Back in January, my best friend Alana contacted me and asked me if I'd like to be involved in a project she was doing for a class. She had to spend 50+ hours on this project and decided that she wanted to do something that benefited families in need.
She decided that she wanted to team up with photographers in the area and give free family mini sessions to deserving families. During the month of February, You Deserve A Photo received several touching nominations from people all over Southeast Idaho. People nominated friends, family members, and themselves.
I am excited to be one of 10 photographers who have given away a FREE 30 minute session to nominated families. I've had the great opportunity to be paired up with the Kimball Family. As soon as I read their nomination, my heart was so full! This family has been through so much in such a short time, but they are so positive and optimistic about their future.
Here is their nomination:
"I was hoping to nominate my family. We have had a rough couple of months. In December my husband and I were anticipating finding a job since he was just about to finish his student teaching assignment at Hillcrest High School in Ammon. We hadn't had any luck finding a job and the day he finished his student teaching he ended up in the ER with kidney failure. We have known he had kidney disease since he was young, but we didn't expect him to have problems until his mid-forties. And suddenly, just before his 26th birthday he was hospitalized for kidney failure. Well, since he got out of the hospital he has been on dialysis. He goes to the dialysis center here in Rexburg three days a week and is hooked up to the hemodialysis machine for 4 hours. This makes it hard for him to get a full time job. We've had a lot of set backs and I'm sure we'll have more, but we are trying to remain optimistic. We are waiting to hear back from the transplant team in Salt Lake to get him on the waiting list. I think it would be great to have some family photos taken with our new addition and to remember this time in our lives so that one day we can look back and remember how generous others were in our time of need and that we can hopefully pay it forward someday."
What Jordanae didn't mention in her nomination is that this all happened right before Christmas AND she was 8 months pregnant with baby #2. I can't even imagine how hard that must have been. I am so inspired by their strength, optimism, and faith through this trial in their lives.
Since their nomination, they have seen and experienced many miracles... one exciting one being that Kyle's kidneys turned back on with 25% function, so he is no longer on dialysis. This family is so strong and has shown so much courage. I feel so blessed to have been able to work with them and get to know them.
Thank you Kimball Family! And I wish you all the blessings and happiness in your journey ahead.
