Challis Power

Fans of the Y in U City Tickled pink And tickled blue             Lindsey’s twins were born this morning, Sunday, January 27.   What’s that old saying about the “child that is born on the Sabbath day…is happy and wise”?     We are happy!   They rushed their birth a bit—the doctor had them scheduled for their grand entrance on February 9.   But apparently, they were anxious, or at least Baby Girl was.   She was ready to jump into the world feet first.   She weighed 4 lbs. 9 oz. Brother topped her a bit at 5 lbs.   However, from the start, she could breathe on her own while he needed a little help. They might both need to spend a little extra time in the hospital, but are here, “safe and sound.”                 Work continues at the Family History Library, mostly our own work, as most patrons who have come in have worked independently.   Researching the families of my third great-grandmother’s brother and sister led me to read about orphan law and workhouses in Great

Saturday, Melissa hosted a shower for Lindsey's twins. Mitch and Lexi flew in from Kansas City.   Lexi helped with the shower, while Mitch and Christopher spent the day skiing at Sundance, a "tradition" that they started just last year, but two-years-running is a good start.   We had an extra day off from the library, a temple day, a p-day, and Sunday--so four days of making family history, instead of doing family history.   A great blessing for parents is seeing their children enjoy being together.   And a great blessing of being on this mission is being able to be with family.  Happy to be together.   On our temple day, Elder Challis watched Henley and Hal while Jaynie and I went to the Mt. Timpanogas Temple. That was nice.   He was also the baby sitter of all five grandkids during the twin shower. Lots of bonding time and he is so good at it.   We were all happy that Lindsey was at the shower.    All week long, that was a question because she was awakened eve

Last week, we were recognized for completing all seventeen lessons in US/Canada training.   It was one of those times when you wish you could just quietly put the sticker in your book without anyone noticing, knowing that the sticker doesn’t mean you know what you are supposed to know.       But all week long, mention was made in all of the twice daily prayer meetings—so, hard to hide.               We did find the DNA lesson interesting—and realized we have a lot more to learn.      Sister Challis had her DNA tested at the request of a fifth cousin who lives in England whom she collaborates with on her maternal grandmother’s line.   No match, which was disappointing, but sometimes fifth cousins don’t share enough DNA for a match.   It could be a fulltime job keeping track of all those matching cousins. It is doubtful that DNA will break through any of my “brick walls,” but maybe we can help someone else do that. Maybe.             Elder Challis has wondered aloud if the c

Ready to teach babies about their heritage. Just keep walking.   We are on the “home stretch” in our US/Canada lessons, which doesn’t necessarily mean that we will be “home,” secure in our ability to help others research—but the lessons have been a “stretch.”    Last week, we completed LDS; African American; and Native American Lessons.   Native American was an all-day marathon as we looked for a Cherokee family in records and filled in pedigree charts.   We hope to complete the final lesson this week:   DNA.    And then we need to start at the beginning and review all the lessons.             Success stories as a helper for me included helping a woman discover the names of her great-grandparents and that their parents were born in Finland.   Unfortunately, we couldn’t find the immigrant records.   (I tend to have research nightmares in my sleep--   that was one of them.)     Another woman I helped, discovered some things about her father and his family that made her laugh