Jim & Bon's Construction Sites 2013

We have got to get a normal picture 
taken of us one of these years.

We have been ticking things off of our bucket list, left and right all year.  The one word that comes to my mind about this year is we have been builders.  First of all we have built a lot of memories.  One or the other of us has been gone someplace out of state part of 8 of the 12 months of 2013.  And in January, April and July we have had most of our kids visiting us here.  So it has been a year of being on the go. Just like last year and every other year...right?   We have been to Utah so many times we feel like commuters and we took a long five week trip in May and part of June back to the East Coast.  We started in Charleston and landed up in Rhode Island and enjoyed every minute of our time in SC, GA, NC, VA, MA, CT, NY, NJ and RI.

So I built some blog posts about this amazing vacation.  I would like to just share one here if you are interested.  This is about a plantation in South Carolina.  I am the biggest fan on earth of North and South with Patrick Swayze. On a whim I wanted to see where North and South was filmed after seeing another plantation.  It was filmed at Boone Hall just twelve miles from where we were staying that night.  Boone Hall is Mont Royal.  To be able to walk up that road and see this plantation was a dream come true.  Total serendipitious, and it made for a day I will never ever forget.  The pictures are beautiful but not nearly as beautiful as the 3D experience of being there.

http://bonsblogbydesign.blogspot.com/2013/06/boone-hall-is-mont-royal.html

Jim has been the builder of his life long dream, his workshop.  Although last year I predicted he'd be done by this Christmas we are not quite there. But it is amazing what he has accomplished in spite of being gone so much.  His best friend Dave has helped him continuously.  And many others have come as well, especially in the past few weeks where it has been imperative to get that roof on before the rains come.

I have no idea exactly what he plans to do in this workshop but he is happier than I can remember and that's all I need to know.  He also helped build a new kitchen with Laura and Robert at the end of October and beginning of November. He flew to RI and stayed 8 days.  He is also the resident fixer/builder at the Library where we work each week and at the Temple.  The tool bag resides in the car at all times!

The roof is coming along and is much farther than this now. Tar paper is going down this week and then a corrugated metal roof and fini!  It seems to have been the only real headache along the way. Or maybe it is that his sidekick has been recovering from surgery and unable to be with him these past few weeks.   How can we ever thank you, David?  But through Dave's recovery time they have consulted on a regular basis several times daily and that has helped keep Jim going.  So, we shall over come as the hippies use to say.  Jim will never say die on this dream.  He just keeps working day and night and soon it will be a reality.  

We need to start a contest for a name for the shop.  We have not been overly clever at this point in coming up with something catchy.  Submit your ideas...!

Jim on the scaffolding giving directions to one of the guys!
Jim hates heights and that has presented some challenges
but he has done very well.  The roof is 14 feet high at the front
of the building.  I asked him if he was planning 
to build an ark in there!

We had an old-fashioned barn raising this one Saturday in November.  13 wonderful men came to lend a hand and hammer.  It was a joy to behold.  Men should do this kind of thing more often. They had a great time and got almost all of the roof up in that one day.  Jim finished the next morning so that was perfect.

Blessed by great friends and family!

Thanks Friends and Uncle Steve

I have been the builder of our Family Tree.  Family History is about life, past and present. It is about building a Family and a Family Tree.   Here is a picture of our granddaughters Piper and Julia with me.  See how much more fun my building is than Jim's?  Just kidding.  He gets plenty of this kind of building in too.

Pure heaven!

This year I have been blessed to be able to add many new ancestors to our family tree.  We have discovered Pilgrim ancestry and visited Plymouth and Cape Cod where they lived for several generations. 

From the Pilgrim's Hall Museum in Plymouth, Massachusetts

The first of our ancestors found among the pilgrims.

I have found more since then.

We made major break throughs in getting over into Sweden on both of Jim's lines and on my father's side of the family.  My mother's lines into Wales are still a mystery but I do know which villages they are from so that is a major start. We'll get there, but first I am building the tree and adding documentation through research, for all the new things discovered this year.  Our Italian lines are flourishing this year as well.   We paid a visit to Jim's grandfather's first grocery store and the place where Jim's mom spent her early childhood in Montclair, New Jersey.  It was the perfect genealogy day. We found everything and more than we were looking for in Montclair.  It's a gorgeous place by the way!

 The researching has been a lot of work and I have not done this alone.  A few people have been instrumental in the progress we've made to whom I am completely indebted.  It has been a joy to help others, as our friends have helped us.  Our goal is to keep learning and practicing and to pay it forward as often as we possibly can!

BYU Conference Center and site of the 

Annual Family History and Genealogy Conference.

 A place very near and dear to my heart.

I have also been building my knowledge about genealogy and family history at conferences and special training and then sharing Family Search /Family Tree at 10 ward conferences this past winter and spring.  I have also been working as a staff trainer at the OFSL and teaching elsewhere whenever the opportunity presents itself.  (Oakland Family Search Library)

Some very exciting things happened for me here at 

my week long training in Orem Utah this summer.

I learned so much and met so many wonderful people!

My other passion continues to be writing.  I still love doing my regular blog although not as frequently as I have been because I keep a Family History blog or two now as well.  I am also completely enamored with Pinterest as I have realized how much you can learn about who someone is from the things they pin to their boards.  It is a kind of personal history.  I often think how much I would love to have a thousand pictures of the things my grandmothers or grandfathers loved. Wouldn't that be neat?  Everyone can do something to preserve who they are for their descendants.  And a lot of it is incredibly fun, in fact downright entertaining.

I am including one of my boards for you here.  It is called Winter Days and Nights.  So much fun to do, so relaxing and better than the nightly news before going to sleep.  This is my time to ponder. To think of people, places and things that fill my heart will love, joy and gratitude.

Check it out and  just know that lots and lots of men are using Pinterest now, not just the ladies.  It's kind of like how ladies handbags have morphed into manbags for men!  Be brave, guys, give it a try.

http://www.pinterest.com/onedesigner/winter-days-nights/