Saturday, December 14, 2013

17 Years Ago Today, Our LOVE Story Began.

 
Once upon a time, there was a boy named Brady and a girl named Sarah who met at the Rain Tree apartments in Provo, Utah. She was 19, working at Pizza Hut and going to college at UVSC. He was 23, working at TGI Friday's and also going to college at UVSC. He asked her on a date; she said yes. On this date at Mi Ranchito they ordered and shared the "macho nacho". They laughed and talked and Sarah paid the bill because Brady "forgot his wallet", but Sarah didn't care, because she was very interested in Brady. The following dates were even more fun. They hiked Angels Landing (Zion's National Park) at night with a full moon, target practicing, "Tribute to the Beatles concert", the Mount Timpanogos Temple open house, kissing, football games, a memorable trip to Grass Valley, California where Sarah grew up, more kissing, meeting his sister, and meeting both of their families. Brady and Sarah both knew they loved each other and wanted to be together always, so, on September 25, 1996, Brady knelt on one knee in front of the newly built Mount Timpanogos Temple to ask Sarah to marry him. She said yes!! They married 3 months later on December 14, 1996. They built a beautiful family together; 3 sons, 2 daughters, and a home that overlooks the Mount Timpanogos Temple. They knew it wouldn't be easy, but they knew it would all be totally worth it!!!

The end. Not really, it's only the beginning.

-Sarah

Wednesday, December 04, 2013

"You Have Thousands Of Years Of Powerful Ancestors Within You..."

“You’re never alone, even during what  you think are your weakest moments.
You have thousands of years of powerful  ANCESTORS within you, the
blood of 
The Divine Great One in you, supreme  intellect and royalty
in you. 
Infinite  strength is always on tap for you.
Know that!”-Author Unknown

Keep connecting the dot! -Sarah :)

Friday, November 22, 2013

Thursday, November 21, 2013

"A Grandfather is Someone With Silver in His Hair and Gold in His Heart."


"A grandfather is someone with silver in his hair and gold in his heart." 

-Author: unknown

What's your favorite memory of your grandfather?

Keep connecting the dots! -Sarah

"The History Of Our Grandparents is Remembered Not With Rose Petals..."


"The history of our grandparents is remembered not with rose petals but in the laughter and tears of their children and their children’s children. It is into us that the lives of the grandparents have gone. It is in us that their history becomes a future."
-Charles and Ann Morse

Keep connecting the dots! -Sarah

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Hard-Working Ancestry Quote

"It is worthwhile for anyone to have behind him a few generations of honest, hard-working ancestry."
-John Phillips Marquand

Monday, November 11, 2013

Top 25 Veterans Day Quotes


Happy Veterans Day!!
About this photo: This Veterans Memorial is located in the American Fork Cemetery. 
I took this photo on October 28, 2013 during the most beautiful time of the season. The golden trees that surrounded this soldier were breathtaking. I am grateful that I took the time to capture the beauty of this Veterans Memorial.  -Sarah Burnes Heiner

Top 25 Veterans Day Quotes:

  1. “The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation.” -George Washington

  2. "Some people live an entire lifetime and wonder if they have ever made a difference in the world, but the Marines don't have that problem." -Ronald Reagan

  3. "From time to time, the tree of liberty must be watered with the blood of tyrants and patriots." -Thomas Jefferson

  4. “Honor to the soldier and sailor everywhere, who bravely bears his country's cause. Honor, also, to the citizen who cares for his brother in the field and serves, as he best can, the same cause.” -Abraham Lincoln

  5. "How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!"
    -Maya Angelou

  6. "As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." -John Fitzgerald Kennedy

  7. “Every society needs heroes. And every society has them. The reason we don't often see them is because we don't bother to look." -Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono

  8. "Because all of us believe and understand in the fabric of the common bond of why we call ourselves American is to care for the men and women who wear the uniform; and when they take off the uniform, we care for them when they are veterans."
    -Steve Buyer

  9. "We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude."
    -Cynthia Ozick

  10. "It is easy to take Liberty for granted, when you have never had it taken from you."
    -Dick Cheney

  11. "While only one day of the year is dedicated solely to honoring our veterans, Americans must never forget the sacrifices that many of our fellow countrymen have made to defend our country and protect our freedoms." -Randy Neugebauer

  12. "The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave..." -Patrick Henry

  13. "In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot." -Mark Twain

  14. "Bravery is the capacity to perform properly even when scared half to death."
    -Omar Bradley

  15. "Without heroes, we are all plain people, and don't know how far we can go."  -Bernard Malamud

  16. "Nurture your minds with great thoughts, to believe in the heroic makes heroes."
    -Benjamin Disraeli

  17. "On this Veterans Day, let us remember the service of our veterans, and let us renew our national promise to fulfill our sacred obligations to our veterans and their families who have sacrificed so much so that we can live free." -Dan Lipinski

  18. "Caring for veterans shouldn't be a partisan issue. It should an American one."
    -Jennifer Granholm

  19. "You'd have to go a long way to find someone who was more proud and grateful for what our veterans have done for all of us." -Jim Davis

  20. "The willingness of America's veterans to sacrifice for our country has earned them our lasting gratitude." -Jeff Miller

  21. "America's veterans embody the ideals upon which America was founded more than 229 years ago." -Steve Buyer

  22. "Twenty-five million veterans are living among us today. These men and women selflessly set aside their civilian lives to put on the uniform and serve us." Steve Buyer

  23. "We owe our World War II veterans - and all our veterans - a debt we can never fully repay." -Doc Hastings

  24. "I do not fear an army of lions, if they are led by a lamb. I do fear an army of sheep, if they are led by a lion." -Alexander the Great

  25. "This will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave." -Elmer Davis

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Wednesday, October 09, 2013

Top Names over the Last 100 Years


Did you know, the most popular names in America in 1880 were William and Mary? Even without the statistics of the federal census records, most of us who love family history know this to be true. The rankings of these two most common names have slightly changed since then. Now let's jump ahead 132 years to the year 2012 where we find the most popular baby names to be  Jacob and Sophia. Surprisingly, the name William is still popular and ranked #5 for the most popular baby names in 2012. Unfortunately, Mary did make the top 10 list.

This got me thinking. I have always wondered if my name was as popular as I thought. Well, thanks to the United States Government Official Social Security site, I was able to find my name, Sarah. It ranked #11 out of 100 most popular names in the last 100 years; from 1913-2012.


Now it's your turn. Did your name make the list from the top names over the last 100 years?

Male Names:
  1. James
  2. John
  3. Robert
  4. Michael
  5. William
  6. David 
  7. Richard
  8. Joseph
  9. Charles
  10. Thomas
  11. Christopher
  12. Daniel
  13. Matthew
  14. Donald
  15. Anthony
  16. Paul
  17. Mark
  18. George
  19. Steven
  20. Kenneth
Click here to see the top 100 names .

Female Names:
  1. Mary
  2. Patricia
  3. Elizabeth
  4. Jennifer
  5. Linda
  6. Barbara 
  7. Susan
  8. Margaret
  9. Jessica
  10. Dorothy
  11. Sarah
  12. Karen
  13. Nancy
  14. Betty
  15. Lisa
  16. Sandra
  17. Helen
  18. Donna
  19. Ashley
  20. Kimberly
Click here to see the top 100 names.

Did your name make the list? Leave a comment and tell us yes or no and your ranking.


Source:
Official Social Security Website: www.ssa.gov ,

Keep connecting the dots. -Sarah

Wednesday, October 02, 2013

Prayer for Genealogists

Prayer For Genealogists

“Lord, help me dig into the past, 
And sift the sands of time, 
That I might find the roots that made 
This family tree mine. 

Lord, help me trace the ancient roads, 
On which my fathers trod, 
And led them through so many lands, 
To find our present sod. 

Lord, help me find an ancient book, 
Or dusty manuscript, 
That's safely hidden now away, 
In some forgotten crypt, 

Lord, let it bridge the gap that haunts 
My soul, when I can't find 
The missing link between some name 
That ends the same as mine.”

-Anonymous

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Monday, September 09, 2013

A Big Surprise! - My GG-Grandfather Served in the Civil War!!

This morning, as I was working on my family history, I found a BIG surprise; my great, great grandfather's Civil War draft registration record. I never knew he served in the Civil War; this changed everything. You can only imagine how excited I was. So, how did I find this? It was on accident while I was researching another ancestor (isn't that how it usually happens?) I just happened to notice one of those little green leaves, "Ancestry hints" on Ancestry.com. I clicked on the leaf next to his name and it brought me to the original Civil War draft record. As I looked through this record, I noticed these few but very important details:
  • James Burnes
  • white
  • 24
  • Farmer
  • Married
  • Indiana
  • Haw Creek township
  • August 5, 1863. 
Here's the record that changed everything. My great, great grandfather, James Burnes is #14.   Photo credit: Ancestry.com . Click the photo to enlarge.

Here's the zoomed in verson of the above picture. Photo Credit: Ancestry.com

So, the story does not end there. On the record, right above his name, was his older brother, William Henry Harrison Burnes (#13), who was drafted at the same time as him. My excitement grew even more. I knew very little about William H.H. Burnes. I had never seen any record about him because he died in his early thirties. I wondered, did he die in the war? Was this the reason why he never married or had any children? This opened the door to further my research and this changed my family history quite a bit.

I am grateful for the knowledge I have of my ancestors. To have the Internet to give us "hints" and to educate us about our heritage, is truly a modern day miracle. To continue this family history is a gift for them and us, and many generations.



Meet my great, great grandfather,

James Jay Burnes:


Born:
21 December 1838 in Washington, Shelby, Indiana.

Married: 17 November 1859 in County Line, Jefferson, Iowa.

Civil War: Drafted on 5 August 1863.

Children: 11

Widowed: Age 40. 
Never Remarried.

Entered into heaven:
17 Decmeber 1905, (age 66).



"The reward of great men is that, long after they have died, one is not quite sure that they are dead." -Jules Renard

A huge thanks to this little, but very important leaf icon

It's amazing how one small "hint" can change the whole story.



Let's keep connecting the dots!! -Sarah :)

Wednesday, September 04, 2013

“We all grow up with the weight of history on us..." -Shirley Abbott


“We all grow up with the weight of
history on us.  Our ancestors dwell in the
attics of our brains  as they do in the spiraling
chains of knowledge hidden in every cell
 of our bodies.” -Shirley Abbott

About the photo: This is a photograph of my Great Grandparents, Gim William Adams & Maude Ethel Adams, and 9 of their 11 children. My grandma, Ruth was the 8th child born to Gim & Maude. In this photo, she is 4th from the left (in the white dress). 
Ruth Imogene Adams Burnes 1923-2011.

Keep connecting the dots. -Sarah :)

Tuesday, September 03, 2013

Family Tree Maker 2014: 30% off Pre-sale Promotion $27.99


The following announcement was written by Ancestry.com:

It’s that time again to announce all the greatest new features of Family Tree Maker. We listened to a large range of Family Tree Maker users to improve our features for 2014 including the roll out of the new Family View display, improved TreeSync, more extensive charts and reports, new organizational tools and more. Below is a list of the newly improved features.


What’s new in Family Tree Maker?

  • New Family View — see your family tree in a new way. This additional view makes navigating easier, especially when you want to see extended family members.
  • Improved TreeSync — lets you easily synchronize your tree in Family Tree Maker with an online Ancestry.com tree. 
    • A more robust TreeSync™ lets you sync even more of your family tree info.
    • Easily share your tree with your family and work on it together. Family and friends can view the online version of your tree without software or a subscription.
    • Collaborate with the largest, most active family history community in the world. Keep your online tree private or make it public so that others researching your family can find you. You may connect with others who have insight on your ancestors, discover rare family photos, or even find relatives you didn’t know you had.
  • More organizational tools — stay organized with new tools that let you sort children automatically by birth order and view people by location, grouping them by country, state, county, and city.
  • New and improved charts and reports — more options and views let you display an individual’s ancestors, spouses, and children together. Also, the Index of Individuals Report has been expanded with options for anniversary, birthday, and contact lists, and more.
  • New tree branch export — a new export option makes it much simpler to export a single branch of your tree.
  • More editing options — save time with the ability to copy and paste facts including related source citations, media items, and notes.
10 reasons to get the new Family Tree Maker:
  1. Access interactive street and satellite maps View important locations in your ancestors’ lives. Or create a migration map showing where events in their lives took place.
  2. Easily organize media:  Add photos, documents, audio and video in one, easy-to-access location. Link media to multiple people in your tree and incorporate them into charts and reports.
  3. Share your work with others:  Use templates to create beautiful family trees or design your own with powerful charting tools. Enhance charts with backgrounds, embellishments and family photos.
  4. Discover new family members: Follow hints from Ancestry.com, the world's largest family history resource.
  5. Create Smart Stories: Transform facts from your tree into stories that update automatically as you update your tree.
  6. Simplify source creation: Use templates to source everything from online databases to vital records.
  7. Use standard location names: Use the locations database to enter place names consistently and in a standard format.
  8. Explore data like never before:  Use new and improved reports to gather information and export it in a variety of formats. Save settings in one report and apply them to others.
  9. Navigate your tree with ease: View multiple generations, navigate to any individual in your tree with a click of the mouse and add or edit life events.
  10. Import data from other genealogy programs:  Open files created in Legacy™ Family Tree, The Master Genealogist™ and FamilySearch™ Personal Ancestral Files.
  • Purchases made by September 9, 2013 will be ready to download on September 12, 2013. And shipped the week of September 12, 2013 if you ordered the software on DVD.
  • Available for Windows only. Mac version coming soon.
  • This offer is available to the US only.
  • Order today for September delivery. 
  • You will be notified by email on or around September 12, 2013, when the new Family Tree Maker is available to download.

Monday, September 02, 2013

Days Gone By Poem about Family History


Days Gone By

“ The special book upon the shelf,
Was made with many hands.
Our ancestors who posed back then,
All came from different lands.

Their pictures were all tucked away,
And rarely did we see,
The importance of these treasures-
The start of you and me.

The history of our families,
Now here in black and white.
Preserved with special care and time,
Each page is done just right.

When time permits, we take it down,
And think of days long past.
Our hopes, our dreams, our heritage,
All safe and made to last.”

Author: Unknown

 >> Print this Poem <<

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Strangers In The Box - By: Pamela A. Harazim


STRANGERS IN THE BOX 
-Pamela A. Harazim

"Come, look with me inside this drawer, 
In this box I've often seen, 
At the pictures, black and white, 
Faces proud, still, and serene.

I wish I knew the people, 
These strangers in the box, 
Their names and all their memories, 
Are lost among my socks.

I wonder what their lives were like, 
How did they spend their days? 
What about their special times? 
I'll never know their ways.

If only someone had taken time, 
To tell, who, what, where, and when, 
These faces of my heritage, 
Would come to life again.

Could this become the fate, 
Of the pictures we take today? 
The faces and the memories, 
Someday to be passed away?

Take time to save your stories, 
Seize the opportunity when it knocks, 
Or someday you and yours, 
Could be strangers in the box."

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Your Family History Treasure awaits you!!




About this photo:

This is a photograph of my grandmother meeting her great grandchild for the first time.
As I held my 2 month old baby for grandma to see, their eyes met, and both of them smiled and laughed, as if they were long time friends meeting again. My husband just happened to capture this at the moment it happened. It was a very touching moment, and one that I will never forget. She passed away, shortly after this photo was taken, and I am so grateful that I made the time to see her and to write her family history every time I visited her. Each time I called her on the phone, I asked her questions about her life growing up, and before I knew it, I had captured and documented her family history. I am so grateful I did this and you will be too.


Keep connecting the dots!!
-Sarah

Monday, August 26, 2013

"If you don't recount your own family history, it will be lost."

“If you don't recount your family history, it will be lost. Honor your own stories and tell them too. The tales may not seem very important, but they are what binds families and makes each of us who we are.” -Madeleine L’Engle

Let's keep connecting the dots -Sarah :)

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Genealogy Trivia: 500 years ago there were 1,048,576 people involved in creating you!


Genealogy Trivia:
If you figure there’s 25 years between each generation, 500 years ago there were 1,048,576 people involved in creating YOU! YOU are special!

Keep connecting the dots. -Sarah

Tuesday, August 06, 2013

Monday, August 05, 2013

87 Year Old Johanna Quaas the World's Oldest Gymnast - The Guinness Book of Records


Who has a grandma like this one? Johanna Quaas, the 87 year old, 11-times German Senior champion of artistic gymnastics, from Halle, Germany became popular in 2012 when many YouTube clips showed her training at age 86 during the Turnier der Meister in Cottbus. The clips became a huge hit and generated  millions of views on YouTube. Johanna Quass was entered into The Guinness Book of Records on September 13, 2012 as oldest gymnast in the world. Check out the her videos below, and be prepared to be amazed!!

VIDEO of gymnastics competition on March 26, 2012


VIDEO from The day Quaas was entered into The Guinness Book of Records; September 13, 2012


VIDEO of Johanna Quaas telling her story and her "Secrets to Success."


Johanna Quaas was born November 20, 1925 in Hohenmölsen, Germany. She married  gymnast coach Gerhard Quaas in 1963 with whom she had three daughters.


Johanna Quaas on the parallel bars.

Johanna Quaas on the parallel bars and her husband by her side. 

With her husband Gerhard and granddaughter Susie: Johanna Quaas was a sports teacher, teacher trainer and sports coach. Her husband is also a gymnastics coach.


Johanna and her husband Gerhard cooking together. Her secret to healthy living is eating is
not too much and not too little and plenty of greens".

Johannah and Gerhard Quaas. Married 50 years in 2013.

Monday, July 29, 2013

“And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children..."


“And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers...” -Malachi 4:6
Who's in the photo? My husband's maternal great grandparents; Glen Lamar Jenkins & Alice Agusta Erickson and grandfather, Lowell Jenkins. Aren't they a beautiful family?

Monday, July 22, 2013

Listen To Your Elder's Advice


Listen to your elder's advice, not because they are always right but because they
have more experiences of being wrong. -Author Unknown

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Mark Twain Quote About Your Family Tree & Politics


"Why waste your money looking up your family tree? Just go into politics and your
opponents will do it for you." -Mark Twain

Sunday, July 07, 2013

Mother Teresa Quote: "Every Time You Smile At Someone..."



-- SUNDAY MESSAGE --

"Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person,
a beautiful thing." -Mother Teresa

Friday, July 05, 2013

Giving Credit Where Credit is Due


"Giving credit where credit is due is a very rewarding habit to form. Its rewards are inestimable." -Loretta Young

Someone who truly deserves credit; my Grandfather William Emry Burnes.
Read the remarkable truth I found about him.

Keep connecting the dots -Sarah

Thursday, July 04, 2013

Happy 4th of July - God Bless the USA


From my family to yours; Happy 4th of July!! May we always be grateful for our freedom that was established on this day 237 years ago by our Founding Fathers. God has continued to preserve this choice country if we remember Him. Let us always remember Him. One nation under God. God bless the USA!!

-Sarah Burnes Heiner

Saturday, June 29, 2013

"Dear Ancestor" Poem by Walter Butler Palmer



Dear Ancestor

"Your tombstone stands among the rest
Neglected and alone
The name and date are chiseled out
On polished marble stone
It reaches out to all who care
It is too late to mourn

You did not know that I exist
You died and I was born
Yet each of us are cells of you
In flesh and blood and bone
Our blood contracts and beats a pulse
Entirely not our own

Dear Ancestor, the place you filled
One hundred years ago
Spreads out among the ones you left
Who would have loved you so
I wonder how you lived and loved
I wonder if you knew
That someday I would find this spot
And come to visit you."
-Walter Butler Palmer

About the Author: Walter Butler Palmer  was by b orn,  22 Jun 1868 in Prairie Center, LaSalle, Illinois. He was the son of Ephraim Milo Palmer and Sarah Henderson Butler. He married Irena B. Lardin on 25 Sep 1889. A year and a half later, Irena died on May 1891. He married 2nd wife Mary Frances White on 11 Dec 1894 in Chicago, Cook, Illinois. They were the parents of two children; Burton White Palmer and Margaret Allison Palmer. He was a family historian, breeder of trotting and show horses, and an accomplished poet. He wrote the above poem  "Dear Ancestor" in 1906 while he was visiting the grave of his great grandfather; Ephraim Palmer (1760-1852).   He died  6 Jun 1932 in Ottawa, LaSalle, Illinois.

About the photo: If you look closely, you can see a large headstone and final resting place of  my great, great, great grandfather;  George Washington Burnes.  Buried in Norristown Cemetery, in Shelbyville, Shelby, Indiana.

Keep connecting the dots!! -Sarah