Our son and family were here in July for a whole glorious month. They had a lot of fun doing all kinds of things we don't normally do on our own. I wrote blog posts (https://travelerswife.blogspot.com/2025/09/july-fun-with-our-son-and-family-part-2.html) about so many of the things we did together.
I began organizing the many photos we took to go into a Shutterfly photobook.
As I finished each page, I asked my grandsons to write their own comments and even add speech bubbles. (They LOVE speech bubbles💬! 😃)
I took me a while to finish the book after they left and I asked my artistic brother to design the cover for me.
A couple of months passed before the book was completed and then it took quite a while more before it reached Keola and his family at their next home overseas.
My daughter-in-law sent this photo so I could see them enjoying the book together.
I loved seeing Keola and the boys recalling all the fun they had enjoying Hawaii and being with extended family.
How sweet is that? I love the things you come up swith, Kay. Sending much love and joy for the new year.
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful ting that you do.
ReplyDeleteThat is a wonderful keepsake. When will you get to see them again?
ReplyDeleteI gave my two girls two Shutterfly made books about my mom's life and then the other about her ancestry. I was happy to see that when they opened them on Christmas morning, they stopped to read both before unwrapping anymore presents. It warmed my heart tremendously. I didn't know that speech bubbles were a thing though with Shutterfly. I think I need to up my game a bit.
ReplyDeleteKay of Musings: I don’t do the actual formatting on Shutterfly. They don’t have that option of adding speech/thought bubbles that I need. I use Canon Photorecord. https://canon-photorecord.informer.com/
DeleteHowever, this is the new version. I use a MUCH older, simpler version to create my pages and then I load the pages onto Shutterfly.
I never thought of doing it that way but that makes a lot of sense! Thanks for explaining that too me.
DeleteThat is a thoughtful priceless gift Kay!
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful idea!
ReplyDeleteThese photo books for the grand kids is the just the best idea. I did books for our two during their first 7 or 8 years. Once they went off to school and we didn't see them as much, I stopped. I just didn't have enough photos to do a book for each year. Now, they both have phones and they keep their phots on the phones. Our granddaughter has an Instagram account.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea.... and now I'm thinking I could work on a book like this showing grandparents and great grandparents for my grandies for next Christmas. They all live far from me and they don't know much about their family history. Loved those photos of the boys!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous project! I've done a number of Shutterfly books and they are time-consuming--so many decisions to make! Your Hawaii Adventures book will be a treasure for them.
ReplyDeleteOh, I adore the pictures of them looking at the book you made! So very special for them. xx
ReplyDeleteThis book will be a wonderful treasure for them, forever!
ReplyDeleteGood idea. I'm sure they'll look at these many times in their lives.
ReplyDeleteSO special! I don't have the talent or consciousness to do such a wonderful heirloom project. My son and daughter-in-law are here for a couple of weeks from Portugal and they suggested I do a video of some sort with a company that does these for my grandkids/future generations. I shall decline. There are too many things that I don't want known.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant idea. I have done 'books' on the printer for family members, and am contemplating getting one done professionally so this was very informative for me. I note the boys' faces blanked out. I did not do that with my grandkid as her parents were not worried and posted photos themselves. Her adult face is a long way from the child's. We were careful about name and location however.
ReplyDeleteAren't Shutterfly books wonderful! I have made them for my grandchildren, too. They are also such good quality. They are getting pricey and a friend is trying to get me to switch to Snapfish. But I am not sure I want to learn how to use a different system.
ReplyDeleteThe photo of your grandkids reading through the books is just fabulous!
Each Christmas, I make one for each of my grandkids and their other grandparents. They love them.
ReplyDeleteBeing a good reader is so important to all learning. I can’t imagine not reading.
ReplyDelete“You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.”― Ray Bradbury
This is such a beautiful gift, and you can feel the love stitched into every part of it. I especially smiled at the boys adding their own speech bubbles, that’s such a perfect way to let them be part of the story. Knowing they can read it themselves and relive those moments makes it even more special.
ReplyDeleteI just shared a new post too, if you feel like stopping by when you have a quiet moment. Thank you for sharing something so tender and meaningful.
Beautiful photo of the boys. I love how one reading grandson has the token / required scab on his knee from some adventure. Cute. Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun project!
ReplyDelete