October is Family History Month! How will you celebrate? There are many ways to be intentional about connecting with or researching your ancestors this month. Here are three ideas.
Make a Family Recipe
Making and enjoying recipes that have been in your family for generations is a perfect way to channel your family history during Family History Month. Do your children know which recipes you make that have been handed down from your parents or grandparents? If you don’t have any, perhaps now is the time to create a food tradition in your family that can be handed down to your posterity. Finding a recipe from a country where your ancestors originated might be a fun idea. FamilySearch’s Where Am I From? activity has a page that will help you get started.
Chicken noodle soup over mashed potatoes is a favorite food tradition that has been passed down from my maternal grandparents. My grandparents usually served it for special Sunday dinners, especially twice a year on General Conference Weekend, when we would gather at their house to listen to messages of hope and inspiration from leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. My grandpa always made homemade egg noodles to go in the soup. I have adapted my own version of “Hearty Chicken Noodle Soup,” but I still use my grandpa’s egg noodle recipe. That, along with my Mom’s recipe for homemade rolls, helped me create the perfect family history meal to share with my family last Sunday.
Engage in an Activity You Enjoyed with Your Grandparents
What kinds of activities remind you of your grandparents? Celebrate Family History Month by doing that activity! My Grandma Stevens taught me to crochet when I was five. My first project after graduating from making long chains was a granny-square afghan made from scraps of her yarn. The finished product is quite hilarious, but the time she spent with me as I worked on this project helped me know that she loved me and gave me a gift that I have gotten much better at over the years.
Over the last few weeks, I have been working on crocheting some beanies to donate to The Magic Yarn Project. As I have worked, I have remembered sitting on my grandma’s lap with her hands on mine and her gentle voice instructing me to make a loop, hold the hook like this, wrap the yarn around my fingers just so, catch the yarn, and pull it through, over and over until I had created something that in my young mind was miraculous. What can you do to remember your grandparents or great-grandparents this month?
Learn More About Researching Your Family
Family History Month is the perfect time to learn more about researching your family. There are a myriad of options available that can help you gain the skills necessary to confirm and extend your ancestry. Here are a few to look at:
- Walk through the steps of beginning family history research with my free Research 101 e-course.
- Visit The Family History Guide for free lessons on all kinds of family history topics. They also have great ideas for family history activities for all ages.
- Listen to the Research Like a Pro podcast. Start with episode one and work your way through episode thirteen to learn all about how to get organized and solve difficult research problems with the innovative Research Like a Pro process. Continue listening to each of the episodes (273 so far!) to learn more about all aspects of genealogy, including how to incorporate DNA evidence in your research.
- Register for RootsTech 2024, happening February 29 – March 2, 2024. RootsTech is the world’s largest family history conference, held every year in Salt Lake City and online. The in-person conference tickets are selling for $99, and the virtual event is free. There will be hundreds of classes to choose from. If you are seeking ways to get motivated about family history and further your genealogical education, this is a great place to begin! During the month of October, RootsTech is running a Sweepstakes. Enter to win one of twenty passes to their live event.
Many Ways to Celebrate
These are just three ideas for how to celebrate Family History Month in October. There are many other ways you can connect with and remember your ancestors during this month. If you’re still unsure where to begin, visit the Family Connections Experiment for more inspiration.
How will you celebrate?
