I really do have it all! This weekend we celebrated my 30th birthday for the 11th time. And for the first time ever, my wife and all four children were in Salt Lake City's Family History Library – with me – on purpose! Not once was the "when can we go now?" question asked because I think there was a little part of each person that actually wanted to be there.
Here's me and the kids, Tanya took the picture:
It started with a treasure hunt. They learned how to locate microfilm. The two oldest already had their Genealogy merit badge, so they helped the younger ones.
I taught them how to hold the microfilm…
…and how to load it into the reader. This is probably my all-time favorite picture.
One by one, they each located a different land record of John Nelson Brown.
Remember John Brown? Through DNA testing, we learned that he DOES belong to our Brown family, now we just have to prove the relationships.
The only certain proof I have so far is the proof of my kids enjoying genealogy.
I did have to tell them to whisper a few times though.
Using the skills I learned in Mary Hill's webinar, "Use Your Digital Camera to Copy Records", I snapped digital photos of all twelve deeds.
Using the step-by-step instructions from my upcoming book, Digital Imaging Essentials 2.0, the digital images are now organized and preserved on my hard drive, in my Legacy Family Tree software, and in my Google Photos account. How's that for a shameless plug?
They wanted proof that their dad was famous, so I led them to my three volume series of Washington County, Tennessee tax record indexes on the third floor. They weren't so sure that a book of names qualified for fame though.
We then toured the amazing Conference Center.
Went hiking at Cascade Springs (Utah's mountains are beautiful!)
And concluded with some birthday cake while we watched the Olympics.
If there is such a thing as a perfect day, this day would be it. And so will be the day when I finally identify John Brown's parents.
Wherever they have microfilm readers, the people there are usually happy to show you how it works. The readers aren’t all exactly the same. Even though I have used them before, I have had to ask for help.