This great adventure reminds me of the challenges of research. When I begin a new project I must work through what someone has done before to get to the truth of where the project stands. Sometimes it is easy to see the rockslides of incomplete and un-documented research. Sometimes as I wade through the muddy waters it is not so clear where truth lies and I have to pick my way carefully until I hit solid ground.

I have just begun researching my great grandmother Christina Maria Youngclause McNeish (I have seen McNeish spelled variantly McNish and other spellings as well). Christina was born 18 Dec 1874 at Inverleith North Mains, District of St. George, Edinburgh, Scotland. She was the daughter of Maria Westwood McNeish. No father is listed on the Extract provided from the General Registry Office at Edinburgh collected by my aunt in 1964. During a recent visit to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City I looked up the film that held a copy of the original register and found some additional information as well as the signature of her mother Maria W. McNeish. The original contained the word “Illegitimate” just under Christina’s name. The extract did not contain that word but it was clearly written on the original. I scrolled through the birth records looking at other recordings with the word illegitimate written on them. I noticed that many recorded the name of the father and listed the child with the surname of the father.

This has led me to wonder where does “Youngclause” fit in this picture?? Could this be her father’s name? Was it a friend of the family? Is it from a distant generation before Maria Westwood McNeish?

I did a quick search on “Youngclause” and find that the name is very rare and mostly in the Shetland Islands. I’ll keep you posted! In the mean time get on your bike and take a ride into the mountains of your research, it is high adventure!

I did get my Trek all tuned up and took her for a couple of good rides. Sorry, no pics  but it was frosty with plenty of snow out there. I enjoyed the wild turkeys, deer, and bald eagles. I will take some shots with my cell phone next trip out and be sure to share some of the adventure with you.

We missed our January launch date for the new Family History Expos website but by crickey we got ‘er launched in January! It took working 24 hours a day for a couple of days and at least 20 hours a day for the final two weeks before launching. We had the most amazing obstacles like computer crashes, the Arizona Expo in the middle of it all, and bugs! I’m thrilled to have it up and running and thrilled to be back on my bike.

Riding my bike clears my mind and strengthens my body. It is exhilarating and refreshing. Of course I didn’t ride today as the temperature has not risen above 10 degrees Fahrenheit and with the wind it is too cold for my lungs. Jumping Jacks will have to do for the next few days.

Keep smiling and keep going for the gusto! I love my life and pray that yours is full of miracles and adventure too.

The Blog House

I have Expos on the brain and with all the snow outside I don’t have much motivation to ride my bike. Lucky you!

Happy New Year “all ya’all!”

My top wish is that together we will experience a healthy and prosperous New Year, with peace and harmony in our families. My top business goal is to launch the new website! The amazing and improved “Family History Expos” website! Our proposed date is January 7th and by crikey we better reach it!

Another business goal for 2011 is to increase the awareness of blogs and bloggers to the family history researcher.

My personal blog goal is to write more of my personal experiences here on my very own Genealogy Biker Blog. This is the place I talk about the miracles of running a business and working out my brain and body.

My top personal goal is to increase my communication skills in positive and meaningful ways with my family and friends.

I experience miracles everyday in my personal life, with the business, and of course witnessing them in the lives of my family and friends. I am grateful for all the miracles I enjoy and witness each day.

Now, I want to share my personal miracle of coming up with the theme for our 2011 Expos!

A couple years ago we wrote a press release for our Expo in Redding, California. We took pictures of my daughter’s dog and titled it “We teach old dogs new tricks!” the response for that one article was amazing. I loved it and knew that it would be a great theme. Next I asked a few trusted friends if they minded be called an Ol’ Dog. Heh heh, , only one did. I thought about her words and it just kept coming to me that an ol’ dog is a best friend. Well, I love my best friends and would do anything for them if possible. I want more best friends than I had last year, it is fun to have best friends. The miracle of coming up with our new theme is tied to having best friends to count on and is one that I’m eternally grateful for.

When we plan an Expo it is my desire to have top notch classes, exhibits, experiences and all the fun stuff possible. I think about all my old friends and what they would like to discover. I think about all my new friends, yet to be friends, their research needs and I know what I want to learn.  It is a great combination of wants, needs, and desires. At the Expos we get to experience the joy of learning, new research tips & tricks, we get exposed to new technologies, and reminded of proven techniques that work. Family History Expos truly is the place where ol’ dogs learn new tricks and young puppies learn old ones.

Happy New Year and I’ll meet YOU in “The Blog House!”

I was born and raised in a high mountain valley in rural Utah where my love of the great outdoors was fostered by my father who loved hunting, fishing, camping, winter sports, boating, travel, and high adventure. My love for genealogy and family history was instilled in me as a child when my maternal grandmother, Sarah Rebecca Wadman Shupe Southwick, sat me up to a typewriter and assisted me in the creation of my first “professional looking” family group sheet and pedigree chart. Grandma took me with her to interview her aged aunties and uncles. She took me to interview my grandpa Royal Jack Shupe’s family too. Grandfather Shupe died when my mother was only nine years old. Visiting his siblings and other older family members was high adventure to me! With my arm around grandma’s neck off we would go in her little old car down the highway seeking to find the unknown and bring it home to type for our posterity.

My paternal grandmother, Lola Emelie Wilhelmina Schwartz World Thomson, and great grandmother, Jenni Maria Dye Schwartz Suprise, were living legends! They had come to Utah all the way from Georgia in the early 1900s. Just visiting their house was an adventure. Grandma Suprise had her own pet monkey, Grandma Thomson had Polly the talking parrot, mina birds, canaries, amazing fish aquariums, and exquisite rose gardens. When Daddy took us all the way down to Bountiful to visit our grannies, it was like walking into fairyland. Grandpa Thomson lived in the basement apartment of Grandma’s house and he always had a big smile, a hug, a tickle, and was planning the next fishing trip with daddy. We loved the rare opportunity to visit in the City.

My love for life, family, and adventure was stimulated by the interaction I had with my grandparents. My life today is continually impacted by these same people and each newly discovered generation before them.

By age 15 all of my grandparents had passed away leaving a gaping hole in my life. The pursuit of my family history has led me to travel extensively throughout the United States and plans to visit Europe too. My passion for family history has grown into a full blown genealogy business, Family History Expos, Inc. which brings great joy to my life and to the lives of many others.

The Genealogy Biker Blog is another spoke in my wheel of life, come join the ride! Together, we have many adventures to share.

I always “think” I should share my adventures with you all! Now I will.

Create a beautiful day, a great life, and have some real fun!