Giving thanks

This was a special thanksgiving.  It all started when Bret and I went to the Temple Tuesday night.  We attended the 7:30 session so we didn't get out of there till about 9:30.  We had about an hour to drive home and I was very tired.  Teaching early morning seminary is hard.  The early hour makes me useless after 8 pm.  I did have a short nap in the afternoon because I new I would be out late and I didn't want to fall asleep in the Temple!  We're heading to the car and Bret says "Hey lets go get some ice cream."  I was a little mad, because just the night before I was telling Bret my clothes were getting tight on me and I needed some help staying away from the goodies.  This wasn't the way to help me!  Then he asks the Sully's to come with us and also Lisa and Rod, and Wendy Hess!  So we get in the car and drive to the local McDonnalds for some soft serve.  I had a great time, and it was fun visiting with friends.  I looked at my phone and it was 10:00!  I had to get up and teach seminary in the morning!  We weren't going to get to bed until after 11!  Finally Bret says he better get me home, and we get in the car and start heading towards the freeway.  I settle in my seat, thankful for seat warmers, and hope the ride home is fast!  But instead of taking a right turn to go home he takes a left towards Omaha.  I said "What are we doing?" I'm getting really irritated now,  "I'm not in the mood for one of your scenic drives home!"  I just want to climb in my bed and go to sleep! Then he takes the turn to the airport.  "What are we doing going to the airport?!"  Bret just gives me a big smile.  We go a little farther and the wheels are turning in my head.  I look at Bret and say "Is Amber coming home for thanksgiving???"  He looks at me and says "Are you ready to see your baby?" I get a little teary-eyed and can't believe it!  What a surprise!  So the ice cream was just to fill in the time until the plane landed!  It was so great to see her!  So driving to Des Moines for Thanksgiving, I turn around and see all my kids in there places again. Very cool.

 

 So we're at Kevin and Jennie's and what does Amber do,  she falls asleep.  College life must be exhausting?



Jennie did an awesome job on the turkey!  It was all so yummy!

 



My favorite little Nephew, was having a hard day, poor little guy. Also his beautiful mom, Sheri, We had a wonderful dinner and great desserts, stuffed ourselves as usual, I felt sooo stuffed on the way home. I hate that feeling.

Amber's visit was short lived, she tried to get in as much as she could.  She missed the Midwest!  The place she couldn't wait to leave, she was so happy to see the wide open fields, and breathe that fresh country air!  She spent some time with her friends and enjoyed surprising everyone.  NO one new she was coming home.  It about killed her to keep it off facebook!  We took her back to the airport Sunday after church and said "See you in 3 weeks for Christmas break!" 

 

I was getting the boys breakfast one morning and looked out the kitchen window,  The moon was putting on a show that morning.  I had to take a picture.

 

This is Buster.  He's been giving me grief lately.  He likes to take off with Wiggins and not come back.  So I've had to get in the car and drive down the dirt road and look for them, put them in the car and drive home.  I had a serious talk with him. I told him he was being a bad dog, and being a bad influence on Wiggins, who is just a puppy! 

 

I think he got the message,  we'll see.

Two shots-Two deer

 

I figured since I was able to bring down an Impala in Africa with a rifle with out any previous rifle experience, I could shoot a deer with a muzzle loader.  I wanted to try anyway.  We talked about getting the gun out to take some practice shots for weeks before the season was to start,  but each afternoon went by and we never got a chance to practice.  I wasn't to worried, after all how different could shooting a muzzle loader be compared to a rifle. 

 

Our first day of the muzzle loader season came and I was excited! It had been cold the last week or so, and I had already gone bow hunting once already on a very frosty cold morning and shivered so bad I was shaking the leaves out of the trees, so when the day came for me to go out again, and it was 60 degrees, I was happy.  Bret and I got all our gear on and headed to Rivendale, our place out by Irwin, and settled into the stand.  It was a beautiful evening, and as the sun set, all we saw was one doe come in to eat.  She was in the corn and to far away for a clear shot.  I really didn't have my heart set on a smaller size doe anyway.  But as the evening minutes past away and the light was fading, no other deer came.  Just the one doe.  I did have a doe tag, and my freezer had been empty of deer meat for to long.  So when she started walking out of the corn and towards the tree stand, Bret said "Get the gun ready, and when she clears that tree see if you get a shot."  Well she did give me a shot, not broadside like I've always seen it done on TV, but she was almost facing me, and Bret told me where to put the cross hairs and if I felt steady take the shot.  I felt good, my heart was just beating a little faster than normal, and I pulled the trigger.  After the smoke cleared, I looked and didn't see where she had run off to. Then I looked down.  She had just dropped where she stood, and didn't move.  The first thing I thought of was, "Wow, I hit her!" Then "Cool! No tracking!"  Bret was excited as well of course.  We waited a bit to see if any more deer came in, but none did, so we got down to go collect my deer and get her dressed and ready for the ride home. I had made a perfect shot!  Right where it was supposed to be!  I was happy to have the opportunity to put some meat in the freezer! Yummy!  Sorry I don't have a picture of the doe, Bret said no one takes pictures of the doe's.  Okay whatever.

  

 

But I was definitely getting a picture of the next shot! So the week goes by, and a cold front moves in with rain and cold winds from the Northwest.  It rained for a whole night and a day with howling winds.  I was not really looking forward to going hunting Friday afternoon.  But the rain had stopped, and the winds died down a little, but it was still cloudy and cold, and windy.  Bret was so excited to go out.  He just new this would be the night the deer would be moving.  The conditions were perfect for Isenguard, our place out by Jacksonville.  So we bundled up and headed out, and got ourselves situated in the tree stand.  Again a beautiful evening.  A little cold and windy, but we had our warm suits on and we were nice and toasty.  We got into the stand a little late, about 4:30, and at about 5:30 Bret said they would be starting to come in, in about 20 minutes.  Not five minutes after he said that, I look to my right and see a nice big doe walk in from behind and to the right of us into the bean food plot Bret planted last spring.  Right behind her came a small buck.  I was excited to see some deer.  I was watching those two in the beans, when Bret nudges me and says "Okay, there he is!"  It was a nice big buck.  Bret said get the gun ready and get steady on a rest.  I was having a hard time finding a steady rest.  The angle was wrong for the tree stand bar, so Bret tries to rest it on his arm!  I wasn't to excited to shoot using Bret's arm as a rest.  I was trying to find the buck in the scope and watching him at the same time.  He was at a tree and was going up on his hind legs marking the tree and scraping the branches with his antlers.  It was very cool. I had him in the scope but didn't have a great shot.  He had his butt to me.  I also wasn't very steady at all. My gun or my nerves! Thankfully he walked more to the left so I was able to rest the gun on the bar in front of me.  It was a little to low!  I had to scoot down a bit out of my seat to see him in the scope.  Finally I found him, and tryed to put the cross hairs on him.  I was shaking something awful, and my heart was pounding out of my chest!  Although the gun was steady my fingers weren't.  The deer was standing there quartering away a bit, I tried to steady my breathing and calm myself so I would make a good shot.  There's no safety on this gun, you had to pull the hammer back.  I was ready to shoot but I couldn't get the hammer to move!  A combination of a cold and shaking thumb. I said to Bret' "I can't get the thing cocked!"  Just as I said it, I was able to get a grip on it and it pulled back and  it snapped into place.  Okay, get the cross hairs on him again and calm my breathing.  I did the best I could, and slowly squeezed the trigger.  Boom!!!  I look and expected to see the deer running off like it does on TV,  I watch a lot of hunting shows with Bret on TV,  I don't see him run off,  he just dropped. But he was kicking, I was so relieved!  I was so afraid of missing, I was shaking so bad I wasn't sure how steady my shot was.  The other two deer jumped and ran about 5 yards, then stopped and looked around, like they were saying, "What was that??"  They stayed and looked around for about 5 or so minutes.  My buck was on the ground and after a few minutes stopped moving.  I couldn't believe it!!!  A big buck had walked in, a lot earlier than we thought they were, and I just shot it!  We waited for the other deer to leave, and we climbed down to go see my buck.  Again, NO TRACKING!  How great is that!  He was laying about 50 yards away from the stand.  We walked up to him, and Oh my GOSH he was HUGE!  I couldn't believe it.  I also noticed he was bleeding quite profusely from his neck!  I shot him in the neck!  Just a little high and left of where I was aiming.  I must of flinched.  Bret said it just broke his neck, that's why he dropped, then he just bled out.  I was so very thankful I was able to bring this big boy down.  More meat for the freezer.  We took a couple of pictures with the cell phones, did a bunch of high fives, and kisses, and  Bret went to get the truck.  I stayed with my animal, just amazed at how beautiful he was and how big he was.  When we gutted and loaded him up it still wasn't dark yet.  When we got home Sam and Keaton were the only ones home.  They were excited  to see the big buck in the back of the truck.  We set up to take pictures and Sam had to be our photographer for some of the photos.  I think he did a pretty good job.  I think Bret was more excited than I was, although I was and am still pretty excited!  It finally happened to me.

 

 

Sam the sax player

Ever since Sam found out that in 5th grade you get to be in the band, he couldn't wait! He had to wait many years, and finally it's happened.  He picked the Alto Sax.  I asked him why he picked that instrument, and he said, "I don't know, It just seemed like my type."  I think he's right!  He looks good with it don't you think?

Ben's 15th! Wow!

I can't believe my boy is 15!  He's growing and his voice has changed.  All I can say is, Its about time.

 He's into the Hawkeyes and Greenbay, and also likes the Saints.  Go figure.

Aaron Rogers to be exact.

 We also thought we'd try the cell phone.  This is an old flip phone I had.  If he wants a better one he has to save his money to buy it himself.  He was very excited however.

 Also very exctied to get the Hunger Games DVD. 

And Ben again in his uniform, playing for the crowd at the football game!  Such a stud.

Marching band and a puppy

 

 Ben's now in High School.  I know I can't believe it either! And his first activity for the year is Marching band.  As you can see he plays the Trumpet.  I guess I'm going to have a lot of musicians in our family thanks to the 5th grade band program.  Which by the way, Sam is starting this year.  He's going to learn the Alto Sax, and he's really excited! 

The last week of summer vacation, Ben had summer band camp.  It was a chance to meet everyone, learn the songs they'll be playing that year, and also meet the new Band Director.  Yup, we got a new band director.  He's fresh out of college and eager to start his first job.  He seems very nice and the kids really like him.  I thought of taking a picture of him too to add to this, but I wasn't sure how to do it very discreetly, I didn't want to make him nervous or anything.  At the end of camp they had a performance for the parents and anyone who wanted to come.  It was fun and they all did a great job.

 

  A couple of weeks later, the night before the first home football game, they had a dress rehearsal, So I think he looked so good in his uniform.  Also, he is wearing Amber's hat that she wore all through high School, I thought that was cool. They all did  great and sounded better than they did at the first performance.  Not that they sounded bad, but you could tell they had been practicing really hard in the last couple of weeks.   

 

 

Ben is the one in the front on the left.  Waiting for the start. 

 

 

 

Killing time while the band director is talking to us parents.  You know, I have a lot of pictures of Ben and his tongue. Why does he do that?

 

 

Well the pups are old enough now to leave the mom, and last week we sold Max.  So we are left with Wiggins, who is the newest member of the family.  Which we are all enjoying.  He likes to bite on your ankles though.   

 

Our Trip to South Africa

The Baobab tree.

Bret and I are celebrating our 20th anniversary this August 4th, and for a present for each other we decided a trip to Africa would be a great way to celebrate 20 wonderful years.  My sister Jaime was very happy to watch the boys for us, I'm so very grateful to her for doing that for us, it was easier to go on this trip knowing the boys would be staying in their own home and in good hands. 

It all started with us getting on an airplane in Omaha to fly to Atlanta, to then fly to Johannesburg.  The flight to South Africa took 16 hours.  It was long.  But we had our books, and we also had our own TV screen in the back of the seats in front of us, with about a hundred movies and TV shows to choose from.  That made the time pass.  Sleep was not going to happen for me, I just can't sleep sitting up. We both took some sleeping aids but they just made me drowsy, not fall asleep.  Airplane food leaves something to be desired I must say!  YUCK. I wish I'd brought more snacks for myself. I'll have to remember that next time.  The hours passed slowly, but we finally made it back to the earth with out a hitch.  Thank goodness.  As we came off the plane, there was a man standing there with our names written on a card.  Graham Sales our PH,  had arranged for a company called Air 2000 to to meet us and help get us through customs and everything.  When you're traveling with a weapon it makes things a bit more difficult, there's a lot of paper work.  Anyway they took us through really quickly and got us to our hotel room for that night.  The room was great and I was looking forward to a shower and a night of sleep.  Only problem, there was no clock in the room, none of our phones would work so we couldn't even get the time, and no alarm clocks.  I was kicking myself for not wearing a wrist watch or something.  We had asked the desk for a wake up call at 5 so we could meet our escort to take us back to the airport for our 6:30 am flight to Poloquane.  Not sure I spelled that right, but that's how you say it.  Anyway, I wake up sometime in the night and I can't get back to sleep.  I have no idea what time it is and with the 6 hour time difference my internal clock was all off.  Both Bret and I were wide awake.  It was driving me crazy not knowing what time it was.  I was panicking that they would forget our wake-up call, and we would miss our flight, we were in a strange country, we would be lost forever and never make it back home.  I was having a panic attack needless to say.  We decided to turn on the TV to see if we could catch the time on CNN or something.  Nope.  For some reason South Africans don't care what time it is.  After a while and not seeing the sun come up I dug in my purse and got out my Ipod touch.  I remembered It had a world clock feature on it and low and behold it had the time for Cape town, which is in the same time zone that we were in!  It was only 12:30 in the morning!  I about cryed.  We had a long time to wait. It was a long night!   5 am finally came and we headed out to the lobby to meet our escort to the airport. He was late. Our flight left in an hour, and we had to re-check our bags and Bret's gun. We were cutting the time a bit close and we ran to our gate, they were supposed to start boarding just as we got there. The lady at the counter says the our flight was delayed because of fog in Poloquane. That's so very frustrating.  I was so tired of waiting, airports, and I just wanted to get on with the fun stuff of our trip! Ugh!  So 3 hours later sitting waiting, we finally got on the plane.  I was so tired.  We get there to find a black guy saying that Graham Sales our PR, sent him to pick us up.  So we get in the car and take off for a about a 2 hour drive to our camp.  I am so tired.  the first thing I notice is the steering wheel is on the right side of the car, and he's driving on the the left side of the road.  Very weird.  We finally get to our camp and are shown to our room.  I'm excited but tired.  We get all unpacked and head to the dining room for lunch.  I love the place we stayed at.  The cabins had thatched roofs and cute little beds and everything.  Our chef's name was Smart, our butler's name was Andrew.  Andrew made sure I was happy, had a drink in my hand, and Smart made sure my tummy stayed full.  It was!  Great cook!  Wonderful food! We had a lot of meat dishes.  We had Elan, Bushbuck, Kudu, and some others I'm sure.  I also fell in love with this dessert called Melva Pudding. It's this yummy very moist cake thing covered in this incredible custard stuff. Mmmmmm! 

So started the routine of getting up at 5:30, with a wake up knock on the door from Andrew who had two cups of hot chocolate on a tray to help warm and wake us up.  We would put on our hunting clothes, have breakfast, head out on the truck and do the hunting thing till lunch.  We'd head back for lunch, and then go back out hunting either on the truck or go sit in a blind.  We'd be out till dark sometimes later, and then head back to shower and then sit by the fire pit to chit chat.  Andrew would bring us a drink and a snack, then we'd talk about the day's hunting experience until the bell was rung for dinner, then bed.   Sunday morning we drove to a near by town and visited the hospital there.  Bret was interested in seeing how things were run in their healthcare system.  This was a government run hospital and man, it was very sad.  The conditions were horrible, and the care wasn't all that great.  If you go to the ER, you just sit there and hope that the doctor will show up.  I'm so blessed to have been born in the USA. 

This is a Wildabeast. The first animal Bret brought down.  It was very exciting.  Our first African animal.  It was a long shot! Bret's so good. 

We drove to the Limpopo river one afternoon and Bret shot this Impala. Notice the guy laying on the ground holding up the head.  Graham, our PR, was snapping pictures and the head wouldn't stay up.

This was a very exciting and emotional kill. This is what Bret wanted to go to Africa for.  The Kudu.

This is my Impala.  I was only planning on shooting an animal with my bow.  I took a shot at a small animal from a blind and by the time my arrow got to it, it was 20 yards away.  They are so fast, my arrow with only 35 pounds behind it didn't stand a chance.  So Bret and Graham talked me in to trying to get one of these guys with the Rifle.  Now, I've shot with a shot gun before at pheasants and clay pigeons.  I've never shot a rifle, never used a scope, never used shooting sticks.  Graham said, "I'll teach you." Nothing like on the job training.  I don't even get a practice shot. It would scare all the animals away.  He hands me the rifle, and he puts it on the sticks, which he is holding in the picture above. He has me look through the scope at a tree about 200 yards away.  He shows me how to rest the gun on the sticks and line up the cross hairs. Bret shows me where to put the butt of the gun so I don't get a bruise.  Then it was off to find an Impala for me to shoot. 

We walked around a bit and found a good buck.  I was hoping so much that I wouldn't embarrassed myself and miss the thing all together. We got set up on the sticks, and the buck moved, so we walked a bit farther and caught up with him again. My heart is pounding and I'm not sure what's going to happen when I put the gun on the sticks.  I'm shaking so much, how in the world am I going to keep the gun steady!  I look through the scope and see the buck.  I try very hard to calm my nerves and keep the gun steady and keep the cross hairs on the back of the front shoulder.  Graham takes the safety off for me and says to me in a whisper, "Now just squeeze the trigger." Slowly I pull back on the trigger and BOOM!  The force of the gun was so great that it flys up about a foot!  I thought for sure  I'd missed it.  My ear is ringing and I can't hear anything.  I was so concerned for the force of the kick back, that I forgot about ear plugs!  I look around at everyone to see what happened.  Graham is looking through his binoculars and saying it was hit but to far back.  I wasn't to happy.  We watch him for a while, and finally see him fall.  We walk up to it and make sure it's dead, then discover that I'd made a perfect shot.  The entry hole was right behind the front shoulder, the exit wound was next to the back legs, that's what Graham saw through the binoculars, so he thought I'd shot it to far back.  But I didn't.  How about that!  Perfect shot!  So we both got one.  Bret was very proud, and I was so happy I didn't miss or make a bad shot in front of all those guys!

This was our night hunt for the Bush Buck.  I know it sounds weird, but it's totally legal.  These animals are mostly nocturnal so they are hunted at night.  This was near the Limpopo river as well.  We were on the truck with a spot light, driving on these very bumpy rocky dirt roads, or more like paths.  Anyway we finally get a shot at one out in this field of very tall grass stuff.  There are also Elephants all around us.  Bret was like, "You want me to shoot this thing here?  With all the Elephants just a stones through away? Cuz I'm not going out there to get it."  Graham said "Shoot it!"  So he did.  Graham says to the trackers, "Go get it."  They ran out as fast as they could, and brought it back to the road and the truck.  We took this picture then got out of there. Very exciting.

   

This is an Elann, again spelling? Bret got this one with his bow! We were up in  a really great blind.  This was also on our last day.  We went to another "farm" that's what they call these 30 thousand acre places. Anyway they had more of a set up for the bow, so Bret was able to get this nice animal. It was just like shooting the bows off the front porch back home!  It was about a 20 yard shot.  Bret was wanting to get one of these with his bow, so he fulfilled another dream. 

Little baby Elephant in Kruger National park.

Baboon crossing ahead.

This little guy was waiting patiently for mom while she got a grooming. A little camera shy though.

I couldn't get over how big his little ears were.

This is a one of the rivers through Kruger National Park.  Can't remember the name.  But no swimming!  Crocs and Hippos may be lurking. 

I love Giraffes! I hope Bret never wants to shoot one because I don't think I could handle that. They are incredible to watch walk, very majestic I think.

Walking through the bush tracking something. We did this a a lot!

Warthogs were everywhere.  Driving down the road you see them running back and forth.  So ugly they're cute!

The (spelling ?) Acacia bush.  We had to dodge these things the whole time.  Missed a few times though and got the scratches to prove it. Beastly things! 

Okay, a little explaining.  We were all done with our trip and headed home.  We flew from some small town I can't remember the name now, back to Johannesburg to catch our flight home to Atlanta.  We were getting our luggage and waiting to pick up Bret's gun at the special luggage place for guns.  I see this guy and recognise him from TV.  Bret watches the hunting channels all the time, so naturally I watch them too because I want to be with Bret.  Anyway, there's one show that is called Tracks Across Africa, that we've been watching a lot because it has footage of all kinds of Africa hunts.  This is Ivan Carter, who is the shows host.  We've been watching him on TV for years.  It was kind of weird to run into him at the airport.  Bret was excited to say to him that my wife recognised you.  I guess not many women are fans of the show.  So we got a picture with him!

This is a Nyala.  They stalked this one near a water hole that had crocs in it.  He had to keep one eye on them and one eye on the Nyala.  Great times.

This is the truck we went everywhere in.  Sitting on the back of this was quite the adventure!

We had one morning where we sat in a blind for a few hours.  The wind was against us so we didn't see much. Not as exciting as riding on the truck. You must be "v-e-w-y  q-u-i-e-t."

The Zebra was an exciting hunt because we were surrounded by cape buffalo.   They are very curious animals and when we shot and were talking about how we were going to track this thing the cape Buffalo's came to see what all the ruckus was about.  Graham wanted me to stay in the truck.  I was a little disappointed, but didn't argue.  While the guys were gone a bull came quite close to the truck.  The tracker that stayed with me made some noise to scare him away but not make him mad.  It was exciting. 

The dining room.  We had many great meals here and some fun conversation.  This is one of the places all of the stories of the day are told.

Some of the locals in the town near our camp.  It was called Macena.  It was interesting because you'd see a nice brick house next to a house made of tin and wood. 

The Diker that Bret got with his bow. 

The symbol of Africa, the Baobab tree.  Such a beautiful tree.  I wish I could've seen it with its leaves and fruit that comes from it.

Graham giving me a quick in the field lesson before I shoot at my Impala.

Looking through the scope for the first time.  I couldn't believe I was doing this. I was scared silly. That's why I took up bow hunting.  I'm a little scared of guns. 

This is the only warthog I brought home.  I was hoping to get a real one with my bow, but they proved to be to tough and fast and smart.  Bret was able to get one with some great difficulty with the rifle.  For me this would have to do. 

Our last few days were spent doing some sightseeing in Kruger National Park.  It was beautiful and exciting to see all the animals in there natural habitat. 

These were our friends Smart who was the chef at our camp, and Andrew, who was the butler.  I wish I could take them home with me. 

Our last night we spent at a spa.  The tent/room was unbelievable.  This picture was taken right after we had our massage and hand and feet exfoliating treatment.  All ready to go home.

So back to the airport we go, not ready for the long flight home, but really missing my boys and my own bed, and the USA and I had to get on the plane in order for me to get back home.  We were an hour late getting off the ground.  We had to all be hand patted down, and our carry-on bags hand searched before we could get on the plane.  So do you think the U.S is paranoid?  After a 16 hour flight to Atlanta, more like 17,  my butt hurt like you wouldn't believe, I didn't sleep a wink, watched 3 movies, read my books, attempted to sleep, had some "yummy" airplane food. (sarcasm here) we finally touched down in Atlanta.  It was nice to be back in the US where I had cell phone reception!!!!!  I text Amber and Jaime to tell them we were back and would be home that afternoon.  I love seeing different parts of the world, I hate flying there. But it was an amazing trip and I feel so fortunate to have been able to experience such a vacation!  Thank you Bret.  I love you.  Happy Anniversary!