Five genealogy activities to do with your family during the holidays

Once the turkey has been eaten, the football games have been played, and the shopping has been done, what can you do with your visiting relatives? The holidays are an excellent time to find out some information about your family's history. Here are 5 ideas to get the ball rolling.

1. Visit with the older members of your family. Along with their life experiences, they have acquired family stories. Ask them about their stories, ask them about their life growing up, and ask them what the holidays were like when they were young.
2. Now is a good time to drag out that old shoebox (or shoeboxes) full of family photos. Ask everyone if they can identify the people in the photos and if they can remember what was happening when the photos were taken.
3. Digitize the photos by scanning them. Don't have a scanner? If you have an iPhone, then download a free scanning app, like 1000memories.com's Shoebox App and sign up for a free account on 1000memories.com. All scans that you take will be uploaded and saved on their site where everyone in the family can view and add information to your ancestor's page.
4. Do you have ancestors buried in nearby cemeteries? Visit the local cemeteries in Houston and find your ancestors' tombstones. Before you go, download a free cemetery app, like RestingSpot and create a free account on RestingSpot.com. Then take photos of the tombstones with an iPhone or Android smartphone and at the gravesite, upload the photos and your ancestors' tombstones' information to your ancestor's memorial page. The GPS coordinates are automatically recorded for each tombstone entry.
5. Visit Clayton Library for Genealogical Research in Houston, Texas, and begin your search for your ancestors. Clayton's staff is very welcoming and knowledgeable. Visit their website to orient yourself to the information they have and find out their holiday hours.

There really is no better time than the holidays to start learning about your family history and constructing your genealogy, and Houston, Texas has wonderful resources to help you with every step of the process. You just have to decide to do it.