Saturday we got a lot of rain at my home in Salt Lake. I kept waiting for the rain to stop and would then run out and do yard work. While inside, I worked on organizing all of the photos I took with my wife while visiting Disney World with one of my granddaughters a few weeks ago. This sparked me to create this posting should you be wondering what to do with all of those digital photographs you have taking up space on your phone or computer.
The first grandchild trip to Disney was sort of on a whim. I wanted to go to Disneyland for my birthday and wanted my oldest grandson to come along. He happened to be 5 years old which is the perfect age for a Disney trip. I found a great deal staying at the Grand Californian, booked reservations, booked flights, bought park tickets, and headed to Anaheim 2 weeks later. I think we only took about 15 photos of the whole trip as we focused on having fun and not trying to capture the perfect moment. We also decided to do a similar trip whenever any of our grandkids turned the magic age of 5.
The second trip required a bit more planning as we had to pick up or oldest granddaughter in Ohio. We also booked accommodations in the Marriott vacation club in Orlando which is near Disney World and not Disneyland. When we checked in, the concierge sat us down and gave us a welcome basket full of a bunch of freebies. One happened to be a coupon for a photo book from Shutterfly. We knew we would redeem the free gift and made sure to take lots of pictures. Then at the end of the trip, my wife and I sat down to create the ultimate memory book. We uploaded the best pictures of the trip and filled 20 pages. Several weeks later, it appeared in the mail. I have to say it turned out awesome.
My grandson saw the nice book and I'm sure felt like he needed one too. My wife and I gathered up all 15 photos from his trip and supplemented the content with generic Disneyland pictures. Even then it still came out looking like an afterthought. We learned our lesson for the next time. So did the rest of the family. Whenever any grandkids come over they head straight to the picture books and relive the fun they had with Grandma and Grandpa.
The idea of photo books has caught on to the rest of the family. My youngest son's wife has gone so far as to create a photo book for each year. After January 1st, they pick the highlights from each month of the previous year and add them to a book. They don't worry how many pages they fill as you have the option to add more. They are also sure to include text under the pictures describing why it is important along with any stories to add flavor about the event. My daughter-in-law has even gone to previous years and created books all the way back to when they first got married.
So what should you do with all of those digital pictures taking up space on your devices? My advice is to pick the best ones and immortalize them in a photo book. There are lots of sources where you can have them made. I mentioned Shutterfly where we have had several printed. Our new favorite place is Walgreens as it can be printed and ready to pick up in an hour so you don't have to pay for shipping. It doesn't matter who you choose though as they all seem to have regular coupons putting the cost of a 20-page book in the $10 to $20 range.
Once you have your photo books printed, I would leave them out for visitors to see and perhaps ask about. Not everyone wants to see your vacation photos but some will. Most importantly I would keep those books close to help you remember happy times on a rainy or sad day. It might just be what you need to lift your spirits.
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