Useful Things for Summertime Kid's Fun and Learning

Don't know where I found this, but the author is shown below. I just wanted to pass on the info for moms of bored kids that are now home from school.
101+ Fun Family History Activities for Kids
Activities suitable or easily adapted for younger children.

1. Obtain a family group record and fill it out to best of your knowledge. Ask your parents to help you fill in the rest.

2. Obtain a pedigree chart and fill it out to the best of your knowledge. Ask your parents and grandparents to help you fill it out further.

3. In the 1941 Caldecott Award winning picture book, "They Were Strong and Good", author/illustrator Robert Lawson honors his ancestors through words and drawings. Obtain a copy of the book and read it. Tell what you know about your parents and grandparent’s lives in words and drawings.

4. Have one of your grandparents teach you how to prepare a favorite food from their childhood.

5. Learn about a popular game or sport that your parents or grandparents played when they were young. If possible, get some friends together and play the game.

6. Begin a diary or journal. Write in it at least once a week. Young children can draw pictures.

7. Look at photograph albums with an older relative. Have them identify the people in the photos. If the identities are not marked on the photos, carefully write the name on the back with a soft lead pencil or archival quality pen.

8. Keep a scrapbook of report cards, awards, letters, and honors you have received.

9. Write about your favorite holiday memories in your journal.

10. Make a list of your favorite holiday foods. Gather the recipes for them and write the recipes in your journal or include them in your scrapbook.

The Polish Origins of the Dziuk Family

I first came in contact with members of PGST several years ago while working at the International Reference counter at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. Many of the PGST members came up to ask me questions. I couldn’t help but notice the names on their pedigrees. The names were all so familiar to me and so I inquired as to where their ancestors were from. I discovered that they were all from parishes in Poland relatively close to where all my Polish ancestors had lived. This was an area known as Schlesien, or Silesia and in Polish known as Sląsk. Many of the ancestors of this group were even from the same towns as some of my ancestors. I found it fascinating as they told me of Father Leopold Moczygemba of Płużnica Wielka, who led so many of them from that area to Texas in the early 1850’s. I took a great interest in the group and stayed in contact with several members of PGST that came to the Family History Library on that occasion.

Over the years, a committee from the Panna Maria Historical Society, working on the two volumes of Silesian Profiles would ask me to do look ups to help document some things for these volumes. Because of my interest in the Polish area they were from, I happily helped. For one such request, I was asked to look up an early pioneer to Panna Maria, Texas, Jan Dziuk, who was born 6 July 1806. I was given a town where he was supposedly from and asked to find a birth record, if possible. This request especially interested me as I have Dziuk ancestry from a town known as Koszęcin today, which was formerly known as Koschentin during Prussian times. However, the town I was to search for Jan Dziuk was not Koszęcin and so I didn’t make an instant connection. After checking the requested parish for Jan Dziuk, it was quickly determined that there was no one in that village by that surname. On a whim, I opened my personal genealogy database to see if I had a Jan or Johann it my family records. I found one and he was the brother of my third great-grandmother, Catharina Dziuk. He was born 6 July 1806. I was so surprised. I had the needed subject in my own file the entire time. I had no idea that one of my ancestors had come to America. I tried to continue the research of Jan Dziuk before his coming to Texas, as my file had only his birth date and parents in Koszęcin with no other information on him. There were no further documents of Jan Dziuk in Koszęcin.

Jan, or Joannes as his Catholic baptism record refers to him, was born in Koszęcin to Franz Dziuk and his wife Elisabetha Dudek. Franz was born 2 Oct. 1779 in Koszęcin. Franz and Elisabetha Dudek (b.5 Aug 1780) daughter of Jacob Dudek and Barbara Pirreck married in Koszęcin on 23 Jan. 1803. I have only been able to find three children of Franz and Elisabetha. Those children are Catharina Dziuk, who was born in Koszęcin 6 Nov. 1803 and baptized there 8 Nov. 1803. Her death occurred 28 Jan. 1887 and her burial at the Koszęcin church cemetery was on the 31st of January. Catharina Dziuk is my 3rd great-grandmother.

The next child which I have in my records is Johann/Jan Dziuk, born 6 Jul. 1806 and baptized in Koszęcin on 7 Jul. 1806. Research in Panna Maria, Texas shows his death as 5 May 1886.

The only other child found for Franz and Elisabetha Dziuk, was a son, Peter, who was born much later on 1 Aug. 1824 in Koszęcin. It is very strange that no other children were found between the years 1806–1824. It would seem very possible that the family may have moved from Koszęcin to another village for this time period. However, searches in some of the nearby parishes have not turned up any other children for this couple.

Peter was a blacksmith by trade and apparently followed or joined his older brother, Jan, also a blacksmith, to Płużnica Wielka where they both worked in this trade. Jan must have moved from Koszęcin to Płużnica Wielka by or before 1832. This move was a major factor that led Jan Dziuk and his family to Texas. Here in Płużnica Wielka he would have come in contact with Father Leopold Moczygęba who was so instrumental in this large movement of Poles to America.

Logan at the Beach

So I am working on improving my blog and adding some links and things.  And I will add a couple of pictures of my 2nd grandson, Logan.  He had a interesting idea last night to hide from grandma because of the fact that he thought it would be a FUN thing to do.  We have a "turtle sandbox" with a lid in the backyard and he decided to squeeze in between the sand and the lid and let the lid close and so it would look like no one was around.  Well, I saw this and called to him and he wouldn't answer me.  I then went and "found" him and he decided that he really was enjoying the beach and happily posed for some pics!

Ty's Team Has Another GREAT WIN!

So last night was Ty's first tournament baseball game.  They won.  They seem to be a really good team with good coaching.  Ty hit a double and a single.  It was great to see how happy that made him.  I know that baseball isn't his favorite sport but the important thing is learning new skills, sportsmanship and a love of the great outdoors.  And a good way to keep him away from TV and video games, right?  Next Monday is another game to look forward to.  This season they lost only 1 game.  I would say that was fantastic!  Keep up the good work and grandma loves you!

Finished Assignments 1-7

So I have professional development today as I have no counter shift for some reason.  Well, I have finished the first 7 assignments, including adding to the FamilySearch Wiki.  I have done that in the past and won't now because I am working on some things off-line for Switzerland that I haven't finished yet.  I will upload them when they are to the point that I can.\

Things Don't Always Work As They Should

I tried to add a "widgit" to my blog, but the template always tells me that the URL contains illegal characters.  Of course.  Such is life and learning.

Find a Grave

So another assignment is to log in to Find a Grave and find some famous people.  I found Bob Hope's entry.  http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7716821 There was no picture of his stone that I could see, but a story about him and a picture while he was still young.  I chose him because I had an interesting experience with Bob Hope when I was about 18-19 years old.  At that time I was a BYU student and had flown home to California, stand-by style and got bumped in Las Vegas.  I was a little distraught because it didn't look like there was another seat available till the following day.  So the man at the counter said to me that he had an idea if I would wait a minute while he checked the matter out.  So I did.  While I waited, I saw him go up to a man and he asked if I could fly on his private flight to Palm Springs.  The man looked at me and it was Bob Hope.  I about fainted... Bob Hope said I could go.  So I got on this very small plane and away we went.  When I got to the airport in Palm Springs, which was still small back in those days, my dad was late picking me up due to a flat tire.  I waited in the front and was all alone when Bob Hope came up to me, swinging a golf club.  He began speaking to me and I have to admit that I can't remember a word of that conversation, except that I was just amazed.  Finally a limo came for him and after that sometime later, finally my dad showed up.  Too late to meet Bob Hope though.  Anyway, that was what came to mind as I was working on this assignment.

Blog Assignment

OK, so we are requested to blog after each step in the current training process we are working on. I am putting a link to my German pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/sonjaandfamily/Germany2009#  It was a great experience last August, taking both my daughter and my grandson to Germany. We included some "play" and some work time. Sometimes those two things were in a combination and therefore Tyson didn't even realize that he was learning new things. Learning is certainly more fun when you can play rather than just work...work...work!

First Blog Entry

This is my first blog post ever! Just a little bit about myself, I am a wife, mom, grandma, reference librarian and genealogist.
As a wife, I have been married 36 years to Spencer. We have 2 grown children. Jamie is married and is providing us with grandkids to keep life full and very interesting. Never a dull moment! The 4th grandchild is soon to be arriving. That will be probably within the next month.

I work as a reference librarian at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. I have worked there full time for about 21+ years and part-time 4 years before that.