Yes, I have been "missing" on my blog

Three weeks ago I left to do a two day seminar in Norfolk, Nebraska where I was treated royally by the folks from the Nebraska State Genealogical Society and the Madison County Genealogical Society. It was a packed house and an attentive group. The two days ended with a trip to a cemetery for a grave witching demonstration.

Then I was off to Salt Lake City for the National Genealogical Society Conference and some meetings. It was a wonderful four days. At the opening session on Wednesday I presented a tribute to Marsha Hoffman Rising, an amazing woman, friend, and genealogist extraordinaire. That was a difficult experience and I hope I did her justice. The tribute plus some additional words will be in the National Genealogical Society's NewsMagazine later this year. After the conference ended I spent a week researching at the Family History Library for clients. Lest you think it was all work the time I was gone, I did have a lot of time with good friends in the genealogical community. A conference is like a family reunion and even better are the new family members you meet.

One of the conference week highlights was the "Celebration of Family History" held at the Conference Center of the LDS Church. A special performance by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir was so neat, followed by a wonderful presentation by a high ranking official of that church and then the evening became even better (if possible) with a talk by noted author David McCullough. I did not want the evening to end.

On the Friday of the conference week, Ancestry.com held a group viewing of the final episode of Who Do You Think You Are?, complete with refreshments. What a neat experience to be with a big room full of fellow genealogists watching this show.

I now have time off from conferences and seminars until mid-August for the Federation of Genealogical Societies four day conference in Knoxville, Tennessee. So I have lots of time for blogging, spending time with my grandchildren, preparing lectures for FGS, and maybe even dusting and vacuuming. A big maybe on the latter.