Well, here we are again, at the end of another year. Which also means it’s time to post my end-of-year wrap-up.

I am afraid it was not a year for great research finds, or revelations on the DNA front. I did upgrade Dad’s yDNA to 111 markers, and paid for a FamilyFinder test to one of our related Shepard lines. This was to see where the cousin markers might be with this Shepard. And guess what. NO match! What!

If the Shepard line, that yDNA shows we are likely related to, isn’t showing the same person matching us in FamilyFinder, I am not sure what to think. Maybe the generational distance has diluted the markers so much nothing is showing up in the DNA carrying this Shepard line anymore, other than the yDNA. Hmmm, maybe someone else can help me figure this one out.

I have been contacted by several distant cousins, (none really shared much in the way of data, or pictures, or stories, so I have nothing there). Or, in the case of the Krings, I was contacted by a person who descends from the Krings, but is not related to us – other than the fact that Herman Shepard, my great uncle, married Ruth Kring. I am hoping this Kring descendant can help identify folks and places in Herman and Ruth’s pictures.

This year I will again be going to Salt Lake to do some research. I am hoping to learn more about my Norwegian ancestors and their lives in Norway. The library can provide assistance to folks researching other countries, and I plan on making use of this service this time around.

Last month I upgraded my website, which means I was able to change the template to one I like much better. I also uploaded more images and documents to the site. Something I will be doing much more of this year. The image focus will be: headshots, family group shots, or family homes. If someone wants to see the whole kit and caboodle, they can go to my Flickr site, that’s what it is for. There will also be a lot more ancestral documents to see soon on the site: vital records, wills, military documents, etc. There is no reason for them to sit on my hard drive just taking up space.

I wasn’t able to post as many ancestress stories as I would have liked this last year. Unfortunately, work, and having to pay the bills, gets in the way of my hobby time more than I would like. Or, I run into research blocks, where I am at a certain point in my research, but getting the record I need to continue means a trip to a courthouse, a facility in another state, or some other annoying hurdle to jump. But, I’ll keep truckin’ and do what I can to continue that project.

And, that about wraps it up! Here’s to cool finds and revelations in the new year, to me, and every other genealogist. (Oh, yeah–I updated my theme!)