[speaker002:] family reunions no you just just talk
[speaker001:] does this give us the signal I guess not okay um we have family reunions about every year with my husband's family
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] and generally it's held in the summer and we have it in the state park which has worked out pretty well uh over by Clifton Forge
[speaker002:] huh which state park huh
[speaker001:] uh Delford have you ever heard of that
[speaker002:] no but it's in Virginia oh well it's bound to be beautiful
[speaker001:] right uh-huh well it's pretty good yeah uh there quite a few children in the family so we have to
[speaker002:] yeah yeah yeah
[speaker001:] try to find a time when everybody can be there and we've
[speaker002:] right
[speaker001:] been pretty lucky so far
[speaker002:] yes that that sounds wonderful I we uh we have family reunions not on a regular basis and there's mostly in my wife's family uh my family's very small
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] um it's essentially the four of us makes up my family but um when we do get together and and the two families do get together it's usually a wedding or or uh or a uh anniversary uh my wife's uh grandparents are still living and on one side both both are living and on the other side the grandmother is still living so um we do uh occasional get together usually in New Hampshire
[speaker001:] uh-huh oh
[speaker002:] at my uh my uh mother-in-law's house and uh
[speaker001:] where in New Hampshire
[speaker002:] uh at North Hampton right
[speaker001:] North Hampton uh-huh I'm from Maine originally
[speaker002:] I'm sorry
[speaker001:] I said I'm from Maine originally I'm not I'm a maniac in other words
[speaker002:] oh really yeah oh we lived in uh we lived in uh New Hampshire for ten years we lived in Dover uh until we moved out here
[speaker001:] oh uh-huh
[speaker002:] so uh yeah and I don't know do you do anything special to make it interesting
[speaker001:] well uh well uh we're we're some of the older ones in the family so the ones with small kids usually have ball games and kick ball things like that
[speaker002:] oh right yeah
[speaker001:] uh one of them has made big banners to put on the oh we have one of those isn't that awful shelter a covered shelter and they've had big banners to display across the front of that
[speaker002:] oh yeah uh-huh right right
[speaker001:] and it's always a potluck everybody brings food
[speaker002:] yeah yeah seems to me well the the the uh main event of course is the meal at the end uh
[speaker001:] right
[speaker002:] everybody has a specialty and so uh it's sort of it's it's sort of a high class potluck I guess you could say and uh it's wonderful it's uh uh I mean
[speaker001:] ah get all those good family favorites
[speaker002:] right I mean and and if somebody didn't make the usually thing they'd be you know everybody else would get all upset you know so if you try something new right and try something new it's not it's not acceptable
[speaker001:] drum them out of the family uh-huh
[speaker002:] and uh and then afterwards uh usually uh there's a gathering in the family room to watch a football game or something
[speaker001:] oh I see
[speaker002:] so uh and uh and the kids are usually uh playing out in the back she's got uh ten acres of property that go with uh with her house so there's plenty of room for the kids to go crazy and and the parents can
[speaker001:] oh that's great oh yeah that's great what time of year do you you have it in the fall like after yeah at football games it is it's wonderful uh my next family reunion with my family will be
[speaker002:] it tends to be in the fall yeah that's that's a beautiful time in New Hampshire yeah
[speaker001:] a wedding in Atlanta this month so we're looking forward to that
[speaker002:] yeah oh that will be nice yeah do you have a feel for how many people there are when you get together
[speaker001:] uh it will be quite a few because one brother has five children and they're all going to be there with their children
[speaker002:] whoa oh gee well let's see I I don't think I could put a number on it uh I know that uh we have three kids and um my wife has uh two other sisters and one of her sisters has um two kids and then her brother has two kids going on three so there's there's plenty of plenty of that and then her stepfather has uh a daughter and a son and the son has two two children
[speaker001:] golly so that's pretty that's pretty good
[speaker002:] yeah a lot of kids kids and the cousins really get along with each other they're all young they're all I
[speaker001:] yeah uh-huh do they do you organize things or get or do they just
[speaker002:] no I they're pretty good at it my daughter I guess is the oldest she's ten and uh she is really good at that you know that kind of thing getting everybody together to play games and stuff so they I mean they don't need much uh
[speaker001:] right they just have a good time probably
[speaker002:] you know much direction in that area and and then of course Grandma always seems to provide a a lot of things to a lot of toys and things yeah there's a lot of stuff just there to to let your imagination go wild with you know of course the new thing is the Nintendo
[speaker001:] a lot of things to do huh uh-huh right
[speaker002:] and uh all the kids seem to enjoy that we we will have an Nintendo somebody have will bring an Nintendo right I well my my I know my sister-in-law who uh is uh engaged to be married
[speaker001:] uh-huh always bring one huh yeah
[speaker002:] her husband's an Nintendo uh are her boyfriend I guess her fiance hard to keep track these days um is an Nintendo freak so he'll he'll have a he'll he'll usually bring a few games
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] um oh then we always video tape
[speaker001:] oh uh-huh
[speaker002:] so we always have the gang on tape and we see how they grow each year yeah yeah that's a lot of fun
[speaker001:] yeah that's interesting because that's a good idea yeah
[speaker002:] that's a lot lot there will be times when we'll turn that on instead of instead of watching something on TV
[speaker001:] uh-huh is her family in Texas
[speaker002:] no her family is in New Hampshire and in New York and in uh in uh oh in in North Carolina
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] oh and one of them is living in Rhode Island now they're all in the northeast part of the country my family's in Virginia and then we're living in Texas
[speaker001:] oh  yeah right well I have two girls and one is in Texas and she's a TI uh employee right now and uh the other one is in New Mexico
[speaker002:] uh-huh new Mexico wow that's we've seen just a little bit of New Mexico we haven't really traveled that much since we've been here uh but we've seen a little bit of New Mexico and that was very nice and Colorado seemed very nice
[speaker001:] right uh-huh Colorado is beautiful
[speaker002:] but everything in between was wasn't very interesting
[speaker001:] that's kind of what we found she's uh in the northern part of New Mexico it's pretty it's up in the mountains yeah it's beautiful
[speaker002:] oh yeah up in the mountains yeah that's that's what we miss we miss mountains and trees
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] of course you have plenty of uh plenty of uh mountains in Virginia and then in northern and you know up in New Hampshire and Maine too we had uh one of the um
[speaker001:] right right yeah
[speaker002:] times that we had sort of a family reunion was when uh was this I think it was last last winter we uh we went up to New Hampshire to go skiing
[speaker001:] oh great
[speaker002:] and uh a bunch of us got together it wasn't the whole family it wasn't all the all the uh cousins usually when when we make a trip
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] out there somebody else flies in or something because uh my wife's family all have well they have a lot of connections with the airlines my
[speaker001:] oh
[speaker002:] I have a brother-in-law who is a pilot my father-in-law is a pilot um and so
[speaker001:] that makes it great doesn't it
[speaker002:] yeah a lot of mobile people so the so the uh sister-in-law who lives in North Carolina can usually get up and uh
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] but uh and then so we're when we're in New Hampshire everybody else is in that area anyway and usually somebody will drive in from New York so uh it's usually some kind of uh semi reunion
[speaker001:] right well we go to Maine every fall I have a brother who lives there still and I have a sister-in-law and nieces and nephews so we always have a family family reunion up in Farmington
[speaker002:] oh yeah
[speaker001:] and it's usually out on a farm one of the girls has a farm and
[speaker002:] oh oh gee homesick um have you heard about these uh these businesses these companies that uh I mean their business is planning family reunions for people oh yeah that's I I thought about this and uh it seems like a pretty neat
[speaker001:] no I haven't huh-uh
[speaker002:] thing they do uh family reunions and they do um oh what do you call it um oh class reunions
[speaker001:] oh
[speaker002:] and they make all the plans they contact everybody and they make sure everybody's got travel arrangements and uh
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] and uh I guess it's in fact I think it was started by somebody who was a travel agent and they got this brainstorm that you know they could make a living
[speaker001:] oh
[speaker002:] by arranging for different family reunions and class reunions all over the country yeah I always thought that would be kind of might be kind of fun you know especially with a class reunion where
[speaker001:] uh-huh that's pretty interesting yeah
[speaker002:] you have to do a little research try to find everybody I guess it's a little easier with a family reunion and they you know and they they're really organized you know they setup they they get the hall and they and they uh
[speaker001:] right uh-huh yeah uh-huh
[speaker002:] uh arrange for the catering and they have name tags