Are you tired of looking at the same old boring, outdated photo album? If so, here’s an idea for you. It’s called a "living" album, and it can literally change your entire family’s outlook on life.

Contact all of the family members you think might be interested in contributing. Ask them to start sending you copies of their favorite prints. As you receive them, tape them onto a standard size sheet of typing paper, grouping four to a page. If you’re handy with a word processor, print out captions for each photo. If not, hand-write something above or below each print.

After you have collected several sheets’ worth of prints, take them to your local photo dealer and have one complete color copy set made for every member of the family. Purchase an inexpensive paper punch and some cardboard folders (or a more conventional photo album, if you prefer) and make a living album for each member of the family. Label the front of the albums with the current date and send them off in the mail. If you or someone else in the family is computer literate, you may prefer to scan the images onto the Internet for downloading by family members scattered across the country. Send hard copy through the mail to any relatives not yet hooked up to Cyber Space.

Update the albums regularly—at least once a year—to keep everyone abreast of what’s going on, how the kids have grown, and anything else that merits sharing. Your family will thank you for it.