too: create some handprint art on a big piece of paper, and use that to wrap around the cover of your book. Everyone in the family could join in and you could capture handprints for several generations, of all ages and sizes. Quite a family heirloom! draw some portraits on the cover. Everyone could draw a self portrait, or you could all pick someone else in the family and draw them. make a collage using photos of the family. Go through your pictures from the previous year and pick out special events, or a photo from each month, and use them together to cover your family journal. What to include in your Family Journal We're going to fill our family gratitude journal with contributions from everyone. However old or young, every member of the family can join in -- writing entries, dictating their ideas to someone who can write for them, or drawing sketches. We'll start on Thanksgiving and ask everyone to sign our journal with a message of gratitude, sharing what they are thankful for right now. They might be big things or simple ones. They might be appreciation for events or other people. But Thanksgiving shouldn't be a once-a-year-only event, should it? The practice of being grateful and appreciating what you have are things I like to encourage my children -- and myself -- to keep in mind all year round. So, we'll keep our Thanksgiving Family Journal close to hand and keep adding entries over the coming