Then and Now

I always love photographing this family - I mean, I'm a bit biased since she's my best friend and all, but it's been so neat to watch how they've changed and grown over the years, and for me the pictures really tell the story well.
It's hard for me to remember these kids when they were this tiny...

    

And now look at 'em!

   

They're all kinds of grown up and it's just. not. right.
But alas, they are a beautiful family, and it's an honor to be able to capture their smiling faces every season! Here area a few more of my favorites from their latest family session:

Back to the Mountains!

I was so excited when the Mikesells invited me to Honey Bear to capture their Easter celebration!  I had a lot of fun there last fall getting some pics of their newest baby (the campground) and the family, so of course I was ready to head back and see it in the spring!

Except... Easter fell pretty early this year.. and there was a freak snow storm in the mountains.  So it was more wintery than springy.. snow and all.  But it was still a lot of fun!
We started off the weekend with some worship in the Coffee Shoppe on Good Friday.

The talented Andre Gonzalez leading worship.

And of course there were s'mores.  With bunny shaped marshmallows.  I couldn't bring myself to hold the bunny over the fire... but the kids didn't mind one bit! :)

Saturday was the BIG day!  There were egg hunts, games, crafts and lots of fun to be had by all the campers, and the community too!

Racing to find the eggs!

The snow didn't allow for much camouflaging... 

Nothin' quite like throwing a bean-bag carrot at a bunch of cans!

Sack Race... er... Bunny Hop anyone? 

Ready for round 2 of the egg hunt!

 

Meanwhile in the craft barn...

And s'mores... always s'mores!!!

Saturday night there was an egg-dying party and a showing of the movie Hop! for the campers - yes, those are my pair of cheeks you see below - it was his first experience dying eggs for Easter!

Sunday morning there was a sun rise service... even though we couldn't see the sun rising behind the rain clouds, it was a beautiful service with a great message and great worship!

It was my second time to Honey Bear campground and I love it more every time we go!  It is such a fun place to be, away from it all, amazing, I mean seriously amazing hosts, and - who doesn't love an excuse to eat s'mores?

I'll be headed back to capture the fun Mother's Day festivities... hopefully minus the snow.   ;)

God is Funny...

Alternately Titled: God is smart and I'm the funny one for not recognizing he thinks of everything...

{First, let me apologize for this month-long absence from the blog-o-sphere.  It's horrible of me, I know, truth is things have been busy and I just haven't made it a priority to get on here and update! So, I'm sorry, please forgive me.}
Anyway, onto the post!

So shortly after getting back from Tanzania a client (whom I haven't seen in several months, actually) messaged me about possibly coming to the photography club she leads at a local school as a guest speaker.  First I was like, "Me? What? Don't you want a real photographer?" Then God put that in check and reminded me, I kind of am a real photographer.  I sometimes forget because it seems like it's just a hobby to me and it's something I love.  Then I look at my calendar and am reminded - that yes, with over a dozen bookings a month, I suppose that means I'm a 'real' photographer.  Then I thought, "Aww, that's so sweet!" The fact that someone would want me to come pour into these young peoples' lives and teach them about photography gave me all sorts of warm fuzzies.  So I agreed.

I went and chatted a little bit about Mission for Mawu, our love for Africa, and our calling to move there in August.  I answered some questions the teens had about missions, then turned the conversation to photography.  Touching on some basics before we headed outside so they could see it in action.  We went out and the plan was for me to take head shots for them while describing what I was doing and why I was doing it.  It was a good time and I sincerely loved doing it!  They were a great group of kids, asked great questions and were really engaged.

The Photography Club at Northside Baptist

So I get home and - well, no, it was on the way home, while I was driving really - I'm thinking of all these lessons I could do on photography.  I mean, this was like the Holy Grail for me: teaching + photography - my two passions in one!  There's no better combo - besides maybe chocolate and peanut butter.  But I digress.  It really got me excited about the possibility of teaching photography, like I wanted to start writing out lessons and planning already! It was then I was reminded that I will most likely be teaching a photography class in the fall at Hope School and that maybe, just maybe God placed this opportunity in my lap now to get me geared up and excited for what lies ahead.

So while I'm down here on Earth thinking, "Wow, this is random that a client I haven't heard from in months contacts me to (not take family pictures, but) speak to her photography club," God is probably sitting up in Heaven with his feet up chuckling at 'silly Amanda' for not realizing that he thinks of everything and truly gives us the desires of our hearts when we seek Him with everything we have and obey his commands.

So pretty much, I'm the funny one.  Go ahead and laugh at me, I laugh at myself too :)

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!)