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A little over 9 years ago my family decided to head south, about 4 hours away from where ALL of our family lived, so my husband could go to college. Our plan was to move back home after he finished, but here we are still here. We love where we live, but there are some of days we ask ourselves why we aren’t living by family. We know right now isn’t the time. With a good job and our own house, it’s not time to move back home, yet. Living by family has it’s ups and downs, but to be honest, my husband and I have pretty awesome families and we love to be with them every chance we get. My kids absolutely adore all their cousins! My family is pretty darn close and we love to stay connected! This last year our family has kind of spread out. I had a sister move to Texas and a brother who is in the Air Force and moved (to a secret location that I cannot disclose on the internet) with his wife and two kids. Let’s just say I bawled like a baby when I found out he was moving far away. I still get teary when my mom calls me on Sundays and tells me all about family dinner and what everyone is up to. I talk to my sisters at least weekly on the phone. I call my mom a lot and Facebook chat my dad! Family is so important to me, and I feel very strongly that we need stay close as a family. 
Moving away scared me because I have seen many instances where the family members that move away don’t stay connected with family. I knew whether we were only here for a quick time, or here forever that I wanted my kids to know their grandparents, aunts, uncles and especially their cousins. My cousins growing up were my best friends, and they still are to this day! My aunts and uncles are the greatest! I wanted the same for my family! I decided that I would make sure that my kids stayed connected. There are a lot of ways to stay connected with family from far away. Here are a few we came up with!
Ways to Stay Connected with Family from Far Away
Talk to your relatives on the phone– It’s that easy! Just pick up a phone and call!! We call or text our family a few times a week. My kids call and tell grandma when something fun or important happened. My daughter loves to call her cousin on my cell phone a couple times a month and just chat about life. Actually hearing the voice of your relatives and talking with them is THE greatest way to stay connected with family.
Get family to use Skype or Google Hangout– Encourage your family to use a webcam and set up free Skype accounts. You can also use Google Hangout to set up a group chat! I absolutely love to hangout with my family on Skype. We love making goofy faces at each other and having a fun family chat!
Stay Connected with CloudPets™– I just recently heard of these adorable new one of a kind stuffed animals that help you stay in touch with those you love no mater where you are. This adorable animal can send messages to and from CloudPets™ using the free CloudPets iOS or Android app. They use Bluetooth technology to send and receive messages from compatible smartphones and tablets. Only invited family and friends can send messages to CloudPets, keeping parents in control.
We headed to Walmart to get us a CloudPet Puppy! My boys were SO excited when I showed it to them. They can’t wait to hear messages from their family far away! CloudPets™ make it easy to send a message to the most important people in your life, right from your phone or tablet. Parents, grandparents and loved ones can record a message from anywhere in the world and send it to a CloudPet instantly. When the CloudPet gets the message, its heart starts to glow. Squeeze its paw and the message will play. Squeeze its other paw to record a reply. Click here to watch the “How It Works” video. All you need for the CloudPets™ is a smart device and 3 AA batteries. Just FYI, the CloudPets weren’t by the toys when I went to Walmart, I found them in front of all the registers close to the Customer Service Center. 
My kids have had a blasting getting my messages and they can’t wait to get grandma and some of their cousins set up with it so that they can send messages to them!
Send Letters & Packages– My kids love getting letters and packages. It’s the perfect way to stay connected with family. We have to pick up our mail at the post office and they all trade off what day they get to get it. They get so excited when there is a letter for them. Recently I thought it might help my kids with their writing if I put out a little basket with pens, pencils, stamps, cards and envelopes. I put it on the kitchen table and the kids have had a blast writing their cousins, and me special notes!
Start a Family Blog– I have a family blog where I write about my personal life. My family used to read it a lot, but life has gotten busy and I don’t think they do. If I remind them though, or want to share pictures of something that we have a done as a family I will email them a link so they can read it! It helps them know what’s gong on. Blogger is free and easy to set up, and it’s a great way to stay connected with family and it’s also is perfect for journaling!
Remember Birthdays– When I was little I remember getting little ice cream coupons on my birthday from my aunt that lived in Colorado. I thought it was the sweetest thing. I decided I wanted to be that kind of aunt when I grew up. Unfortunately I am not, and I probably won’t ever be, but I do try to call all of my siblings, parents, nieces and nephews on their birthday and sing (or just let the kids sing) and chat with them on their birthdays! My grandma and my parents send cards on all my kids birthdays. They LOVE it when they get their cards because, like I mentioned before they love getting mail, but birthday mail is even better because the card is fun and it has money in it!!
Group Text– Group text can be annoying, but I love when I get a message from my family in a group text. Everyone is chatting back and forth, jokes are made and pictures are sent! Just tonight my sister sent some pictures in a group text of her daughter in her baptism dress. It’s so fun to chat in the group text and see what everyone is up to!
Hang up pictures of relatives– I had some cousins that we didn’t really stay close to because they lived far away. When they would come for a visit it took them forever to remember our names. I didn’t want that to happen so we have a couple of scrapbooks with all of our cousins in them, and we also have all their cousins Christmas card picture up on our family board. I made this board a few years ago and absolutely love when my kids walk over to it and say, “That’s Grace, and that’s Emma!” I’ve also seen a few cute things on Pinterest where they made a Matching or Go Fish game out of family pictures of relatives!
Make time to visit– We are lucky because we only live 4 hours away from family. Some don’t and can only visit once a year. Thankfully we can go visit about once every other month. If you can make time to visit family. Weekends can be a great time, especially long holiday weekends where the family can get together, have a BBQ and the kids can play! My kids are so used to the drive now we hardly have to stop. They get sad when we leave, but thankfully we know we will be back in a couple of months!
Attend Family Reunions– If you live too far away, or even close, make time and plan ahead to attend family reunions. It’s the best to stay connected and actually get to know your family members!! This last year our family went to Bear Lake for our family reunion. We spent three days there rented a huge cabin and had a blast!! We trade off who is planning the family reunion every other year and look forward to it so much!!
So there you go. Some great ways to stay connected with family if you don’t live close! Do you live away from family? What ways do you stay connected?
These are all great ways for family to keep in touch. My son has a few family members far away who would love to send him a message with a CloudPet! [client]
These are all such great ideas…we do family group texts all the time and they can get fun. My boys are always asking for the Pillow Pets when they see them… I may have to get them one!
i can only visit twice a year to my family home. this year will be the first time we cant go at christmas because my family is going on a cruise. i usually make gifts for my large family but this year we cant deliver besides sending our usual cards. Any ideas on how to get gifts or gift ideas to them this year? or do I even bother? maybe just cards from the carribean but is that being to obnoxious? help me!
Our family plans on taking their vacations at the same time, and we rent a large house, often by the ocean, and spend the week together. The cousins have remained close after bonding together that week. We try to pick a spot that is central to where everyone is coming from, and we assign each family a day that is their responsibility for meals, cleaning, etc. That way, no one is always stuck in the kitchen, or with other responsibilities. Works great for us!