the best gifts are made with love
My dad, like many men, is hard to shop for. He doesn't need more clothes, buys his own books and movies, and - when you ask him what he'd like for his birthday or Christmas - tends to mention some tool or camera that costs hundreds of dollars. Which never helps. Oh, and his birthday usually falls within the week after Father's Day...because apparently God thought it would be amusing to have two significant gift-giving occasions thatclose.
Then, about four years ago, I came up with a fantastic gift idea...one that combines his talent for photography with my skills for scrapbooking, and incorporates our shared interest for scuba diving. I had Mom secretly send me the albums filled with his pictures from dive trips near and far; chose some photos; and made him a set of scrapbook pages. They were extremely simple...with very little journaling or decoration to distract from his beautiful pictures. But they were perfect. And he loved them.
So every year since, I've made another set of pages for his birthday present. Some of the pictures are from dive trips we took together...others he went on with friends. But no matter what trip the pictures are from, they remind me how blessed I am that he not only had these interests in photography, diving and travel, but also made an effort (a very successful effort, it turns out!) to pass them on to me. I guess you could say that making these gifts is my small way of letting him know how much I appreciate and treasure that.
This is one of my favorite layouts from this year's just-completed set of pages:
But honestly? I love all of the pages. Because each one will be special to Dad...and that's the best reason I could think of to make them.
Where I am: Lebanon, KY
What I'm reading: ummm, nothing actually
Then, about four years ago, I came up with a fantastic gift idea...one that combines his talent for photography with my skills for scrapbooking, and incorporates our shared interest for scuba diving. I had Mom secretly send me the albums filled with his pictures from dive trips near and far; chose some photos; and made him a set of scrapbook pages. They were extremely simple...with very little journaling or decoration to distract from his beautiful pictures. But they were perfect. And he loved them.
So every year since, I've made another set of pages for his birthday present. Some of the pictures are from dive trips we took together...others he went on with friends. But no matter what trip the pictures are from, they remind me how blessed I am that he not only had these interests in photography, diving and travel, but also made an effort (a very successful effort, it turns out!) to pass them on to me. I guess you could say that making these gifts is my small way of letting him know how much I appreciate and treasure that.
This is one of my favorite layouts from this year's just-completed set of pages:
But honestly? I love all of the pages. Because each one will be special to Dad...and that's the best reason I could think of to make them.
Where I am: Lebanon, KY
What I'm reading: ummm, nothing actually
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