jamboree 2019, California this weekend

Watched three genealogy presentations from the jamboree 2019 conference in California this weekend. Very well done. It is free to watch and download the syllabus after you register. There will be five classes on Saturday and five on Sunday. You can look at the list and see which ones are of interest to you. Thank you to the presenters, providers and sponsors for making this happen. For those of us who can't travel easily this is absolutely wonderful! http://genealogyjamboree.com/ under live streaming.

Washington County Museum, Hillsboro, Oregon

Tonight my feet are just killing me, but it is worth the cost of researching at a local history center. The Washington County Museum in Hillsboro, Oregon, has a wonderful repository of records. Some of my ancestors donated some nice pictures and two priceless autograph albums. Years ago, likely about twenty, I made a couple of trips there. In doing so I created a three page list of items to look up. Now after almost four years of living closer I finally made arrangements and made the journey to follow up on those records. My good friend Tricia drove and looked up stuff for the Watts family for me. The researcher was fully prepared with having the boxes ready for me to start working. Then we saw another friend and later on another friend came to oversee the fun. After four hours of photographing items of interest, 190 pictures, documents and other materials, I had to quit for the day. There is one more box that I hope to get to in a couple of weeks. Now I need to compare my collection of family pictures and see what they do not have. This is all part of my focus for the present to organize and make useful what we have and then share with others. Now I need to go put up my feet for a few days!

I would like to sincerely thank Debi Knox for preparing records for me to come and take pictures of for our family history. The collection included items from my grandfathers older sister and his older brother. There are two autograph albums, one of which my great grandfather wrote in. It was so nice to arrive with things organized for our four hour work out in taking many pictures. Debi went one step further and pulled information for the Watts family who lived in Scappoose, and Milwaukie. Friends joined in as Tricia and I worked very patiently to capture the images of history held in this collection. What a fantastic place to visit!

My Friend from Oaxaca, Mexico

My friend of thirty years came to visit with her daughter and brought me these lovely flowers and vase. We met at school and been good friends ever since. We celebrated her getting her green card after living in the US for thirty years. It took her five years and thousands of dollars. She had several lawyers and many people willing to help her. It will take another five years to be naturalized. When she came to the US with her family, to be with her husband who was already in Oregon, she came with just one small suitcase full of documents and pictures of her family.

Now she can legally make a visit to Oaxaca, Mexico to visit her elderly parents whom she has not seen in thirty years. Two of her daughters became naturalized citizens. It is wonderful that they are now able to make a visit and be able to return to the US afterwards. I love these people. They have been hardworking, honest, caring and taught their children to appreciate the important things in life. She has certainly persevered and accomplished this major step forward!! 

I met her in the grade school at Clackamas, Oregon. They were registering her children for school and I volunteered to help them get settled here. They had four girls and one boy. I taught her how to cook a turkey for Thanksgiving that year. The school staff literally provided their Christmas, tree, presents and food! She has had a huge struggle these past thirty years. One thing we share in common is our love for the Savior.