Hitting a Wall

After returning home from safari on Sunday, nothing has seemed exciting. We had an incredible summer, and the thought of returning to our normal life of school and work was not a pleasing thought. 

After our trip to Africa, we finished off our summer in northern California. After 24 hours of flights and 12 hours of layovers, we got into Texas on Friday morning at 1 a.m. and then we were back at the airport later that day to take an evening flight out to Cali. On Saturday, my cousin Katrina was married in Loomis.  It was a beautiful wedding, and it was so much fun to see all of my family. It was a great way to end the summer. Our last flight was a relief, in July and August, we took a total of 20 flights! I'm pretty sure we don't want to step foot in an airport for a while.  In the month of August alone, we spent over 60 hours in airplanes and nearly 40 hours in layovers—and that's not even counting 20 hours in July!

This week has been back to reality, and coming back from one of the best summers, it was hard to return to life here. We both have hit our wall with life and say every night how we wish we were back in Africa. 

But while we know it will be a long time before we return to Africa, we learned how important it is to relax and enjoy life.  We had the greatest time this summer, and it made us realize that life is not about worry and stress, it's about happiness and enjoyment.  And while we'll look forward to going back someday in the future, we'll remember that lesson daily. 

Our last flight. FINALLY!

Lots of lightning when we landed.

Wedding in California

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!