Of Graduations, Weddings & Family Reunions

Wedding & Reception in Seattle, and a Family Get-Together
(get a large house with a huge yard for the day after party!)

Are you exhausted yet? Or are your big family events somewhere on the horizon? Between graduations, weddings and family reunions, the summer months are always eventful. And many of us try to fit in a big of genealogy or family history research if our summer travels take us back to our ancestors' places.

This past weekend (not quite summer so we all had school and work schedules to negotiate) our extended family combined several of these events and hosted a family get-together (our reunion is in August) all out of town. Between the packing, driving, flying, pick-ups at the airport, unpacking, assigning rooms at our rental house and various hotels, meals, wedding service, reception (great food and music!), late night snacks and chats, big family get-together (early morning ice and beer run, food and drink setup, and the infamous "can opener" presentation to the lucky couple) plus a free day for sightseeing and an evening boat trip - this was an eventful long weekend.

I had great hopes of cornering a few of the elders to get answers to some questions or ask for additional information. I was also hoping to stop by the central library while the others were sightseeing to get a bit of family history research in. Did it happen? No - there was way too much going on with way too little time to visit, let alone research. But I am proud of myself for taking scads of photos and getting the newest email addresses and cell phone numbers. I am going to have to try for those chats again during the family reunion in August and will take advantage of some interview apps for our smart phones that have recently been introduced.

Do you have any research plans for the summer? If those plans involve family members, how do you stay on track with all those people and so little time at reunions and get-togethers?