Is there an option somewhere to replace various words with a key word on a global level? ie: My Wife, Jen, Mom, are all replaced with Jennifer.

For example, I say "What time will Jen (or My Wife) be home?" or my daughter says "What time will mom be home?" and in both instances VC recognizes it as "What time will Jennifer be home?"

This would make building and modifying a group of commands much easier rather than having to add the possibilities for every new command you create.

Is there a reason that a "family" payload XML wouldn't work?

If all you want is to systematically associate various phrases with one value, payload XML is generally how this is accomplished. It would be appropriate for your example.

Absolutely perfect. family.xml did exactly what I wanted. You gotta love the support and community for this program.