Create a Family Newsletter

When my parents left on their first mission to Zimbabwe they were terribly concerned about "missing out" on what was going on with their children and grandchildren.  All 11 of us were married by then with children a plenty (it is Utah, you know!) and some lived in other states and ALL of us were busy, buSY, BUSY!  As the grandkids got older it just got harder to keep up with everyone.  My husband encouraged me to start a family newsletter and so The Bouwhuis Family Newsletter was born and every month for the next four+ years we all got to catch up on each other's lives.  It was a LOT of work but definitely worth it. 

 

My computer has a program that has templates for calendars, agendas, letter heads, etc. (Microsoft Publisher)  One option is Newsletters.  I simply picked the one that I liked the best and filled in the spaces.  It really was pretty simple.  I chose an online picture that matched the month i.e. a Christmas image in December and then set the color scheme to match the image.  I asked each family for their highlights each month and then occasionally for additional information depending on the article I was writing.  I included photos as often as possible especially if they showed the grandkids in action.  Because the newsletter was going to the whole family and not just Grandma and Grandpa, I included inspirational excerpts from their letters and emails in the newsletter as well.  When my first son left on his mission, I added an article on his mission.  When he would get transferred I would include a bit about his new area with a photo and statistics about his new home. 

 

Don't leave this for the last minute:  Work on it all month long.  When someone sends something, cut and paste it to your newsletter.  When you see a photo on Facebook or other social media that you would like to include, do it then.  When someone texts you a quote, cut and paste it then.  It only takes a few minutes if you set up your newsletter for the next month while this month's is printing.

 

Creating this newsletter brought me much joy.  It lasted through my parent's two missions and through my oldest sons mission.  When the joy stopped, I stopped and switched to a newsletter for my immediate family entitled If Your Last Name's a Color.  (click here for that post)

 

Below is a list of some of the articles that were featured in The Bouwhuis Family Newsletter:

 

Highlights

Every family would send me their "highlights" for the month.  I would send out an email each month along with a deadline for when their 'highlights' needed to be sent.  Remember, people are busy.  Give them plenty of time along with a reminder email on the day that you're finalizing prior to printing.  If you still don't hear from everyone, print it anyway. 

It is what it is.  Something from most of the family is better than nothing from everyone.

  

Calendar for the next month

My calendar would take up the bottom half of the front page and include anything the pertained to the family i.e. baptisms, blessings, reunions, get-togethers, etc.  If there was more information included in another article in the newsletter, put the page number (for example: see pg. 4)

 

Birthday's & Anniversaries

A separate box contained a list of everyone having a birthday or anniversary during that month.

 

From the Great Ohio

This was the title for news from Mason when he was serving in Ohio. 

 

Out of Africa

The title for news from my parents when they were serving in Zimbabwe.

 

Cousins Corner

At current count there are 60 grandkids and 4 great-grandkids on just my parents side.  Jeff suggested an article highlighting each grandchild throughout the year.  I took the number of grandkids at the time and divided it by 12 issues to figure out how many grandkids I needed to 'highlight' in each issue.  The parent (or the child if they were older) were responsible to get me a current photo along with the child's favorite things - color, food, grade, friend, what they like to do in their free time, hobbies, etc.  I didn't come up with the questions, the parents just interviewed the child.  I would also include a list of the grandchildren to be highlighted in the next newsletter to give the parents a heads up.  This article was only printed for one year.

 

Our Family in Motion

This was actually a photo collage with captions under each photo.  Photos that showed our family in action - dance photos, sports, baptisms, blessings, birthdays, etc. 

This was an entire page.

 

Out of the Mouth's of Babes

This was everyone's favorite part of the Newsletter.  This is where we would record all of the fun things that people would say...especially the little ones.  People would email or text these to me as they happened which is really the only way it will work.  Forgetting is just a part of life.  This took up as much space as it took.  Sometimes I would get a lot of quotes and sometimes only a couple.  Make sure to record who said the quote and if you have a large family, who their parents are.  This will help out the family now but also help future posterity as they

read through your record.

 

Anamnesis

Amamnesis means recollection or memory.  I wrote down the name of each adult in the family i.e. Grandma, Grandpa, all their children and their children's spouses.  I cut the papers apart and put all the names into an envelope.  Divide the number of adults by 12 issues and that is the number of separate Anamnesis articles that will go in each issue.  Each adult being featured was to send an article/story of a memory that they had.  The field was wide open.  They could remember anything even if it didn't have anything to do with our immediate family.  Make sure to include a list of those who are writing their memory the next month.

 

Legacy

In this section I would share a Family History story of one of our ancestors.  Don't forget to include a photo with the ancestors name underneath along with how everyone is related to that person, for example:  Jessie VanOrden Bouwhuis is Grandpa's mother and the grandchildren's Great Grandmother.

 

Out of the Best Books

I asked family members to review a few of their favorite books.  Include the title, author, genre and a brief review.  Include everyone, even the grandkids.  This article lasted one year.

 

Conference Quotes

Anyone who wanted to could send their favorite quote or talk from General Conference.  I only did this article when Conference was the previous month.  Send an email or text on Conference Saturday and Sunday asking people to send their favorite things.

Miscellaneous Quotes
Use inspirational quotes to fill in space between articles.


 

Postage: .49 cents each

Printer ink:  $25 a cartridge

Having current family history recorded and helping

the missionaries to still feel part of the family: 

priceless!!

 

Warning:  Postage can get pricy along with printer ink...but not all families are as large as mine so it might not be an issue for you.  It can also cause angst when people don't forward their items in a timely manner.  It will only cause you stress if you let it.

 

Here's an example of what one of our Newsletters looked like:

(it's the only one that I had saved as a pdf on my laptop...probably not a superb example)

 

 

 

 

 





Create a Family Newsletter - Take 2!

When Matt left on his mission to Seattle I started a little newsletter for just our family.  By this time my oldest two were married and my daughter was expecting her first child.  I didn't want Matt to feel that he was left out of all the 'goings' on in our family especially with his first niece on the way.  By this time I had stopped publishing the 'extended family' newsletter.

 

As with the previous newsletter (you can find more on that by clicking here), I just used a program that was already set up on my computer that had ready-made fill in the blank templates (I use Microsoft Publisher...it's old but I know it well and it works great for me).  I chose a template that I liked and just filled in the blanks every month and change the photo with something free on the internet (you could also upload a photo that you have taken but I didn't want to put yet another pressure on myself...call me lazy).  Change the color scheme each month to coordinate with the photo.

Here are some of the articles that we included:

The Main Event

This was really the focus of our family newsletter and that's how I wanted it to be.  This way Matt was able to hear from even those who weren't super great at writing letters. This was space for everyone to write what was going on in their lives.  I didn't edit it at all...ok, not much, just corrected spelling.  I would type everyone's name in a little gray box (siblings, mom and dad, and spouses - see photo below) and everyone would just type a bit of what had been going on that month.  Everyone comes home every Sunday evening for dinner and our family Gospel Study so it wasn't a big deal for everyone to just take a minute or two on a given Sunday.  If you decide to do it that way, just make sure that everyone hits the 'save' button when they're finished with their bit...otherwise you may have to start over and that's a pain in the patootie!  These were never done in 'birth order' rather whomever was around and wanted to be next...

Special Points of Interest

Guess I could have come up with a more catchy title but it was already in the template and I just didn't change it.  This is where I would list family items that were coming up or needed to be added to their own calendars.  It was the next best thing to having an actual calendar printed in the newsletter like I put in our extended family calendar (click here for that post)

 

Baby, Oh Baby!

This was fun.  Here is where we would put photos of my daughter along with ultrasound photos and count down the weeks to her pregnancy.  We also sent out a fun gender reveal package when they found out they were having a girl.  (click here for that package)

 

 

Seattle Times

This is where I would include updates on our missionary (my missionary is the one on the far left in the left photo giving everyone the 'thumb's up').  Sometimes this section was short, sometimes long...depending on what information I was getting from him at the time.  If he was transferred I would try and figure out where he was living and stalk his apartment on Google Earth and insert a photo...it was SO difficult to get an address for him though as he was worried I would send mail there and it was against the rules), or I would put a bit about his new area...whatever did we do prior to the internet and Google search?

 

Out of the Mouths of Babes

I swear this was everyone's favorite part of the newsletter.  It was here that we would record all of the funny things that people say that you just know you'll never forget but you do.  Remember, babes don't have to be just the young ones...I've got a few VERY funny kids and they aren't so young anymore.

 

iFunny

I have a teenage son who just loves to share funny things that he stumbles upon on the internet.  Jeff came up with the idea that he could be in charge of this article so every month Colin would look for just the perfect comic, or photo, or something that tickled his funny bone.  He's a great kid!

 

Include Quotes

Not really an article but a great space filler when someone's article wasn't quite long enough.  I tried to find quotes that matched the month, for example:  November = gratitude quotes/scriptures.

 

 

Brown Spots

Another article that Jeff cam up with...he's a keeper.  This article was always written by Maren, my youngest.  She would come up with a question and then ask or call or text everyone for their responses.  In this case her question was:  "What is your favorite Christmas tradition?"  It was always fun to find out everyone's memories.  Making everyone's responses in alternating tones (in the above case: black and charcoal)  made everyone's answers a little easier to differentiate.

 

 

Include Photos

Including photos is not really an article either but it was one of our favorite parts of the newsletter.  Missionaries really feel like they are missing out on what's happening.  If you keep them caught up on things at home it can really help.



Here's my opinion, for what it's worth (which is not much)...if a newsletter works for your family then do it!  If it is just an added stress or is not accomplishing your goals, then don't.  And even if you start a newsletter, it is not set in stone.  If something stops working then stop doing it.  You have my permission.  I found great joy in creating our family newsletters and hope that it helped my missionaries to feel that they were still included in the going's on at home.