Saving Family Stories. . .

Got some free time after the holidays? That's a great time to record those family stories either with a video or a book.

Saving family stories with a VIDEO...

​On several previous blogs, I've shared making a book either for or with your grand of a favorite family story or adventure. Another way to save those family stories or experiences is with a video. I have a Mac so that is easy for me to do with iMovie. But I notice there are other places to do this as well, such as animoto.com and wikihow.com. More about those two websites below.

Several years ago, we took our granddaughter to see her great-grandparents. I snapped many pictures of our experiences while we were there--from the trip to the airport, to the car ride to her house, to baking and sewing with her Mema, and on and on. I usually document such things with a book, but this year, I chose to share via a video essay. I burned DVDs of the video and sent one to my mother-in-law and one to my granddaughter. I also made it available on youtube and Facebook. 

Here it is. Hopefully it will inspire you to create such a movie:

Video-making websites:

​animoto.com

​www.wikihow.com/Make-a-YouTube-Video

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Saving family stories with a BOOK...

I've addressed this before in my blog--making books about a particular family experience. Besides preserving the moment for posterity, it is a great idea for a young grand who's learning to read. They're more tempted to pick up the book and begin reading if it's about them and something they have experienced. Even better if they help you write the book as they look at the pictures. And as I said, how fun for them to someday read to their kids and grandkids. The circle of life!

This book was with my youngest granddaughter. We took her to see her great-grandmother as well. One of the side-trips she took with cousins was to see a butterfly exhibit and movie. Hence the title, "Adventures of the Butterfly Princess." I just look at all the photos I've captured and see what title the pictures suggest. Butterflies played a role in this story, so I went with that title. 

Cover of book.

Butterfly exhibit and movie.

Making hot rolls with her Mema.

Playing on the swing set that her Poppa had played on as a child. The swing set on the left was built by her great-grandfather.

Flying back home!

Preserve those family stories and trips!

You can do this in a multitude of ways--with a video slide-show, a video scrapbook, a published book from a bookmaking website, a scrapbook with pictures and mementos, and even a recorded  audio retelling. And if you've done any or all of these, please share. I'd love to see your product and so would my readers I'm sure. A sweet friend had a copy of a video slide-show her son-in-law had made of his first daughter's birth. The girl is now 25; my friend showed the video at Christmas. She said that really made their Christmas Eve special. There's no end to the blessings that come your way with such a recording. Just do it!

Happy 2018! Wonder what the seasons of this year will bring?