Annual Traveling Journal

What You Need: A large, sturdy journal.

Doing It:

Start an annual traveling family journal -- "A Year in the Life of Our Family." Parents, grandparents, and children all participate in adding to the journal, sending it back and forth through the mail. It's like you're writing a book together.

Each household has the journal for perhaps a month (make sure you date and identify each household's section). During that month, people write about what's happening. You can include drawings, photos, stories about family events and activities, newspaper clippings, and notes about ideas or thoughts. People can also comment on previous entries.

The journal becomes a "snapshot" of your entire extended family, near and far, at a moment in time. The collection of annual journals will become a very special family keepsake.