A week-long Holiday/Reunion Celebration

Sandra Phillips, our Home and Family Specialist, did just that. She will
explain how they did it.

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This week-long holiday/reunion celebration is an exiting and memorable
event, and just right for many medium-sized extended families! It’s
intended for any family that can’t all be together regularly throughout
the year. Sandra said, “We wanted to bring them “home” to happiness.”

They held their reunion in their home, but if your group is too large
for that, move outside, or hold it at a school or church or park.

The following are some questions we asked Sandra about:

So you celebrate one holiday each day?

Yes. You can have it be an all-day activity, or just limit it to
the evenings, so they can do other things during the day: visiting,
seeing local sites, amusement parts, projects, shopping, etc.

And how does it work?

Everyone shows up on the first day. Let’s say that’s a Monday.
We immediately transform ourselves in time to January 1st. Give everyone
a Happy New Year welcome as they come in the door, complete with hats
and noise makers. Set out your favorite typical treats on the tables,
just like New Year’s Eve.
You play your much loved movies, checkers, cards, board games, or
whatever you normally would do on a New Year’s Eve.
It’s important that you stay up until midnight, and have streamers and
Confetti, and sing or play Auld Lang Syne.

Okay, so what do we do if we wake up with a hangover on Tuesday?

You get to sleep in! But in the evening, you all meet up again
and celebrate Valentines!
Have a pack of Valentine cards available (you can get them year-round on
line and at many party supply stores)
Write a love note to each member of the family. The family should write
notes and updates to any who might not have been able to come!
Host a very formal, romantic, candlelight dinner.
Even the young children can dress up; use the evening to teach some
basic etiquette. A lovely rose or carnation can be given to the girls
and, of course, serve chocolate candies for dessert!
If someone in the family has musical talent, it would be a great time to
sing some old fashioned love songs together.

Wednesday is what?

We celebrated a modified Easter on Wednesday at a local hotel.
The adults needed a break, and the kids wanted to swim in the pool
pretty much all day. But very early in the morning, the Easter bunny had
left baskets with a few candies, some DVD’s, CD’s, games, and stuffed
animals in them. That evening we had a traditional Easter Egg hunt in
the actual hotel room. It’s not too much area to go through, and the
kids could collect 3-4 plastic coin-filled eggs in each of the adults’
rooms (replenishing if necessary between kids).

Thursday has to be 4th of July!

You’re right! Spend the day at the beach, or in the mountains, or
in your backyard. If possible, do sparklers or approved fireworks. Wear
Hawaiian shirts and straw hats. Do a full-blown BBQ with all the
trimmings like baked beans, corn on the cob, lots of fruits and
cupcakes, homemade ice cream, or your personal family favorite. If you
can do a campfire, roast marshmallows, if not, make some popcorn. See an
outdoor movie! We had a family member do magic tricks to make it even
more fun and we had races, Frisbee toss, and squirt gun fights.

So now we must be at Thanksgiving?

We used Thanksgiving day to do a big family service project. But
at the end of the day, we hosted a very traditional Thanksgiving dinner
with homemade pumpkin pie and rolls. I pulled out my horn of plenty
(cornucopia) and lots of little Turkey beanie babies for decorations. We
did a formal centerpiece, and name tags at each setting.

And what then do you do on Christmas?

This is the holiday we went all out for. We spent the day
decorating a small Christmas Tree, and baking our most memorable treats
and candies. In the evening we sang carols. We did a reenactment of the
story of the birth of Jesus. Non-Christian families can celebrate their
own favorite traditional holiday events. We ended the night by singing
carols. Then Santa came and delivered a small wrapped gift to each of
the children.

The year is over but the week isn’t. We still have Sunday!

Put on your party hat! The last day of our family reunion week
was a huge evening Birthday celebration! An Un-Birthday. We baked a huge
cake, put all of our names on it, then each person put a candle on the
cake. Go ahead, play pin-the-tail on the donkey and musical chairs! You
must have a bunch of balloons and maybe even some streamers. Feature the
oldest and youngest member of the group in some way.

It does take a lot of planning (take lots of pictures!) but it’s worth
it.
And the over-riding purpose? To connect families, have joy, and renew
communication! Have fun!

Email Sandra at: sandraphillips@live-right.com For more information about her books and other products visit her website at www.live-right.com.