I would like somebody to take this site over as administrator. Let me know if you are the one.

A big thank you goes to one of our relatives who contributed $36 for the annual cost of the website. It is appreciated.

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A few of you have deleted dates, names, and information from your branches. I wish you wouldn't.  Our website is NOT like X or Facebook and open to the world. Here are our privacy settings.

   High Privacy
   Restricted: Everything but your Homepage.

   Non-Members can see only the homepage of our site. The homepage will contain some statistics, a
   list of all the surnames (last names) and an introduction to your site. They will not have access to
   any other page, nor will they be able to see any names or photos.

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Why don't you update your branch to current? That means adding births, deaths, parents and siblings (for both you and your spouse), dates, obituaries, places... whatever is missing. I post everything people send me, but if you won't update your branch, it will never be correct. If you have trouble adding or correcting information on the site, you are welcome to send me the information as well as photos. You can also email or call me (I am on Pacific Coast Time but available most times until late evening), and I can often update the site while we are on the phone.

Add or send me your current and previous Christmas letters and I will upload them to the tree. (Digital is easiest)

Add or send me PHOTOS of your family from birth onward by clicking Media/Upload Photos

Add or send me STORIES of noteworthy events in the life of your family by clicking People/Stories

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Look under PEOPLE/STORIES to read the response from Dean MILLER to Heather DRISCOLL Neathery. It tells a lot about Dean's life.
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And now a short monologue from Uncle Richard...

Oh, how I wish our ancestors had written more about themselves so we could know who they were, their hopes and dreams, why they immigrated or pulled up stakes and moved to a hostile land, what their lives were like and how their decisions impacted the world around them. Were they people of faith? Were they political? Did they like their neighbors or fear them? I want to know about their youth, growing up, school, friends, failures, successes, when they were brave, when they were afraid, when they felt like giving up but found the courage to move on... They are my ancestors and I want to know everything. 

Imagine if they could talk to us today and tell us why they came to America or Canada... what they thought when they came face to face with the loneliness and hardship of the prairie... what were their thoughts each morning when they had to face another day of breaking sod or planting a crop? Did they ask God to bless their efforts?

I would love to see pictures of every member of the family as they aged from child to youth, to teenager, to young adult, to adult, and finally to old codger (or codgerette). I'd like to meet their friends, see their homes, vehicles, farms, crops and learn what living their life was really like.

I have always hoped that somebody in the family would announce they had just found a diary from one of their ancestors that shared the successes, failures, heartaches, joys and efforts to change their world. Were they happy? Did they feel fulfilled? Did they make a difference in their own world? How did they meet their spouse? What was school like? Were they bullied? Did they like their parents? What chores did their parents make them do? Was their mom a good cook? Who were they secretly in love with? I can think of a thousand questions to ask them. Wouldn't it be amazing to be able to read about their lives in their own words? What were their proudest achievements?

My goal for creating and maintaining this site is to give you a place to document your lives so you can tell your own story to your descendants a hundred years from now. They will be thankful you took the time to do it. 

We have a way to tell stories (click People/Stories), and I have put a few in there to show you a bit of how it works. Add photos to help bring your stories to life. Consider going to that part of the website now and entering something so somebody two hundred years from now can hear directly from you what you want them to know about your life, your hopes, and your legacy. Will you please take the time to do it? Thank you.

Many blessings

Richard Small - Administrator
Tigard, OR
richardsmalltigard@gmail.com
503-330-2260