JACOB KONST/Arizona Daily Wildcat Pre-education freshman Melissa Brenneman, left, and her mother Theresa enjoy a laugh on the Mall on Saturday. Theresa Brenneman and her family came from Sierra Vista to visit Melissa Brenneman.

Students put their parents up this weekend as mom and dad visited their children's new homes.

Family Weekend is an annual event that provides an opportunity for the families of incoming and enrolled students to see their children or siblings, as well as Tucson and the UA campus.

In the Student Union Memorial Center on Saturday, Cathy Graham ate french fries with her daughter, Samantha, a pre-health education freshman.

"I'm a single parent," Cathy Graham said. "I'm just really proud of Samantha going off to college."

Cathy Graham came down on a bus from Phoenix and stayed in Samantha Graham's residence hall for the weekend.

Samantha Graham isn't the only freshman in the family; Cathy Graham also started classes at a community college in Phoenix this year.

On Friday, the mother and daughter toured Samantha Graham's classrooms and then did their homework together in the Integrated Learning Center, which Cathy Graham said was an important part of the weekend.

"We're together," she said. "Hanging out and being together."

Cathy Graham said she is very close with her daughter.

Although Samantha calls home every day, she only called home once with a case of homesickness.

"I just told her those kinds of feelings were natural and to go ahead and feel them," Cathy said, "and that I totally support her and that we loved her and we missed her just as much as she missed us. But you know, going away from home was a sacrifice she made to get educated."

While some parents said they had received teary phone calls from their children who were away at college, most said they were the ones doing the worrying.

David and Pat Baker drove from Phoenix to visit their daughter Kate, a pre-nursing freshman.

"I was calling all the time," Kate's mom said of the weeks leading up to Family Weekend.

"Yeah," David said. "The parents were homesick."

Kenny Chambers, an undeclared freshman from Orange County, Calif., took his parents and little brother to a fraternity barbeque before the football game.

Chamber's mom, Terry, said Chambers calls his family two to three times a week but that, as parents, they do not worry too much about him.

"We're not really worried," Terry said. "'Worried' is not the right word. We're just hopeful that everything's going all right."

Some parents, like Michael and Juli Finkelstein, are less carefree.

When Nikki Finkelstein, a studio arts freshman from Baltimore, Md., came all the way across the country to attend the UA, her parents noticed a few gray hairs.

"A midlife crisis for him," Juli said, pointing to her husband.

"Yeah. And separation anxiety for her," Michael said, nodding toward his wife.

"Who would have figured?" Juli said. "We're doing horrible, and Nikki is doing great."

As long as the phone bills are paid on time and the Internet connection is working, Nikki's parents said they can deal with the pain of separation.

"I have a screen name just to talk to her," Michael said about instant messaging his daughter. Nikki said she calls home about five times a day.

When it comes to alcohol, Frank and Teresa Brenneman from Sierra Vista said, although they prefer that their daughters, Geniece, an education junior, and Melissa, an education freshman, do not drink, they trust them to make the right decisions.

"They're both underage, so we're trusting that, if they do (drink), they won't get caught by the law," Teresa said.

The Brennemans bought their daughters a house in Tucson and stayed the weekend. Even the family dog, Harley, got to enjoy the brief family reunion.

Although the University Activities Board, organizers of Family Weekend events, planned numerous activities in order to keep families busy, some families decided to plan their own weekend.

The Gucciardis, from Plymouth, Mass., came with their son to visit Oriana, a junior majoring in English.

"We went last year to the Parent Weekend and I participated in more things, but this year we're independent," said Sue Gucciardi, Oriana Gucciardi's mother. "We did our own thing, our own restaurants. We've been looking around for things and we've had a good time."