I had the privilege of photographing this family when those cute little twins could barely even sit up. What a privilege to get to hang out with them again on Friday night for a photo session. MAN, time flies!! I will have to dig up those pictures and link to them tomorrow. I am too tired tonight. :)
Such sweet, smiley children. You have been blessed, Mama!
Oh. My. Word. This is right up my alley. Getting to know and keep a really big secret for a couple of hours. Being the ONLY one (other than the doctor of course) to know what kind of bun was in the oven. Plotting and planning to share the news with the parents to be. It was too much fun!!
If you are expecting a little one, I really think this is worth a little extra wait. Just look at the images below. Instead of finding out in a doctors office, these two got to find out in a fun way and they will now be able to remember that moment (with the help of these images), for the rest of their lives. Not only that, but their little one will get to experience it through these images as well.
I'm telling you, a gender reveal session is the way to go!!
Because I enjoyed this SO VERY MUCH, I am offering gender reveal sessions at a very discounted price while I build my portfolio. So if you are having a little one or if you know someone who is and they have yet to find out their baby's gender, send them my way!!
AND.... if you love these as much as I do, or if you just love me and are my friend, would you mind pinning these pictures, pretty please?
Y'all are the best!! And thank you to these two for letting me be a part of their special moment.
Hope's stunning senior portraits. That field of wild flowers could not have been more perfect!! LOVE the look with her hair and dress. She is a sweet, sunshiney person and I think this shot captures that perfectly!
Trying to catch up on a little blogging. This is a senior session that I did at the end of the school year. So very fun! Senior sessions are all about capturing the personality of the senior.
There’s an estimated 7,000 children who work in the Ghana fishing industry. Some of
these children are as young as 5 and 6 years old. All of these children are slaves.
–Mercy Project
Today I am joining together with 99 other bloggers to tell you about the Mercy Project. On a day that we celebrate labor and take a rest, I want to join with you in praying for and advocating for the release of these children who are forced into labor in Ghana. It is time for action. It is time to stand up for something more than the everyday, the comfortable, the privledged. Please take a few minutes and read this post provided by the Mercy Project. Learn about the amazing work they are doing. ~ Dorean
Today many in our country will take a day off from our jobs to celebrate the social and economic achievements of American workers. No matter if we’re celebrating at home or at the beach, we’re entering into a tradition that has largely been shaped by Labor Unions - organizations that are dedicated to protecting workers’ interests and improving their wages, hours, and working conditions. Today as we lounge around or hang out with friends and family, we’re not only celebrating hard work, we’re honoring fair, ethical working practices and the laws that prevent discrimination, abuse, and child labor in our country. Without these laws in place (and enforced), the most vulnerable members of society suffer. Who are the most vulnerable? Children.
Today as we’re celebrating the systems in our own country that strive to prevent injustices like child trafficking and child labor, we’re mindful of the many child slaves around the world who are unprotected and the organizations, like Mercy Project, who are working to free them.
As a mother, it’s difficult for me to imagine my children working 14 hours a day, 7 days a week. I’m unable to wrap my brain around the thought of my children engaged in long, hard days of physical labor, eating one meal a day, and then falling asleep at night on a dirt floor filled with other slave children. Yet this is the daily reality for kids who have been trafficked into the fishing industry in Ghana, Africa. As with much of Africa, there is a great deal of poverty in Ghana. Unfortunately, this leaves many mothers in an unimaginable position: sell their children to someone who can take better care of them or watch them starve to death. Most of the mothers are told their children will be given food, housing, and an education. Instead, the kids are often taken to Lake Volta where they become child slaves and their mothers never see them again. Thankfully, Mercy Project is working to break the cycles of trafficking around Lake Volta by providing alternate, more efficient, sustainable, fishing methods for villagers – ultimately eliminating the need for child slaves. Because of the work Mercy Project is doing in Ghana, the first group of children will be freed this month from Lake Volta.
We invite you to watch this moving, 10 minute documentary about the issues surrounding child labor and trafficking in Ghana and most importantly the hope Mercy Project is bringing to children and entire communities in Africa. Mercy Project is the only NGO working on Lake Volta addressing the injustice of child labor and child trafficking at its root - by strengthening the Ghanaian economy and eliminating the structures that cause the demand for trafficked children.
Whether these ideas of child labor, child trafficking, and modern-day slavery are new to you or you’re aware of these injustices, but need to hear some good news every once in awhile, we invite you to become a part of what Mercy Project is doing in Ghana. When Mercy Project frees their first group of children this month, we can all celebrate together.
Although child trafficking, child labor, and the unstable economies that result in these injustices are a tragedy, we’re grateful for what Mercy Project is doing to protect the vulnerable and for allowing us to be a part of this story. While we’re commemorating labor laws and ethical work in our own country today, we invite you to follow along on this journey with Mercy Project to protect and free children in Ghana.
"God does not want us to merely give the poor perfunctory help, but to ponder long and hard about how to improve their entire situation." -- Tim Keller in Generous Justice
“When the lives and the rights of children are at stake, there must be no silent witnesses.”--Carol Bellamy
Thank you for taking the time to read this and please, let's stand together and make a difference in the lives of these children. Let's do for them what we would do for our own children and the children of our friends.
