The Turner Family

As everyone knows, we had to put our beloved 13 year old Gretta down late in August. Ahni said that we'd know when the time was right and truer words were never spoken. It was a very difficult evening full of emotion and crying in our house. I kept hoping that my old friend Doug was there for her, his arms wide open, waiting to take her for a walk that night. It helped to sooth my aching brain. When you don't have kids your dog becomes more than simply a pet. Gretta was my dog initially but gravitated to Jenny halfway through her life. Due to my heavy workload Jenny had a buddy she could spend lots of time with and they formed a wonderful bond over time. It never ceased to amaze me, these last few years, how that dog only cared about Jenny and I was just some other human in the house. While it's been difficult for both us it's been doubly traumatic for Jenny to lose her pal. At the end of the day, she was still my hunting buddy though, always eager for a mouth full

As most are aware, I got a coveted Michigan Elk tag this summer and went on the hunt in August. Beforehand, I was able to sight in my big 300 Magnum down at Jeff Foxworthy's ranch in Georgia. His property manager is a former SWAT sniper and overqualified to help. They all got a big kick out of my last shot which put a nice dimple in my nose! It ended up being a bit smaller (younger) than I might have liked. I hadn't seen anything in 2 days of scouting and 2 days of hunting. It came out of the woods all by itself so I had nothing to compare it's size against. Turned out to be a 1 1/2 year old, perhaps half the size of a mature cow. On the other hand, it's dang tasty venison, Elk Veal as I've taken to calling it! Vern, our guide for the evening. We ran into this guy a few miles back in the bush after his client had shot a bull that morning. Jimmy and he had hunted together previously and he agreed to take us out that evening. He was quite the card, dry sense of h

All of our stuff arrived safe and sound, we just had plenty to put away. That same night we had a function to attend at the Ambassador's residence. Since Jason was the acting DATT we got to ride in the Lightly Armored Vehicle (coming through the gate), which was an improvement over the taxi I have been taking. Yaw spent several hours trying to assemble the basketball hoop we shipped over. I later helped him and together we were able to put it together. One of the care packages contained some clothes for the kids and Meg picked up the scent of Grandma on one of the shirts. Lastly, both Meg and I found someone to cut our hair and boy did she cut!

hello family! i know that many of you only hear of how busy and stunned i am with my new job...but i haven't lost my humor! tonight, i baked a cake for a themed student party tomorrow : 'prison cake walk'. i'll contribute this to the game and then surprise someone with a phone call! HA!

Tiffani suggested that a baby shower for Harry and Rebecca take place when we all gather at Christmas time. Thus the poll at right. Post your comments.

The kids have a half-day every Wednesday so Meg and I took advantage of the time off and went to get our toes done. The shop was a new shop, very clean and professional but, as you can see not what we are used to in the States. The pedicure took about an hour and cost a little over $10. On the way home we caught a cab, which had some mechanical problems and ended up dying in the middle of a large traffic circle. As you can imagine it almost started a riot with horns blaring and people shouting. Meg and I were just about to jump out and start pushing when the car coughed itself back to life and we made a quick get away. Luckily, we didn’t have to call in Rambo or Box-Man to rescue us.