Hello, I'm Valerie Cefre, maiden name Garcia (y Guzman), and I'm very excited to join such an incredible group of people dedicated to chronicling the past for our future generations to enjoy! My mother was born in Zacatecas and my father was born in southern California and for most of my life, that's all I really knew about either side of my extended family. Both my parents had difficult childhoods which meant that they generally avoided taking about the past. It wasn't until my paternal grandmother was in her last days that my extended family (her in-laws) came to visit, from Texas! I was surprised to see my great uncles in Wrangler jeans, boots, and cowboy hats. My dad casually said that his father's side was from Corpus Christi as if it were common knowledge. Years later, my husband wanted to work on his family tree and I decided to do my side along with him but I didn't expect to find much since my mother was born in Nochistlán and my dad's maternal side came from Nuevo León. I was very surprised to find that the Mexican civil records and Catholic church records were so detailed and easy to find. By about my 4th generation in, I was hooked. I've been working on my family tree for about 7 years. Pretty much all of my work is on my Ancestry.com tree, I've included the link below and I'm more than happy to send an invite link if needed. I've learned so much while doing this research and I am thrilled to learn from this incredible group. I hope that I can contribute to the collective understanding of how we are all beautifully connected to each other. https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/172539693/family/familyview?c… https://www.nuestrosranchos.org/v.guzman-garcia