Start the New Year with a Family Keepsake

It used to be that families would have a large shoebox filled with printed photos meant for albums that never got made. Today, with cell phones capturing countless pictures and cloud storage like Google Photos saving them for us, the same thing is happening. While the photos are automatically dated, they often lack important context—like what event they capture, who is in them, or the story behind the staged smiles.

When I was raising my two daughters, I kept an informal journal of their lives. At first, I wrote daily because things changed so quickly—eating schedules, sleep patterns, and milestones happened all the time. Sometimes, I’d ask my daughters to dictate their own stories to me, giving them an opportunity to share their thoughts. When they resisted, I’d sit my husband down or include friends to capture snapshots of their lives through quick notes.

Years later, after they left for college, I revisited the journal and found details I had forgotten. I felt so grateful to have recorded those little moments. As a project, I digitized photos, added certificates, scanned artwork, and even included covers of school reports. I published their biographies—Nicole’s spanned 1496 pages in 3 volumes, and Jaclyn’s stretched 1768 pages across 4 volumes. These biographies became family heirlooms, treasures for my daughters and now for Jaclyn’s son, Asher, who is 9 months old.

This year, I’ve decided to create an annual biography for Asher, similar to what I did for his mother. Writing a yearly summary allows me to start sooner and ensures I capture memories while I can. Here’s how I’m organizing Asher’s biography—a simple and meaningful system you can use, too!

Organize and Rename Photos

With phone cameras, we have an abundance of candid photos unlike in the past. To preserve and organize them, I recommend renaming photos with a system that includes key details:

Year Month Date Who What Where Example: 2024 12 15 Asher first food banana Santa Cruz. Next, place these photos in specific folders named after events: Example: 2024 12 15 Asher visits Thanksgiving Santa Cruz.

This method allows you to search by event (like Thanksgiving) or activity (first food). Once you’ve organized the photos, transfer them to a hard drive on your computer for safekeeping and back them up on an external drive.

Create a Journal

Use Google Docs (or your preferred word processor) to write quick, snapshot entries about your child or grandchild. Keep it simple so you don’t feel overwhelmed—even short, heartfelt notes matter.

Example of a Journal Entry: Today, Asher is figuring out the tricky process of crawling. I could see his little brain working hard to coordinate his hands and knees to move toward his favorite toy. When he got tired—and he must have been exhausted—he just laid his head down and rolled over. So adorable!

Tips for Enriching the Journal:

Share the Google Doc with family and friends so they can contribute their thoughts, stories, or observations. Ask them to sign their notes so you know who wrote what. Include small snippets like funny quotes, milestones, or observations from daily life.

Combine Photos and Journal Entries

Bring the journal to life by adding photos that match your entries. Resize and crop photos so they fit nicely into your document. Add visuals like book covers of stories they love, certificates, or scans of artwork to enrich the journal. Family and friends can add their own photos or images to the document as well.

Publish the Annual Biography

At the end of the year, take time to edit the entries and clean up the layout. Once you’re happy with the final version, publish it using an online printing service (like Shutterfly, Mixbook, or Blurb). Print a copy for your child or grandchild and start a tradition they can look forward to receiving every year.

Why Start Now?

Capturing your child’s story doesn’t have to be overwhelming. By starting with simple notes, organized photos, and an annual publication, you’re creating a keepsake they’ll cherish forever. It’s a wonderful way to preserve memories and celebrate life’s fleeting moments—the perfect gift to begin the new year. Start today and give your child the gift of their story!