Little Miss Addison

I just got some new pictures of my niece Addison, she is 18 months old and getting so tall, and loves to talk. My sister Brooke and her husband just went down to San Diego to see Brittany and Addie, and they had so much fun. I wish we could live close to them, I miss them a lot. Hopefully we get to make it down to southern California before we move. It's hard because everyone in the family is in Utah but Britt's family, but I don't blame her for not wanting to be here, we love San Diego too!

She is adorable in this little outfit.

She loves Brittany's makeup

Camping with her sweet smile and Auburn hair.

Sisters —Brooke, Brittany, and Addie. Miss them!

The Last Day

Well, our time in Africa is over, and it was wonderful. We're now sitting in the airport in New Jersey, with two back to back 10-hour flights behind us, and a few more hours of travel to go.

Our last day and a half were busy and we hunted hard—for kudu. We spent hours looking for a big kudu bull, with no luck. Occasionally, we'd see a group of females or immature bulls, but nothing we could hunt. Then, as the sun was going down, we spotted a group of four or five kudu bulls walking through the thick brush, and we hurriedly went in after them. After stalking for a good while and finally getting a good look at them, Johnny and Louis quietly jabbered in Afrikaans before deciding that they were all too small. Disappointed, we left their trail and walked away, when all of a sudden a herd of Burchell's Zebras galloped by, stopping four hundred yards away. The timing was perfect.

We stalked to within 200 yards, and located a dark, old mare standing about 180 yards away. With a quick shot, the zebra was down, and it was a beautiful, perfect trophy. She was a rich, dark black, and she was so old that her teeth were worn to the gums and falling out, so it was an ideal trophy.

However, still without a kudu, we planned to hunt our last morning before we flew out. Somehow, the ghost of Ernest Hemingway was watching over us, and before the morning was over, I had the most exhilarating hunt ever, chasing full speed after kudu in the African bush before finally getting a rapid shot off at a target mostly concealed by brush. It was the most excitement ever, and a perfect ending to a fantastic adventure.

Sunrise on our last day.

My best non-lethal shot of the entire trip—an acacia tree reflected in the pool.

One more zebra for the family, this time an old Burchell's mare.

While we waited for Aaron, who was stalking kudu in the thick bush, we took a photo.

Looking for that kudu...

Finally! A beautiful kudu on the last morning!

Zebra!

Prior to this trip, I really wanted to shoot a Hartmann's Zebra. It was at the top of my trophy list. People may think shooting a zebra is boring, but a Hartmann's Zebra is really cool. It is also called a Mountain Zebra, because they live in the hills and the "thick stuff." They are extremely wary and quite rare, even here. Also, Hartmann's Zebra are only found in Namibia, which I think is very cool.

Well, miraculously, today I got one. I have been looking high and low for my entire time here with no luck, but today was different. While driving slowly through a thicket, Johnny, the tracker, yelled "Zebra!" I was off the truck in half a second, ready to fire. Because they are so skittish, once we found them we knew we'd only have a brief moment of opportunity, so we quickly bolted after them, sneaking through the brush, and I took the shot as soon as I could. It happened so fast, and was the most exciting part of my hunt.

I made a very good shot and my zebra was down. It was the perfect trophy—an old, battle-scarred stallion. We only shoot very old animals, and this zebra was so old that his teeth were worn down to the gums. Had I not shot him, he would have most likely starved because he couldn't eat anymore. I am absolutely delighted with my zebra trophy!

I had good luck today, also shooting a nice impala ram. We stalked after the herd for some time, and I finally got a good shot in at 200 yards, which is a pretty considerable distance. I took an extra shot to make sure he went down, and that bullet punched right through a thick tree branch before hitting it. It was also a very exciting moment.

Today I (CheyAnn) went to the local school with my family. Sarah is a great musician, and wanted to play for the children. These schools are very sad to be in. These children have nothing, but they are the happiest kids I have ever seen. One thing they love is their photograph being taken. Most of them have never seen a photograph of themselves, so when we pulled out the cameras, it was a blast. I took hundreds of photos, so I'm going to print them all off and send them to here to be delivered to the school. I was told it's the best gift I could give them. I have learned a lot from all these children, the staff and teachers are so dedicated and even though they live in the worst conditions I have ever seen, they have bright eyes and big smiles all day. It was a great day all around.

I can't get enough of the these pictures. Love them.

My much sought after Zebra.

CheyAnn wanted a Zebra just as bad, and was very excited.

A good impala with thick, heavy horns.

She was walking for long time, so we picked her up and drove her to where she needed to go.

The preschool building. So tiny! 45 kids are taught here from ages 3-6

The beautiful preschool teacher and her new baby. Teaches 45 kids everyday. She is incredible!

The girls handing out oranges and homemade cookies to 150 kids. They loved it.

Sarah singing hymns to all the children. Then they sang back. An amazing experience.

Windhoek Ward—The Friendliest Ward in the World

Today we had the wonderful chance to go to church in Windhoek, Namibia! It was so great! Personally, I was a little bit nervous to be going to church in such an unfamiliar place, but it only took ten seconds for me to feel totally welcome. Nearly everyone smiled and shook our hands and said hello, and after a moment, I had an amazing feeling: thousands of miles away in Africa, in a foreign land and among a foreign race, I surprisingly felt like we were among our own people. The church is such an amazing organization of wonderful people, and whether you are in Utah, Texas, or Windhoek, Namibia, it is still the same church with the same beliefs.

The branch is surprisingly large, and it is in a lovely, good-sized church building. Besides the missionaries, we were the only white people there, which is a different experience from the church in the States, and it was really cool. We were so different and foreign from everyone else there, but we felt like part of the same group of Saints, and it was a humbling and wonderful feeling to be so connected with these people and with the Gospel.

Outside the lovely branch building.

At the street market.

Louis, our PH and the person who is always waiting for our family. We are slow.

Also, a shout-out to the Rosses, who grew up in a VW Bus!

Sarah was taking a nap instead of exploring in the bush, otherwise, this would be our Christmas card!

Namibia Africa

While I was off tracking a wounded impala, CheyAnn got a fantastic shot of the African sunset.

We visited a store called Bushman Art, which had some very cool (and too expensive) things.

Windhoek is a beautiful city, but it is still developing. This tree is right next to an entrance.

We visited a leather factory, where we bought our springbuck pillows.

They gave us hats!

Day 7

Saturday morning is treating us well. All the guys went out this morning with Joof and Johnny to hunt. The girls are still sleeping and I'm blogging overlooking the Namibian desert. Life is great. We are all going out hunting later and I hope we get to see a lot. It has warmed up the last couple of days and the wind has finally stopped.

Time is sneaking up on us and we still have a lot we want to do. So far 6 trophies have been taken. We have eaten some of the eland that Brad shot, and oh man... it was good! Actually all the meals we have had here are amazing. I have had no health issues with eating all this meat. It doesn't get more organic than out here. That is all for now.

Adam will have more stories to tell when he gets back.

Adam and his favorite PH

Our beautiful room.

The funkiest chairs, but really comfortable.

Another part of the lodge.

Sweet sister Olivia.

We finally got the whole family in a trophy picture, with a very large oryx bull.

Sweet sister Sarah.

We love this jeep.

Dad, Aaron, and Adam.

Incredible Africa!

I could live here.

This is what goes on everyday. Drive in the bush, try to spot animals, then try to hunt them.

Windhoek

Yesterday the whole family went into to Windhoek, (pronounced vindhook) the largest city in Namibia, with 200,000 people. We did some great shopping, and everyone got exactly what they wanted. We purchased some springbuck pillows and some other decor. We had a fun time seeing all the cultures. Namibians speak at least 3 languages, Afrikaans, English, and German. They are very well dressed, extremely friendly, and a hard working people. The city was very clean and was pretty busy when we were in town. The best part is while we were driving around, a couple of locals noticed that we were in a safari van. We were not sure what they were doing at first, but then we were informed that they were welcoming us into their country. They were waving and smiling and actually rolling down the window to welcome us. Marina, who runs the Hunters Namibia Safaris, told us how much Namibians love Americans. We were surprised, but we are all about being welcomed by a friendly person who loves us, especially after traveling through France, where we did not feel so popular. It was a great experience and we will be going back into town on Sunday for church.

Beautiful!

I was so HAPPY to see them finally.

Us out in the bush.

Part of the main hunting lodge.