a day at the park

saturday was 'free day' at this is the place heritage park so i packed up the boys and thought we'd check it out. what fun! i'm a sucker for pioneer history and had a great time roaming the streets of the village. max and luke loved seeing and petting the animals in the corral... and taking a ride around the pond on a kiddie sized train. i tried to explain to max some of the buildings and reasons for the monument and my emotions always seemed to get the better of me. this place is amazing. it was so touching to be in a place that flooded me with appreciation and gratitude for my ancestors.

i have recently been able to be a part of something that allows me to share this feeling with others. stories by me is a small business owned by lauri hyer. lauri and i met last fall when i was introduced to her block puzzle kits. i thought they were so neat and made one for everyone in my family for christmas! you really should check it out! (and visit our new blog here. we'd love to share your story, too!)

anyway, lauri must have seen something in me - maybe my desire to be involved with such a neat thing - and asked if i would work for her. so, these past 7 months i've been able to help share the story of stories by me and show others how to preserve their past as well.

what i love about what i get to do is that it is all about capturing memories and creating fun, unique and easy ways to remember and display those memories. my sister-in-law's mom, shelley, wanted something fun to take to her family reunion to auction off. she had seen a memory candle i made for lindsay and wanted to give those a try. she brought over lots and lots of pictures...and we had a blast scanning them into the computer and laughing at silly old faces. (and shelley, i didn't mind staying up until after 11pm doing that with you!!) it was fun to see these pictures come to life and know that i was helping shelley to preserve her history. the candles she made turned out fabulous - according to lindsay!

that's what i love. i love helping others. i love learning their stories. i feel like i am helping these ancestors be remembered. and when we remember it is easy to be grateful. and when we remember and are grateful it only makes us better.