Take a look at our newsletter this month!
THE LEGAL NAVIGATOR DECEMBER 2018
DISCOVERYOURROOTS Genealogy Activities for theWhole Family
FROM THE DESK OF
Mike Bryan
By the time you read this newsletter, you will have enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner with your family. Now, the very busy part of the season continues as we prepare for the rest of the holidays. When spending time with family, it is important to have conversations not only about estate planning, but also how to plan for the possibility of long-term health care costs. As a newsletter recipient, you already know the estate planning techniques that are available to avoid probate and unnecessary guardianship costs. In addition, you understand that with Medicaid planning you could still protect up to one-half or more of your assets from being spent down. Lastly, you also understand that if someone is a veteran or a widowed spouse of a veteran, they could receive between $14,113 and $26,036 in tax-free income each year to help pay for health care costs. If you have not dealt with these issues, now is the time to discuss them with your family once again. Contact our office today with any questions. With that, I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! See you in 2019.
While some parents worry about negative stories that may accompany their ancestry, many experts and historians encourage teaching children about their heritage and genealogy at a young age. Learning about their heritage and family traditions develops an important part of a child’s identity, so take the opportunity to teach your children about your family history and where those traditions come from. Gather the family together and follow these tips to teach the young’uns about the golden days. Get Crafty Getting crafty is a popular way to teach your kids about their heritage. This gives children an outlet for their creative energy while educating them about the intricacies of genealogy and research. Kids can create a family tree or timeline with cardboard and construction paper. Have them start small with their own names and names of their siblings, parents, and grandparents. Then extend the tree to cousins, aunts, uncles, and great-relatives. Once they finish, have your kid present their family tree to a neighbor or their grandparent so they can teach others what they learned. Take a Staycation In today’s digital landscape, searching for ancestors and relatives is often as easy as a Google search. Visit the home country of your ancestors via Google Earth and learn more about the culture and heritage of your family’s ancestors. After taking a virtual tour of the city or town, search for recipes, games, or outfits that your family can create together. Have each kid select which one they’re interested in, and do them together!
-Mike Bryan
Continued on page 2 ...
740-452-8484 • 1
... Cover story, continued
For a more in-depth tour, visit cemeteries across the world without even buying a plane ticket. BillionGraves.com is an online sharing and research site that aims to feature — just as the name would suggest — billions of grave sites around the world. BillionGraves allows users to create a digital database of cemeteries around the world by snapping a photo, uploading it, and providing some information about it. Family members can enter a relative’s name and take a virtual tour of where their long-lost ancestors lie. A quick family search with your kids may put into perspective just how far-reaching your family is. You can also provide other families with a chance to see their relatives’ grave sites by taking a trip to your local cemetery, snapping some photos, and teaching your kids about tracking genealogy with names, dates, and descriptions. Make a Traditional Dish If you really want to make family history stick, eat food that represents your heritage. Everyone has memories of meals their parents
or grandparents used to make, so pass on some of yours to your kids! Teach your kids how to make great-great-grandma’s famous cannoli with her original recipe or master the shepherd’s pie that your grandfather was famous for. The kids can create a shopping list, and then you can go together to pick up the ingredients. Make the recipes together, enjoy them with neighbors or relatives, and share family stories as you do. Even better — turn the food day into a party. Guests will likely
share stories of their own heritage as you break bread over hearty memories.
Don’t let your inquisitive kiddo down. Family history, good or bad, is important for every child to learn. The best way to teach them boils down to your child’s personality, their likes and dislikes, and the time you have on your hands. But it’s never too early to climb that family tree.
In the wake of destruction, it’s easy to focus on self-preservation. After all, fight-or-flight instincts are hard-wired into our brains so that we can survive dangerous situations. But while fear drives the actions of many in times of chaos, there are a few who find greater strength in compassion. Tony Alsup considered the potential devastation of Hurricane Florence as he sat comfortably in his home in Greeneville, Tennessee. Rather than sit back and watch, the truck driver by trade packed up an out-of- commission school bus he’d bought and set off to South Carolina with one goal in mind: to save as many animals as possible. Stopping by every shelter he found along the coast, Alsup rescued over 60 cats and dogs in both North and South Carolina and took them to Foley, Alabama. The heroic efforts of Alsup saved the lives of many animals, but it wasn’t the first time he’d rushed into danger for a good cause. He’d originally purchased the school bus, which he turned into Noah’s Ark last year, to save animals in Texas and Florida as Hurricane Harvey pounded the Gulf Coast. When he finished there, his mission shifted to helping animals in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria ravaged the island. Hurricane Hero Tony Alsup How One Man Rescued Hundreds of Animals
of Florence, but as news stories turned to sports, politics, and business, America slowly moved on. Victims of the hurricane who lacked supplies received less national attention, but more than a month later, Alsup’s commitment to the cause was as strong as ever. Living out of the back of the bus for weeks, he drove pets out of the persistent flooding and convoyed shipments of desperately needed supplies to the coastal Carolina towns. You can followTony’s commitment on Facebook. He’s not asking for money or fame; he’s just a person with heart to serve, using social media to promote awareness about those who desperately need our help. If you’re wondering what drives such a person, you can find it written at the bottom of every update he posts:“Love y’all, mean it.”
It’s said that character is defined by the way someone acts when no one is watching. Many people heard of Alsup’s bravery after the devastation
2 • swbwlawfirm.com
Surviving the Season of Sweets How to Indulge Your Sweet Tooth With Less Sugar
Cookies, cakes, and pies, oh my! The holiday season is brimming with sweet treats of all kinds. Sometimes it can feel like candy and sugary desserts are around every corner, and yet you still want to indulge. However, when you consider that over 50 percent of Americans are insulin-resistant, prediabetic, or diabetic, that piece of pumpkin pie with whipped cream starts to look more dangerous than appetizing. During the holidays, how can you satisfy your sweet tooth without worrying about consuming excessive sugar and calories? Skip the candy and go for the fruits and nuts. Keeping a bowl of fruit and nuts nearby can help keep sugar cravings at bay. Dried fruits, such as cranberries, pineapple, or apricots, are both sweet and nutritious. Just be sure to check the packaging for added sugars. You can even make your own dried fruit with a food dehydrator. This way, you are completely in control of the ingredients. No matter what you do, just be mindful not to overindulge. Dried fruit is high in sugar and calories, but the fiber and vitamins make fruit much healthier than just about any other sugary treat. Another way to cut down on your sugar intake is to use dark chocolate in all your chocolate-based treats. Dark chocolate has about half as much sugar as milk chocolate, twice as much healthy fat, less cholesterol, 4–5 times more iron, twice as much potassium, fewer carbs, and more flavonoids and theobromine. The antioxidant properties of the theobromine and flavonoids
make dark chocolate as good for your heart as it is for your soul. If you have a recipe that calls for chocolate, reach for the dark stuff, whether it’s dark chocolate chips, cocoa powder, or baking chocolate. While it may seem as though everyone and their grandma is overindulging in sugar this season, know that you have the choice to opt for healthier sweets. And come New Year’s, you won’t have to spend the first few months of 2019 working off that extra cookie weight.
Take a Break!
Holiday
ROAST PRIME RIB
Ingredients
•
1 bone-in prime rib (6–7 pounds)
•
4 cups beef stock
•
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped Salt and freshly ground pepper , to taste
•
8 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
•
2 cups red wine
•
Directions
1. 30 minutes before cooking, remove roast from fridge and let sit until it reaches room temperature. 2. Heat oven to 350 F. 3. Make small slits in prime rib and stuff with slices of garlic. Liberally season with salt and pepper. 4. Place a rack inside a roasting pan and roast prime rib for 2 hours, until medium-rare.
5. To make au jus, place
roasting pan with drippings from roast over 2 burners on high. Add wine and scrape pan as liquid reduces. Add beef stock and cook until reduced by half. Finally, sprinkle in thyme. 6. Slice roast and serve topped with au jus.
CANDLE COOKIES DECORATIONS FAMILY
GRATITUDE HOLIDAYS SNOWFLAKE SNOWMAN
SNOWSTORM TRADITION
TRAVEL WINTER
Inspired by Food Network
740-452-8484 • 3
Stubbins Watson Bryan & Witucky Co., L.P.A.
PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID BOISE, ID PERMIT 411
59 N. 4th St. Zanesville, Ohio 43701
M–Th: 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Fri: 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
740-452-8484 swbwlawfirm.com
INSIDE THIS ISSUE From the Desk of Mike PAGE 1 Uncover Your Heritage PAGE 1 Hurricane Pet Hero PAGE 2 Indulge Your Sweet ToothWith Less Sugar This Holiday Season PAGE 3 Take a Break PAGE 3 Holiday Roast Prime Rib PAGE 3 Holiday Decoration Tours PAGE 4
CHRISTMAS TOURS Get Away and Be Festive This Holiday Season There’s nothing quite like the magical lights of the holiday season, and some destinations in the U.S. have perfected the craft of holiday decoration. If you’re looking to get away this December and still engage in seasonal festivities, add one of these places to your must-visit list. New York City’s Rockefeller Center New York City is an iconic location for
arches, but around the holidays, they are lit up with white string lights and flanked by snow. The Christmas decorations and lights surrounding the archway make for a Western- themed holiday pulled right out of a John Wayne classic. For holiday admirers looking for a unique spin, Jackson has you covered. Yearly Yuletide in Santa Claus, Indiana This one’s for the Christmas lover. If you can’t make it out to Santa Claus, Indiana, this holiday season, you can still celebrate Christmas in this tiny Midwestern town in January, June, or even October. Embracing its unique name, the town boasts a museum, holiday shopping center, and a Christmas theme park. In a moving tribute, the town’s
Christmastime. The scene is like a Hallmark card: Ice-skating lovers whiz past miles of twinkling lights underneath an exceptionally tall and amply-decorated tree. The tree is specially selected by Rockefeller Center’s landscaping crews, who scout out trees years in advance. It remains lit from November to early January, so you have plenty of time to check it out. Ranch Christmas in Jackson, Wyoming Jackson, Wyoming, takes its frontier culture to the next level during the Christmas season. All year, the city proudly displays four elk antler
residents also write responses to children’s letters to Kris Kringle himself. It’s impossible to avoid holiday cheer in this town. Disney World’s Christmas Magic What better place to celebrate the most magical time of the year than in the most magical place on Earth? Walt Disney World’s halls are decked to the max with a parade, gingerbread homes, strings of lights, and festive parties. Plus, costs to visit Disney World can be cheaper during the Christmas season, so keep an eye out for a vacation steal.
4 • swbwlawfirm.com
Published by The Newsletter Pro • www.newsletterpro.com
Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker