The Turner Family

On 25 Sep we had a number of people over for dinner to carb up on pasta before the big race. There was a German couple, both injured and out of the race. There were three other half marathon runners from embassy, and Ahni. Lastly, there were three Marines, the guys who pull security for our embassy, two of which had signed up for the full marathon that very week so had done no training for the event...ouch! We awoke early and carpooled down with three couples in two vehicle. Due to various problems, I couldn't run, and Lisha, the wife of our Navy doc, were the paddy wagons, ready with water, juice, bananas, and support along the route. The race was to start at 0530 in Tema , somewhat near the port. Unfortunately, the race did not begin until nearly an hour later, but that didn't stop Ahni and our friend Jeff from leaving early, bound and determined to beat the heat, traffic, exhaust fumes, and mass of people. Lisha and I took off shortly thereafter to scout out the route. We f...

The weather was wonderful, so we found ourselves out in Jack and Jenny's neighborhood, at Charlotte's Country Mill on Sunday. We enjoyed fresh cider, doughnuts, and intimate interactions with the entirety of Eaton County's bee population. (This post is being published not only to show off pictures of our kids, but to also push the airshow blog entry to an older page, to keep the video and audio portions of that entry from automatically loading and irritating our readers.)

I just can't stay off the blog now . . . Saturday was a small pow wow in Benzonia, attended by lots of Millers. Wanted you all to see a couple of things. Devyn posing in her new regalia. A friend of the family made the shawl and Devyn asked Cyn to make the matching dress - a retirement project. Following is a video showing her performing in the "fancy shawl dress" category. She's very good at it. Photo below of Dennis, Devyn and Parker And one final video of Dennis dancing with Parker (wearing Glen's wolverine headpiece)

Lucky for us, Sarah had a free day on Sunday and some of us were able to attend an impromptu housewarming. Jeff, Karen, Abbey, Jack, Cyn, Kay and Bil got the tour of Sarah's fabulous new home and also got to enjoy great weather, great food and great company. For those of you who haven't seen the house, the photos don't really do justice to the wide open spaces and mid-century modern atmosphere. But, if you couldn't go in person, the photos will have to do. Photo taken in the front yard, by the parking area. Here is the front view of the house from the street And the beautiful back yard View of the back of the house from the back yard Sarah's cat was a great hostess too!

Not one, but two Pileated Woodpeckers feasting at our suet feeders! These birds are the biggest woodpeckers in the woods if you've never seen one - at least as big as a large crow. We think they are parent and child, since one would occasionally get a beak full of suet and stick it in the other's mouth. Note homemade Christmas presents in use: the seed feeder made by Joshua, the pole by Jeff.

I got onto the blog for the first time in a long time today and saw a couple of notes wishing for more postings. I admit, facebook is probably partly to blame - I tend to post to it (although not much there either). So, here are some photos of our family time together on Nantucket this summer. Isn't it great to be tan and relaxed? (I looked also at winter pictures of us as I was looking for these...yikes!). Love to all!

We went to the Abandze Beach Resort this past weekend with two other families, primarily to help celebrate the birthday of a boy Garrett's age. The boy's parents rented a second room for the four boys so Ahni, Meg and I shared a king bed. The resort is about two hours west of Accra and for some reason we had a planned departure of 0630, which became 0700 after all coordination and driving instructions were complete. The resort is located between two fishing villages, and situated beneath an old fort. We arrived so early that our rooms were not yet vacated, big surprise, so the kids explored a little rock outcropping accessible during low tide named "Treasure Island." There were some crabs and sea urchins in the crevices, and Garrett captured one of the latter, then reluctantly released it after a considerable inspection period. There was lots of relaxing to be had for those who sought it, including me, in the lounge chairs overlooking the Gulf of Guinea . The boys we...

Ghana qualify for World Cup after beating Sudan - Universal Sports

Jack telephoned yesterday to say that he and Jenny couldn't use their 4 MSU football tickets for the September 5th game with Montana State, as they were traveling north for the Labor Day holiday. Of course, we jumped at the opportunity. This was the maiden game for Nick and Seamus, Sophia attended one with Tiffani and me when she was about 9 months old. Here we are tailgating out of Dolores ' boot in Lot 39. The lot was a great mix of sunburned, over-enthused college drunkards, cigar-smoking Cadillac drivers, and serious buffet-serving RV types and tent erectors. We had a great tailgate experience ourselves, the menu consisting of chips , fried chicken, and cookies , along with some football tossing. Pictured above is the halftime show, the military is unfurling a gigantic American flag. The seats were amazing ( much thanks Jenny and Jack! ), right near the 20 yard line, and we were shaded by the upper deck's overhang almost the entire game; I'm sure those seats are p...