With the recent influx of seniors and sweet 16 sessions I’ve spent a lot of hours searching for throwback images of my first sessions with these kids. It’s like a digital walk down memory lane and it made me realize how fast my own kids are growing, and how disorganized my photos of them have become! Ever feel like you're failing at preserving your child’s photo memories in a tangible way that they can actually look back on?

Same.

Between work, and parenting and trying to sneak in just a little bit of self care, who has time for scrapbooking anymore? Not me.

The problem is my kids love nothing more than looking back at their pictures and hearing stories of their own lives, and I love the routine walks down memory lane and sharing all the happy memories we’ve made together.

Here’s the good news—you don’t need a scrapbook (or even a fancy memory book) to preserve your family’s best moments.

With a few simple, stress-free methods, you can organize your family’s story in just minutes a day!

1. The 10-Minute Rule

Saving your family's best moments doesn’t have to take hours!

The 10-Minute Rule is all about using tiny pockets of time to record memories—without overthinking it.

At the end of the day, set a timer for 10 minutes and jot down one thing that made you smile.

Maybe it’s your toddler's sense of humor showing up unexpectedly and making you laugh.

Or how your pre-teen said something wise and thought provoking.

You can type it in your phone’s notes app, scribble it in a planner, or even use a digital assistant like my personal favorite, Siri to record it.

The key? Keep it quick, easy, and stress-free!

Over time, these tiny entries become a beautiful collection of real, everyday moments—no scrapbooking skills required.

💡 Bonus tip: Set a daily reminder on your phone so you don’t forget.

10 minutes a day adds up to a lifetime of memories!

2. Use a Memory Apps That Does the work for you

Do you love snapping photos on your phone and recording videos… but hate organizing them?
There’s an app for that 😉

These apps save your photos and memories—with no extra work from you.

Qeepsake: This app texts you questions about your child. You text back, and it saves the answers in a digital journal!

Chatbooks: This app turns your favorite photos into books without you doing anything. I find making entire year albums overwhelming so instead I like to make little photo albums from memorable family trips for the kids to reflect back on.

1 Second Everyday: Record one-second video clips, and the app makes them into a short movie.

Google Photos & Tinybeans: These apps store and organize your pictures for you.

Once you set them up, these apps work on their own!

3. The Monthly Photo Dump Method

Raise your hand if your camera roll is a disaster! 🙋‍♀️

Instead of letting thousands of random photos pile up, try the Monthly Photo Dump Method.

At the end of each month, set aside 10 minutes to create a digital album labeled something like:
📁 Smith Family – January 2025

Scroll through your phone and add your favorite snapshots—messy toddler faces, goofy family selfies, or that perfect sunset from your beach trip.

No need for fancy editing or captions—just save the highlights!

BONUS TIP: Create a shared album where grandparents can see the best moments each month without scrolling through social media.

This system keeps your memories neat, accessible, and ready to relive anytime!

I use this strategy to keep my session videos organized but it’s well past time for me to try it out for my own kids!

We all know the little moments add up to the big memories and with these strategies you don’t need a scrapbook to remember them!

With just a few minutes a day, you can create a beautiful, effortless record of your family’s life.

So pick one method and start today.

Because years from now, when you’re flipping through those digital albums or re-reading those tiny but priceless memories, you’ll be so glad you did.

My personal favorite method for organizing photos is creating little magazines for my kids of memorable moments so we can sit and look at them together. What have you found that works?

I hope reading Never Forget a Precious Moment: 3 Fast Ways to Save Family Memories has given you some solid ideas! If you’re still looking for a Gilbert Child Photographer, click here to see my upcoming mini sessions.

Scottsdale, Arizona Horse and Pony Photographer

I still remember that first session so vividly.

She was only 6 years old but her joy simply to be around horses radiated. We were just doing pictures, but there was an emanating peace from just getting to be in the presence of a pony. Her mom wanted beautiful sunset pictures like she had seen on my page, but little did she know she was signing up for far more that day. Almost a decade later her mom still blames me for sending them down this path because when I saw Mckenna’s enthusiasm for equines I couldn’t help but refer them to a local barn for riding lessons….

10 years have flown by since then and I’ve followed her journey with deep interest over the last decade. Finding your passion so young and getting to foster it the way she has is an incredible gift. Her journey has taken her through three stables as her desire to learn and grow as an equestrian has grown with her, ultimately landing her at Twisted Tree Farm in Scottsdale with her beautiful mare, Karat.

One of my goals for the year was to make a return to horse and pony sessions, so I reached out to see if they would be interested in doing a session with me again. I was thrilled when they said yes and even more thrilled when we were able to get the session booked expeditiously. It was a beautiful evening reconnecting and reminiscing about all of the years gone by. The weather was stunning and…

…..best of all. Her mom finally got the sunset she wanted 10 years ago.

Just for fun, A throwback to that very first session! Circa 2014

Love these images but don’t have a horse of your own? Join me on April 12th for my Desert Daydreams in Santan for an opportunity for pictures like this of your own (although you might start a lifelong addiction). If you’re already a committed horse addict like Mckenna, Send me an email at katieharrison@nakupendaphotography.com to book your own sunset session.