The Yankee Clipper

"Joltin' Joe " DiMaggio was definitely someone to look up too. He was a famous baseball player who set the incredible record of a 56 game hitting streak from May 15th to July 16th in 1941. Here is what Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, said after the death of Joe DiMaggio in March 8 1999.

“All of baseball is deeply saddened by the passing of the Yankee Clipper—Joe DiMaggio. For several generations of baseball fans, Joe was the personification of grace, class and dignity on the baseball diamond…As an immigrant’s son, he represented the hopes and ideals of our great country. Joe DiMaggio was a hero in the truest sense of the word.”

Photograph shows Joe DiMaggio, of the New York Yankees, wearing suit, sitting in a chair, facing slightly right, about to kiss his signature baseball bat. Sporting News.  15 December 1941. Original copyright 1941 by The Sporting News Pub. Co. No known restrictions on publication. No renewal in Copyright office (checked 3/17/88).  Library of Congress

Rumors fly in my family that Joe DiMaggio was a distant cousin of my mom's.   What is it that makes us want to be related to the famous??  Do we hope to have the fame and fortune for ourselves?  Or do we need others to look up to, or to have their example to emulate in our life?  

Seven of the American League's 1937 All-Star players, from left to right Lou Gehrig, Joe Cronin, Bill Dickey, Joe DiMaggio, Charlie Gehringer, Jimmie Foxx, and Hank Greenberg. All seven would eventually be elected to the Hall of Fame.  From Wikipedia

As far as I can tell there if there is a NOT relation between Joe's DiMaggio's line and mine, if there is it very very very distant!!  My DiMaggio line is from Terracina, Italy a town about an hour south of Rome.  And Joe's family is from Sicily.  Still I get excited whenever I see the surname DiMaggio. People can travel and well...you just never know!!

The 1940 U.S. Census will have the famous and not so famous listed among it's pages.  Who are you interested to find? Everyone's in it!! Is the person you are looking for  famous or not so famous?   

Would you consider helping with the 1940 US Census Community Project?   It's fun, fascinating and you never know what famous person you will discover.  I hope you join me in this great project!!   Click here for more info. Let's hit it over the ballpark!!

Are You In It??

I am NOT in it! But, I am going to be looking for people who hopefully are in it!! The people I am most excited to find would be my husband's grandfather and his family. You see, they have totally disappeared in the 1930 census! We can't find them anywhere! And apparently there is a mystery sister. Now wouldn't she be great to find!!

If you are interested in the 1940 U.S. census please consider helping FamilySearch to Index the information. It's fun and it's super easy!! It doesn't have to take up a lot of your time!  Just a little bit everyday helps!  The information you help index will be made available for free to anyone to view. How awesome is that!! The more people who help Index the faster the information will get out. I hope you join me in this great activity. It is always wonderful to work on something bigger than ourselves. And this is huge!! Go to http://the1940census.com for more information.

Dear Katie and Brad,

Thank you for bringing your little family to the Central Coast for a visit. We know it's not easy traveling with two little ones. We loved seeing all of you. You are such awesome parents.  Keep up the good work.

love,

Mom

Enjoy the pictures!!  

Kyle had fun with the trains at the SLO Museum.

All Aboard!!

Joshua is just one happy little guy!

I am so glad we have this swing, all the grandkids love it!!  This is a rare photo-op of these two together!!

Silly Faces!!

Happy Faces!!

Evan is a nephew magnet!!  It is interesting how little ones are not afraid of his wheelchair! 

Who is that baby with the wobbly legs??? 

Kyle didn't like the slime, but I think Brad did!!  Do you see Brad looking up at me?  I am sure he is saying "I'm going to get revenge on my mother-in-law for taking my picture!!"  I'm so afraid!!! 

Would you love me if....

I lived next door and wasn't your daughter?". 

It just seems so silly now.  And, I'm not even sure why I asked.  But when I was a little girl I remember asking my mother that question.

Insecurity may have been an issue.  A mother MUST love her children, would I be lovable to those outside my family?  Why was that so important to me?

Maturity has help me understand love better.  You have to love to be loved.  I have friends that love me, and of course my wonderful family.  I love them too!  I'm especially grateful for my wonderful husband and his unconditional love for me.  Then there is my Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ.  No matter what They are there for me and strengthen me with Their love.  

Love makes the world go round. Happy Valentines Day!! 

My Utah Visit: Part Two RootsTech

Rootstech is a family history conference that brings together technology developers and users.  David and Sariah went last year and loved it.  So, I decided to go this year. 

 The conference was a lot of fun and more importantly I learned a lot.  It was great to have David and Sariah there.  We travel together and we could discuss the different sessions.  It also helped to divide and conquer when there was more that one great sounding session at the same time.

Following are just some of the highlights of what I learned. 

Did you know that in Google search you can upload an image and search using that instead of typing in a word??  That amazed me!!  Try it.  Go to google.com then  click images in the toolbar on the top left hand corner.   Notice the camera icon on the right side of the search box?  Click on it and you add an image from your computer and use that to scan.  Cool, isn't it??

I also learned other little tricks to get better results in searches like using the tilde and setting year ranges. 

Lisa Alzo's  was inspiring in her presentation titled, "Show Don't Tell: Creating Interactive Family Histories".  She talked about many creative ways to share family history, including newsletters, family websites, memorial pages.  I loved the slide presentation she shared about her own family.  It was very touching. 

The class on "Helping to Index the 1940 Census"  helped me get more excited than ever to participate in this exciting project.  This census was gathered on just one day, April 1 1940.  I hope my family didn't play an April Fools joke and give inaccurate answers.   This census has some great questions that will be helpful in family history research such as, "where did you live in 1935?.  And if your family member was lucky enough to be on line 14 and 29 then they answered some supplemental questions about some interesting topics like the birth of parents, and if a woman, how many babies did they give birth too. 

I loved the idea of "Using Your Blog As a Research Log" so well, that I created a blog just to do that.  Instead of a paper sitting at home or a document file in a folder on my computer the log will be available where ever I am as long as there is access to the Internet.  It is also searchable and others can join in the hunt. 

The talk by Ron Tanner about The Future of FamilySearch Family Tree had me laughing out loud!!  He started out my saying he is crazy and I believe he may be!!  I loved how he added humor to a subject that people have strong feelings about.  He talked about how we have the disease "my-tree-itus".  We have shared our family history and don't want others changing it, but there are so many errors the only way to change it is for everyone to work together.  There will no longer be combined records, but rather merged records and anyone can change information as long as they have a source to share.  It will be great!!

I am hoping I can go to RootsTech again next year.

My Utah Visit

I recently spent a week in Utah.  I went to attend a family history/technology conference, Rootstech.  And of course to have fun with family there too!! I divided my time between David's family and John's family.  We all had dinner together Saturday and Monday night, so that was fun!  I guess you can say that is family history in the making!!  Here are some pictures. 

Who could resist this smiling, happy face?  When Spencer first spied me he couldn't wait to stand up next to me to see who was taller.  I still am, but won't be for very much longer!!

Here are two more smiling faces that I enjoyed being around!!

I even got to reminisce about the good ol' days and attend a Cub Scout Pinewood derby. Andrew came in fourth place!!  Way to go!!  

Don't try this at home.  Pogo stick jumping without hands!!

Then there is sweet little Aiden!  He is such a happy little boy!! 

He thought knocking over small blocks was just the funniest thing ever.  I love his "Ut Oh"!!

Sunday evening John, Amy, Aiden and I went to Temple Square in Salt Lake City.  It was almost a ghost town except for the sweet Sister Missionaries roaming the beautiful square.  I think Super Bowl Sunday had something to do with that.  Anyway, we enjoyed some organ music in the Tabernacle.

The detail on the pipe organ is stunning. 

Can you spot the big dipper on the Temple?  I never noticed it before, but John spotted it!!

The moon was almost full.  It was simply beautiful

Spencer was sure super silly and extra hyper my last night in Utah.  I caught him with my camera singing and bouncing around.  Too funny. 

Tuesday Morning I was able to enjoy some special quiet time in the Provo Temple.  It was very inspirational.  How I love the sweet spirit in the temple.

This is the view coming out of the temple.  So, beautiful.  When I first walked out there was a group of missionaries singing Hawaiian hymns with all the gusto of their hearts.  when I came back with my camera they were gone.  :(

Before leaving Sariah took me and Leah out for lunch with David.  Here he is hard,  at work.  Well, maybe not so hard.  By the way, David has an article published in his company magazine. 

His office is filled with Star Wars memorabilia.  Evan would have loved it!!  To bad he stayed home.  Maybe next time. 

It was great to see all the family I miss so much.  

Tomorrow part two, Rootstech.