Family Heritage:
Use the family reunion to help discover, document and preserve your family history.
Family heritage is a composite of stories and memories of events and relationships in the past and present. And when we are clear about where we have been, we become certain of where we are going. The defining elements of our lives tell us (and our children) who we are and how we should live.
And with modern digital technology, it's never been easier to document and preserve your heritage.
Family Heritage in Storybook Form
"Storybooking" is a relatively new method of journaling and recording your family history. It's the idea of discovering and preserving the story behind your personal and family photos.

Thus, your visually defined family values, beliefs and culture are presented in an actual storybook that you can touch and hold and read to your kids. These books add a new level of meaning to bedtime stories.
"Mom, can you tell me a story about when you were a little girl?"
Extended family used to live close to one another – it used to be easier to share stories and pass on traditions. These days, however, many of our most treasured family traditions are fading. Today families live farther apart from one another and are under budget and time constraints that don’t allow frequent visits.
Often, the family reunion is the only time that we have to interact with generations old and young at the same time. Take advantage of this opportunity! - Ask questions about your grandparents' lives.
- Request to hear favorite family stories.
- Bring the old pictures that you need help identifying.
- Gather information and facts. Then turn them into a family trivia game.
- Keep a pencil and paper handy so you can write things down while they're still fresh in your memory.
Family Heritage Scrapbooks
You can also display pictures and present family memories via scrapbooking.
What is scrapbooking? It's the popular hobby of assembling your photos in a very creative manner. Scrapbookers often use embellishments such as buttons, string, stickers, die cuts, etc. to try to capture the mood and feeling of a picture. A scrapbook might be arranged in chronological order or by themes, such as holidays, summer travel or birthdays.
Family Heritage Photobooks
Do you have a digital camera?
Are your pictures safe?
Do you have a fun way of viewing your digital pictures?
If you answered "no" or "maybe," to any of these questions, it's time you discovered the DIGITAL PHOTO BOOK!!
(Yes, I did just yell at you but it can't be helped! Not only are digital photo books amazing, they are the way of the future. I am a huge fan.)
Other Family Heritage Projects
Here's another fun way to document/display a bit of family history - the family tree poster, customized and personalized to fit YOUR family.
As human beings, we are all subject to the influences and opinions of what surrounds us. And if we are not surrounded by our own family values and culture, other forces will decide our identity and define our principles. When we do not guide our own family heritage, it becomes lost to society.
Author Stephen Covey states, "Ultimately, we must decide either to steer or to go where the river takes us. The key to successful steering is to be intentional about our family rituals." (The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families , p. 137)
We must consciously build the traditions and consider the values of our families. We must purposely add meaning and make memories… or it will be done for us.
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