Getting Started
Maybe you're like me and have worked on your genealogy for a long time. That's good. If not, well you've got a long road of misery and drudgery ahead of you. We're looking at endless nights tied to the computer, weighed down by names, and dates and facts without any relief in sight. You'll be trudging through dusty books in some deep dark corner of your local library and suffering paper cut after paper cut as you dig in the deep dark hole of history.
Well, nah, not really!
Genealogy is not as dramatic as all that! It can be as easy as downloading a form called a pedigree chart and filling in the blanks. (Download a pedigree chart here. Following the instructions provided.) There are numerous web sites out there dedicated to assisting you in your search for your roots! Some are free like the LDS Family Search Site and the US GenWeb Project; and some cost money like Ancestry.com, and Heritage Quest. Often times Ancestry and Heritage Quest can be accessed for free at your local library!
Got the Goods - Now What?!
OK, so now you've gone back a few generations and gotten at least the names of your ancestors - what do you do with it all? That's the fun part! In my children's books the very first page is their family tree. It's a good way to start the book to remind them that though the entire scrapbook is of them, they are a product of the other people on that tree with them. I use THIS family tree because it is SO easy to make and would be hard to mess it up!
After the family tree is in the front of the book, I work my way from the first person (whose book is it?) followed by a page for their spouse then each of their children (if applicable.)
The next page would be about the preceding generation (the first person's parents) starting with the father, then the mother, then pages for each sibling. It continues in this vein for subsequent generations. Depending on how many children each generation has you may end up with quite a large book, or a very skinny one!
