Day 54: No internet for the last few weeks!

Hello everyone! Sorry that I have been MIA for the last two weeks. We were in countries that had little or no internet connection at all so I haven't been blogging. I'm excited to catch everyone up though and share what we have been up to these last few weeks.

From Israel we went to Egypt then to Kenya and Zambia. Incredible experiences along the way and some really wonderful families also. Here are some girls in Egypt, we went to a Bedouin camp located in the Sinai dessert. They were a wonderful, happy family. Really fun to spend time with them!

Our last country was Zambia! The people there were so nice and the country was wonderful. We had some great guides who helped us find some schools and families to visit. This little girl was from our very last family. There were 10 children in the family and they lived in a tiny little two bedroom home. Their kitchen was outside and they had chickens and ducks running around everywhere. There was a good feeling at their home and I could see how much the kids loved each other and their parents.

We are currently in Oxford, England! We had a 20 hour layover here on our way back to Phoenix so we decided to come and stay with my good friend Brad who attends school here! We don't have much time but we actually have arranged for a family to photograph this morning, so we won't be wasting anytime. It will be fun to have an English family in our books. 

I'll blog some more soon about some of the experiences we have had. There is so much to share! In the meantime check out the E3 Imagine website, our blog there is updated daily. 

Day 42; Finding a family in Capernaum!

Finding a family to photograph in Capernaum, Israel was quite a dream come true for Photographer Steve Porter and the rest of the E3 Imagine team! Capernaum is located just north of the Sea of Galilee and is the place where Christ spent  eighteen months of His three year ministry. Krystal, Mote, and their one year old son Kai live in a Kabbutz community along the Sea of Galilee. How cool is that? Mote was raised in Israel while Krystal was raised in Holland! The two met in Hawaii, decided to get married and moved together to Israel. Once again, this family perfectly represented what E3 Imagine is wanting to share with the world! Happiness- not matter the circumstances in which you live, no matter the language you speak, or the country in which you live.

They are teaching their son Kai Hebrew and Dutch! Speaking of fatherhood Mote told us that he wants his son not only to look strong but to feel strong, he hopes to give him the confidence he needs to be successful in life. Krystal also explained her desires to help her son be well traveled and to make all of his dreams come true! We loved this families energy and outlook on life! The family really enjoys their peaceful life living in Israel and we really enjoyed spending a few moments getting to know them! 

I can't describe how incredibly blessed I feel to be a part of E3 Imagine. I can't imagine anything better to be doing with my life right now. It is really hard work, and of you who have ever been involved with a start up company know that it takes blood, sweat, and tears. But we believe that this project came from God and when it get's rough we simply remember that. I'm grateful to be traveling with a team who keeps that in mind when things get bumpy. I hope that our project will inspire people everywhere to recognize the talents they have been given, then take action and make a difference. 

Our E3 Team after a shoot in Paris. 

We are going to our next country today! Be sure to visit the E3 Imagine website to make your guesses! 

Day 36: The joys of parenting; hard work, laughter, and good food!

This was my first time visiting Paris. Of course while growing up I heard all about the Eiffel tower, Notre Dame, the Opera House, ect... Who would have thought that my favorite moments in France would not be spent at any of these places? Nope not at all, they were in the brief minutes spent within the homes of beautiful families.

We had the chance to photograph four families here in France and each of them taught us something significant. It's hard to remember it all and take it all in! While we were with them, I couldn't help but get more and more excited to share their stories with people in other parts of the world who could also benefit from knowing them! I'll do my best to share a few favorite lines given to us by some of these incredible parents.

Marc is an excellent father! He and his wife Elise have four beautiful children. When we asked him about the joys of fatherhood he shared with us, "I'm really happy to be a dad, to have my 4 children for me- it's all my life. I'm really happy to work for them, to be with them, I love my wife and my children very much".

Christian and Bridget are living in Paris for three years with their family and they love it very much! Christian is from the United States, he works for the army, and Bridget is from Germany. They have three boys and Bridget's mother comes to stay with them often. They had lots of good things to say about raising a family, "We have very sure views on parenting, for us a good day is when we have breakfast and dinner together, meals are very important to us. We love food!"

And Celestine, a beautiful mother of two simply stated, "I'm happy to be a mom because our kids are really fun, they always make me laugh." 

I'm not a parent yet, but I hope that someday I can have the same joy and love for children as these incredible parents had! I'm really excited for E3 Imagine to include these families in our books so that people across the globe can see that no matter where you go, there are families, families who love, and families who are happy! It's universal! 

Please CLICK HERE to visit E3 Imagine's official blog at www.e3imagine.com 

Day 36: The joys of parenting; hard work, laughter, and good food!

This was my first time visiting Paris. Of course while growing up I heard all about the Eiffel tower, Notre Dame, the Opera House, ect... Who would have thought though that my favorite moments in France would not be spent at any of these places? Nope not at all, they were in the brief minutes spent within the homes of beautiful families.
We had the chance to photograph four families here and each of them taught us something significant. It's hard to remember it all and take it all in! While we were with them, I couldn't help but get more and more excited to share their stories with people in other parts of the world who could also benefit from knowing them! I'll do my best to share a few of my favorite lines given to us by some of these incredible parents.

Marc is an excellent father! He and his wife Elise have four beautiful children. When we asked him about the joys of fatherhood he shared with us, "I'm really happy to be a dad, to have my 4 children for me- it's all my life. I'm really happy to work for them, to be with them, I love my wife and my children very much".

Christian and Bridget are living in Paris for three years with their family and they love it very much! Christian is from the United States, he works for the army, and Bridget is from Germany. They have three boys and Bridget's mother comes to stay with them often. They had lots of good things to say about raising a family, "We have very sure views on parenting, for us a good day is when we have breakfast and dinner together, meals are very important to us. We love food!"

And Celestine, a beautiful mother of two simply stated, "I'm happy to be a mom because our kids are really fun, they always make me laugh." 

I'm not a parent yet, but I hope that someday I can have the same joy and love for children as these incredible parents have! I'm really excited that E3 Imagine to include these families in our books so that people across the globe can see that no matter where you go, there are families, families who love, and families who are happy! It's universal! 

Day 29: Sisters in Rome!!

We wandered around the streets of Rome looking for families to photograph and found these cute little girls sitting on a step eating ice cream cones. We got talking with their family and they agreed to spend some time with us! They were so cute, fun, outgoing, pretty much just perfect and exactly what we were looking for! They didn't speak english but we loved watching them play around and interact with each other, made me miss my sisters! 

Day 26: The days are FLYING by! An update from Nepal

K, we are in Rome right now and it's beautiful! I'm sorry I haven't blogged for a few days! We were only in Nepal for two nights and then we were traveling for 33 hours to get to Rome! Talk about craziness and being exhausted... I wanted to share a few pictures though and I'll hopefully get caught up on Rome soon.

Little boy from one of the villages where we photographed a few families! He was so happy and cute the whole time we were there.The oil on his head is mustard oil and is used every morning for babies in Nepal. It's good for their skin. Also, he has some black on his eyes which is some kind of medicine also, most of the kids I saw had it. 

View from the roof of our hotel in the city of Kathmandu, Nepal. 

These girls were adorable! I was just walking down the street and as soon as they saw my camera they started posing for me.! 

More cute kids I found just simply walking around the area. I took pictures and they would follow me, take some more, and they would keep following me! They mostly loved seeing their pictures afterwards! Wish that I could send them some!


I think what I loved most about Nepal was the simpleness of the lifestyle and the preservation of their culture. I feel like that have not yet been completely changed by the western world yet, as we saw in other southeast Asian countries. They had beautiful traditions and customs that I know have been around for hundreds of years. The kids were cute and the families were all nice and very welcoming. I would love to live there someday!