GainesvilleMoms.com

Like many families, we've got relatives scattered across the state and the country. This weekend I took the boys to visit my brother and sister-in-law (their uncle and aunt) and this fall we're trying to fly up to Indiana to see three of their great-grandparents. I find that, because of the distance, it's hard to make sure my boys see enough of these loved ones in our lives -- even with e-mail and cell phones. How do you make sure your child maintains a close relationship with family and friends who live far away?

We have a family website, where we have a chat room, and post pictures and bulletins and updates. 'Course, my boys are too young to really appreciate it right now, but Big A does like to see pics, and Middle A is beginning to recognize people in pictures...it'll grow on them as they grow older. We're lucky, though, that about 80% of our extended families on both sides, all live here in the N. Central Florida area.

SSSHHHH! (I don't know...that's not ALWAYS a blessing, ya know what I mean)?

We also have a family website. We post pictures, movies, announcements and we have a chat room too, but we don't use that too often. My extended family is also mostly here between Chiefland and Tampa area. We all get together at most holidays so the kids have great relationships with aunts, uncles and even their great grandad and grandma are doing well in Crystal River!!

We use the Yahoo groups web site,
We also have a family reunion every 2 or 3 years and have since i was a little girl.
we post pic's and all kinds of news on the web-site group page.
it's great and free

We have a family reunion every 10 years when all six of us are in the era (30's or 40's). We were suppose to have one in 2006, but postponed it to 2007 for Tim's HS graduation.

Unfortunately, my older brother had just married so he couldn't take time off and on the way to the graduation my older sister was in an accident. So the six of us never made it for our 40's era. We tried to have it weeks before my sister turned 50.

I tried to set up another one for the holidays, but I don't think that is happening either. So together we are sort of putting the scrap books together.

I have a very dysfuntional family, dad and mom's side. So if we do get all of us together it is a mighty miracle!

Last time we had a reunion on my mother side was in 96 and all my mothers sisters, mom and nephews, nieces were there. all my siblings and thier kids too. We had a nice family picture done.

It was also my youngest brother bday (just turned 30 at the time) and my cousins' birthday (turned 39). So we really partied!

Now all the kids are grown, its even harder to do anything. they think its lame and have no interest and its like no one has any motivation or interest.

On the Bird side, we had a semi reunion in '99 when Grandma died. It was a memorial service. The only folks who didn't show was her 2nd son, my uncle Bobby and his wife (no $$) but his two grown daughters showed and my sister Donna and her son -she just had back surgery and couldn't travel. But I met relatives I didn't know and saw others I've not seen in years!!

I like the idea of a website, but i remember trying that and that didn't even didn't work for us. I don't know what it is with my family.

Maybe to much trauma?!

( my younger brother is at the age now that he remembers everything that happened when my mother was murdered (he witnessed it) and he is distanting himself due to this. )

We don't really stay in touch with most of my family. My mom's side is in California and we talk on th phone occasionally. I don't like some of my dad's side, and they haven't really been a close family anyways.
The family I stay closest to with my kids are my parents, and a couple of cousins.