Tell Family Stories and Share Special Memories with a Photo Book

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Making memories with our Grandchildren won’t mean anything if they don’t really remember.  Help them relive the good times they’ve had with you.  Record memories with a photo book.  Look through photos and enjoy reminiscing about your time together.

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First, Create Some Memories

Have you heard all the talk about creating memories with your Grandchildren here at Passing Down the Love? 

If you haven’t, well, you haven’t been here long enough. 

Spending time with your Grands and creating memories is what it’s all about!  (You can learn more about Creating Memories here.)

Why You Should Record Your Memories

But just creating memories isn’t quite enough. 

We want our Grands to remember the time they spend with us. 

As we talked about in the article “How to Make Childhood Memories that Last a Lifetime”, you want your kids and grandkids to remember you. You want them to remember the things you did together and how being together made them feel – special.

So you’ve created some memories together. 

You had a ton of fun, right?  You went to the zoo, opened Christmas presents, rode a bike, had a picnic. 

You planted a garden and watched it grow. 

Throwing rocks in the creek, camping, swimming at the pool, and shopping. 

They’ve snuggled up with you and fallen asleep in your arms. 

There have been happy smiles and melt-downs. 

Messes have been made and cleaned up and a good time was had by all!

And you want to remember all of these moments. 

But how?  (Continue reading to find out more!)

How to Record Your Memories

There are many ways to help your Grandchildren remember the things you’ve done during your time together. 

Most of them are quite simple.

Here are some practical ways to make sure they don’t forget. 

And some ways you can remember those special times, too!

Use smells and sounds to trigger memories.

Did your Grandma’s house have its own unique smell that you recognized? 

Did she wear a certain type of perfume that still reminds you of her today?

  Were there roses in front of her house you loved to sniff? 

Do you think of her when you smell your favorite cookies she baked for you?

Is there a special song that reminds you of your Grandparents? 

Can you hear her humming Amazing Grace or Moon River?  Music, birds chirping outside, the swish of a broom.  Any of these things can take us back.

Sounds and smells can connect us to the past, our memories, and to those moments we cherish! 

Use your own smells and sounds to make memories with your Grandchildren. 

Bake with them, play your favorite music, let them smell your flowers, dance in the living room like no one is watching!

Talk about your times together.  

Each time I’m with the Grandkids, we talk about something we’ve done during previous visits or outings. 

The phrase “remember when we…” always starts a conversation that hopefully helps them recall the fun we’ve had with them. 

“Remember when we ate lunch outside?” or “Do you remember when that goat tried to take your papers?” or “We went swimming when you visited us last time, remember?”.  (Each of these brings a funny story for us…lol)

Look at the photos you’ve taken during your time together.

Be sure to take photos when you are together.  

And when you TALK about the fun you’ve had, you can also share the photos. 

Memories may fade, but photos are a way to hold on to those moments.  It is a more accurate record than your memory. 

You really WERE that young – and so were they! 

You really DID paint your face, slip in the mud, dance in the rain, and so on. 

Pictures can help you recall in more detail than memory alone.

Photos of your Grandchildren will help them remember, but will also help YOU remember those special times.  

Record Memories with a Photo Book

I have wanted to make a photo book using the pictures I’ve taken of my Grands and finally did it! 

So here is what I did to record memories with a photo book.

• Log into Mixbook.com and make an account.
• Navigate to the Photo Books section.
• Choose a theme or start from scratch to create your own design.

Mixbook has many themes and templates you can use to make your book. 

Sections include family, wedding, travel, and others. I chose to look at “family” themes.

With so many looks to choose from, you can custom make your photo book to look just how you want it.

Having so many themes to pick from is a blessing and a curse, but in the long run, it means your book won’t look just like someone else’s book, and there is something for everyone!

Here. I’ll make it a little easier and help you get started with the decision.

Some of the themes I liked best for a Grandparent/Grandchild photo book were: Happy Days, Sweet Memories, Simple Gold Whimsical, and Every Day Bright Floral.

I chose the last one for my book.  You can find these in the “Family” theme section.

• Add your photos.  You can upload them from your phone or desktop.
• Next, decide whether to autofill the book (they place the photos for you) or place them yourself. 

Don’t worry, even if you autofill, you can rearrange, remove, and edit your photos. 

I chose autofill, then tweaked the placement, added more photos, removed some, and changed my mind a few (ok, many) times until I was happy with how it looked.

• Rearrange, tweak, remove, add, and play with the photos until you have the book designed the way you like it.  
• Look at the preview, go through each page, make sure faces aren’t covered, designs look right, etc.
• Place your order.
• Wait a few days – my book came in 5 days – open your package and enjoy your book!
• SHARE IT WITH YOUR GRANDKIDS!  Or order an extra copy so you both can have one!

You can see my photo book in this video.

What I liked:

Choices.  Mixbook has many designs, themes, styles, and types of photo books making it easy and fun to find one that fits your project and purpose. 

You can add or remove theme pages as you wish, making it all your own.

Ease of Use.  It was incredibly easy to make this photo book – from uploading photos, designing and editing my book to placing my order. 

Mixbook made it simple enough to do that even a Grandma who might be a little “tech-challenged” could figure it out!

Quality.  The quality of the photo book is excellent! 

The pictures are crisp and clear, the printing is perfect and the sturdiness of the cover and pages is awesome. 

This will allow little people to enjoy turning pages and holding the book without fear of it being torn or damaged! 

Fun.  This photobook was fun to make and fun to share.  The Grands love it.  I might just make them each one of their own for Christmas this year!

Memory Keeping.  I now have a record of the fun things we’ve done with the Grandkids in the past few years. 

As my husband looked through it, he smiled and talked about each photo as we remembered our special moments together. 

He asked about a few that he didn’t recognize, giving me a chance to shake up HIS memory. 

We were able to talk again about how fast they’re growing up, but now have this little book to remind us of those days.

What I didn’t like:  

I tried, but couldn’t come up with anything for this category.  The book was exactly what I was wanting to create.  

SO:  Go to Mixbook.com and Record your Memories in a photo book.  There are other photo bookmaking sites to choose from, so pick your favorite. You can’t go wrong with this idea!

Photo Books make great gifts for birthdays, Christmas, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Graduations, or “just because”.   

Record memories with a photo book, share your photos, but more importantly, SHARE YOUR MEMORIES!

And Keep Passing Down the Love,

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