Celebrating The Life Of Alivia

Last week, I had a life changing experience.  I was asked to take photos for a family who was preparing to send their tiny 6 month old to heaven.  When I heard about this family and their little baby, Alivia, my heart just stopped. Honestly, I can NOT even begin to imagine what it would be like to be forced to place your child into God's hands.  My emotions were running all over the place, I was angry for them, sad for them, confused as to why this sort of thing even has to happen at all... and then I walked into their home.  I saw a family of faith, a home full of love, and two parents handling the worst situation in the world with more grace than I can even describe.

Last Monday night I was blessed to meet Alivia.

What an amazing little girl.

Last Wednesday, just two days after these images were taken, Alivia passed away.

Please take time to look through these images.... appreciate the beauty of this little girl and the meaning that her short sweet life can have upon your own life and family.

See the love in her parents...

Hear the love and laughter of her sisters...

Pray for her family...

Even though you may not have known her, let her touch your soul.

 Let Alivia remind you to love your family.

 Let Alivia remind you to hug your children.

 Let Alivia remind you not to take one moment of your life or your health for granted.

I would like to thank Alivia's parents for allowing me into their home, it was one of the greatest honors I have ever been blessed with.  Meeting Alivia changed my life.  I will pray for you... your family... and your children.

Please feel free to leave a note or a prayer in the comments for Alivia's family.

Enjoy this slide show and celebrate the life of this beautiful little girl!

Olivia and Seattle Children's Hospital

This is Olivia.

Or wait... This is Olivia.

No, no, no... wait.... THIS is Olivia!

This young girl has so much personality, I love it!

When I was asked to take photos of Olivia so that she would be honored at a charity auction for Seattle Children's Hospital, I was thrilled. What I did not expect was such a resilient, charming, and brilliant eight year old!  She is simply amazing!  She is a very regular guest at Children's, but you would never guess it.  She is definitely NOT defined by her health condition!  I went along on one of Olivia's visits to the hospital to document some of the experiences she has at the hospital.

In this situation, you or I would have a squirmy stomach and sweaty palms, but this laid back little cutie just charmed her way through the entire afternoon!

She was so lucky to have amazing physicians who took the time to explain every thing that was going on around her.  Again... you or I would have maybe heard one word they were saying, but Olivia... she soaked it all up. What a smart cookie!!!

After all of the real business was over, we were able to head outside with the family and really let loose!

Olivia's family is wonderful, but I have to say, my favorite thing during this shoot was watching Olivia and her sister interact.  Her little sister is six and spuuunkyyy! It was so much fun to be around the two of them.  They were not shy... not reserved in the least... and really could make each other laugh... which made me laugh too!

These girls just fed off each other with their silliness and laughter.  Years from now, these two sisters and their parents will cherish these images!

 

What a pleasure it was to meet Olivia and her family, and what it honor it was to be involved with Seattle Children's Hospital.  The auction is coming up this fall and if you would like more information on the hospital or auction, you can email me at sara@saramontgomeryphoto.com.

The Safi Foundation

I am so excited to say that the 2009 holiday special was a smashing success! Last year I decided that I would donate a portion of every holiday session to The Safi Foundation. More specifically we chose to support a couple of projects that they are working on. First is the Safi School Project. The Safi School Project is a non-profit organization that improves and supports secondary education in Tanzania, East Africa, one school at a time. Safi is in its second year working with its pilot school in Arusha, TZ.

Second, we have chosen to support The Water Project. Currently there is no water supply for the school for drinking, cooking or washing. The water they have is gathered in buckets from a nearby ditch or stream. It is not clean and it takes a great deal of time and energy to get it. In times of drought, which are not uncommon to this area, there are times that they have no water supply at all. The well will provide a sustainable source of clean water and will also help them maintain a garden to support the diets of the students and their community.

I am so thrilled to announce that Sara Montgomery Photography and Live With Grace will be donating $700 to these two amazing projects. I would like to thank all of the families that helped us raise money for this amazing project. Here is a slide show with an image from each of the families that helped raise these funds. Thank you again to all of you! (If you would like to hear music with the slide show, click on the speaker button on the top left of the show.)

If you are interested in supporting the Safi Foundation, please visit their site. You can also follow their blog and see what they are doing right now in Tanzania! Thank you all.

Do You Know the People in Your Neighborhood?

There is a man in my neighborhood that I see almost every day. I see him on my way to work... I see him out for walks... and I see him sitting in the park... For some reason, I wonder about him.

Do you know someone like this? Is there someone that you see at work who inspires you? Is there someone in your neighborhood that makes you wonder what their life is like? Do you wonder what they have been through in their lives that have allowed them to end up in the position that they are in?

This is the man that I see...He is around almost every day. It is so common for me to see him, that on days that I do not see him, I worry about him. I have wanted to talk to him for some time. I am sure that my conversation would NOT go the way I imagine it would, but that is part of what intrigues me even more.

A couple of weeks ago, I was driving home from a shoot.... and there he was... right outside my car. I snapped this image of him and will continue to wonder........ I will wonder and pray. No matter what conditions or actions got him to this place, I pray that God takes care of him. I pray that he finds his way home... where ever that may be.

Today I had the day off... I was thinking about this man, so I decided to try to go find him. There he was again, walking down the street. I was on my way to the daycare, so I thought I would drop the kids off and head back over to talk to him. Of course when I went back to find him, he was gone. I drove by all of the spots I usually see him, but no luck. That is when I saw another neighborhood regular. Jinni.

Jinni sits outside Tully's almost every day. Today she was bundled up, sitting in the rain with her head slumped and not visible. She has so many layers... black plastic, clothes, blanket, more clothes... her shoes are untied, her laces were wet and her legs were swollen. I went into Tully's and asked about her.... I bought her favorite drink for the next time she comes in and headed out to talk to her.

I said her name and waited .... I said her name again and this time her head jumped up quickly. I had obviously startled her and woke her. Her face was weathered and wrinkled, and she had no teeth. She was surprised I knew her name, and at the same time did not ask me how I knew. I wondered how sleepless her night must have been like to allow her to sleep so soundly in the safety of daylight. Without saying much I handed her some money... she thanked me.... and I left. Within seconds her head was back into the safety of her layers... and her mind returned to the escape of sleep.

How is it that we so often drive by people like Jinni and as soon as we pass them, we forget about them. We let ourselves escape to the warmth of our nice SUVs with our lattes and our i pods. I am guilty of doing this as well, but I am challenging myself to change. I am going to try to keep my eyes truly open in my neighborhood and community... we all need to help, we all need to care, we all need to give back.

This Thanksgiving, I would encourage you to remember the people in your community who do not have families to care for them, no warm food for their tables, no pillows to lay their heads. Take some extra food from your cupboard and donate it to your local food bank. Let your kids donate some old clothes. Take a card to a home bound neighbor. There are so many ways we can help, both big and small.

God Bless you and your family this Thanksgiving.

Sara Montgomery Photography Holiday Special 2009!

The holidays are coming, and without further ado.... let me announce that the Holiday Special is available. Last year I had so much success with it that I am really excited to do it again! Make sure you email me, sara@saramontgomeryphoto.com, or call me to set up a holiday session today! Lets get those family shots or maybe just images of your kiddos. You will be ready to make your holiday cards in no time!

I am thrilled to announce that this year $50 from every holiday session , and regular portrait session, booked before the end of 2009 will be donated to an AMAZING foundation, the SAFI SCHOOL PROJECT. The Safi Foundation was started right here in Washington state, in Olympia, and is reaching children and families all the way in Tanzania Africa. The Safi foundation builds schools one at a time... helps children get books, sponsors children, pays teachers, provides water purification systems, builds gardens, and more. Click on this link to read more about the projects that this amazing organization does to help the people of Tanzania.

We are working with this organization within our family through our LIVE WITH GRACE program. LIVE WITH GRACE is a program we started in our family to help teach our children about the importance of being grateful and the joy in giving. It is a fun way for us to all become more aware of the situation in the world around us and even in our community. Please take some time and read more about LIVE WITH GRACE , and find out how you and your family can become involved too!

The girls will raise money penny by penny for The Safi Foundation, and I am going to do my part as well. That is why I am going to donate $50 from each holiday session (and any regular portrait session for the remainder of 2009) to this fabulous organization. The price of the holiday session is going to be $125. For this price, you will receive:

• 30 minute session at the location of your choice.
  
• 10 images on disc with copyright release.
• All of the images will also be available for you on www.pictage.com (the on-line professional developer that I use) for you to view, share or purchase prints or products.

I am really excited about this opportunity to make a difference in the lives of the people in Tanzania, the lives of the people in my family, and my own life! The holiday special will expire at the end of 2009, so don't wait.... space is limited and the clock is ticking! I hope to hear from you soon!

Feeding 2000 hungry children by Living with Grace

I am so excited to announce the results for our first fundraiser for Live With Grace! We had a group of approximately 20 children that ranged in age from 4-6 years old. They did a variety of activities from selling jewelry to having lemonade stands with all of the profits benefiting The World Food Program's Fill the Cup Program. They raised money little by little, with donations as small as a penny at times. They learned about children who live every day hungry... live every day without toys or beds or homes.

I am proud to announce that these children raised over $475!!! At a quarter a day, this money will feed more than 1900 children! The lessons that the children learned, and the conversations that this project started between the children and their parents are just as valuable as the dollars raised. What a great success! Thank you to everyone who participated and thank you to everyone who donated!

Livi, Ava, Zach and I are all now talking about what is next for Live With Grace. We have had many requests for jars. I have some on order, and as soon as they are in, I will be sending them your way. If you would like to request a jar for your family or children, please email me at sara@saramontgomeryphoto.com and I will get you on our list. We are excited to now have certificates for children who participate in the Live With Grace program. Please let me know if that is something that you are interested in.

Stay tuned for more exciting information on Live With Grace and our newest project! Congratulations again and thank you to all of you for your participation in the Fill the Cup project!

Live with Grace and the World Food Program

Thank you all for your positive comments and interest in Live With Grace. I can not tell you how excited I am about this... it just feels so good and so right. It is so much fun!!! After Ava's interest in Africa and helping with hunger, we chose the World Food Program for our first charity. They have a project called, Fill the Cup. Through this program, one quarter can fill a child's cup with food for the day, and also allows them to take food home to ration for the month. The children receive their cup of food at school, so there is an incentive for parents to send their child to school as well. This program is amazing, and it was even recently featured on the Oprah Show when Drew Barrymore donated 1 million dollars of her own money to the program. Wow! Now, we are not shooting for a million dollars here, but we are trying to earn money, teach the kids about what these hungry kiddos go through, how we can help change their lives, and also how changing other peoples lives can improve our own. To be honest with you, the kids do not understand what one million dollars is, it is quite refreshing to watch how thrilled they are over a dime or even a penny. I love to see the pride in their eyes when they add to their jars. They truly can make a difference in a life with simple a quarter.... and a quarter IS something that they can comprehend.

Ava and I made a poster board talking about her Fill the Cup project, and she presented it in two of the classrooms at her day care. Ahhh... what a proud mom I was. It was so much fun (and entertaining)to watch her explain that there are "kids in Africa that do not have any food, any homes, anything! One quarter is all you need to feed them".

It was amazing to see the other children become interested and offer to help. Immediately after her presentation, the teachers pulled out their wallets and gave all of the children money to place in a jar for Live with Grace. I am so excited to say that her day care center is now participating in Live With Grace, and we are raising money through the remainder of the summer for the Fill the Cup project.

The kids at day care are all really excited about the project, and they are having lemonade stands at the school and are doing projects with their parents and siblings to earn money for Live With Grace. On the fourth of July, Ava and Olivia had a lemonade stand to raise money for our jar. There is a huge festival near our home on the fourth, so we had a lot of traffic at our stand. Olivia... she was hilarious... she made a serious dent in our products... she had some candy... some cookies... and lots of lemonade. Ava was much more serious. She had on her American flag baby legs (on a side note.... I LOVE baby legs. It is a local company and we are fortunate enough to have both of our girls in their catalog from last fall. If you buy a pair these days... more than likely you will see Ava's legs on the packaging. Check them out, they are fabulous baby gifts!) She would aggressively wave her flag yelling "Happy fourth of July," and then politely told people they could pay what ever they wanted and that all of the money was for the "hungry children in Africa." The people were wonderful... most of them ended up giving money and paying in meals. They would say... "here is eight meals for those kids... could I have an otter pop please?"If you are interested in supporting Live with Grace and our project to Fill the Cup, please email me at sara@saramontgomeryphoto.com and I would love to tell you how you can help. Click **HERE** to see my previous post with more information on Live with Grace. Please click on the links throughout the post for more information on the World Food Program and the Fill the Cup project.

Live With Grace

One evening our family was sitting around the TV and our 4 year old looked at the TV and said, "Why is that boy sleeping in the road?" It was a show on homeless and hungry children in Africa. We started explaining how some children do not have homes, or beds, or even food. If you could have seen her eyes, she was shocked, I could just read her mind, "How is this possible? How are there children without families, without homes, without toys, or beds or FOOD!" She did not say a lot more that night about it, but two weeks later while we were driving in the car she said, "Mom, I think I want to give that boy from Africa my bed, and I will just sleep with Olivia." I wanted to cry. What a sweet girl... to think about this boy, and to want to do what ever she thought possible to help him.... After that, we came up with the idea of starting a program called Live With Grace. It is a program designed to help our children learn about how fortunate we are to live the lives we have. It is a way for us to teach them about being grateful and giving. It is a fun way for us to all become more aware of the situation in the world around us and even in our community.

We came up with the name Live With Grace from our beautiful girls. Olivia, who is almost three, we often call her "Liv" and our daughter Ava Grace who just turned five. Through Live with Grace, we are going to raise money, clothes, toys, etc. for those less fortunate than we are. Through this program we hope to become closer as a family, learn about the world around us, spread the importance of being grateful, and find the joy in giving.

We would like to invite you to participate with us in Live With Grace. Talk to your children about the world around them, teach them about how to give to others, involve their friends, their school, their cousins. Allow your children to realize the difference that one child can make in this world. We have Live With Grace jars that are available for you to collect money in with your children, you can use them for what ever charity or cause is important to your family.

Here is our Live With Grace mission statement:

Our Lives are so blessed; we have family to love us and keep us safe, homes to rest our heads, food to fill our tummies, clothes to keep us warm, friends to play with, and toys to entertain us. There are children all over the world and even in our own neighborhood who are not nearly as lucky as we are. By living with grace, we are going to try to make a difference. We want to help other children, one penny, one prayer, one T-Shirt, one toy at a time. We hope you join us in helping to change the world. Help us learn what it is to Live With Grace! Thank you, Olivia (Liv) and Ava Grace.

If you and your family are interested in more information about Live with Grace, or if you would like to have a Live With Grace collection jar for your house, please email me at sara@saramontgomeryphoto.com Please leave any comments, suggestions or questions you may have. I would love to hear from you.