[speaker002:] well we just had a uh family reunion last summer as it turns out
[speaker001:] uh oh did you
[speaker002:] and uh the way it usually works is my father's father all of his children which is all my aunts and uncles uh have traditionally had this rotating schedule sort of thing
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] and uh would go to one of the brothers and sisters or my aunts and uncles or my father and they'd plan it and go somewhere exotic and invite all the cousins and so that's kind of the framework that we've been working under
[speaker001:] uh-huh well ours is similar to that although it does not fall on anybody in particular uh of course back when my grandparents were alive they always did it and then it seems like our parents kind of let it slide so
[speaker002:] um-hum
[speaker001:] cousins myself and my cousins have started taking this up recently and we've had one oh a few years ago and what we did was uh since we didn't weren't sure of all the addresses and what have you that we started sending out flyers a year beforehand and uh
[speaker002:] so a pretty big adventure there
[speaker001:] yes you know trying to see who knew where who else lived and what have you and also gave them a little questionnaire to fill out as to what would be the most convenient time we gave them a couple of choices there uh time and place whether they would like to go back to our quote old hometown or someplace in between for all of us
[speaker002:] so so how many generations were you trying to round up was this just like from your grandparents on down or we you trying to get second and third cousins and
[speaker001:] yes uh-huh yes just you know anybody that was in the family mostly cousins second cousins and what have you and their families and anybody that
[speaker002:] um-hum
[speaker001:] you know wanted to we wound up going to um since I was I was born in Arkansas and that's what we considered our hometown we wound up going to Biloxi Mississippi
[speaker002:] um-hum
[speaker001:] and we uh of course called ahead and got reservations for everyone and uh it turned out real well because the children then had a swimming pool and what have you and it gave us a chance to get reacquainted without all the burden falling on somebody else
[speaker002:] that sounds like a good way to do it because what happens with with our system is you know the the family who's turns it comes and and they come every oh let's see every two years every three years something like that
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] um generally finds themselves really doing a lot of organization you know they wherever they decide to go they're responsible for deciding what games that are going to be played and what food the and who's going to bring what and
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] they don't bring everything but just making the assignments and everything turns out to be kind of a chore
[speaker001:] yes it I
[speaker002:] and uh was my family's shot just this last summer and uh my sister ended up doing most of the work and uh we've decided all the all the my brothers and sisters are pretty much grown up now we're all married we all have our own kids and it's kind of looking like this business of getting all the other cousins my cousins together is just
[speaker001:] um-hum uh-huh
[speaker002:] not really working out so well
[speaker001:] uh-huh well that could be
[speaker002:] because my children are are now have cousins of their own that they'd rather get with and and so I think what's going to happen in the future is it will be from my father on down and and all of his descendants and and those those cousins so
[speaker001:] uh-huh um-hum
[speaker002:] we're we're kind of dissipating as we get bigger and bigger here
[speaker001:] well we have a pretty small family anyway so uh we're only sixty two you know with our cousins and so forth and like my children
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] have no cousins no first cousins
[speaker002:] well that's kind of sad
[speaker001:] so it it's like I say our family's dwindling here
[speaker002:] that's yeah well my dad's one of about eight children and I'm one of nine and uh all of my aunts and uncles all have lots of kids so we had lots of cousins by the time you get all of them and their kids together it's
[speaker001:] oh I bet
[speaker002:] it's a big undertaking you know we have to find a a big substantially large place just to get everything set up
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] and uh what we did this last summer is my sister used to work for uh uh kind of uh a canyon retreat for uh uh disabled children
[speaker001:] right uh-huh um-hum
[speaker002:] and uh since she was an employee she knew what the schedule was and knew when it'd be free signed up and and reserved and paid for the place so so we could all show up and it was nice you know there're several cabins there swimming pool and horses and all that and it and we filled the place up
[speaker001:] um-hum yeah well that's that's good that's well like I say it uh we have been talking about again this well another cousin and I that seem to want to do this all the time that um we've been talking about getting together for another one because it has been quite a few years now and we'll probably go the same route that we did before because we had a good response
[speaker002:] back back to Mississippi
[speaker001:] well I don't know we're going give them another choice