Family Christmas Performances and games

Extended Family Christmas celebrations have been a tradition since before I was born, probably influenced by my great grandmother’s close knit Dutch ancestors. We were fortunate to have a large extended family located near where we lived in Racine, WI. One of the elements that was always included were our own created games and performances.

One year I remember my mom put a piñata up in the basement and all my cousins took a whack at it. It was filled with wonderful Christmas candies that melted in our mouths. Several of the Dahlbergs were musically inclined so we always had piano, guitar, banjo etc. to dance to on Christmas Eve.

When my mom remarried in 1979, mom and I carried our extended family gatherings with performances with us to California.

Some of the performances we have enjoyed over the years have been: puppetry (my mom, me and Josh) Christmas joke monologs (my brother or step dad) Christmas carol sing along by my step brother who plays Christmas carols on my mom's slightly out of tune piano and we gleefully sing along, sports related made up games (popsicle stick ball with ping pong balls and paper snowball fights) by my son, singing or signing by me, one year we made a clay model out of playdough of a family member and have others guess who it is, we tried to stump each other with word games and Christmas Quizzes: Christmas celebrations around the world. We always offer little prizes too.

This year my game will be: Funny captions for old pictures in honor of my step dad who first thought of it and used clip art, collected captions and put them in a special family book.

Happy Thanksgiving

I have never made a turkey in the oven but have made ham for Thanksgiving. When I was little the kids used to go out and fly kites in the brisk winds on a bluff where my uncle lived overlooking Lake Michigan in Racine, Wisconsin. I still have two kites but my son is not interesting in kite flying. I think I forgot how to make the tail out of cotton fabric scraps. The kites now a days are made of plastic instead of the paper ones we used to have. During the past few years I have been making crafts for Christmas time on Thanksgiving. Last year I made some craft items for our local church woman's ministry fundraiser luncheon. I am having difficulty with creative ideas for crafts this year. I am drawn to embroidery. I found an embroidery encyclopedia from the library but unfortunately it was published in the UK. I have an aunt from the Dahlberg (of Chicago, IL) family who made quilts and other needlework. I tried quilting but the rotary cutter and I did not get along too well. Last year I made fleece lizards for Christmas and embroidered felt pillow ornaments.
I am thankful for my family and especially for my Lord Jesus Christ. I am thankful for good health and that I can do genealogy!

Gates Family clues on Ancestry

I just finished a search of Ancestry for Peter GATES my ancestor. I found an index to the Barbour Collection which lists Peter Gates father as Zebadiah Gates and all of Peter's siblings match my friend's Ancestry list for Peter's siblings. The Georgina Cole library has the Barbour Collection for Connecticut Vital records in microfilm and now I know that I can check the B16-31 (Ga-Gaz)rolls for Gates names and B35-5 for Groton 1704-1853. The library published a Genealogy aid for finding things in the Barbour Collection at: http://www.carlsbadca.gov/services/departments/library/research/Pages/genealogy.aspx , I clicked on user guides and found the Barbour collection user guide. I can't wait to see what else I will find while researching Connecticut.

Disclaimer: I am not an employee of Ancestry or in any way affiliated with the company except as a subscriber.

Who was Peter Gates Father?

Looking for the Father of Peter Gates from Groton, New London, Connecticut. Peter was born 26 Feb 1750. An ancestry tree puts Peter as the son on Zebadiah Gates and Sarah Woodmansey but the Book (found on Google Books) Stephen Gates of Hingham and Landcaster, Massachusetts and his descendants by Charles Otis Gates does not support this. It has a completely different list for children of Zebadiah Gates which does not include children: Mary, John, David (brother of Peter who owned land with him in Leyden (Gate's Hill)), Peter (my direct ancestor), Zebediah, Sarah, Esther, Anna and Mary Gates.

My Peter Gates had a daughter named Lephy (aka Lephe, Lefy) Gates who was born in Leyden.

I have searched through many books on New London, CT but many of them are too early to list Peter's birthdate on 26 Feb 1750.