family photo Sunday

Merry Christmas 2013!

With all of the hustle and bustle of the holidays, it is special be able to get together with all of the family each year at cousin Judy's home in South Carolina.  

Praise the Lord our car accident the week before Christmas did not keep us (and our car)from being able to make this trip!  

Christmas memories

Christmas Past at Grandma's house, Cowpens

I have no idea what year this was, but we will sure miss our "grown and gone" boys and their families on Christmas day this year!  

Merry Christmas to all!

"The King of Glory" - SMS Mens Chorus

One of my favorite Christmas songs- "The King of Glory" 

as sung by the Sacred Music Services Men's Chorus.  

Merry Christmas to all! 

Franklin Family Birthdays for the last half of December

Celebrating Five Birthdays in the 

Franklin Family, Dec 16th-31st

Nyah Brown turned 5 on this past Thursday, December 19th.  

Nyah the daughter of my cousin 

Jeff and Charity Brown.  

She is pictured with her 

older sister Neeley

Happy Birthday!

Ronald Allen (RJ) Gardner turned 7 on last Thursday, December 19th. Ronnie is the son of Annette and Ronald Gardner, and grandson of cousin Barabara Wilkie.

He is pictured with his sisters, Payton and Jamie.

Happy Birthday!

 

Miranda Pettit celebrated 

another birthday on Sunday, 

December 22nd.  

Miranda is the daughter 

of my cousin 

Dianne Dorman Pettit.

Happy Birthday!

Kimberly Arthur will be celebrating another birthday on Monday, December 23rd.  

Kimberly is the daughter 

of my cousin 

Gloria Dorman Walker.  Pictured with her family this past summer ... Paul, Dylan, Kaitlin, and Derek.

Happy Birthday! 

Emily Mitchell will be celebrating 

her 24th birthday on

Tuesday, December 31st.  

Emily is the daughter of cousin Tony Mitchell and granddaughter of Judy Mitchell. 

Happy Birthday! 

family photo Sunday

Our youngest grandchild, Gideon, is ready to celebrate his first Christmas! 

Canadian Brass with the American Boy Choir for Christmas - video

Just in time for Christmas, the Canadian Brass posted this video 

from their performance with the American Boy Choir - 

"Angel Choir and the Trumpeter"

Baggett Family Birthdays Dec 16th-31st

Celebrating one birthday in the Baggett family 

between December 16th-31st! 

Brooklyn Grace will be 10 on Christmas Eve, December 24th.

  

Brooklyn is the daughter of Cindy's cousin Noel and Lisa Baggett, 

and granddaughter of 

Uncle Kelsea and Roxy Baggett.  

Brooklyn is pictured at left with her brother Travis.

Happy Birthday! 

Christmas past

Christmas Memories with Cindy's family  - 

Josh is in front of me and Cindy is holding our baby Stephen - so this has to be December 1979! 

I see Brandy standing beside me, Allison (I think), Kimberly by the TV, and Zach and Carl!  

My, my, all of these folks sure have changed :)  

Joy Has Dawned by BJU Orchestra and combined choirs - Video

Bob Jones University posted this video on their you tube channel from their Christmas Vespers on Saturday night. 

A beautiful new song "Joy Has Dawned".

family photo Sunday

We enjoyed our Thanksgiving holiday 

with all of the family in town, 

it sure is quiet around her now!

Brandon and Rachel, Josh and Janelle, Stephen and Leah - 

enjoyed a board game after the kids went to bed.  

Happy holidays to all! 

favorite carol of mine, "The First Noel" - video

My favorite of all the carols is "The First Noel" . I read that "Noel" is usually defined as "carol" but is from the Latin word for "birthday". I found this video posted on youtube of the recording from the 1960's by Percy Faith and His Orchestra with nice a slideshow of nature photos.

Christmas lights with music - Video

Christmas light show synchronized with the one of my favorite non-Christian Christmas tunes - "Jingo Jango". I remember the Dorman High School marching band used to play this song every year in the Spartanburg Christmas parade, back when our boys were young. We always went to the parade on Friday morning after Thanksgiving - back in the day - when everything didn't revolve around shopping for gifts, etc.

O Come All Ye Faithful, video

A recent performance by the University of Southern Mississippi mass choirs and orchestra - this is a great arrangement of the Christmas carol "O Come All Ye Faithful" by Dan Forrest.

Baggett Family Birthdays December 1st - 15th

Celebrating four birthdays in the Baggett Family December 1st - 15th 

Our granddaughter Meredith Joan 

Franklin turned 7 on December 2nd.   

Meredith is the daughter of Stephen and Leah Franklin, and great-granddaughter of Winnie Baggett.

Happy Birthday!  

Amy York celebrated her 31st birthday on December 9th.  

Pictured at left with her son Easton, Amy is the daughter of Cindy's uncle David and Jo Ann Baggett.  

Happy Birthday!

Garrett Michau turns 7 on 

December 11th.  

Garrett is pictured with his older brother Gavin and 

is the son of 

Allison and Randy Michau. 

He is the grandson of uncle Les and Pam Baggett. 

Happy Birthday!

Chris Baggett also celebrated his 49th birthday on December 5th.  Chris is the son of the late Ralph (Sonny) Baggett.   

Sorry no picture available. 

Happy Birthday! 

family photo Sunday

Grandkids Sophie and Brielle passing the time 

over the Thanksgiving holidays...

beats watching cartoons on TV I guess!

Franklin Family birthdays Dec 1st-15th

Celebrating two birthdays in the Franklin Family 

between December 1st and 15th! 

Our granddaughter, Meredith Joan, 

turned 7 on December 2nd.  

Earlier this year we were thinking about driving to Wisconsin to celebrate her birthday.  Our son and his family 

decided to come down south for 

Thanksgiving instead.  

We were able to celebrate her birthday 

with the whole family on Sunday, December 1st!   

Meredith is the daughter of our son Stephen and Leah Franklin. 

Peyton Noelle Arthur will be 

turning 4 on Sunday, December 15th.  Peyton is the granddaughter of 

my sister Loretta Franklin 

and daughter of Ben Arthur.   

Hope you have a great day! 

Christmas Flash Mob performance by the USAF Band in DC

This video of the USAF Band in Washington, DC is sure to get you in the mood for Christmas music! The musicians performed a medley of Christmas songs in a "flash mob" at the 
National Air and Space Museum on Tuesday, December 3rd.

early Christmas present!

 Our early Christmas present

from our sons -

 

They painted our front porch on Friday and Saturday!

family photo Sunday

We were excited to celebrate Meredith's 7th birthday today

 before they headed back to WI. 

Meredith's actual birthday is tomorrow, December 2nd.

Thankful for these 10 grands

Thanksgiving 2013 - we are thankful for God's blessings - 

ten wonderful grandchildren and one more on the way! 

"Happy is the man who has his quiver full!"

Natalie

Ethan

Meredith

Haley Grace

Hudson

Sophie

Gideon

Layton

Brielle

Charlie

family photo Sunday

Colby Blackstock recently married his long time girlfriend Haley Ellis. 

They were wed at the Grant County Courthouse October 29, 2013. Congrats! 

Baggett Family birthdays for the last two weeks of November

Celebrating two birthdays in the Baggett family 

for the last two weeks of November! 

Peggy Granderson celebrated another birthday on on  Wednesday, November 13th.  

Peggy is Cindy's 2nd cousin, and the daughter of the late Josephine Stahl - the sister of Mildred (Mam-Ma) Baggett. 

Peggy is pictured at left with her husband Charles Granderson.

Hope you had a wonderful day! 

Cindy's Uncle Kelsea Baggett celebrated his 76th birthday on Tuesday, November 19th.  

Kelsea is pictured with his wife Roxy, 

daughter Sheryl, and granddaughters Jessica, Sierra and Mikaya (photo taken this past summer.)

Hope you had a wonderful day!

Franklin Family birthdays for the 2nd half of November

Celebrating two Franklin family birthdays the last two weeks of November! 

Elliot Mitchell, 

son of my 2nd cousin 

Tony Mitchell, 

and grandson of 

Judy Franklin Mitchell 

will be celebrating another birthday on Wednesday, November 20th.

Elliot is pictured with Tony, Judy and his sister Emily 

in the photo at left.

Hope you have a great day! 

Jamie Lynn Wilkie turns 4 on 

Saturday, November 23rd.  

Jamie is the daughter of my 2nd cousin 

Annette Wilkie Gardner 

and granddaughter of 

cousin Barabara Dorman Wilkie. 

Hope you have a great day! 

150 years ago today! Lincoln's Gettysburg Address

Today marks the 150th anniversary of President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.  Historians say President Lincoln wrote the address five times, as he re-wrote and finalized the address.  On the morning of the address, Lincoln toured the battlefield with one of his cabinet members. The battlefield was still covered with equipment, saddles, horse skeletons from the July battle. He was not the main speaker at this ceremony. The principal address was a two hour speech by a well-know speaker Edward Everett.  Lincoln was asked to give the concluding remarks and his famous speech lasted about two minutes.  The speech is posted on a granite marker outside the Gettysburg National Park Visitor's Center

family photo Sunday

Our granddaughter Brielle dressed as an apple 

for a special skit at the local minor league 

ball game this past summer.

signs along the journey

I had to take a picture of the sign on the wall at  Sue's Log Cabin Restaurant in Ellijay, GA. 

It was made using car tags of all things! 

If you look closely, you will notice each letter is from a different car tag/state.

Thank a Veteran!

My dad, Gene Franklin, in 1944 WWII

Don't forget to 

"Thank a Veteran" today! 

My dad served in WWII from 1944-1946.

We always like to visit the new Veterans Park in the little town of Cowpens several times a year. 

Dad's name is engraved on the marker to the right. 

Other family members from Cowpens who served their country include my 2nd cousins

 Ray Pettit, Jr. and Preston Pettit, and my 3rd cousin Christopher Pettit is currently serving.  We appreciate all of you! 

family photo Sunday

Two of our grandkids ready to go "trick or treating" with some friends- Charlie (left) dressed as Woody (from Toy Story) 

and Haley Grace (right) is a purple care bear :)  

Baggett Family Birthdays for the first week of November

We're celebrating four Baggett Family 

birthdays this first week of November!

Our grandson Hudson Noah turned 2  

on Friday, November 1st. 

Hudson is the son of 

Josh and Janelle Franklin. 

Hudson is the grandson of Cindy Baggett Franklin and the great-grandson 

of Winnie Baggett.

Hudson is pictured at his birthday party!

Randolph Baggett, 

the son of Cindy's late uncle 

Ralph Baggett,

 turned 50 on Tuessday, 

November 5th. 

Sorry no photo....

Dan Baggett, Cindy's cousin, 

will be celebrating his 50th birthday 

on Sunday, November 10th.  

Dan is the son Uncle Kelsea 

and Roxie Baggett. 

Hope you have a great day! 

Travis Baggett will be turning 7 

on Sunday, November 10th. 

Travis is the son Noel and Lisa Baggett, 

and the grandson of 

Uncle Kelsea and Roxie Baggett. 

Picture taken in AZ this past summer 

with his sister Brooklyn.

Hope you have a great day! 

Franklin family birthdays for the week

We're celebrating four birthdays this first week of November in the Franklin family!

Our grandson Hudson 

turned 2 on Friday, November 1st.  

Hudson is the son of 

Josh and Janelle Franklin.  

Hudson is the great-grandson of 

Gene and Martha Franklin.  

Looks like you really enjoyed your birthday! 

Seth Stubbs, the son of 

Preston and Christy Pettit, 
turned 12 on Friday, November 1st. 

Preston is the son of my cousin 
Dianne Dorman Pettit.

Hope you had a great time celebrating this year!

Judy Mitchell 

will be celebrating 

her 67th birthday on 
Sunday, November 10th.  

Judy is my cousin and the niece of Gene and Martha Franklin.  

She is pictured with Cindy at Cracker Barrel a few months ago. 

Hope your day is wonderful! 

Bri Pettit 

will be celebrating 

another birthday on Sunday, November 10th. 

Bri is married to Chris Pettit. 

Chris is the son of 
Jamie and Kathy Pettit. 
Jamie is the son of my cousin Dianne Dorman Pettit.  

Hope your day is wonderful!