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

cool beans and other stuff

In this latest edition of "Cool Beans" I want to share with you some of the interesting and fun things I found on the blogosphere. Thanks to other bloggers for sharing these sites with us.

At the blogger called Stephens's Untold Stories, he posted the following link to Gotoquiz.com. I took this online quiz "What American accent do you have?" Believe it or not, based on your answers to the questions, this quiz is supposed to be able to tell if you have a northern or southern accent, etc. Much to my surprise (ha!) I found that my accent is from the south! I did not really believe it would work, but it did for me.

DavidRuse.blog posted this link to Linerider.org recently. It is pretty easy to figure out, just scroll to the bottom of your screen and click on the word PLAY. You can then draw with the pencil and click on the Play button when done. It is a neat stress reliever.

I found this interesting multimedia from Time:America by the numbers called This is where we live. It compares the density of the population in the cities across America with the rest of the country.

favorite recent Varvel cartoons

Also, read about Gary Varvel's famous 9/11 cartoon and how a fan had it drawn on his arm as a tattoo - at Varvelblog

blogs of interest

Many of you know that I collect eagles, whether it be ceramic eagles, framed photos, desk paper weights, or wall hangings such as the copper eagle a friend bought me. I am always looking for a new eagle to add to my collection. I am not as bad as my neighbor with her wall-to-wall "Boyd's bears," but it would probably be a good thing to dedicate one room in my house for my eagle collection. That being said, I found this neat video taken of an eagle in flight at a blog called Stephen's Untold Stories.

I am amazed at those who work as graphic artists and can use the computer to draw cartoons and other pictures. I previously posted the link to light night rains on my sidebar and through that blog, I recently discovered another site called Abandoned By the Sea.

If you are trying to build your own website, check out Joomla! - a content management system to help you build websites, and best of all, it is freely available to everybody.

what is a christian world view?

A recent nationwide survey completed by the Barna Research Group determined that only 4 percent of Americans had a "biblical" worldview.

You've probably heard the old cliche "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" or "everything is beautiful." But are those truly biblical views of the life? To understand what a "worldview" is and compare that to a "biblical" or "Christian worldview", read the entire article at family.org - What's a Christian Worldview?

what a beautiful day for a parade

more photos at this link to Veterans Day 2006

One of many World War II vets in the parade


Only the drumline of this band marched in the parade


Shriners always make you laugh

the military was well-represented



the River City band concert at the Landing

Salute to Veterans - We Remember

Narration includes readings from speeches by Donald Rumsfeld, Pres. Reagan, and Pres. John F. Kennedy, among others - a 5 minute tribute to our Veterans

road to faith

Sharper Iron posted this link to the Longmont Daily Times news article "Road to Faith". Quite refreshing to read about the Steve Pettit Evangelistic Team and the revival meeting they conducted at Faith Baptist Church in Longmont, CO. Nice to read something uplifting in the news. You can check out the Pettit Team revival schedule at this link. Maybe they will be in your city sooner or later.

college basketball season starts...now

The NBA season began last week, but I have really been looking forward to this week. The NCAA college basketball season starts this weekend. Here are some updates with links to the Duke schedule .....The Cameron Crazies are not happy as they will no longer be allowed to stand directly behind the press row - for some reason the Fire Marshal is enforcing this - even Coach K is not happy about this.....Some pre-season photos from exhibition games last week - that's an intense Josh McRoberts pictured above - and..... the roster with several "diaper dandies" (freshmen) and sophomores making up this year's team, and only on junior ..... With such a young team, they start the season ranked #11, but give Coach K a few weeks and I expect the Dukies will be back up in the top 5 - that's my prediction!

photos from space

This link found at usatoday.com provides you with a selection of photos taken by the Hubble Space telescope in the last 16 years. NASA will be flying a space shuttle mission to try and repair the space telescope sometime in 2008.

how many of me.com

Now they say we have over 300,000,000 people in our US population. Check out this site to find out how many of those people have your name - HowManyofMe.com

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 80 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

election day

Unless you voted early or absentee, Tuesday is election day across the country. I found these helpful links for this week's elections. At fox news, you can track the balance of power across the country as the votes are tallied. Citizen link.org and Focus on the family have provided this website for Election News. You can click on the state you live in and it will take you to more links that pertain to that state, such as the Christian Coalition of Florida Voters Guide.

The Back Door

Video of Ellis Island Immigrants, with music from Cherish the Ladies singing a song called "The Back Door"

pumpkin whoopie pies

When we visited the family in PA last month, Janelle made a dessert that I had never heard of before. They call these "whoopie pies" and these can be made several ways, but Janelle made hers with pumpkin. Now if you like pumpkin bread, then you will love pumpkin whoopie pies which are little, portable snack cakes. I searched and found the recipe at the Post-Gazzette.com called Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese filling. Not sure if this is the exact recipe, because the filling in her pies tasted more like sugar than cream cheese. I also found another blogger who happens to live in PA and you can read their blog titled Whoopie!! at pennhens.blogspot.com. Also, you can read more about whoopie pies at this article in wikipedia.com (the free online encyclopedia)

Here is the recipe from Janelle:

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

2 egg yolks
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup oil
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups cooked pumpkin
3 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
Beat egg yolks, brown sugar, and oil until smooth. Combine remaining ingredients and bake at 350 for 12 minutes. Cool and fill with filling.

Filling
2 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbsp. milk
2 egg whites unbeaten
4 Tbsp. flour
1 lb. powdered sugar
1 1/2 Cups shortening
Combine all ingredients and mix well. Spread between cookies.

the Beacon shines

This reminder from the Stroller (in Spartanburg's Herald-Journal online site goupstate.com)

THE BEACON SHINES: "Retro is rockin'," according to the Food Network, and the TV network is going to show us how Saturday when airing film on classic American eateries, including our very own world-famous Beacon Drive-In. Tune in at 9 p.m., and you just may see someone you know.

The special program tomorrow night is called Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives

Read my previous post from August about the Beacon Restaurant in SC

who needs the funny pages?

This is definitely the week for news of the weird and wacky! Who needs to read the comics when the news is so funny?

A former co-worker used to claim that she had a squirrel living "inside the engine" of her Pontiac. She tried using moth balls under the hood, but then she could not run the AC because the smell was so bad inside the car. I had so much fun with that story, that I spent a year of vacations looking for ceramic squirrels, trying to find one for a "gag" gift. No one had squirrels to sell! I guess I asked for them in so many places we visited, that I noticed this past spring every store in the south was selling lawn decorations of squirrels. Now, after reading this story from PA - Mean Squirrel Attacks Pa. Letter Carrier - maybe she was right to be afraid of squirrels. For the first time in anyone's memory, a postal carrier was attacked by a squirrel and not a dog!


Then I read today this story about the gym in New York with the "Lunk Alarm" where weight lifters are not allowed to "grunt" when pressing or lifting weights. The owner of Planet Fitness Gym even called the police to escort this guy from the gym for grunting!






And the best story of the week goes to the stupid remark by John Kerry about our troops in Iraq. What was supposed to be a joke about President Bush backfired. As Vice President Cheney remarked yesterday, Kerry was for the joke before he was against it. A group of National Guard troops in Minnesota turned the joke on Kerry with this photo making the rounds now on the internet. You can read the article at this link to GI's Drop Smart Bomb on Kerry