| As families grow and fan out across the country, and | | | | your reunion will be spent renting a few cottages at |
| matriarchs and patriarchs become unable to handle | | | | the beach this year, your list might include things like |
| the responsibility of holding everyone together, it | | | | sunscreen, first aid kit, coffee beans, fold up beach |
| becomes more and more important to maintain | | | | chairs, et cetera. |
| communication. Life is busy. There are responsibilities | | | | Forums and blogs for updates and discussion. Another |
| of work, school, hobbies, dreams and goals. It's easy | | | | benefit of a family website is the use of blogs and |
| to get caught up in your own life and lose touch with | | | | forums for the exchange of ideas. For last minute |
| cousins, aunts, uncles, second cousins, great aunts, | | | | changes or a lively debate on what to get Grandma |
| grandparents, et cetera. When you start a website | | | | for her 80th birthday, both of these venues are |
| for your extended family, you can keep the lines of | | | | perfect. |
| communication open and updated with ease. | | | | Announcements. Let everyone know what's coming |
| Upload pictures. Whether they are from a recent | | | | up: wedding, birth information, christenings, baptisms, |
| family reunion, a birthday party, or a special event | | | | graduations, birthdays, anniversaries, et cetera. Upload |
| like a graduation or christening that many couldn't | | | | lists of what the newlyweds, new parents, |
| attend, it's easy to upload pictures via your web | | | | graduates, and birthday boys and girls may need to |
| host. | | | | eliminate duplicate gifts. |
| One holiday letter ONLY. Instead of printing and | | | | Quick communication. When a loved one is ill and in |
| mailing a ton of annual holiday letters, just upload one | | | | the hospital or as the birth of the latest addition |
| to your family website. Send out holiday postcards | | | | progresses rapidly, it may be too much for the |
| instead, if you like the mail tradition and save a ton | | | | relatives who are present to keep the whole family |
| of money on postage, cards, and envelopes. | | | | updated as the situation turns. With a family website, |
| Family reunion news and updates. Trying to organize | | | | you can upload updates within minutes of their |
| 50+ people who are all over the country in different | | | | occurrence instead of making countless phone calls |
| times zones and varying schedules is no simple task. | | | | every time there's a change. |
| With a family website, you can easily communicate | | | | Everyday, the world grows smaller but the distance |
| with everyone at once. To choose a date for your | | | | between family members grows larger and larger. It |
| next reunion, upload a calendar and have everyone | | | | is possible to fly across the country in half a day, but |
| black out dates that they absolutely cannot attend. | | | | most of our busy schedules and tight budgets don't |
| To save on supplies, put up a list of the basics that | | | | allow for this indulgence often. With a family website, |
| the family will need during the reunion and have | | | | every day can be a holiday and a family reunion is |
| everyone sign up to bring something. For example, if | | | | only a website away. |