This is not an official, Church-sponsored blog. This blog is maintained by the Burley FamilySearch Center for the purpose of sharing pertinent information about family history. This blog will replace our newsletter, look for updates monthly.
Celebrating the birth of our Savior transforms the month of December into a month unlike no other. It’s a reflection of him and the life he lived. Giving, kindness, reaching out, pulling in. An awareness of blessings, of those less fortunate. Family is at the center of our celebrations and the focus of our hearts. As we gather, let’s share. What was a visit to grandmas house like when you were a kid? Favorite memory of Christmas with Cousins? What part is your favorite to play in the nativity? What can we add to our tradition that remembers those we love that have gone before us? Jesus and family go hand in hand. Family is his plan and hope for all of us. Eternal family with him!
Activities
Gather your family and open your phones to Family Search-Compare a Face! Who do you look like? Or how about Where Am I From? How did my family get here?
Have Grandpa read the story of Christs birth. Have the children act it out. Talk about what this means for you now.
Talk about your blessings. What touches you the most? What tender mercies have we had this year?
Prepare a family name to take to the new Burley Temple in January.
As we focus our lives on Jesus Christ, our family feels love, peace and joy! Going forward together is HIS plan!
Calendar
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Closed for Christmas- December 21 - Jan 3. See you in the New Year!
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As Thanksgiving comes ever nearer we prepare for the opportunity to meet together as families. It is a time to reconnect and create new memories record stories of the past year and collect stories of those we are living with. We remember the past and honor those we have around us.
Recording Family History This November
Autumn is a season of remembering. Here are a few timely ways to honor your ancestors and strengthen current family connections:
Connecting with the Future As we get together as families reach out and find out about what is new, what trends are most interesting and what interests the youngest around us. Time may make those memories embarrassing and sometimes those memories and stories will be asked as if there is never enough information out there about how it used to be. So find out their interests record and take note of what is most interesting to them make videos take notes and record it for the future,
Record Stories Record videos or audio of memories The Family Search Center has a place where you can use equipment to record video and stories that can be uploaded to Family Tree and downloaded to anywhere you want to save them. The equipment there can make it look professional and gives you prompts on questions to help you with stories. Don't forget that phone videos can be artistic and fun too. What is important is getting the stories before they are forgotten. You might be the inspiration someone needs.
Using Resources Family Tree app stores and keeps the information of not only those who have passed but the living as well and you can fill in your own information and information about your family as well. Share and save your own story and those around you before it's forgotten.
As we reach out this Holiday season we have an opportunity to connect with those around us. We have a chance to reach out to the past as well as we connect with the living around us.
Song of the Month
Calendar
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Dates Closed
November 20 | Closed for Cleaning
November 24-30 | Closed for Thanksgiving Holiday
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Holding to Our Roots When the World Feels Unsteady
These past few weeks have reminded many of us how quickly the headlines can stir worry and sadness. Families may feel a mix of grief, confusion, or simply the need to gather close. Moments like these are a gentle nudge to turn toward the things that give us steadiness—our heritage and the stories of those who came before us.
Turning to Family History This October
Autumn is a season of remembering. Here are a few timely ways to honor your ancestors and strengthen family connections:
Harvest Heritage Night
Invite relatives for a potluck where each dish comes from an old family recipe.
Record who made what and the memories each dish evokes. Don't forget to take pictures!
Ancestor Spotlight
Choose one ancestor and research what their life looked like in October—harvest chores, school routines, fall festivals. Share the story (and any photos) on social media or in a family newsletter.
Autumn Cemetery Walk
A peaceful walk through a local cemetery can be both beautiful and grounding. Take photographs of headstones and upload them to a site like Find A Grave or FamilySearch to help others with their research.
Spooky—but True—Family Tales
Host a “family campfire night” (real or virtual) where each person tells a mysterious or funny story from the family tree. Think ghost stories with a genealogy twist.
October Memory Jar
Throughout the month, family members write down a favorite fall memory or an ancestor they’re grateful for and place it in a jar. Read them aloud on Halloween All Saints Day.
When news feels unsettling, grounding ourselves in family stories can bring perspective and peace. Our ancestors lived through wars, depressions, and upheavals of their own. Their resilience can steady us now—and our own records will steady future generations.
Song of the Month
Calendar
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Important Dates
October 5 | Closed for G. Conference
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Labor Day, Patriot Day, the Autumnal Equinox, Johny Appleseed Day—this month is plumb full of fun opportunities with family history connections. These celebrations and remembrances allow us to turn back the pages of a few decades and reinvent new things with families and friends.
Labor Day
This holiday commemorates workers, or blue-collar laborers, who work tirelessly to make everything work out. It takes everyone to make things the way they are. Many families celebrate with a final camping trip while it’s still warm, and some time for some final summer swimming.
Ideas
-Celebrate this nationally recognized holiday how you normally do, but find an opportunity to discuss the jobs of ancestral family members. Were they a blacksmith, a carpenter, a furniture maker? Everyone’s history has them. A simple conversation is all it takes, but overachievers can look up pictures, journals, and do some research.
-Practice the skills of blue-collar jobs, especially ones that no longer exist. What was it like transferring phone calls by hand? What was it like typewriting speech to text? What was it like milking cows by hand? There’s a million opportunities and options to explore.
Patriot Day
This holiday obviously honors those involved with 9-11, the terrorist attacks heard around the world. This especially honors emergency responders. Many celebrate by talking about what they remember on that day. Write it down if you haven’t already.
Ideas
-Watch a documentary, read an article, or research this historical event.
-Compile family members and their memories of the event for future generations (so many weren’t alive 24 years ago). Share so that they know.
Autumnal Equinox
This is a time of equal day and night, considered sacred by many ancient cultures. Research it for more specific information.
Ideas
-Plan a harvest-themed event, dinner, or family gathering. Usually, harvest is just getting into full swing, so it could be the last one for a little while.
-This is an opportunity to get some fall cleaning before harvest and winter comes in. Gutters, fridges, you name it, could probably use some tough love.
Johny Appleseed Day
The original Johny Appleseed or eccentric John Chapman was a gardener known for spreading his love of apple trees. Many celebrate with an apple-themed day.
Ideas
-Bake an apple pie, the fresher the better.
-Make homemade applesauce with friends. Have them each contribute some apples.
All in all, September is a great month for family history. Don’t forget to record the fun times with pictures and videos.
Song of the Month
Calendar
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Important Dates
August 31 | Closed for Labor Day
Sept. 1 | Closed for Labor Day
Oct. 5 | Closed for General Conference
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County fairs, school, and the remaining days on the river are memories waiting to be slammed into the family history books. And even if you’re not showing a calf or don’t have a family member attending school, you can still come up with some fun, creative ways to preserve memories. For example, let’s say you attend the rodeo. What do you do with ticket stubs, food wrappers, or other random paraphernalia that ends up in the car? Or perhaps you drive by your old high school and a memory pops up of way back when. Then what?
Memory Preservation
Memories come to you for a reason. They remind us of the past and help us build a stronger future. They also are a great time to preserve said memories. Rodeo items can be photographed, smash booked, scrapbooked, and stored in a myriad of ways. High school memories can be video journaled, blogged, or journaled about as well. And don’t let this list stop you. Find your way of memory preservation. You’ll thank your past self someday. \
Keeping A Journal
Journals have remarkably different styles depending on the person. Some just write out day by day while others record certain moments or testimonies. One favorite is gratitude journals where the individual writes about their day, focusing on the positive (which can be much easier said than done in this crazy world).
Donating Journals
Also, did you know you can donate journals to be stored by the Church History Library of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? Delicate journals that require attention or that no longer have a living firsthand relative are especially desired for preservation. Contact them by phone or an online form to see if they’d be interested in your journals.
Finding Family History in our Independence and Pioneer Roots
Independence Day
One of the most beloved holidays, the Fourth of July, has come and gone again. Fireworks, watermelon, parades, a bunch of memories waiting to be preserved through photographs, journals, and more. July is also normally a month of fabulous weather, so even more memories like swimming lessons, picnics, river boating, races, and ball games come to fruition as well. A good summer goal is to preserve as much as you can for your future self and future generations to enjoy.
The key to preserving memories is finding something that is easy and fun for you and your family that is unique to you. Some take pictures while others paint, and some keep mementos. Whatever the case, if you can do it in such a way that everyone is involved—many hands make light work.
July Memory-Making Ideas
Compile a summer scrapbook where every family member contributes their own page about their summer. This can include photographs, quotes, and even pieces of items (such as a candy wrapper or a piece of parade tinsel).
Create a family video using photographs and video content (you know some of the family are snap chatting and stuff). Encourage all that have a phone to participate.
Create a family folder system where they can share photos and videos for people to access and view. Many sites, such as Google Drive are relatively free or inexpensive.
Pioneer Day
Another beloved holiday is Pioneer Day, honoring those that settled the Magic Valley. So many of the community are descendants of those stalwart individuals who dug canals, settled towns, homesteaded farms, and built the communities we know and love. There are many ways to honor and make memories about these people as well.
Film a “documentary” of about five minutes of an individual or a specific family’s life. Interview family members that knew them. Tell the stories about them using photographs and voiceovers. And maybe make a tradition of it every year.
Make your own mini pioneer camp or trek. Research the activities they did and set it up for the entire family to participate. One family I know plays the game Stretch. It’s a semi-dangerous knife throwing game, but nearly everyone remembers playing it with their grandfather.
Design a garden feature or floral arrangement that honors the pioneers. It can be hand drawn or actually executed in a garden. Include flowers that family members enjoyed (or fit their culture or previous country’s native flora) and anything else that applies. For example, many people enjoy using old tractor or trucks as garden features that they’ve inherited from relatives.
All in all, July is a month of memories. Enjoy the sunshine, the laughter, and the new memories you make when visiting the old ones.
Song of the Month
Sunday, June 1, 2025
Family History: Wedding Research and Juneteenth
June Weddings
“Oh they say when you marry in June, you’re a bride all your life,” is the line from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (an excellent family fun film, by the way). June seems to be the time of, if not the wedding itself, then the planning of it. Invitations, decorations, Hallmark channel research, making the in-laws mad, color matching, temple and other venue scheduling, catering, and the list doesn’t seem to want to end. June is also an excellent month to research other weddings, ancestral ones.
Family History Weddings
It took 1,024 people to create you if you’re looking at the most recent ten generations before you. That’s a lot of weddings, elopements, and the like. And every person has them. If not planning for an actual wedding, why not look up the past? Oftentimes there were announcements or posts in the newspaper, some photographs, and guest lists. Ask relatives about the ones they remember. Usually it’s something about the weather, but asking for more details can give you a fun picture of the past.
Some activities you can do along with this include:
Wedding Scrapbooking: find, print, and paste all the wedding pictures you can find into one place. You can also add side-detail information like their themes, the temple, etc.
Vision Board: taking the general consensus of the weddings you examine, make a traditional family wedding based on all of the previous. Use pictures and words to illustrate what a “traditional” wedding in your family looks like. (This one would be especially fun for 10-12 year old girls).
Collage: Find and print off all the wedding pictures of the couples you can find. Then cut and paste them together on a large piece of cardstock paper.
‘Guess who?’ Cards: create flip cards with pictures of the couple on the front, their names and wedding date on the back. These could easily become a memento to use at family weddings and receptions. Lamination is recommended.
Heritage Wedding Map: mark where each relative was born and then connect the markings to where they were married. I imagine the bigger the map, the easier that would be to accomplish.
Juneteenth
Another aspect of June is the upcoming Juneteenth on June 19th. In Texas, slavery was officially abolished on that day and others have quickly adapted it as a national holiday against the abolishment of slavery in general. Perhaps, this would be a good month to do your family research on Civil War era happenings. Some were directly involved with the Civil War, some were immigrating still, and others were exploring and frontiering throughout the West.
Some activities you can do along with this include:
Create a timeline of family events from 1850 to 1890.
Watch a Civil War-themed film such as The Red Badge of Courage.
Map out the frontier during the Civil War era and any social events that happened.
Read the Emancipation Proclamation by Abraham Lincoln. It’s worth the read.
Create a slideshow depicting any known photographs in the family from between 1850 to 1890.
Weddings, emancipation, frontier exploration, and family history can all be rolled in together like a giant cinnamon roll this June. Have fun!
Song of the Month
Calendar
Check the calendar for classes and other opportunities!
Important Dates
June 15th | Closed for Father's Day
June 29th-July 5th | Closed for Independence Day
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