capturing memories with organized photos

I'm a huge fan of taking pictures. I love how they capture life's special memories and help us remember a moment in time. It's a wonderful way to help recall our life stories and celebrations. Once you press that button, that precise moment is captured and it can never be captured again. Reminiscing with pictures brings such comfort and joy.  When I look at photographs, I'm transported back to that time the picture was taken and I become emerged in whatever the event, people, or feelings that are associated with the photograph.

My favorite way to organize my pictures today is with photo books.  I put it on my calendar to do list and work on my photo books every couple of months, otherwise if I let too much time pass the task becomes too large and I feel overwhelmed. 

A couple of years ago I started digital photo scrapbooks for my kids through My Publisher and love them.  I started from their births and did one page each month until they were a year old, writing in their milestones, memories, poems or any other special thoughts.  And then after a year, I just did random holidays, vacations, and any other special events.  They are so easy to put together quickly and have lots of fun templates for the kids' activities.  They are 12 X 12 pages and the quality is great.  My kids love looking through their books and asking questions about themselves.  The pages above are from their digital scrapbooks and these below are also from their books to show some of the different templates and designs.

Here are the books all these pages are organized in.  I've put these books out at the kids' birthday parties and our guest have really enjoyed browsing through them.

{Love how simple these books are with these little details}

Since the books above are specific to the kids' milestones and other special activities and events, I do one hardback family photo book a year that contains pictures of the whole family.

I also have many old photo albums that hold my pictures from the pre-digital days. I don't know how we ever got descent pictures without viewing them first. My husband made shelves in one of our closets so that I have a place to store all of my old albums.

And then I have several places around the house where I display pictures.  I have little vignettes set up that include some framed photos.

{my entry table photo display}

{my daughter's room has a couple of vignettes with framed pictures}

{my mantle with framed pictures of preston and lyla}

Off my kitchen I have a little desk space and behind that space I have a picture board where I display random pictures.  With this board, I can easily swap out the pictures without having to mess with frames.  I love having these smiling faces in my little work space :)

{my desk}

{behind my desk}

I cherish my life's precious moments through my pictures and having them organized and displayed helps me fullfill that.