¹     Wendy and Tess were playing jacks on Tess's front porch. Tim came around the corner of their house. He was saying something, but the girls couldn't hear what it was. He walked to every corner of the yard. He was looking at every tree. He finally came to the porch with the girls. "I just can't find it," he said to himself. "Why can't I find it?"
 
²     "What are you talking about?" asked Tess.
 
³     "Dad says I need to learn more about our family tree," answered Tim. "But I can't find it anywhere. Do you know where it is, Tess?"
 
⁴     "No," answered Tess, "I thought all the trees in our yard belonged to our family."
 
⁵     Wendy couldn't keep from laughing. "Your family tree isn't in the yard," she giggled.
 
⁶     "Then where is it?" asked Tim. "How can I learn more about it if I can't find it?"
 
⁷     "Your family tree isn't a growing plant," said Wendy. "Your family tree is a record of all your family members as far back as people can find them."
 
⁸     "What does that have to do with a tree?" asked Tess.
 
⁹     "Let me see if I can show you," said Wendy. "Let's go get a piece of paper to draw on."
 
¹⁰     The children went inside and brought some drawing paper to the dining room table. They all sat on one side while Wendy started to write names. "This is my mom's family tree," she said. "She showed it to me when my great-grandpa died."
 
¹¹     "Whose names are those?" asked Tim.
 
¹²     "They are all related to me some way," answered Wendy. "Look here. "John McCormack was my great-grandfather. I put his name on the trunk of the tree. I put the name of his wife, Sarah, on the trunk, too. They lived in Virginia."
 
¹³     "That's not much of a tree if it only has a trunk," said Tess.

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