Family Reunion Hot Wheel Party

Posted on April 20, 2011 by Aunt Mo

I love to do family reunion presentations to church groups and women’s conferences. At my recent presentation one of the dear grandma’s that attended expressed some concern about doing a three day family reunion and it occurred to me (kind of like one of those “could’ve had a V-8 moments in the commercials)- have I ever mentioned that your reunion doesn’t have to last three days or two or even all day? A family reunion can be a fun afternoon with your family at the park, swimming pool or the family homestead. Any time you can get together as a family is a good thing and counts as a family reunion.

So I thought I’d tell you about a fun party idea for abbreviated family reunion. My family loves to have their own car races- Pinewood Derby or Hot Wheels race.

If you know anything about scouting you know how fun and popular a Pinewood Derby can be. About 10 years ago we had derby at our family reunion. We let anyone that wanted to participate bring a derby car. It could be one that they had made in the past or one that they made just for our derby. We awarded prizes for how the cars looked and how they performed.

We arranged for a man in our local to bring his derby race track and timer for our event. He charged us $20.00. Our reunion was held at a campground and we asked the camp hosts to be the judges at our derby. We invited them to stay for Dutch oven cobbler after the races and I think they really enjoyed being part of things. We gave trophies for the fastest car and also gave out the following awards:

Best Paint Job
Most Colorful
Most Realistic
Most Original
Best Workmanship
Best Funny Car
Coolest Design
Most Unusual

I heard of a family that passed out unfinished Pinewood Derby kits to their family as they arrived at their family reunion. They gave them an hour to put their cars together and make whatever alterations they wanted to their car. When the hour was up they began the race with roughly finished cars.

It was quite surprising to me how excited everyone was about participating in the derby. One of my nephews even had his car professionally painted.

Hot Wheel Car Races

When my brothers and I were little we used to have Hot Wheels races and the tradition continues with our children today. In fact, if any of my nieces and nephews read are reading this blog just remember Aunt MO ALWAYS has the fastest car!! The track we used to use is now orange “vintage” track and you cannot buy it at the store or online. However, you can, always find it on eBay. The most important part of your race is the starter which you see pictured here.

We love to get Hot Wheels cars in our Christmas stocking and then have a “race day” during the holiday. At other times of the year we converge on the local toy store in search of the fastest car rolling them back and forth in their clear containers and checking them for weight. We limit everyone to just two entries in our double elimination tournament.

I’m always on the lookout for Hot Wheel and Nascar type prizes and store them in a box until the next family race day. Notebooks, stickers, candy and even Spaghetti O’s make fun prizes for your race.

One final idea that I have never tried but sure sounds fun is to play a car relay race as a warm up before the big race.

CAR RELAY GAME: Have teams line up and each person in the team has a certain action to do. For instance, the first person in each group is a flat tire and hops on one foot; the second person is a broken steering wheel and runs zig-zag; the third person is a rusty transmission and takes three steps forward and two backwards; the fourth person is stuck in reverse and runs backward; the fifth and sixth people are a car with a trailer – one runs behind the other grabbing on.

The movie “Cars” sure made it easy to find auto type decorations and novelties. Wilton put out a Cars cake pan that was fun and fruit chews and cookies helped complete the party theme.

Gentlemen, start your engines…

Aunt MO

A difference of opinion is what makes horse racing (car racing) and missionaries. Will Rogers

Ten Ideas for Your Family Reunion- part 2

Posted on April 19, 2011 by Aunt Mo

Family Reunion Idea #6- Right/Left Game

A Right/Left game is an activity everyone at your family reunion can participate in. We always ask each family member to bring a “white elephant” gift (wrapped or unwrapped) to the family reunion or party. I always bring a few extra gifts in case someone forgets.

How to Play: Form a circle, each time you hear the word right, pass the candy, prize, grab to the person on your right. When you hear the word left, pass to the person on your left. When you finish this story everyone opens the gift they are LEFT with. HINT: Be sure and read with lots of expression and pauses- the children in your family will have fun anticipating RIGHT or LEFT. Writing a Right/Left story is pretty easy but you can find a fun family reunion Right/Left story here.

Family Reunion Idea #7- Bloomers Game!!

I have to include this game for your family reunion in this list because it makes me laugh. This is a very scary game for boys ages 10- 14. (There is nothing scarier to a boy of this age than women’s underwear) This game is good game for any family reunion but is especially fitting for a family “heritage” reunion theme.

Everyone should sit in a circle. Ask if they know what old fashioned bloomers are. Explain that in the olden days they used to call women’s underwear “bloomers”.

Hold up a box that is neatly wrapped. (In advance, you should have wrapped the box in at least ten different layers of wrapping paper.) Tell your family that inside the box are a pair of bloomers.

Everyone will pass the box around the circle while music is being played. When the music stops the person holding the box must open the box and model the bloomers for everyone to see.

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Be careful how you word your instructions because inside the box is not a pair of old fashion women’s bloomers but a pair (two) bloomers from the garden. The look of relief on the person’s face when he finds out it’s just “flowers” he is modeling and not “underwear” is a joy to see.

Family Reunion Idea #8- Tell a Scary Story

If you will be camping or sleeping over at your family reunion plan a few scary stories to share. I have found it best to assign out scary stories in advance of your reunion so that scary story tellers can be well prepared. There are lots of scary story resources on the web- just give your story tellers advance notice so that they can do the research and find the best ones.

I have a favorite scary story that Uncle Steven has shared at many family reunions, girls camps and scout camps. Family members that have heard the story at previous family reunions are always excited for him to share the story with reunion “newbies”.

I didn’t write the story but like all the best scary stories it has been passed down through generations of story tellers. The story is called “White Eyes” and requires some advance preparation.

Besides practicing the telling of this tale you will need to take a ping-pong ball and cut it in half. Color a small dark dot on each half with a permanent marker. These will be your "white eyes". Keep them concealed in a closed hand. When the time is right, pop them on over each eye.

You can find a free copy of the story here.

I’ve heard a lot of scary stories when I’ve been camping but this is the only story that made me scream- I hope you scream too.

Family Reunion Idea #9- “Are You Older Than Dirt?” Game

It’s important to provide a wide variety of games and activities at your family reunion. You will want to have lots or physical games but will also want to consider “Pencil and Paper” games that are not able to participate in the more active games. One of my favorite “Pencil and Paper” games is the “Older Than Dirt” game. In this game participants answer twenty questions about life styles throughout the years. For example, question number one says-

1. In the 1940′s, where were automobile headlight high beam switches located?

a. On the floor shift knob

b. On the floor board, to the left of the clutch

c. Next to the horn

You can find the entire free test, “When You Were My Age” at

http://familyreunionhelper.com/blog/2010/06/older-than-dirt-game-for-your-family-reunion/

Family Reunion Idea #10-Pipe Chimes

Make a set or two of musical pipe chimes. Making music with pipe chimes is an easy and inexpensive way to have fun with your family. My Mom saw pipe chimes more than thirty years ago and our family has been making music with conduit pipes ever since.

Pipe chimes are easy to make and don’t require the use of expensive tools. Cut pipes to exact measurements and create your own set of musical pipe chimes. It’s so easy you might want to make two sets for use at your larger family reunions.

As long as you can read numbers, you can play pipe chimes. They are numbered 0 to 20; they also each have their note name on them, so you can play a song that you know the melody to.

You can find easy to follow instructions and thirteen fun chimes songs here.

Musical Pipe Chimes for Your Wedding

Posted on April 19, 2011 by Aunt Mo

Dear Aunt MO

We have a set of the metal pipe conduit chimes. We have played them every Christmas. Now my daughter wants us to play them at her fun outdoor wedding.
Do you have any idea how I could get the music for the pipe/chimes for Here comes the bride?
Sandee

Hi Sandee,
I’ve been working on your "Here Comes the Bride" chimes music and came up with a rough draft. Give it a try and let me know what you think. Congratulations to your daughter!

Aunt MO

Here Comes the Bride

3 8 8 8
C F F F

3 10 7 8
C G E F

3 8 14 14 12 10 8 7 8 10
C F B B A G F E F 6

3 8 8 8
C F F F

3 10 7 8
C G E F

3 8 12 15 12 8 5 10 12 8
C F A C A F D G A F

For more information about musical pipe chimes click here

Do I Have to Invite Everyone To My Family Reunion?

Posted on April 18, 2011 by Aunt Mo

I received a question from someone planning a family reunion in August this year. This reunion planner expressed some concern over who they should invite to their reunion. There was one family in particular that she didn’t feel comfortable inviting to the reunion for various reasons.

If this is your first family reunion then deciding who to invite to the reunion is one of the first questions you have to ask when planning your reunion. There are all types of reunions. You can plan reunion with just your brothers and sisters and their families for a reunion on a smaller scale. Every generation you go back makes your reunion bigger and the more people and food you need to plan for.

If you are concerned about including a family in your reunion you may want to stop short of inviting families from that generation. There are plenty of reunions or “parties” you could have that won’t include that family. For instance have a “Cousins” party or a “descendants of _____” reunion. If you are inviting the descendants of _____ and they are part of that group it is difficult to not include them, but you can invite anyone you want to a party.

Edith Wagner of Reunions Magazine puts it this way, “A family reunion is not a wedding where you pick and choose who to invite. A family reunion should include everyone or at least you should invite everyone. Occasionally there may be family members you’d rather not encounter. On the other hand, not everyone wants to come, either, which is how it often works out.”

A good rule of thumb when deciding who to invite to your family reunion is to start with your closest relatives and work out. Begin with “Mom and Dad”- not much of a family reunion, then invite brothers and sisters and their families. Ask yourself if you have access to a reunion site that will accommodate this number of people and if you do then start adding branches from your family tree- grandparents, great grandparents etc.

Keep in mind that the further back you go the greater the numbers and keep in mind that families tend to multiply. We began with about 20 people at our first family reunion and now we’re pushing 100.

Hint: Large reunions need to be announced very far in advance to give everyone enough time to plan around it and save up. All family reunions require a significant amount of planning but larger reunions require many more hours of planning and lots of help from reunion committees.

So basically the question we should be asking is “What KIND of a reunion do I want to have?” Those are the people you should invite.

Thanks, Linda, for a great reunion planning question.

Aunt MO

Roasted Peeps!

Posted on April 18, 2011 by Aunt Mo

What a surprise I received Saturday when I dropped by my Mother-in-laws house. She had invited a few of her great-grand children over for an Easter celebration and they were having a grand old time roasting PEEPS marshmallow candies over an open fire.

There’s something unsettling about that for me- I mean WHO would roast those sweet little marshmallow chicks and bunnies over a FIRE? And why would Grandma, of all people, encourage such a dastardly thing? The thought of sweet, innocent children putting a skewer through a marshmallow chick or bunny and roasting it over an open flame makes me cringe.

So what’s all this craziness about? Roasted PEEPS! According to Grandma- everyone is doing it. PEEPS are marshmallows with sugar on top! When you roast them, the sugar caramelizes to make a hard crunchy shell.

As Easter draws to a close and family reunion season quickly approaches and all the pastel candy starts crowding the supermarket and drugstore shelves, consider buying some extra Peeps now for a Peep Roast at your reunion.

One thought- Peep S’mores? Does that make them S’meeps?

Twelve Classic Games for Your Family Reunion

Posted on April 17, 2011 by Aunt Mo

I heard a quote once that has stuck with me. IT goes like this- “New and improved is not always better than tried and true”. That quote kind of sums up the games I’ve included here- they are not “new and improved” but they are certainly “tried and true” classic games that we probably all played as kids growing up. Try some of these classic games at your next family reunion or party.

Game #1. Three Legged Race

I remember doing the three legged race at the Fackrell family reunion when I was a girl, this certainly is “classic” reunion game.

Equipment: Bandanas or rope for each team of two

How to Play: Each team breaks into pairs (matching an adult with a child keeps things fair and interesting). Using a bandanna or a piece of rope or twine, each pair ties one partner’s right ankle to the other’s left ankle. When the whistle blows, all of the pairs, assembled side by side at the starting line, race to the finish line. The first team whose pairs all cross the finish line wins.

Game #2. Clothes Pin Drop Game

Equipment: Canning jar or wide mouth bottle of any type, wood clothespins, chair

How to Play: When playing this game at family reunion you will want to divide into teams. You will need a bottle, chair and clothespins for each team. Place the bottle on the floor behind the chair. Players line up behind the chair. The first player kneels on the chair, leaning over the chair back. Each player gets 3 clothespins to try to drop in the jar. When each person has a had a turn dropping in the clothespins they count the number of pins in the jar. The team with the most clothespins in the jar is the winner. NOTE: You will want to make some rules about where you hold your hand while dropping the clothespins. I suggest keeping your hand at your chin.

Game #3. Kick-the-Can

If you like Hide ‘n’ Go Seek and Tag- this is the game for your family reunion!

Equipment: can (empty tin can)

How to Play: Depending on how many people you have, you choose one person who will be IT (you can have 2 or 3 if you would like.) You choose a designated "prison." By the prison you put a standing can. You have IT close their eyes while the rest go and hide somewhere. Then whenever IT chooses, they can go and look for their soon-to-be prisoners. Once a hider is captured, IT takes them back to the "prison" and that one has to stay there. The only way the prisoner may come out is if one that has not been captured kicks the can, then all those inside the prison are free. But, if the one who attempts to kick the can gets caught before kicking the can, he has to go to prison. You may decide when the game is over, by either everyone is captured or if IT gives up.
NOTE: At our family reunion we like to play this game in pairs- the game moves faster and no one gets stuck being "IT".

Game 4. Wheelbarrow Race

Game 5. Pin the Tail on the Donkey

I like this game because it can be adapted to fit any family reunion theme you are using. For instance, you can do pin the “crown” on the “king” if you are using a medieval theme for your reunion or “Pin the moustache on the outlaw” if you are using a western theme.

Equipment needed: Donkey picture and tails, tape or pins

How to Play: Hang up a picture of a donkey without a tail. Line the kids up a few feet away and give each one a tail e a different color). Blindfold the first child and slowly spin him around three times. Point him in the direction of the poster to tape on his tail. The child that puts the tail closest to the correct spot on the donkey is the winner.

Game #6. Gunny Sack Race

You can get gunny sacks, also known as burlap bags or potato sacks at co-op or feed stores such as IFA or Cal Ranch.

Equipment needed: Gunny sacks

How to Play: Line your family up at one end of the field. Contestants should step into the bag, one foot at a time until both legs are inside. The bag should come up to at least the player’s hips. Both legs have to remain inside the bag and the bag should stay up around the waist. On the word “GO”, racers begin hopping to the finish line.

Game #7 Duck, Duck Goose

Once I decided to be clever and adapt this game to my family reunion theme. It didn’t work- kids just want to play it saying “duck, duck goose”. They don’t like a “new and improved” version of this game.

Equipment: none

How to Play: In this game, kids sit down in a circle facing each other. One person is "it" and walks around the circle. As they walk around, they tap people’s heads softly and say whether they are a "duck" or a "goose". Once someone is the "goose" they jump up and try to chase "it" around the circle. The goal is to tap that person before they are able sit down in the "goose’s" spot. If the goose is not able to do this, they become "it" for the next round and play continues. If they do tap the "it" person, the person tagged has to sit in the center of the circle. Then the goose becomes it for the next round. The person in the middle can’t leave until another person is tagged and they are replaced.

Game #8. Mother May I (or Father may I, or whatever fits your family reunion or party theme!)

Line all children up on a start line and put one child on the finish line who is “Mother”. Mother will then tell each child, one at a time, to “take one giant step forward” or “do 3 spins forward” or “take 2 baby steps forward”. That player must then say “Mother May I?” Mother then gives permission to take the steps. If a child forgets to say, “mother may I?” then that child must return to the start line. The first child to cross the finish line wins and gets to be the “Mother” next.

Game #9.Red Light Green Light

Equipment needed: none

How to Play: Line your family up on the starting line. Choose one of your family members to be “it” . “It” stands on the finish line. “It” shuts his eyes and calls out “green light”. At this signal, the other children begin to run towards the finish line. Then “it” calls “red light” and opens his eyes. The other players, when they hear “red light” must freeze. The first child to reach the finish line wins and gets to be “it” next time.

Game #10. Red Rover

Equipment: none

How to Play: Divide the family into 2 teams. Each team makes a line by holding hands and stretching the line out. The two teams are arranged facing each other about 20 feet apart. One team begins by saying, “Red Rover, Red Rover, send (person’s name on other team) over.” The person whose name was called runs from his line and tries to break through the hands of any two people on the other team. If he successfully breaks through he then chooses one opponent to take back to his team with him. If he does not break through he must stay on the opposing team. The team to get the most players wins.

Game #11. Blind Man’s Bluff

Equipment: Bandana or other blindfold and a big open area

How to Play: Chose someone to be “it”. They count to 12. (You don’t want to give them too long to hide or get too far away”.) As “it” counts everyone else finds a place to hide or stand in the playing area. When “it” gets to 12 he then yells “stop.” Everyone must freeze where they are. “It” then says, “BLIND MAN’S” and the players must each say, “BLUFF”. You may not move and “it” must try to find each of the other players blindfolded using only their voices as direction to them.

Game # 12. Tug-0-War

Another classic game that can be adapted to your family reunion theme. Pit family against family or make up team names that fit your reunion theme.

Equipment needed: About a 120 foot rope (Measure 15 feet from the center in each direction and tape the rope at those points. When this line crosses the line on the ground, the team on that end has lost.) and perhaps some gloves

How to Play: Line both teams up on their respective ends of the rope. Each team pulls until one side’s tape crosses the line.

Aunt MO

Family Reunion Quotes

Posted on April 14, 2011 by Aunt Mo

I love good quotes. I like to end each of my blogs with a quote about families or family reunions. The quotes I am including in this blog are not quotes I have written but quotes from people with minds immeasurably smarter than mine. They may help you as you plan your family reunion as you use them in family newsletters, invitations and posters.

I have listed my top ten family reunion quotes at the first of this blog and encourage you to read to the bottom of this blog so you don’t miss out on a good laugh with “Funny Family Reunion Quotes”.

Top Ten Family Reunion Quotes

#1 “A tree without roots will fall over” -unknown

#2 "How will our children know who they are if they do not know where they came from." unknown

#3 "Heirlooms we don’t have in our family. But stories we’ve got." -Rose Cherin

#4 “I wish I could relate to the people I’m related to.” -Jeff Foxworthy

#5 “When we die we become ‘stories’ in the minds of other people.” -Unknown

#6 “This packrat has learned that what the next generation will value most is not what we owned, but the evidence of who we were and the tales of how we loved. In the end, it’s the family stories that are worth the storage.” -Ellen Goodman

#7 “If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting?” -Stephen Levine

#8 “The lack of emotional security of our American young people is due, I believe, to their isolation from the larger family unit. No two people – no mere father and mother – as I have often said, are enough to provide emotional security for a child. He needs to feel himself one in a world of kinfolk, persons of variety in age and temperament, and yet allied to himself by an indissoluble bond which he cannot break if he could, for nature has welded him into it before he was born.”
– Pearl S. Buck

#9 “Human beings are the only creatures on earth that allow their children to come back home.” -Bill Cosby

#10 “ The reason grandparents and grandchildren get along so well is that they have a common enemy.” -Sam Levenson

Family Reunion Quotes

"In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future." -Alex Haley

“The great gift of life is to be intimately acquainted with people you might never even introduce yourself to, had life not done it for you.” -Kendall Hailey

"Generations pass like leaves fall from our family tree. Each season new life blossoms and grows benefiting from the strength and experience of those who went before." -Heidi Swapp

"If you don’t believe in ghosts, you’ve never been to a family reunion." -Ashleigh Brilliant

"Family faces are magic mirrors. Looking at people who belong to us, we see the past, present and future. We make discoveries about ourselves." -Gail Lumet Buckley, writer

“Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.” – Jane Howard

"Like branches on a tree, our lives may grow in different directions yet our roots remain as one." -Author Unknown

You can kiss your family and friends good-bye and put miles between you, but at the same time you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your stomach, because you do not just live in a world but a world lives in you. -Frederick Buechner

“It is important for us … to cultivate in our own family a sense that we belong together eternally, that whatever changes outside our home, there are fundamental aspects of our relationship which will never change. We ought to encourage our children to know their relatives. We need to talk of them, make effort to correspond with them, visit them, join family organizations, etc.” -Pres. Spencer W. Kimball

"People are generally irrational, unreasonable and selfish. They deserve to be loved, anyway." -Mother Theresa

“Family faces are magic mirrors. Looking at people who belong to us, we see the past, present, and future.” – Gail Lumet Buckley

“A good way to learn to love our relatives is to spend time together in well-planned family reunions. A family reunion can be a very personal and privileged gathering. If you have never organized your family for a reunion, start now—you will receive joy far beyond your expectations. Yes, there will be discouragements. Some family members will say they don’t have time or that they are too busy. But the rewards more than compensate for the discouragements.” -Alma Heaton

"The future belongs to those who give the next generation reason for hope." – Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

“Family is essential because we all yearn to feel like we belong to something greater than ourselves.” -Laura Ramirez

Family Quotes

“Having children makes you no more a parent than having a piano makes you a pianist.–Michael Levine

“Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.” -Robert Frost

“Watching your daughter being collected by her date feels like handing over a million dollar Stradivarius to a gorilla.”-Jim Bishop

"The best effect of fine persons is felt after we have left their presence." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

I don’t care how poor a man is; if he has family, he’s rich. -M*A*S*H, Colonel Potter

“The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other’s life.” -Richard Bach

“Blood’s thicker than water, and when one’s in trouble it’s best to seek out a relative’s open arms.” – Author Unknown

“To us, family means putting your arms around each other and being there.” -Barbara Bush

“Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.” -James Arthur Bladwin

The past is not dead. It isn’t even past. -William Faulkner

"Perhaps the greatest social service that can be rendered by anybody to this country and to mankind is to bring up a family." -G.B. Shaw

“Our most important and powerful assignments are in the family. They are important because the family has the opportunity at the start of a child’s life to put feet firmly on the path home.” -Henry B. Eyring

“Families that play together stay together, especially when their play is uplifting and wholesome. Family vacations, holidays, birthday celebrations, and other activities build strong bonds and feelings of self-worth. The phrase “Remember when we…” is sure to bring love and laughter in the years to come.” -Unknown

"Be a storehouse of happy memories." -Gretchen Rubin

"Let us open wide the windows of our hearts, that each family member may feel welcome and ‘at home.” -Thomas S. Monson

"The family – that dear octopus from whose tentacles we never quite escape, nor, in our inmost hearts, ever quite wish to." -Dodie Smith

"Our family is a circle of strength and love, with every birth and every union, the circle will grow, every joy shared adds more love, every crisis faced together, makes the circle stronger." -Unknown

“I grew up with six brothers. That’s how I learned to dance -waiting for the bathroom.” -Bob Hope

"Our most treasured family heirlooms are our sweet family memories.” -Unknown

“Our most basic instinct is not for survival but for family. Most of us would give our own life for the survival of a family member, yet we lead our daily life too often as if we take our family for granted.” -Paul Pearshall

“Nobody has ever before asked the nuclear family to live all by itself in a box the way we do. With no relatives, no support, we’ve put it in an impossible situation.” -Margaret Mead

When you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are family happinesses. -Joyce Brothers

“The family. We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another’s desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together.” -Erma Bombeck

Family Heritage and Genealogy Quotes

I trace my family history so I will know who to blame.
-Unknown

"The measure of a woman’s character is not what she gets from her ancestors, but what she leaves her descendants." -Unknown

"He who plants a tree plants hope." – Lucy Laroom

"Genealogy, n. An account of one’s descent from an ancestor who did not particularly care to trace his own. " -Ambrose Bierce

“When our hearts turn to our ancestors, something changes inside us. We feel part of something greater than ourselves. Our inborn yearnings for family connections are fulfilled when we are linked to our ancestors…” -Russell M. Nelson

"We are who we are because they were who they were. . ." Unknown

“Genealogists never die, they just lose their roots.” -Unknown

“If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance.” -George Bernard Shaw

"If you don’t recount your family history, it will be lost. Honor your own stories and tell them too. The tales may not seem very important, but they are what binds families and makes each of us who we are. " -Madeleine Engle

What greater thing is there for human souls than to feel that they are joined for life – to be with each other in silent unspeakable memories.”
– George Eliot

Genealogy: A hay stack full of needles. It’s the threads I need. -Unknown

“Every man is a quotation from all his ancestors.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

"To our children, we give two things, one is roots, the other is wings." -Unknown

Genealogy: Collecting dead relatives and sometimes a live cousin! -Unknown

"To forget one’s ancestors is to be a brook without a source, a tree without a root." -Chinese proverb

Genealogy: Where you confuse the dead and irritate the living. -Unknown

"The kind of ancestors we had is not as important as the kind descendants or ancestors have." -Unknown

“Research: What I’m doing, when I don’t know what I’m doing.” -Unknown

“Take nothing but ancestors, leave nothing but records. “ -Unknown

“A family tree can wither if nobody tends it’s roots.” -Unknown

“When we die we become ‘stories’ in the minds of other people.” -Unknown

“We all grow up with the weight of history on us. Our ancestors dwell in the attics of our brains as they do in the spiraling chains of knowledge hidden in every cell of our bodies.”
– Shirley Abbott

“Heredity: Everyone believes in it until their children act like fools!” Unknown

“Kinship: it’s all relative!” -Unknown

“When you search for ancestors, you find great friends! “ -Unknown

“Still trying to decorate my family tree. “ -Unknown

“It’s hard to be humble with ancestors like mine!” -Unknown

Funny Family Reunion Quotes

"There is no such thing as "fun for the whole family."-Jerry Seinfeld

“Humans are not proud of their ancestors, and rarely invite them round to dinner. -Douglas Adams”

“You Might Be a Redneck If…Your family tree does not fork.”
-Jeff Foxworthy

“Any family tree produces some lemons, some nuts and a few bad apples.” -Unknown

"Some family trees have beautiful leaves, and some have just a bunch of nuts. Remember, it is the nuts that make the tree worth shaking." -Unknown

Shake your family tree and watch the nuts fall! -Author Unknown

“Friends come and go, but relatives tend to accumulate.” -Author Unknown

“I don’t have to look up my family tree, because I know that I’m the sap.” –Fred Allen

“Always be nice to your children because they are the ones who will choose your rest home.” -Phyllis Diller

“My childhood should have taught me lessons for my own parenthood, but it didn’t because parenting can be learned only by people who have no children.” -Bill Cosby

“Important families are like potatoes. The best parts are underground." -Francis Bacon

“I think my family tree is a few branches short of full bloom.” -Author Unknown

“A family reunion is an effective form of birth control.” -Author Unknown

“A family is a unit composed not only of children but of men, women, an occasional animal, and the common cold.” –Ogden Nash

“If you ever start feeling like you have the goofiest, craziest, most dysfunctional family in the world, all you have to do is go to a state fair. Because five minutes at the fair, you’ll be going, ‘you know, we’re alright. We are dang near royalty. “ -Jeff Foxworthy

“Never let an angry sister comb your hair.” – Patricia McCann

“Parents are not interested in justice; they’re interested in peace and quiet.” – Bill Cosby.

“My family is really boring. They have a coffee table book called ‘Pictures We Took Just to Use Up the Rest of the Film.” Penelope Lombard

"Reunion after long separation is even better than one’s wedding night." -Chinese Proverb

“Every family tree has some sap in it.” -Author Unknown

Aunt MO

…After all, all he did was string together a lot of old well-known quotations. – H.L. Mencken on Shakespeare

Annual Proclamations and Observances

Posted on April 12, 2011 by Aunt Mo

I just became aware of three official proclamations pertaining to family reunions and thought it was interesting that there are basically three “official” family reunion month.

Make your family reunion official by issuing an official proclamation. You can ask for a proclamation from your city for many reasons including the date of your family reunion. You could ask that the day of your reunion be declared, “Wells Family Reunion Day” or “Stewart” Family Reunion Day.

Use a proclamation to recognize an ancestor or a special family member. Dignitaries are anxious to grant such requests especially if the family has a long history of service in the community. Some communities will even dedicate a week to your special event, cause or industry. Reads more about obtaining an official proclamation for your family reunion here.

Family Reunion Month A Proclamation in 1985 To raise awareness of a growing trend of runaway children and newly formed organizations to help reunite families of runaways the Congress, by House Joint Resolution 64, has designated the period between Mother’s Day, May 12, and Father’s Day, June 16, 1985, as "Family Reunion Month" and authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of this period.

National Family Reunion Month While some commercial enterprises have dubbed August as National Family Reunion Month many social groups including churches observe National Family Reunion Month in the month of July.

Annual Family Reunion Planning Month A family awareness group with a focus on genealogy and traditional family reunion planning established in 2005 named November as "Annual Family Reunion Planning Month". Mark A. Askew, Founder, Legendary Heritage Heirlooms, "Family Reunion Planning Month." (November, annual monthly family reunion awareness observance)

Do’s and Don’t for Large Group Game Playing

Posted on April 10, 2011 by Aunt Mo

Don’t plan games that make people feel uncomfortable mentally or physically

Don’t force people to participate.

Don’t allow “leaders” to choose sides. This will lead to hurt feelings and discouragement. At one of our family reunions we had everyone put their name in a hat and then we drew out names to make teams- what a disaster. It took forever to get people to put their names in the hat and then everyone was so noisy they couldn’t hear whose name had been drawn. Try this idea for choosing teams. Line your family up tallest to smallest and count off into as many teams as needed. If you need four teams count one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four etc. For variation use Colors–Red-Blue, Red-Blue, etc. or by first letter of their name (not their last name if you are at a family reunion- veryone might be on the same team.)

Another idea for separating into teams is to pass out cloth hair elastics for people to wear around their wrists to designate whose team they are on and you still keep some amount of control over whose team people are on.

Do keep the instructions for the games as simple as possible.

Do keep control of the game. Explain the rules and demonstrate the procedure if necessary but after that stick with the rules. Children are notorious for wanting to change the rules especially if they have played some other variation of the game before. Explain that there are many different ways to play the game but that your family is playing it by the rules you’ve already explained.

Do have a back up plan and be ready to improvise if necessary.

Do vary activities. Even if your family is enjoying the game don’t let it go on too long. The idea is to stop while everyone is at the peak of fun then waiting until interest is waning.

Do plan circle games. To separate into two circles make one big circle then break in half, having each half become a circle of its own.

Do have more than one game leader. If you have more than one game leader you can take turns leading the games. That gives leaders time to prepare their props and get their game ready while the family is playing the current game.

For fun family reunion games click here.

Aunt MO

“By the time the fool has learned the game, the players have dispersed”

African Proverb quotes

Silly Getting to Know You Game

Posted on April 10, 2011 by Aunt Mo

When planning your next family reunion or party you will want to plan some fun “getting to know you” games. Here’s a fun idea to get to know a little more about your relative.

Wrap a gift of some kind that would be fun for any family member at your reunion or party. preferably something that goes along with your family reunion theme.

You don’t need to sit in a circle or in any organized order. In fact, you can play this game as you are eating a meal or waiting for an activity to begin. The important thing is that everyone can hear the poem as you read it so they can pass the gift around as directed.

The following verses are just ideas to use for your poem. You can easily write your own verses and even target specific members at your family reunion.

Getting To Know You Poem

Take this gift-now don’t be shy!
Give it to someone with blue eyes.

Yes, you are the lucky one
But give the gift to someone who has a teenage son!

Look around from seat to seat
And give it to one whose cooking can’t be beat.

Some of us are tiny and small
but give the gift to the one most tall!

Next look for someone that has the newest wife
and give it to the love of his life.

Birthdays come and birthdays go
Give this gift to the oldest person you know.

Don’t let the gift get out of sight
Give it to the person sitting on your right.

The longest hair will win it now
If you have long hair, step up and bow

The gift goes to someone with a college degree
a good education pays off we can all agree.

The one with the most buttons of any kind
Will get passed the gift right now, this time.

We should stop now, it’s really time
The gift is yours to keep and everything is fine!

You’ll find lots of fun ice breaker games here

Aunt MO

“The grass isn’t greener on the ‘other side’, the grass isn’t greener on your side. It’s Greener where you water it.”

Family Reunion Helper

Your number one source for family reunion organization

Author Archives: Aunt Mo

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Ten Ideas for Your Family Reunion- part 2

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Do I Have to Invite Everyone To My Family Reunion?

Roasted Peeps!

Twelve Classic Games for Your Family Reunion

Game #3. Kick-the-Can

Family Reunion Quotes

Annual Proclamations and Observances

Do’s and Don’t for Large Group Game Playing

Silly Getting to Know You Game

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