To Make Memories

I've been thinking a lot about memories lately. Some because I swear there are days that my short term memory is non existent, some because of this blog and the insane amounts of pictures I take, some because of the fun things we do as a family, some because of the lengths that I've gone to preserve our memories, and some because of tragedies in other's lives.
When we first had Zane I took a lot of teasing because of the number of pictures I took of him. I always had my camera nearby. I literally have thousands of pictures of him (and Rhett's closing in) in his short lifespan already. Sometimes I think that I'm a little crazy, but then I remember how fast I forget things and how quickly I remember them when I look at the pictures. When I look through the albums it reminds me of things, and stories - some are written down and some are triggered by the pictures and the ones I've written. I cherish them and know that in years to come when they are grown and gone the effort will have been worth it.
Then there are things that I purposefully plan in an effort to make memories for the kids that they will remember. Traditions are always a great way to make memories and I think Cliff and I have done a pretty good job of melding our family's traditions. This is the first year that we won't be spending the July 1st long weekend in Raymond. So we are trying to do fun things here. Last night we walked down town (oh wow is it ever a zoo here in Sylvan!) and went to an ice cream store that we don't usually go to. The Big Moo (I think, or just the Moo) sells food and hard ice cream and always has crowds. Although it took a long time to get our ice cream and was outrageously priced, I'm hoping it is something that the boys will remember. We walked home with ice cream dripping and Zane suggested the next time we wanted ice cream that maybe we should go to Dairy Queen! Unrelated, but still cute, Rhett LOVES puddles. When we walk anywhere he's always say hi and bye to the puddles and waving to them. Including the lake. I can't convince him that it's a lake and not a puddle. Every time he sees the lake it's "hi puddle". It makes me giggle and be glad that he's 2 this summer. It's fun to see him learn and grow. He looks like such a big kid now with his long skinny legs and arms. Sigh.
As I said before some tragedy has also had me thinking of memories...a family in my home ward suffered a house fire on Friday. It destroyed everything. No one was hurt but the family suffered a tremendous loss. All their physical mementos of their lives were lost in the fire. No pictures, journals, trophies, music, collections - all is gone. And as I've thought about this my heart just breaks for them because I can't even imagine what it feels like to have a lifetime of stuff destroyed and gone. But part of me remembers that it is stuff. It doesn't make it less important because it is stuff, but the most important thing is that no one was harmed in the fire. They as a family are whole in the physical sense. Re-building their house, collecting new "stuff" and making new memories will be hard and painful. But they have each other to do that with, and that is the most important. It also makes me thankful for technology. I blog and print that and save it as my journal, I also save it on a memory stick. Theoretically, if my computer is destroyed by something I can still access my memories and pass them on to my family. The same goes for my pictures. Technology has made it possible to compress so much information into such a small place that I am able to carry it in my 72 hour kit.
And so I hope that we all continue to make memories - hold on to the good ones, let go of the bad ones and learn from them all!