Greetings Fellow Family History Sleuths,

I know you're busy with all your holiday plans and activities, so I'll keep this short. If you find yourself needing a little break, you might want to take a few minutes to explore my Pinterest board of reunion stories. They're bound to make you smile.

Otherwise, enjoy your holidays making family history and stay tuned for more genealogical TV (Genealogy Roadshow in January and Who Do You Think You Are? in February – see some of the celebs below) in the new year!

See you in 2015!

4 Celebrities Named for 'Who Do You Think You Are?'

It won't be long until genealogy fans and history buffs can get another hit of watching celebrities time travel to their roots. TLC's next season of "Who Do You Think You Are?" begins on February 24th. Celebrities announced to date include Bill Paxton, Julie Chen who journeys to China, Angie Harmon who ventures back to colonial days and finds a connection to George Washington, and Sean Hayes who happily declared that #IrishFolksRule and had a bit of fun lip-syncing with the Aer Lingus crew on his return flight from investigating his Irish ancestry.

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Reunion Stories on Pinterest

Everyone loves happy news, so sometime this month, why not relax with a hot cup of tea and explore the reunion stories on my Pinterest board? You'll find cool and unexpected tales of people reuniting with other people or family history treasures.

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October 2014 Seton Shields Genealogy Grant

Leah Chase is known as the "Queen of Creole Cuisine," but she's so much more than that–a patron of the arts, a civil rights leader, a champion of New Orleans–you name it. She's a truly remarkable woman, (and full disclosure: I researched her roots), so when I saw that a documentary of her life is being filmed, I wanted to help make it possible for more people to hear her story. You can help bring the project to life, as well, by pledging your support to the crowdsourcing campaign here.

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Genealogy Round Up, December 10

Childhood friends reconnect after World War II, Japanese internment separated them

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Genealogy Round Up, December 3

Toronto man discovers play is based on his family history – Happy coincidence!

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Genealogy Round Up, November 26

Photo Credit: 3DPrint.com

How to Avoid Dying Alone With No One to Claim Your Body – It seems folks are starting to wake up to the concept of unclaimed persons. Here's another article that borrows from the recent Los Angeles Times article and others.

Update: Funeral for L.A. County's unclaimed dead remembers the forgotten

WWII Love Letters Reveal 3 Soldiers Vying for Same Woman’s Heart

3D Printing Allows Man to Preserve & Replicate a Piece of Family History in Incredible Fashion – Sounds as if it takes some doing, but cool idea. Suspect it's in my future. Yours?

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Genealogy Round Up, November 19

Ellis Island, past and present: Tracing the first steps of millions to America – Love this art installment by JR on Ellis Island. And this is the best batch of photos I've seen from it online so far. Check it out!

I had a lot of fun last month, waxing on about all things genealogical on this "roots and hoops" episode of The Kim Power Stilson Talk Radio Show! You might want to give it a listen while you're tending to other online activities.

‘If I Had Known My Mother Back Then’, A Daughter Puts Herself Into Her Mother’s Childhood Photos – Well, this should be confusing for future genealogists (as if we don't have enough problems identifying everyone in old photos already!), but it's still fun! h/t to Christy Camren

He Was a 98-Year-Old Veteran. A Picture Taken of Him Just One Day Before Death Has Moved America. – RIP, Justus Belfield.

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Upcoming Events

After traveling around and speaking in 40 states and half a dozen countries since 2000, I decided to take a breather from the road to tend to some projects. That said, I'm sharing exceptions here. And by the way, you can see if I’ll be in your area any time by checking my Events Calendar.

• No upcoming events at this time

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