My Camera's View in Moshi

Our family had so much fun in Tanzania!  We got to know a lot of people, get a good feel for the land and I got to do a lot of photo sessions too!  Here's just a sampling (in no particular order) of all the fun we had - for more details check out the Tanzania 2013 tab at the top of the page!

The Loudermilk Family!

 These guys originate from Iowa, but now call Moshi, Tanzania their home.  They made the big move with their four kids (all 6 and under!) the day before we flew in.  It was awesome getting to know them and watching them transition to life in Africa!  You can read more about their story on Mandee's blog.

 The Muelenburgs!

 Melinda and her husband Yos are amazing, generous people!  They grow thousands of chrysanthemums in their nursery and ship them all over the world.  Melinda is also an amazing chef and baker.  She caters events, creates box lunches for safaris and opens her property for a Tea Garden every Saturday, with a new menu every week!

 She invited me (us) back after their portrait session, to capture some of the tea garden.  Her food not only looks amazing, it is truly melt-in-your-mouth delicious!  And almost all of it is made from scratch from ingredients grown (or raised:chickens) on her property!

Pecan Pie, homemade meringues, and triple-layer chocolate caramel cake (drooling yet?)

Made-from-scratch feta cheese, marinated olives, pickled peppers and homemade ciabatta bread 

A small corner of her front yard

 Meet the Mtunga Family!

We met Gaudy, Justin and Nikki (their oldest) on our trip to Tanzania 9 months ago.  Gaudy has a great story, which you can watch here (scroll to the bottom of the page for the video).  Gaudy and I clicked immediately and became fast friends, and Nikki & our little one, Owen, became buds too.  It was so much fun to see them again, spend time together and capture their new, expanded family!

Baby Bella was such a sweetheart... and sound asleep for most of her session!  Being almost 4 weeks old must be hard work! :)

 Nikki loves her baby sister!


These are the Neubergers!

Originally hailing from the great (cold) state of Alaska, Peter & Rebekah are now missionaries in Moshi, and have been for several years.  They founded Kashaba Tribe Ministries, which you can read more about here.  Their little girl Noelani (Noela for short) is as sweet as she looks, and became fast friends with Owen too!

 This is the Schraa family!

 Melinda recommended me to Caroline for their family photos, so we were introduced on the way to the session.  These guys are originally from Holland but living in Moshi for business.  Their kids are super adorable, and fluent in three languages! (even though (according to mum) they refuse to speak in Swahili lately)  :)

Meet the Schultz family -

 Fellow Michiganders (that means they're from Michigan, like us!) these guys have called Moshi home for a couple of years now and are here planting churches and spreading the Word.

All five of their kids were super sweet, and lots of fun! 

More Alaskans?  Yup, these are the Schmidts!

We met Tory & Ben (and little Gavin) while visiting Jill, another missionary in our neighbood of Moshi.  Tory & Ben had been traveling through Africa for a while and landed in Moshi for a few weeks.  They hope to come back and begin a ministry for albinos in the area.  Their son is albino and Tanzania has the 2nd largest population of albinos in the world, they really have a passion for educating people on the effects of albinism, not only physical but emotional as well.  

Y'all - I'd like you to meet the Welch family!

 They are originally from Georgia, but spent some time living in Charlotte, NC as well.  They moved to Moshi about 6 months ago and are still getting into the grove of things.  They are some of the most helpful, kind people I've ever met! Their daughters are super sweet... and I'm pretty sure O has a crush on the oldest (Madison, on the left).  The affection mayormaynot be mutual.  ;)

And last, but certainly not least - the family that hosted us this time and last - the Street Family!

Peter & Mary have been living in Moshi nearly a dozen years and are founders of the House of Hope Girls' Home.  They also own Wild at Heart Safari Company, and are working on La Fuente Mexican Restaurant as a source of income, but also as a training grounds for girls from the House of Hope.  

Our timing for this trip was truly God - because we got to capture this family as they awaited thier third child! 

 And it was an honor to capture the first moments with baby Naomi as they welcomed her into the world!

 And a few days later we did a proper mini-session for the newborn :)

And what's a trip to Tanzania without a shot of Mt. Kilimanjaro??  Here it is, the highest free-standing mountain in the world!

One day I'll climb that bad boy.  Well.  One week.  Cause that's how long it takes to get to the top.
Anyway, I digress.
I really enjoyed capturing all these amazing people in Moshi, and look forward to bringing Mission for Mawu more posts of foreign lands!
Until next time - kwaheri!  (goodbye!)