Earlier this month it was John's Mom's 85 weekend birthday celebration where all of her 7 kids, some of her grandkids and some great grandkids came from across the country to be in Dubuque, Iowa to wish her well.

She wanted no gifts. That's fine, I get the no more stuff thing. But I knew she wanted this calendar of all her kids. John had made this for her several years but did not have much luck this year at Christmastime getting everyone to send in their photos.

This woman has 41 direct descendants plus spouses. Of course it would not be complete unless I brow beat everyone into submitting a photo. I put all birthdays and anniversaries in as Deanie is good about sending everyone a card.

It was all worth it when she opened it and said, "This is ALL I wanted for my birthday!"

If you have a mac you have the iPhoto program. Within that program you can create a calendar. You first pick a theme or layout and then import your photos into the program. You then just drag and drop the photos into the gray rectangles. You can add copy in the dates such as birthdays and anniversaries. I think the finished calendar was about $30... and to Mother Ganahl is it priceless.

Give this some thought and start now if you need to harass people into getting you photos. Really this is the perfect Christmas gift for someone who either has everything or needs nothing.