Photo of the Week-2/15-2/22

if there's one thing that is missing in my life, it's sports. i love sports. the thrill of sports. the nerves and butterflies and rush of energy before a big game. the smell of the grass on a freshly cut soccer field. the peanuts and bratwurst at baseball games. the camaraderie during march madness.

so when there is a sports week down here i am all over it like white on rice. and baseball week lived up to the hype.

there is something so incredibly special about being part of someone's future. and if there is one thing that i have found in over two decades of playing sports, is that sports can change someone's future. and it is no different in the dominican republic.

unfortunately for kids here, young boys especially, it is easier to get involved in drugs and alcohol than anything else. these things are readily available. laws for underage drinking aren't enforced. the scene is very accessible. and sometimes drugs and alcohol appear to offer a life of luxury and opportunity more than anything else they are presented with. but what G.O. is doing with sports is absolutely incredible. will partin, mike braisted (my husband) and a dominican/haitian staff of ten are going to great lengths to invest in the youth in our community, through sports.

when the baseball group was here this week i had the opportunity to see this interwoven group of men offer more than just instruction in baseball. they offered their life experiences and their love of jesus. they offered vulnerability and honesty. they offered these young boys hope. a group of men, who, for all intensive purposes were heroes and incredibly talented baseball players. someone these kids could look up to and find real, tangible ways of living out their faith but still staying relevant in their culture. there is nothing like finding a common ground like sports and using it as an avenue to better someone's life. i'd even go as far as to say that at least one of the kids this week had their lives changed forever.

Photo of the Week - 1/4-1/11

our little ariani. she lives in the hole. and this was a special day. her and 100 other kids from the nutrition center were treated to ice cream by real life church. indeed this was a special day.

aside from watching kids guzzle down gallon after gallon of sweet tasting ice cream, the mayhem of them riding every ride and going down the slide and crossing the monkey bars, is a sight to see. i watched car after car pull into the bon parking lot, and i watched car after car take one look at 100 crazy kids and squeal away. i was kind of glad. this was their day anyway.

ariani is a little more special to me than even the other special kids that i love from the hole. i've gotten to know her and her mom over the last year. plus, i have a little place tucked away in my heart for kids with special needs. there's a reason they call it "special" needs.

we've determined that she probably has cerebral palsy and probably a cognitive disability. but you see that smile? that smile is there, every minute of every day. i've never once heard her complain that her mom has to carry her to the nutrition center every day. i've never once heard her whine when the other kids are running around and she can't. i've never once seen her feel sad or sorry that she was born the way she was. just a smile and an insatiable zest for life.

this day, i admit, as amazing as it is, i sometimes feel anxious about it. i get very stressed out feeling responsible for 100 kids. even though other staff are there to assist, i just feel overwhelmed. kids pushing, wanting more ice cream, wanting to be first in line for the slide...all normal kid stuff but all stuff that stresses me out. then ariani reminded me why i love this day.

there she was, struggling to get to the slide with her walker, waiting her turn for her friend from real life church to assist her up the stairs. sitting at the top of the slide. huge smile beaming from ear to ear and a whoosh as she slides down. at the very bottom, just two words, "otra vez." she grabs her walker again, rushing to get to the stairs to meet her friend who helps her to the top. ready to go down and whoosh. this time, even before she gets to the bottom, i heard the words "otra vez."

she went down that slide more than twenty times. each time the same beautiful smile as the first. each time sliding down like she'd never done it before. each time asking if she could do it again. by the end of her twenty or so times, she was exhausted. some of us discussed how it was probably the best therapy that she's had in her eight or so years of living with her condition. regardless of the stress or the overwhelming feeling when i think of taking 100 kids to get ice cream, i could do it every day of the week if i got to see little ariani...and her humbly grateful smile.

The Schwulst Family

I don't need to say much about this family. Just that they are awesome. I love them to pieces. And when they asked me to do some family photos for them I was so excited. The whole shoot lasted maybe 45 minutes and it was so much fun. And did I mention their beautiful girls? Whom I adore? They are seriously great. Ok, no more words...just enjoy!

i totally loved these "accidental" shots of the girls getting ready

the darn humidity didn't help their wavy hair, we had to photograph quickly!

um, don't know what my deal was, but i loved this feet picture

a-dor-a-ble!

my fave from the day

beautiful rachael. yeah, she's only 15. watch out mom and dad!

i love beka...she totally reminds me of myself at her age...funny, spunky, energetic...

Thanks for letting me photograph your family, Schwulsts'!!!!

For information on booking your family photo shoot, go here.

Welcome to the world, Marvin!

I have been waiting for this day! I finally got to meet little Marvin. I've developed a friendship with Marvin's mom, Joanna, for the last two years. I met her in February 2008 at a medical clinic in the Hole, when her oldest daughter was less than a year old. There was just something about her that I loved.

Us at a different medical clinic, June 2008, after Darolin was born

Joanna was 12 when she "married" her husband Melvin. They waited five years until she was 17 to start having kids. Now... three years later, they welcomed their third child :)

seriously, look at his little hand

Marvin was born at 29 weeks gestation on August 28th. 2 lbs 9 oz. 13 inches long. crazy. He stayed in the hospital for about two weeks and came home a few days ago. Little miracle baby. I was terrified to hold him because he was still so tiny almost three weeks after being born, but of course, the proud mama insisted. She also let me know that her and Melvin talked about it and I am his Godmother. I was so excited. What an honor.

Just a little proof that God shows us the beauty of life even in a place like The Hole.

Arolin and Darolin, the new big sisters

proud mama

Perez Twins

I am finally posting the little photoshoot I did with the Perez twins last week. Their mom and dad, Jackie and Alan Perez, are on staff with G.O. Jackie is super creative and artsy so I always look forward to working with her cause we feed off each other so well. She had some great ideas for photographing the girls. Amelia was awake almost the entire shoot, Stella, not so much! But isn't that soooo twins? One awake, one asleep. One happy, one cranky. One hungry, one full. One laid back, one more energetic. Either way, we got some cute shots of them together (plus a couple with their beautiful mom!). Enjoy!

sweet little stella, already sleepy five minutes into the shoot

little amelia workin' her belly time!

yep, i want to eat her up too

proud mama, double blessed

sweet angels

well hello there, little beauty

my favorite from the day

Ruben-9 Months!

It's always fun to do portraits of someone other than your kids. My poor kids are going to hate me until the day they move out of the house. They will probably never purchase their own camera because I will have overused mine on them so much. Or maybe they will just be grateful that sometime when they are getting ready to get married, they can sit on the couch with their future spouses and look at the bazillion photos that I took of them. Either way, this train ain't slowin' down!

Today, I did get to photograph someone other than my own. Little Ruben is only 5 days older than Emi and his mother is on staff with Mike and I. His father is one of the Haitian pastors that work here in the Dominican. Together, they made a pretty adorable baby. We just did a little mini shoot (only about 15 minutes long) and he didn't exactly want to cooperate and give me smiles but we got a few. And man can he light up a room. Cute thing. Enjoy!

Photo of the Week-8/3-8/10

as we were closing our time at the river on saturday, one of the leader's of the college group from eastview christian church asked if there was anyone feeling prompted to be baptized. the spirit was moving.

one by one, young men and women began to step forward. twenty of them to be exact.

as they were being baptized i began snapping away, feeling like i was getting a front row seat to something so intimate. watching people be baptized is so incredibly moving. i didn't get a chance to get to know many of the kids on this trip throughout the week but as i sat there photographing this monumental moment in their lives it was as if they were sharing their stories with me.

about halfway through, this young man and young woman walk up. they were obviously a couple. as he began speaking it completely moved me. i began crying (as i feel seems to be a theme these days).

his words were so simple. he said their relationship before had been "dead and dirty" and because of god's saving grace and abounding mercy, they were standing there that day in the river, new creations. when they got down in the river he began to speak to her. too quiet for any of us to hear but as i took their photos you could see her face change. you could see how much she adored him and how grateful she was that she had a boyfriend that truly desired to be a man after god's heart. she trusted him. and as he submerged her in the river and she came up for her first breath...celebration. cheering and clapping rang through that place. an example of transformation and new creation.