I could so use this with all the new thigns my 7 month old is doing. Also I love the new Trop50.

I have blogged about it here:

http://www.frufrugal.com/2009/08/31/blog-staying-connected-and-in-touch-...

In search of the next great bargain!

I stay connected to my family by making sure that I talk to them at least once a week.  My husband and I live 1200 miles from all the rest of our family and we have made it a priority to keep them involved in our children's lives.  We also make use of email and facebook for keeping in touch!

lots of photos posted on our blog keeps all of the family across the country up to date on my kids' development

Begin planning the NEXT reunion -- whatever that is, beach house, GNO, vintage stores shopping trip-- as soon as you finish the previous one so that you always have something to look forward to, even if it is 6 months away.  It keeps the thread rollng and makes certain that time doesn't slip away.

Deb
www.debontherocks.com blog
www.3smartgirlz.com consulting

I stay connected with close friends and family by posting pictures and videos, etc on Facebook. I also blog and use YouTube when possible too. I still write old fashioned letters to both my grandmas and print photographs to tuck inside of the kids.

My daughter would love this. She would record everything we do!!

These cameras are so cool and really simple to use.  I think this is a great way to stay connected.  I like to send cards too.  I notice that people love it when you send cards for no reason, so I try to do that often.

Desiree

aka "Mommy Reporter"

http://www.mommyreporter.com

I stay in touch with text and email - and in it's original form, I started my blog as a way for friends on the other side of the country (and world!) to keep up with the goings on in our lives.   I'm about to give birth to my first baby, and I'm dying to get a flip so I can post videos of all of her magic moments online, and email them to family who won't get to see her on a daily basis.

Recently, I've also kind of gotten back in to snail mail...it's really fun getting something in the mail - even a DVD which I need to pop into my computer - the fact that someone took the time to send me something tangible means so much in this digital age.

Come visit me at The818.com!

We stay connected with my family and friends by my personal blog, weekly weekend phone calls, and Skype! 

My parents love seeing videos of my son in action but the resolution is poor since it's recorded on my point and shoot.  Would be great to have a convenient and functional camcorder so that the grandparents can see their grandson in HD!

Here's hoping for a win!

Music, the Bambino, travel - is what makes me mama.

I've noticed that it doesn't matter if you live in the same city, state or county, staying in touch with family and friends can just be difficult - plain and simple!  A quick email or phone call here or there can be nice, but it doesn't provide the same level of connection that sitting down with your best friends does!  For the last year-and-a-half my group of friends (which, happily for me, includes family as well!) have been developing a fairly fool-proof way of staying in touch and getting together:

1. Pick a day and stick to it! We all live in the same state, so our get togethers tend to be more frequent that other people's might be - we've chosen the first Saturday after a new-moon to be our get together night.  Everyone knows this is the day of the month we get together - it doesn't move around and isn't easily forgotten.  We don't plan work, family or other friend things on these days - they are ours!  

2. Share: It can be easy for one or two people to start picking up the responsibilities of the group: hosting, cleaning, planning, bring food, etc.  This makes the time spent together more stressful for those people, however, and doesn't help the feeling of "togetherness."  To settle this problem we've set up a group Qlubb account.  These are great, free, private online tools (much like Meet Up) that always everyone to contribute information, pictures, notes, activities (birthday parties, picnics, etc), but it also has a sign up list for jobs: host, food, drinks, clean up (etc.).  Every get together has people doing different jobs - whatever works best for them that month.  Then, afterwards, we can all share our pictures and memories on the same site!

3. Leave the family at home: I know this doesn't work for everyone, but it's nice to have time away from the kids, husband ... pets (my furry children).  You can decide what this looks like in your group, but for us the rule is: no adult testosterone and only nursing babies under 1 allowed.  It can be really easy to shift the focus away from time spent reconnecting together if we also have to chase the kids around or don't want to talk about some things in front of our partners or children.

4. Be understanding: Of course all these steps doesn't mean that everyone shows up every month - that would be unrealistic, but we all try very hard to make it.  If someone is unable to, however, we all make a special attempt to contact that person during the next month - send them a card, call them, get together for coffee (if you're in the same area); let them know their presence and energy was missed!

It's helpful for  us to have a one day a month that we know, for the rest of the year, is ours to share together.  We also love our new Qlubb account, which keeps all our group information in one spot - pictures, comments, calendars, sign-ups, reminders, etc.  And by having a day with no kids or partners but only super understanding and love friends, it's the one day a month that we all can't wait for!

http://ejoyws.blogspot.com

I stay connected with my long-distance, online and even nearby friends by joining as many social networks as possible.  However, in this day and age, a lot of times emails, messages, texts, etc get ignored because we are so inundated with media.  So I write old fashioned, hand-written letters.  It stands out in people's busy, media-cluttered lives.

I use a Flip Ultra at work.  I'm in lovbe with it.  It's amazing.  Even in the dark, it still picks up and uses any light it can find to show as much detail as possible.  It's amazing.

My friends and family stay connected through a mixture of daily emails and phone calls. It's also nice to get an instant message from a buddy in the middle of a work day.

http://www.whatscookingatdd.com

http://www.creativepatience.com

We're a very close knit family that is always connected, especially when it
comes to our common interests like techy stuff and travel, and even
simple things like watching the Disney Channel together.My 5 kids get a
kick out of texting and facebooking each other, their aunts, uncles & grandparents, and Dear Hubs and I, and of course, their
friends. Its funny, our social media usage has improved considerably
thanks to those tech happy kids of ours! We would love to be able to expand this by setting up video clips on YouTube, and right now we only have the web cam, which isn't the very best quality and pretty much limits us to the family room--this would be a fabulous win!Thanks!

·**•.♥LOVE♥.•**·.¸ .·**•.♥LOVE♥.•**·.¸.·**•.♥

after 10 years, my summer stock (summer theatre) friends & i are STILL connected! we email, facebook, and talk on the phone, but we decided that wasn't enough. Last Thursday, we met in NYC for a reunion. one of them brough a flip ultra hd & recorded each of us giving a memory from our summer together. i remember thinking how AWESOME it would be to have one of these myself!! my friend is going to post them on facebook so that everyone can see them! i can't wait! i'd definitely love to win one of these so i can continue to stay in touch with my friends from summer stock!

www.shebecameabutterfly.net and www.msmodern.com and www.taking-back-control.com

Utilizing online calendars can really help stay connected, because everyone is automatically informed of the whole families activities and important events. 

I stay connected with family and friends with the use of e-mail. I e-mail them everyday and share with them cute nonfiction short stories I write. Sometimes they like the stories, sometimes they don't. There are three things I really love in life and that's family, friends and good-hearted people. Good-hearted people should be hailed up as superstars and super heroes. God bless them.

I use e-mail to stay in touch with family and friends. There are a few people I care about who don't have it - and we are less in touch as a result. One other thing I still do is to send real paper Christmas cards, but I get only half as many as I send and fewer every year.

The ultimate reason that we started blogging was for "connectedness".  When we found out my wife was pregnant with quadruplets, we quickly found out that there were way too many people who wanted to be updated on the pregnancy to keep up with phone calls. 

So, our blogging life began.  We had no idea then that it would turn into a new hobby and passion for Jen, but once the boys were born, it was and is her one and only way, along with twitter, to stay connected to an adult world during her day at home with quadruplet toddlers.  A flip, will be a nice help for our blogging fun!

Brad

www.4tunate.net

We moved last year and have found it difficult to stay connected to old freinds.  What has worked best for us is to have a blog, and to post what we are doing regularly, even if it is nothing much.  We also try to call and email regularly.

Anne

My family has a photo-sharing site, so we can all post pictures taken at events we have just been to.  For instance, at my Gma's 86th Bday party, lots of people were taking pictures.  Instead of emailing or printing the pics, we just upload to the site, and everyone can view and order the prints they want.  It's a great way to stay connected!

is a great way to stay connected, and sharing personal photos, stories,  videos, etc with family and friends. It definitely works for those that get online!

My best friend, whom I've known since I was 12 (we're now 38), and I have marathon chat sessions on the phone at least once a month.  Even though I haven't seen her face to face in almost 5 years, I know that no matter what I"m going through she will be the one whose advice I want the most. We don't email each other much, she hates FaceBook, and I"m Twitterilliterate, so the phone is the way we go! 

My husband and I however, stay connected through the day with flirty text messages! It's done wonders for our marriage! ;)

We would so love to win this!!! :)

I try to stay connected with friends through email, facebook, twitter, and blogs!

While my family is mostly close by, my husband's is not.  We keep in touch by e-mailing, and my blog.  I also post photos to Flickr as often as possible so my in-laws can keep up with the kids.  Recently, most of my family has joined Facebook as well so we can now keep in touch there.

www.voicesinmymind.com - personal ramblings
www.gettingcrafty.com - craft projects and more
www.recipecorner.net - family recipes and quick-fix meals

it's easy to stay connected to family when you're on facebook.  most of my family from around the world is on facebook.  we love to share pics, videos and posts through facebook.  it's amazing how we all can keep connected esp. with those serving in iraq or just living life in the philippines.

This would be great to take on my honeymoon!

My family and friends stay in touch by sharing various photos and videos thru email, social networks, and blogs! Lots of "technogeeks" in the family!