters and brothers are pictured with their school class in the book.

I also took my dad to Richmond, Virginia and we looked in the library for records of the Gordon family. We found many and confirmed much of the data we have but I was not able to find my Robert Gordon born there. We also found Gordonsville Virginia and went there to visit. We had a great time.

My dad has promised to record some of the stories he shared with me as we traveled. I know he probably won't even though he thinks he would. I just wish I had had a way to record as he talked while we traveled. Actually he shares much with me everytime I talk to him on the phone. I would like to record some of those conversations also.

Hey I was listening to an interview of the president of the Family History Library and he talked about all the new advances in the Family History research. He suggested that we could access most things we want at home in the time frame that works for us. That really appeals to me as I am a late night person and can work when it is quiet and I can't sleep. Remember the Family History Expo in Sheridan WY where you can learn all you need for the research you want to do. There are classes for all levels and experts to answer your questions. The dates of that Expo are July 17-18. It is at the Holiday Inn. You can also check it out at www.FHExpos.com See ya there!