Creating a family journal is a great way to capture everyone's most memorable moments and ensure they're never forgotten," says Shannon Holeyfield of Searcy, Arkansas. On New Year's Eve, her extended family gathers at her grandmother's house, where everyone designs a page on 8 1/2- by 11-inch paper. "Even the babies get involved, which usually means a traced hand or colorful scribbling," says Shannon. Adults feature things such as poems, song lyrics, photos, and lists of special times from the past year. The children, including Shannon's kids, Grant, age six, and Kristen, four, huddle at the kitchen table cutting, pasting, drawing pictures, and writing about sleep-overs, school plays, bike rides, and more. Each mini work of art is put into a clear page protector with holes punched down the left margin, then it all goes in a three-ring binder (the great-grandkids decorate the cover). These books, which are kept at her grandmother's house, are now priceless family heirlooms: "Our journals are a living story of us," says Shannon.

The Aberasturi family of Rancho Cordova, California--Barbara and her three sons, Arin, age 11, Dominix, nine, and Jurdan, seven--have a slightly simpler way of noting the big occurrences of their year: "We sit around the tree on Christmas Eve and think about the most important events of the past 12 months," says Barbara. She then writes them on the back of their postcard-size Christmas card portrait and hangs it on the tree. "We love looking back at all of the ornaments from past years too. It's been a great way to keep all of those family memories alive."