The Turner Family

Took the door and frame to the upstairs down to put in new door. The new door will be wider and match the rest of the doors in the house. Dad and I added 2 x 4 to the bottom of all floor/ceiling joists to stiffen them up. Also added insulation for sound deadening. Added a 2 x 6 inch wall to hide some heat ducts in.

Josh's Wrestling Schedule Emilee's Volleyball Schedule - when she makes the team!

Here are some pictures from around Madison: our terrace garden in the summer (we just took it down on Sunday, so it now looks very bare); I spent some time working under that blue umbrella; a "human cat tree"; Tour de France enthusiasm led to new bikes (and gear!), which was the summer highlight; our cat Tony lounging in front of new curtains and fitting right in (winter). Can't wait to see you all! Love, Harry

Wow, this blog has been active! I checked in after a few months and thought you guys might like to see some photos. These are from our trip to Turkey this past summer. See you soon! Love, Harry

Curious George made a visit to our local public library, which was terrific. Grandma Turner attended with us too, along with the remainder of the under-5 population of the greater Grand Ledge area. After some Curious George stories were read to us, the host made his entrance, we got to meet him, and then we were off to do some crafts upstairs. There, Seamus found a stash of monkey bread , and stuffed his mouth outrageously full .

The annual VIP dance took place on November 3. Nick invited Tiffani, and Cori took Sophia. Tiff even captured a photo of Jeff and Abbie dancing.

Got the kids off to school and then moved everything out of the living room. Had to take the ceiling fan down for now. I'll relocate it to the center of the new room. The pipe you see in the upper right corner of the picture was for the space heater we had when we moved in. the black tube in the background is a temporary heat run to Josh's room. Tomorrow I will make sure the ceiling joists are not sagging and add more to stiffen the floor upstairs.

Put up plastic to try to keep the dust and "bad" stuff in the other room. The ceiling was painted before the tiles were added and I would assume the paint had lead in it. No more lathe and plaster on the ceiling. The antique light fixture is intact and will probably be offered on Ebay soon. If you look close you can see the electricity was added after the house was built by taking a floor board up and cutting notches in the floor joists to lay the wire in. View towards the stairs. I am going to put in a false wall to hide the bump out you see for the stairs and add a cold air return for the upstairs. Took the carpet and two layers of vinyl flooring. Unfortunately it isn't worth refinishing. A few things found under the flooring, a 1947 silver dime, two wheat pennies 1939 & 1950, and a sheriff's badge from a breakfast cereal. Other side of badge. The five little brown marks actually will bend over to make a star.

This is the view of the room from the south. You can see were the wall used to be that seperated the small bedroom that was there when we moved in and the living room. The door you see is to the master bedroom (for those of you that don't know the layout of the house.) You can also see the ceiling tile left to be taken down. This is a picture of the front wall after the lathe and plaster was removed. The wiring you see was installed before Josh was born and feeds the plugs and lights in the small bedroom upstairs (now Emilee's room). The furring strips on the ceiling were to staple one foot square ceiling tiles to. The tiles came down in about 15 mi nutes. The lathe and plaster was a different story. That took a couple hours, including clean-up. Added insulation before it got too cold in the house and stapled the wires to the stud. The window was added this summer.

Nick has been angling for a new haircut for quite some time. So, the night before school pictures, his parents were finally sufficiently convinced, and he and I rode our bikes up to the barber shop where he got his wishes. All of the stylists thought that Nick must have a pretty cool mom and dad for letting him have it done, but I'm sure others may have differing opinions on parents that would let an 8-year old determine his own, somewhat different haircut. The stylist even added some blue tinted gel, which was a nice touch.

Halloween began a little early for us with some trick or treating at the High School on Saturday, October 28. Any opportunity to collect extra candy is great. Here Ginger is escorting Spiderman across the old gymnasium floor to some new activity. Spiderman , Dora the Explorer , Nick the midwestern Ninja , and their dad check out the mysterious yuckies in the bowls. Here Spiderman is trying to crush a ball with the overhead, two-handed smash technique, rather than attempting the actual objective of sweeping it to the endline. I don't understand from where he gets this aggression. On Sunday, October 29 we slaughtered pumpkins out at Jack and Jenny's house. We then warmed ourselves inside with some chili and sloppy joes, and Jack and Jenny's great hospitality. Sophia's Halloween party at preschool. 'Hurry up and take the picture already, so we can get out there and collect the loot.' 'Stand back Seaumus, I'm the first one outside to collect the booty....

For Halloween Ahni had great weather and a plan. The problem was, I came home just as the sun was setting and thought I was going to hand out treats while the others went throughout the nieghborhood. Wrong! I was met at the door by Ahni, who was dressed in her Geisha outfit that we bought while mom and dad were in town. Normally, that would be great, but when Ahni and all the neighborhood kids asked if I was going to don my costume, I knew I was in trouble. I was coerced into dressing-up and went out with the family and neighbors for a great evening. One neighbor thought I was Baby Huey :>( How could he NOT guess I was a Sumo wrestler? Here are some pics.

Hello to all the scattered Turners. Check out the Link I have attached here for a treasure trove of information about the Robinson side of my Mothers family. This fall I opened an old trunk belonging to my great aunt, Bertha Ross. She had stashed away lots of wonderful items that she valued, and it included a significant amount of "new to me" information about the family. That got me started doing web searches for information about all my ancestors. This Robinson site turned up. The page that opens for you is the page that pertains to my great grand father, Charles Chauncey Robinson. You can navigate up and down the family tree by clicking on each name of interest. If you drill down the tree though Nellie Robinson, you will find Marian, Edith and Virginia Ross. If you go backwards in time through each parent you end with a John Robinson born "about 1580" in England. What a pile of work put together by the creator of "My Robinson Ancestors" ! As an ad...

In addition to being pleased with how the blog is gaining momentum and submissions, I used my editing powers to delete the redundant posts, in order to save loading time (we have to be considerate of the people that are actually still on dial-up). I have created and posted a tutorial on how to post to Blogger, loading photos, etc., let me know how it works for you. Additionally, you can point to Dummies Guide to Google's Blogger , Blogger Tips and Tricks or the official Blogger help pages FYI , Chris

For those with broadband, click on the ad Sarah sent 'round, it's a visual treat. And she's right, the 'Making of' segment is good, as well.

Wow, all the updates everyone has made are fun and encouraging: Josh and his photos and schedule, and Sarah and her travels. I've done some very minor work on the page template itself, to include some links on the side that are noteworthy for their geographic location or personal interest (Dad loves Pasty Central, and I've got to admit I've poked around there too; give it a look). So, if anyone has suggestions for additional links that fulfill your need for local or iconoclastic information -- not necessarily limited to Michigan; remember, this is for the Turner family at large -- feel free to submit them via email or post them here, and I will update the page.

Well, we finally found out our next assignment. So if you ever want to come visit Germany, England, or anywhere in Europe, take the opportunity to stop there on your way to Accra, Ghana, situated on the wonderful Gulf of Guinea. I'll let you know what type of vaccinations you'll need prior to your departure.

Oh, and the big blue iceberg (can you see the water running off of it...it is still rising) is the one that broke off from somewhere below the surface and came up suddenly...

Aah, I'm learning that I should 'publish' my photos in reverse order...so that they post the right way. Oh well, just look at lovely photos and you'll figure some things out... In the previous photos you'll see a geyser before and after erupting (very regularly!), the largest waterfall ('foss') I've ever seen...and you could walk right up to it... no ropes or guard rails as there would be in the US. There's a photo of Iceland ponies and one of my traveling companion, Lori Talcott, and I once we were back in Reykjavik after our trip...