December family news

So busy preparing and celebrating the birth of Christ at Christmas, I forgot to blog about the family birthdays for December. Better late than never, here goes . . .

Happy birthday this month to:
Chris Baggett on Dec. 5th
Amy Baggett York on Dec. 9th
and our the newest member of the family born to Stephen and Leah - Meredith Joan Franklin on Dec 2nd

Several families celebrated their wedding anniversary including:
Jeremiah and Catie Baggett,
Gene and Martha Franklin,
Josh and Janelle Franklin

Another notable birthday this month was Dr. Lee Roberson. Dr. Roberson was the founder of Tennessee Temple Schools and was the President of TTU when I attended college there in the 1970's. He was a great man of God and influenced many of us to live for Christ. He recently spoke at the Highland Park Baptist Church in Chattanooga on the occasion of his 97th birthday - click to listen

the weather outside is . . .

Reading about all the snow in Colorado this week reminds me of the song "Let It Snow". The weather might be frightful over there, but not in Florida. We're picking oranges in our short sleeves.


Our neighbor saved some
"satsuma" oranges for Natalie to pick

Natalie likes the Gators!
My mom takes her turn holding Meredith


Brielle sporting her favorite bib!
A little windy, but a nice day on the riverwalk downtown Jax. Thanks to Grandma Baggett for taking the picture for me ( I had to work!)

more Christmas photos

Babies Meredith and Brielle with their "1st Christmas" bibs, and Natalie opens a present




Christmas coloring picture of Natalie with Uncle Brandon, it's a tradition you know!

Brandon, Janelle and Josh enjoy the meal

Christmas in Florida

Christmas at Our House





the youngest Franklin, baby Meredith born 23 days ago - nothing like sleeping through Christmas!



Brielle, Natalie, and Meredith
Christmas 2006

Family and friends enjoyed the meal

Natalie enjoyed scaring Great-grandpa Franklin with the singing Rudolph!


What a thrill to have our family together this year for Christmas in Florida! My wife's mom flew in from Texas last week, and my mom and dad rode down from SC on Friday with Josh and his family. We opened presents Christmas day at 11:30 with Natalie, Meredith, and Brielle the center of attention! For the afternoon Christmas dinner, we invited my sister and her family to join us and altogether we had about 21 people here, counting the babies. We enjoyed the fellowship (in spite of the rain storm) and food with lots of ham, turkey, dressing, sweet potato casserole, corn on the cob, Irish potato casserole, mac & cheese, rolls, and lots of dessert - well, you get the picture! We finished the day with a rousing game of "Apples to Apples".

'tis the season of giving

With some co-workers, I visited the Taylor Home on Thursday to sing carols and give gifts. We were able to provide gift-wrapped presents for all 230 adults living there and also gave money towards a new television.

Merry Christmas to all and remember

"Jesus is the reason for the season"

"old" Florida is slowly vanishing

As a kid, I used to dream about living in Florida someday. Back then it seemed like some far away, tropical paradise. I remember reading the Power Boys mystery book (similar to the Hardy Boys) and the story took place during a hurricane in Florida. I have now lived through a few of those hurricanes!

As more and more people move to Florida, there are changes taking place all around us. "Where are all the people coming from?" is a question my wife and I constantly ask each other. What was once "country" living in the big city of Jax, is now being developed into subdivisions and condos as fast as possible. The challenge to our state is to keep parts of Florida as "Old Florida" so that the next generation will be able to enjoy the natural habitat.

To see a story that depicts "Old Florida" you should watch the movie "Hoot" on DVD. I can recommend this movie as one that you and your family will enjoy. There are a couple of scary scenes with snakes and gators, but no bad language or sexual scenes to worry about. And part of the movie was filmed at Silver Springs in Ocala, Florida, almost in our back yard! I am not an environmentalist by any stretch of the imagination, but after living in Florida and watching nature disappear around us, I can only agree with the message of this story.

the subject is football, the theme is overcoming adversity

I have always had a measure of respect and appreciation for Bobby Bowden, the football coach at Florida State University, but my level of respect has increased. I knew that as a Christian coach he encourages his players to attend church. He also is a Sunday School teacher and many of the players attend church with him from time to time. Today I read about the way he went above and beyond the call of duty to help the new coach at Marshall University in the spring of 1971. After the entire football team was killed in a tragic plane crash in 1970, Bobby Bowden spent time to help that university rebuild the program. He was coaching at West Virginia University at the time. The Times-Union published this article - Movie opens old wounds for Bowden - written by Gene Frenette about the role of Coach Bowden and the story as it is told in the new movie "We Are Marshall"

Four months after the plane crash into a West Virginia hillside that killed 75 people, including nearly all of the Marshall players and coaches, Lengyel was hired to direct the most daunting job of rebuilding in college football history.
Lengyel devoted four years to that task, which gains national exposure as the movie We Are Marshall opens Friday in theaters. But he's quick to credit Bowden, who had just completed his first season as West Virginia coach, for assisting Marshall in the comeback process from the worst sports-related
disaster in U.S. history.

Gators look forward to BCS Championship game

For the latest Florida Gator news, this link to Gatorsports.com will keep you up to date!

it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

We finally started putting up the Christmas decorations this weekend. It seems like we are a week or two behind everyone else this year! Cindy's mom will be arriving on Tuesday. Josh, Janelle, and Brielle along with April and my mom and dad should all be here some time Friday. Stephen and Leah, Natalie and Meredith should be arriving along with the reindeer on Christmas Eve! Yes, it is beginning to look like Christmas!

(8 more days, but who's counting?)

Christmas - in the news again

Some links to news stories about the yearly culture war against Christmas and other highlights (or lowlights) of the season . . . . the Orange County Sheriff's Office dressing as elves to catch speeders . . . . the Chicago Christmas festival, the German Christkindlmarket, will not allow "The Nativity" movie as a sponsor . . . . Wal-mart leads the way in backing off of using "happy holidays" and will now allow their clerks to say "Merry Christmas" . . . . After taking down the Christmas trees over the weekend, the Seattle-Tacoma Airport is putting them back up after hundreds of complaints . . . . to sum it all up, an article from Family News in Focus, "Jesus Back in the Manger" . . . .

llfe with Brandon

Some recent photos of life with Brandon!


Brandon gave his girlfriend, Rachel, a puppy which is a mixture of pit bull and ??

Rachel named her "Cuddles" - nice name for a watch dog!





Finally, someone to help him with his aches and growing pains!




Photo from two weeks ago in downtown Greenville

these are a few of my favorite things

I was inspired by our cookie bake-off contest at work tomorrow to cook these "no bake" chocolate oatmeal cookies. It has been a long time since I cooked these but they turned out great. My Aunt Emily taught me how to make these when I was just a little boy, and they are still a family favorite. Here is her recipe:

Aunt Emily's "No Bake" Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

Combine: 1/2 cup milk, 2 cups sugar, 1/2 cup cocoa, and 1 stick butter (or margarine). Bring mixture to a rolling boil, and then boil for exactly 3 minutes.

Take off heat immediately and add: 2 cups (quick) oatmeal, 1/2 cup peanut butter (creamy or crunchy), and 1 teaspoon vanilla. If you like, you can add about 1/2 cup nuts or raisins at this time. Drop mixture on to wax paper with spoon. This recipe will make 20 large or about 40 small cookies.

family photo album

click link to see more of my photos from Thankgiving 2006

web watch

New and interesting sites I have found on the world wide web include . . .

Lawyer Evan Brown has his own "blawg" site at www.internetcases.com. You may or may not know this, but lawyers are not allowed to advertise their services in most states. So this site is not an ad site but a personal journal from a lawyers perspective.

If you do not have the newspaper delivered and miss out on the Sunday ads, you can now search those retail store ads on line now at www.sundaysaver.com

the day that will live in infamy!

Today is Pearl Harbor Day.

On December 7, 1941, the Japanese surprise attack on the US Navy at Pearl Harbor took place. You can listen to audio interviews recorded on the streets of Washington, D.C., the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor. These audio files were stored at the Library of Congress for nearly sixty years.

National Geographic.com has a site dedicated to Remembering Pearl Harbor which includes a link to the archive of survivor's stories. Also check out the multi-media attack map.

Who's on first?

52 years ago today, after a career in radio and movies, Abbott & Costello began their TV show . Posted below is their routine called "Who's on first?" which has become their most famous. Abbott & Costello are my all-time favorite comedy duo.

Abbott and Costello

one big, happy Gator Nation

What more could we ask for? In March of this year, we enjoyed watching the Gators become the NCAA national champs in basketball. This past weekend, not only did Florida win the SEC football championship game Saturday night, they were also selected to play in the BCS national championship bowl game against Ohio State on Jan 8th in Arizona.

Go Gators!

Below are some links to media articles from Sunday and Monday for all of you Gator fans . . .

Gator 'dream season' to end in shot at glory

It all adds up for the Gators, who will play for the title

Gators win right to face Buckeyes in BCS title game

Florida to face Ohio State in national title game

more photos from Wisconsin

Meredith Joan born December 02, 2006



Natalie gets to visit with her new sister









Sorry Natalie but you can't take her home just yet!

It was an exciting day for the family in WI

welcome to our world

Our family keeps growing . . . Congrats to Stephen and Leah who had another girl today. Meredith Joan was born at about 11:00 am CST in Watertown, Wisconsin. She was 20" long and weighed 7lbs 11 oz. Mother and baby are doing well. Stephen thinks she looks just like Natalie did as a baby.

fall is finally here

Thanks to the cool front last week when it dropped to 38 degrees a few nights, many of our trees have fall colors this week. The crape myrtle and sycamore tree in our backyard look beautiful! Fall arrives in December in Jax! Of course, the bad part is all the leaves I will have to rake - I just raked about 10 bags of leaves two weeks ago.

Now speaking of weather, what is going on in the midwest with all of that snow. See photos as Madison News. com

babies' first Thanksgiving

Caden enjoys his first Thanksgiving with the Franklins











Way to go Kenny! He's already a Clemson Tiger fan!








Grandma loves to hold Brielle as much as possible!







Brielle takes in the lights at night in Greenville (notice her bib reads "I love my Grandpa")

jingle-jangle all the way

That's the way I feel after traveling home yesterday from SC and listening to six or more versions of "Jingle Bells" and "Winter Wonderland." Brandon was determined to listen to all six CD's in the player even though it drove the rest of us crazy. I could handle the first five Christmas Cd's but then when number 6 started playing, even I was begging for him to change the CD. The Christmas music and then our 6 hour trip which became 7 and almost 8 hours before it was over, all made for a memorable trip. I was still singing those songs at work today.

We had a very enjoyable Thanksgiving trip. We also managed to drag my dad to the Beacon Drive-In Friday afternoon where I enjoyed a chili cheese a-plenty. We spent Friday evening at the Festival of Trees in downtown Greenville enjoying the lights. We made a quick stop at Mast General Store and then at Marble Slab Creamery for ice cream and then walked a few blocks to the Hyatt. There must have been about 30 Christmas trees in the lobby of the Hyatt and my favorite one was decorated by the Red Hat Society ladies.

Saturday evening we attended the caroling and tree lighting ceremony in Cowpens. After a short music service at the First Baptist Church, we walked a couple of blocks to watch the tree lighting. We ended the day with a fish dinner at the Wagon Wheel Fish Camp. This restaurant is only open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 4-9pm so we do get to eat there very often.

on vacation

What a feast we had yesterday! Lots of food and fellowship with the family in SC as mom prepared turkey and ham. We also enjoyed the "crock pot" dressing, sweet potato casserole, green beans, corn, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and pumpkin pie. Kenny, Casey and Caden joined us for the meal. Around 4pm, Brandon, Rachel, Philip and April drove over to Easley to play football with couples from Ryan's church. I think there will be a lot of sore people today! We ended the day with several games of Catch Phrase. Both my sisters, Deb and Loretta, were here so mom and dad were glad to have the family "together" again.

Today Josh and Janelle and Brielle are coming to spend the day. We are going to experience the Beacon Drive-In first hand and maybe drive over to Greenville to see the festival of lights tonight. Nice to be on vacation with no time table to meet!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Brandon's trip to Wisconsin

Brandon brought Natalie a Florida Gators cheerleading outfit

Family photo taken at the Jelly Belly outlet store

Natalie enjoyed the ride!

Anyone for a jelly belly? They look real enough to eat!

Leah and Natalie strike a pose for Uncle Brandon

news worth repeating

Some links to news you may have missed . . .

North Jacksonville's only shopping plaza opens; It's about time, residents say! After many false starts, the River City Marketplace will bring retail to the area.

Police take technology to events -Computer programs boost their efforts when there's a crowd to watch. It is always nice to see friends and graduates of Victory Christian Academy in the news.

Rush Limbaugh is usually right on target. RUSH:Just to reiterate, ladies and gentlemen: "It's going to get worse before it gets better." I'm not trying to be negative. I'm trying to prepare you here for what is coming. It is obvious from the president's press conference that his view is: "The Democrats won the election yesterday, and that means they get some of what they want, if not a lot of what they want, if not all of what they want." Specifically, here's what you can look for:

You can vote for the team you think will be playing in the national championship against Ohio State at ESPN.com - this link shows the votes tallied to date (scroll over your state to see how many votes your favorite team has accumulated) Obviously not a scientific poll, but interesting to read. Surprise! Michigan did not drop to 3rd or 4th even after losing Saturday. Florida remains in 4th place. For complete BCS standings click here

family news for November

Thanksgiving is just a few days away and then 5 more weeks until Christmas. Wow, the year has really flown by! "The older you get the faster times flies." Brandon has been in Wisconsin this week visiting Stephen, Leah and Natalie. I am sure he has been a good "uncle" for the week and will be glad to get back to the warmer weather in Florida. Hope he brings back some good photos for us grandparents to enjoy! Brandon and Stephen were able to visit Ben Hulin and take him out for lunch on Tuesday. Ben still has no feeling below the sternum, just in his arms, so keep him in your prayers.

Hope everyone has a great holiday next week, and we will be praying for safe travel for all. I think Cindy's mom is going to Houston for the week. We will be driving up to SC for the weekend for the turkey day at my mom and dad's in Cowpens. We look forward to seeing all the family, especially Brielle (two months old now) as Josh and Janelle will also be in SC for the holiday. Stephen and Leah are expecting another girl to be born in the next two weeks, so Natalie will have a baby sister for Christmas!

Happy birthday this month to . . .
Randolph Baggett on 11/05
Daniel Baggett on 11/10
Kelsea Baggett on 11/19

Happy anniversary to . . .
David and Joann Baggett
Rhonda and Denton Bell

Those who left their mark in our family history . . .
Samuel Martin Baggett, father of Joe Baggett, born on 11/08/1862
Ethel Mae Allen Rice, my grandmother, born 11/27/1904

biggest comeback of the season

If you missed the Louisville-Rutgers game last week, I have posted a video clip below of the last 2 minutes. Louisville was ahead 24-7 at the half and Rutgers made an amazing comeback to win this game with a field goal, 27-24. To make it even more exciting was the first try for a field goal missed, but a penalty on a Louisville player allowed for a second chance and Rutgers won. This loss by Louisville also helped Florida move up in the ranks as Louisville was one spot ahead of us in the polls.

Rutgers Winning Field Goal Over Louisville

The last 1:53 of the Rutgers-Louisville game from Thursday 11/9.

concrete builds the world, part 3

I-95 at the Trout River is taking shape and the southbound lanes will be opening soon

Watching the progress as I travel to work every day

previous photos at concrete builds the world, part 2