A little project that I am finally getting to.

I have wanted to do this project since we moved in to this house.

I have been wanting to do a wall collage.

I knew what wall I wanted to put it on, and I knew what I wanted to put in the frames.

It has taken me some time(20 months to be exact), to get my butt in gear.

My idea for this project was a collage wall full of important things, and pictures of important events.

I wanted to showcase stuff that is so important to our family.

I knew this wall would look awesome, but I also knew it would be good for our kids.

Some of this important stuff had never even been seen by our children.

To be honest, some of it hadn’t even been seen by me.

I really had to dig to find some of Jonathan’s important stuff, and it had been ages since I had seen a few of my important little pieces.

This fun little wall is right at the bottom of our stairs in our basement.

Last week it was bare, and now it looks like this:

I thought it would be fun to tell you about some of these important now framed items.

It might inspire you to get some of your memorable items in frames.

This stuff was of most importance to me.  It was important to me that our children see this stuff.  The upper photo is of Jonathan receiving his mission call for our church.  The letter to the right is his actual mission call.  The bottom photo is of Jonathan on his mission.  In the shadow box on the left is his mission badge and a few of his mission tie tacks.

FYI: I used wrapping paper as the background in the shadow box.

A little close-up view of his mission call.

These are a few other fun finds:

When I started going through old photos, I found the picture on the bottom left.  This is one of the only pictures I have of Jonathan and I while we were dating.  I think it is only fitting since it was to a Utah State dance.  I love that it says Aggies in the photo.(kind of hidden behind us)

The upper pic is our wedding announcement photo.  I was thrilled when I found our temple sealing insert.

The bottom right picture is of me when I won Miss Payson.  My local hometown scholarship pageant.  Ya! that was my senior year in 1996.

This is a fun little collection of goodies.

In the picture below, you will see a character drawn of me when I was 3 years old at the Utah State Fair.  My mom has saved it all these years.  I love it!

The picture above it of the sweet little baby boy is my first born, and this photo is special to me.  I saved all my money to get these pictures taken at this place called kiddie candids.  We were so poor, but I wanted nice pictures of Jex.  It is funny how much photography has evolved.  It is also special to me because he is the cutest baby.  The black and white picture is a photo of just Jonathan and I a few years into a marriage.  This photo is pre-children.  It shocks our kids to see how young we look.

…and the plate up above is the plate that was given to my mother by the hospital when I was born.  The clock shows the time I was born, the scale shows my weight, and the flag on the wall has the date and place.  Its pretty amazing that this was something you got at the hospital back then.

This drawing in the middle is pretty important to our family:

  While we lived in Pennsylvania, Stella was baptized.  There was a gentleman that belonged to our church who was an artist.  He sat behind our family during the baptism.  This is a drawing he drew of Stella on her baptism day.  It is so beautiful, as is she.

The picture of the little girl with bright blue eyes below it is special to me because its when my baby turned one. It was a bittersweet day to have your baby turn one years old; and now she is five.  ahhh!! Stella is the newborn photo next to Tess.  That was a big day in our family.  Stella’s birth was a hard time for our family, but also so special.  Jonathan was not with me when I had Stella.  He was still in the Caribbean at school.  It was hard to be apart that day. The little cutie in the gold frame above that is me.  Yes!! me!!

…and the other sweet baby is Isaac: 

This photo is important to me because when I became a mom to 3, I felt like a real mom.  I began to understand what God had in store for me as a mother.

…and that’s why I love this photo so much.

I thought it would be fun for the kids if I framed some of their pins from Disney; also on wallpaper.

Next to the pins, is my white handkerchief from my wedding day.  It has the temple we were married in embroidered on it.

…and below the pins, is a picture of Jonathan with both sets of his grandparents.  All of whom have since passed away.

…and this is a photo of my grandparents on their wedding day.  My grandmother has since passed away too.  I sure miss her.  She is like my kindred spirit.  I feel in so many ways that I am so much like her.

 

This is a photo of Jonathan playing baseball in highschool.

This top photo in the gold frame is also of Jonathan playing baseball for Snow College.

Just below that is a picture of Jonathan as a little boy.  So cute!! Now I know why I have such cute kids.  To the right of that is the invitation to Jonathan’s medical school graduation.  The scripture in the frame above is Ruby’s scripture.  This scripture is so important to our family, and the quote next to it in the big gold frame is the theme for Jex this year in our church.  This is a great scripture for our youth to live by.  I wanted it hanging on our wall as a reminder to Jex; and our whole family.

Speaking of Jex, this is a drawing he did in the fourth grade.  It won an art contest at his school.  A copy of it was made and is hanging in the school in Pennsylvania for all time.  I have the original hanging on my wall.

It was important to me that I had at least on of my ultrasounds framed. I think it’s fun for kids to see what it looks like to have a baby in your belly.  This is Tessa in mine.

This photo is pretty important to Jonathan and I.  This is a picture of the island that we lived on for 2 years.  This is the island of Saba.

…and this is Saba lace. It is handmade by the ladies of the island.  This piece was made by a sweet lady named Helen.

…and now you have had a little glimpse into what is important to us.

It’s not all that is important.  Believe me.  I had more fun items and photos I could frame, I just ran out of frames.

So… I left room at the top of the wall because I want to keep adding to it.

Thanks for checking out my latest project.

 

Hoping they like to record their memories too.

For Christmas, I gave my kids everything they needed to make their own scrapbook of our Disneyland trip.

I thought it would be one of those gifts that they opened and threw to the side, like a new pair of socks or a new pair of underwear.

I was pleasantly surprised when they looked through their boxes of goodies for about 30 minutes and went through each and every item.  The loved looking at the pictures I had printed. 

I loved hearing them talk about all the memories.

This was an important gift for me to give to them.  Y’all know how I feel about recording memories, and I want to pass that passion along to my children.

I know deep in my heart that everything I love isn’t always going to rub off onto my kiddos.

I do, however, feel very strongly about keeping records, and I want them to grow to feel the same way.

For some of the kids, it might take years…

(clear my throat) child #1 and #4.

But… when they are adults and look back on this, they just might appreciate the little nudge I gave them.

Recording your thoughts about important events and moments in your life can be so rewarding for others who cross your path.

We have lots of ways that we record thoughts in our home; smash journals and individual journals between mom and child.

I thought this little Disneyland scrapbook might be a way to get them excited about photos.  Also documenting one event in your life is the easiest way to get started, because there is an ending to it.  Recording about our life in general necessarily doesn’t end right away.

I found these awesome books by fancy pants designs, and knew they would be perfect.

They have pages for writing.

They have sleeves for pictures, and sleeves for journal cards.

They also have some adorable pockets inside, which are perfect for ticket stubs or maps.

We are also going to include all of their Disney characters autographs in to this book, and there is lots of room for that.

 

We plan to put them next to photos of them with the character.

I also found some great journaling cards that went along well with the Disney theme. (this website has some adorable ones that I might just have to buy)

To make it easy for the kids, I keep all the Scrapbook goodies tucked away in this cute armoire.

See.

 

It’s easy to work on because of this awesome table we have in the basement, which happens to be right next to the armoire.

The kids Disney journal goodies are also kept in this nice box.  It makes it easy to find.

I have separated their own photos and journal cards into their own little bags, and placed them in this box.

I know that when I organize things, the kids are much more likely to follow through with the project. 

We have spent a few Sundays working on these books.

It has been a great Sunday activity.

It was important to me that Tessa’s book was written in her own handwriting, and her own language.

It was easy for her to tell me what she wanted to say.

I would then write it on an index card and she would copy it into her book.

Isn’t this just the most adorable thing you have ever seen?

I can’t wait to see what their books look like when they get them all finished.

Also included in the book is a picture of a few of the treasures they picked out in Disneyland.

The kids had a great time doing pin-trading, so I took a picture of all of their pins so they could put that in their book as a reminder.

I hope I can continue to keep them interested in this little project.

I hope that my love for words and photos can rub off on them just a little.

Lets be honest, it is going to take work getting my 12 year old boy to keep going with this.

I’ll keep you posted on how it’s going, and how the books are looking.

…And now, I must say, I’m ready to go back to Disney.

Maybe that should be my bribe, “you finish the book, you can go back to Disneyland.”

It’s important to know about bribery when your a mom.  Am I right? :)