The Turner Family

Our two Christmas trees and the new furniture. First we opened the stockings. Later we got to the big gifts under the trees and Garrett was so excited he couldn't sit down. Meg loved everything, she's already half way through her first book and has picked out her outfit for the first day of school. Our homemade gift from Garrett! Merry Christmas!

As some of you might know I joined the Hash House Harriers shortly after we arrived in Accra, I had heard about this "drinking club with a running problem" years ago but never took the opportunity to seek one out. When we arrived in Accra I realized if I wanted to continue to run I would have to find some running companions so I decided to give this group a try and I have never regretted it. The group meets once a week and never at the same location so it has been the best introduction to the streets of Accra and other runners. Every year the Hash has a Red Dress Run to raise money for a local charity. All Hash members are to wear red dresses and then run through the city. Believe me we sure drew a lot of attention with about 35 of us participating. The two ladies in the picture above are the backbone of the Hash, I don't know their real names, I only know them as Tight --- and Dirty Dancer. The Gentleman with them is a long time member from Europe who is recovering from

Traditional drumming and dancing demonstration. Garrett was very patient and the monkey finally came down and took the banana out of his hand. Meg at the bead factory. Kente weaving village, Tafi Abuipe. Kente weaving lesson, in French. Meg showing the kids how to "bump". Jason and Garrett before touring the Kente weaving village of Tafi Abuipe.

Just a close up of what is "hanging" around. There is a large intersection near 37 Military Hospital and legend has it when a Chief came to the hospital for treatment he brought the bats with him. The Chief died at the hospital and the bats never left. During the day you can see them hanging from every branch of every Mango tree surrounding the Hospital. I'm not sure why they were so active today but we took the opportunity to snap a picture. These pictures were taken at 5:00 p.m.. The white and green bus on the left is one of the kids' school buses. Meg and I took the pictures from the front seat of the Subaru. Very sanitary considering it is next to a hospital, isn't it? (Meg)

The barber woman checked the receipts in the computer and noted she was the last person to give me a haircut, last December. I told her that due to the economy, I couldn't afford one, and she seemed to believe me. Of course, it made a big splash at school as well.

Very early in advance of the event, Sophia asked me to attend the Neff School VIP dance with her, and I agreed. Then, our silly high school football team went undefeated and became the highest rated team entering the playoffs, won their first matchup, creating a game that conflicted with the dance. I would like to have Tiffani share the blame with me, but the truth is that the game took on a gathering momentum. I made the decision to not mention the dance, we quietly organized a party for the event and neglected to tell Sophia about the omitted event. After the debacle of a game ( 14-56 ), after finishing up the leftover meatballs, we told Sophie about missing her event, and my plans to make up for it by going out for dinner and attending the movie downtown. Thus, her favorite dinner (chicken with broccoli) at House of Hsu, and some popcorn and candy during a viewing of High School Musical 3 at the Sun Theater . And, I wasn't even the one that fell asleep (it was a school night).

233rd Marine Corps Ball Last night we had a good time at the Marine Corps Birthday Ball. Don't let the windblown hair fool you, it was outside and hot! The guys did great in their wool suits, even danced a little. The couple with us are our friends Karl and Lisha Kronman, Karl is a Navy doctor here doing research on infectious diseases and Lisha is a Pharmacist also doing some work for the Navy. International Day at Lincoln Community School Before the Ball the kids had International Day at their school. There were over 20 food booths representing nations from all over the world and some of the best food I have ever tasted. Garrett's favorite booth was the U.K. booth, he has developed a liking for their tea. Meg was busy watching all the little ones so the mom's were free to mingle and work the booths. She is holding Grace, who was adopted by one of the U.S. Mission members when they found her in the baseball field under a cardboard box at less than a week old. Garrett was

Tiffani and I are friendly with folks that volunteer with the Obama campaign in Eaton County , so when they recently called looking for some hours, I agreed to take a shift. The agenda was for me to go to houses already identified as Obama supporters, and I thought this would make a great opportunity for the kids to learn a little volunteerism, and a little of the critical importance of this election. Plus, the bonus would be that the kids would negate any potential hostilities with GOPers , but that notion was for naught. We set off walking from home to the local Obama office in the gray, coolish weather for our 1:00 P.M. shift, where we were warmly greeted and well instructed and provisioned with pamphlets. Sophia and Seamus took along a little Halloween candy, which was a popular means for distracting them from trekking all over the east side of Grand Ledge. Since the kids were with me, the crazy incident in South Carolina with the gun wingnut from Halloween was a little bit on

Just prior to mom's surgery , we all -- mom and dad, the Fees Road Turners, and Tiffani and I -- went out to a local Oktoberfest and enjoyed some hoppy IPAs, some cider , some pulled pork , and some political discussion . Oktoberfests being what they are, the event was outside and the temperature was in the low 40s. Our thin autumnal blood kept us from being too terribly warm, but the frivolity of the evening sustained us for about 90 minutes.