slideshow from the Great Guitar Gathering

great guitar gathering

Philip, a senior at Douglas Anderson, is second from left on the front row



Our nephew, Philip Logan, participated in the 14th annual Great Guitar Gathering last night. Along with 50 other students, the guitar orchestra played classical guitar arrangements of songs from the 18th & 19th century as well as two modern arrangements. "On the Beautiful Blue Danube" written by Johann Strauss was a "beautiful" arrangement for the guitar orchestra, very unique. One of the songs they played was called "Attic", a modern sounding piece written by one of the guest artists, Andrew York. Mr. York was a member of the LAGQ - Los Angeles Guitar Quartet for over 10 years. He is a composer of many songs that have been recorded by famous guitarists such as John Williams, Christopher Parkening, and Scott Tennant. I learned last night that Scott Tennant was also a member of the LAGQ. The other guest artist was Dusan Bogdanovic, born in Yugoslavia. He is an international award-winning guitarist-composer. As Philip would say many times last night, he was "amazing" (see the Florida tag below.) We ended the evening with a late dinner at "Friendly's" - late as in we finished our meal around midnight!

had enough snow?

This photo made me think of Josh, he just told us last week his thoughts about all of the snow in PA.

web watch

Steve Irwin may be gone, but the conservation work he started will keep going through this organization called Wildlife Warriors Worldwide

For the cooks and chocolate lovers in the family, I found this link to Chocolate Desserts with 26 recipes (and delicious looking photos.)

Did you know that Scooby Doo was created by a Japanese cartoonist? The kids will love this link to the interactive site for Scooby Dooby Doo!

One Night with the King Trailer

Another good movie just came out on DVD recently. This one is based on the story of Esther in the Bible.

Duke update

I haven't blogged lately about the Dukies, I guess because they LOST four games in a row! So I am happy to report that the Blue Devils defeated Boston College 78-70 this week, and I am sure that victory saved them from the WRATH OF K ! Coach K has never lost 5 games in a row at Duke. I am sure these guys did not want to be the ones to break that record. This was a great game against Boston College, this was Duke playing DUKE BASKETBALL! I don't remember the last time I saw Coach K jumping up and down with excitement as he did during this game when his team went ahead by 24 points. Overall, the Dukies have played well and lost 3 of the last 4 games by only one or two points. See the links below for more about the Dukies -

Reports of Duke's demise were greatly exaggerated! What did you expect? Did you really think Duke was dead? by Andy Katz at ESPN.com

Krzyzewski anything but over the hill. It's been a good week for Duke bashers, a good time to trash America's team for going through an unexpected free fall without a parachute.

McRoberts helps Duke bounce back with win over BC - College Scoreboard at ESPN.com with video highlights

AP photos of the game at GoDuke.com

always a pistol

As you may or may not know, the NBA All-Star game takes place this weekend. As we take a break from the regular season, I found this story posted at ESPN.com about the new bio of Pete Maravich. I have fond memories of watching him play in college, more so than when he played pro ball. I remember how neat it was to hear that he had turned his life over to Christ, and then to see how he followed that decision by hosting basketball camps at Clearwater Christian College in Florida. I also remember the tragic day that he died while playing a pick-up game of basketball with Dr. James Dobson. He had a heart defect for all of his life and no one ever knew it until he collapsed and died that fateful day. That makes his basketball skills even more amazing to me. I believe he was one of the best basketball players to ever live and play the sport. This new book is called "Pistol: The Life of Pete Maravich" by Mark Kriegel. Click to read an excerpt from Chapter 12: Showtime

Check out the official website for Pistol Pete at pistolpete23.com.

along the journey

So I drove 5.8 miles one way to gas up and another 5.8 miles for the return trip - and that was 30 minutes of my lunch break - just to save 51 cents (or .04 per gallon.) Not sure that it was worth the time, or the extra 9 miles of gas. But why stop at those higher priced stations, (I passed about 10 along the journey) when I can buy my gas cheaper at Sam's Club? I have to admit though, last week it felt much better buying gas for $2.099 per gallon. Today, a week later, the price is $2.139 per gallon. It didn't feel the same this week, but it's the principle of the thing! The closest gas station to my job is selling gas for $2.179 per gallon and on the ride home from work tonight I noticed the gas on Dunn Ave. was $2.219 per gallon. So for at least today, the Sam's Club on Beach Blvd. has the cheapest gas in town. At least I'm not driving to Georgia to buy my gas - that would be 30 miles there and 30 miles back - well, you get the picture.

home improvement tips

While remodeling our garage and doing some research on line, I found a few interesting web sites and blogs.

Builder Buzz is a blog by Scott Tappa, the editor of Rural Builder magazine.

I found some tips on drywall at this link to Home Improvement ABC.

I also found useful information and tutorials at this link to Easy2DIY.com.

Lincoln's birthday

Today is President Abraham Lincoln's birthday. You wouldn't know it from the local media. There was no mention of it in today's paper. He is probably the second most popular president, after George Washington, in our US History. I did find a couple of websites devoted to Lincoln that would be especially useful to your students for research. At the link to Celebrate! Holidays in the U.S.A. you can read the history behind the holiday. Lincoln's birthday was a federal holiday until 1971. On this site you can read the words to his famous "Gettysburg Address" spoken after that Civil War battle ended. Also, scroll down the page to read the words to the poem written by Walt Whitman in honor of Lincoln after his death, "Captain! my Captain!" Another site full of information about Lincoln is called the Abraham Lincoln Research Site. I especially like the link to a collection of quotes from Lincoln.

Facing the Giants Trailer

Now out on DVD, the movie, Facing the Giants, is one that the whole family can watch. The only reason it was rated PG was because there are so many references to Jesus Christ and God. There is something in this movie for the entire family, even if you do not like football. This true story was produced by Sherwood Baptist Church in Georgia.

Happy Birthday Brandon!

I like to tell the story of reading The Birth Order Book by Dr. Kevin Lehman for the first time. As I read the section on the traits and characteristics of the youngest child, these words stood out to me from the pages - "If your son or daughter is of school age and you are still calling your child 'baby', then you will have serious problems when your child enters junior and senior high!" Brandon was four or five at the time and yes, we were still calling him "baby Brandon". We immediately stopped calling him "baby" and I am thankful that we did. Our youngest son is now 26 years old today and we could not be prouder as parents! We are thankful that he has allowed God to mold his life and he is allowing God to use him. Happy Birthday Brandon!

family photo album

Natalie plays "pin the tail on the donkey" at a birthday party
Natalie and Meredith, photo taken Tuesday morning

Meredith is now two months old!

We received these latest photos from Wisconsin. Hope they are staying warm! Leah says that the temp Monday was -14 degrees (below zero) and Tuesday it was -5 degrees. Maybe it would warm up to about 20 degrees today. I noticed it was in single digits today in Hanover, PA. Keep our grandbabies warm! I really can't imagine how you handle the cold weather up there. We are complaining in Florida because the high is only going to be in the upper 60's this weekend. As they say, blame it on "global warming!"

band and cheerleaders bloopers

This video is set to the music of "the Stars and Stripes Forever"

along the journey

The price of gas dropped to $2.08/gallon in some parts of town today (most stations are at $2.15/gallon.) Don't you find it interesting that as the price of a barrel of oil drops, the price of gas comes slowly back down? It may drop 1-3 cents a week. But when the price of oil is going up, the increases are 7-10 cents at a time, and not just once a week. Enjoy it while you can, gas prices should start rising again by the end of February, because of ... you know the drill ... spring break, refineries shutting down for cleaning, refineries switching to produce the summer blend of gas that is more expensive, OPEC cutting their oil production, President Bush's promise to increase the US stockpile of oil reserves ...

Thanks to the stroller for this gem:

"The latest telephone poll asked whether people think illegal immigration is a serious problem. Thirty-two percent answered, 'Yes, it is a serious problem.' Sixty-eight percent answered, 'No es una problema serio.' "

family photo album

New photos of Brielle taken Wednesday morning - she is almost 5 months old - keep those photos coming!!

along the journey

Cold temps gave way to a beautiful noontime today, with a strong breeze from the southwest warming up the temps to about 75. My mom and dad woke up to snow and ice in Cowpens, SC, today. We also heard from Joann in Arkansas, who called last night to wish Cindy a happy birthday. They were enduring the cold and snowy conditions earlier this week. Meanwhile down here in Florida, we are wondering what has happened to "Old Man Winter." We finally had our first freeze Monday morning, but the hard freeze that we were supposed to have Tuesday morning did not occur(no surprise here.) It was about 33 degrees at 7 AM. We have an old saying in Jax - "if you don't like the weather right now, just wait a few hours and it will change." As I write this we are now under a tornado watch until 1AM Friday. Driving home from work in a thunderstorm in February just does not seem right!

Happy Birthday Philip!

The first of three birthdays in the family today - wishing a happy 18th birthday to Philip Logan. He is a senior at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts here in Jax. Hope your guitar auditions for college scholarships are going well also!

Happy Birthday Catie!

Another birthday today with Catie, Jeremiah's wife, turning 24. Hope ya'll have a big party out there in Texas!

Happy Birthday Cindy!

My dear wife and mother of my sons, and now a grandma of three girls! Happy 53rd birthday!

things that make you go "hmmm"

In case you have not heard, CITGO is in the process of changing its name to PETRO EXPRESS. The Citgo oil company is owned by Chavez and the country of Venezuela. There has been a "word of mouth" boycott of Citgo for the last 6 months. Just last summer, Chavez was in Russia for an arms deal to buy new fighter jets and helicopters. Shortly after that, Chavez was in Iran trying to convince them that they can work together. This month the presidents of Iran and Venezuela are joining together to liberate themselves from the "imperialism" of the United States.

Happy Birthday Tyler!

We wish a happy birthday to our niece Brandy's son, Tyler Anthony Huston in Texas, born in 1997. Tyler is 10 years old today!

Happy Birthday Noel!

We wish a happy birthday to Noel Alexander Baggett in California, born in 1975. Happy 32nd birthday!

stories like this make our problems seem so small

I encourage you to read the story today about how this mother and her family are coming to terms with ALS or as we know it - Lou Gehrig's disease. The AP news story was in our local paper today. Lou Gehrig died of ALS when he was 37 years old, and now Aimee Shamernik is turning 37 this year. She was diagnosed with ALS about a year ago. It is a very touching news story and will make your problems seem so small. We should remember to pray that a cure will be discovered for this disease.
click to read "Kids learn to cope with mother's illness"
Visit askaboutaimee.com to learn more about this family
Check out the ALS Association at this link

400 years ago in American history

Of all the dates you had to memorize in US History class, 1607 is right up there with the most important. You will remember that in 1492 - Columbus sailed the ocean blue and "discovered" America; in 1565 - St. Augustine was settled by the Spanish; in 1611 - the King James Bible was translated; in 1620 - the Pilgrims settled in Plymouth, MA; in 1776 - the Declaration of Independence was signed and the USA was born. But for now, for this year, we will be celebrating the 400th anniversary of the first English settlement in Jamestown, VA, in May of 1607.

Several articles have already been published in the latest US NEWS & WORLD REPORT and can be read on line at the following links. As you read you will find out that John Smith was only 5' 3" tall and before he came to America, he traveled all over Asia, Europe, and Africa. In 1602 he traveled to Austria and was hired to fight the Ottoman Turks. click to read "Not Just Another Smith"

We owe our heritage to the people who settled America for England. Between 1607 and 1625, over 7000 men, women, and children traveled to Jamestown to start a new life. Because of the new diseases they encountered, as well as lack of food and harsh winters, many of these died. By 1625 there were only approximately 1100 settlers alive in Jamestown. click to read "The Birth of America"

Is Disney's portrayal of John Smith and Pocahontas accurate? You may be surprised to read the true story at this link to "The Princess Wild"

Other facts gleaned from the US NEWS articles -

The native American Indians are thought to have numbered over 10 million when the new world was settled. By the mid 1600's, that population had dwindled to about 6 million, mostly dying from smallpox, measles, and other Old World diseases.

The King James Authorized Translation of the Bible in 1611 was the first English translation of the Bible and is still used today in most churches.

Virginia was named in honor of Queen Elizabeth, the virgin queen. She approved the voyage to the New World that would become the first English settlement.

link to photos of Jamestown settlement

more highlights from revival week

Will Galkin and his team are ministering evangelists this week at our church. Sunday night he spoke on the "Danger of Discouragement". All Christians are tempted to be discouraged, as the last part of verse 3 in Hebrews chapter 12 reads, "lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds." He used Elijah to illustrate from the Bible how one man of God became discouraged. Found in 1st Kings chapter 19. Elijah lost hope and felt he was a failure, he wanted to die, he had a wrong view of success, he lost motivation in his life, and he felt like he was all alone. The solution is staying in the Word and filling our minds with Christ.


Tonight his message was on "Love in the family" from 1st Corinthians chapter 13. Will reminded us that the word teaches that even if we have enough faith to move a mountain, but it is done without love, then it is nothing. We must surrender to God's will in order to have true love.

The chapter begins with two of love's responses: longsuffering and kindness. Then the chapter lists five self-denials: 1)love is not jealous (envy) 2)love does not boast 3)love is not proud 4)love is not unbecoming 5)love is not self-seeking. Chapter 13 continues with three refusals: 1) love refuses to be provoked 2)love refuse to keep accounts of wrongs suffered 3)love refuses to rejoice in unrighteousness

The love chapter ends with these four universal statements: 1)love bears all things 2)love believes all things 3)love hopes all things and 4)love endures all things.

PasFiddle.com

Pa's Fiddle.com is a ongoing project to record songs that are mentioned in the series of "Little House" books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. There are 126 songs embedded in the eight "Little House" books. Charles "Pa" Ingalls lived from 1835-1902 and enjoyed playing his fiddle. There are 18 songs in this collection including "The Battle Cry of Freedom," "Old Dan Tucker," and of course, "The Arkansas Traveler" (performed by Riders in the Sky) On the web site you will find another CD of "religious" music called "The Happy Land"

The Arkansas Traveler:Music from Little House on the Prairie

Eighteen songs are woven into "Little House on the Prairie", many of them among the greatest in 19th Century American music. This recording gives new voice and sound to the music from a classic book, music which has remained silent on the page for far too long.

These recordings are an effort to give new voice and sound to music that has lain silent on the page for far too long. For as Wilder herself wrote, “if you want the spirit of these times, you should [hear] these old songs."

quicken

We began a week of revival meetings with Will Galkin and his team today. In Sunday School he taught us from Psalm 119. He pointed out that the word "quicken" which means "revive" is used 16 times in this chapter and how that this psalm is a blending of the Word of God and prayer. Many of the verses are just David praying to God.

Will pointed out the reasons why we need to be "quickened" by God:
because we want to know God more,
because it(life) hurts so bad,
because I am distracted,
and because sin's power is great.

Will also pointed out some things that will keep us from being closer to God:fear, anger, lust and greed, covetousness, entertainment and amusements. He reminded us why our church has a week of revival meetings - the purpose is to help us regain our focus as to why we are here on this earth.

I am looking forward to this week in our church. Monday night, he will be preaching on Bible prophecy. His wife, Christy, sings and plays the violin. You can listen to some of her selections on the CD "Let Christ Be Lifted Up" at this link. Other team members play the guitar, accordion, penny whistle, and they will be giving a sacred Irish concert on Friday night.

dukies are "diaper dandies"

Having one junior, 2 sophs and 2 freshmen starters makes for a different team this year for the Duke Blue Devils. The regular season started lasted week with ACC conference play, and after an 0-2 start the dukies have won their last two games. Now 13-3 overall and 2-2 in conference play, I can tell the team is starting to play with more intensity and more emphasis on defense. They have a long way to go but I enjoyed the last game and like the way they are playing now. After losing their first two ACC conference games, it seems Coach K found way to get their attention. He took all the pictures of the past Duke teams off of the walls in the locker room, and according to the broadcasters, he told the players that they were not a Duke team yet. He also chided the fans and told them they were not Duke fans yet. I think he made his point.

Next game at N.C. State, Jan. 20, 3:30 PM, ABC

AP Photo Gallery: Duke 62, Wake Forest 40

news worth repeating

I am posting several links to news from the past few weeks. News you may have missed but I think worth repeating.

First, it appears that all roads "did lead to Rome" at one time. Click to read "Ancient Roman road found in the Netherlands."

What one teen did over the holidays was quite interesting - this 14 year old became the youngest to sail across the ocean. Click to read "Back to school after 6 weeks crossing the Atlantic alone."

Some very interesting photos of twins in the womb using a new 4D scan can be viewed - click this link to "A crowded womb."
Click to see the 4D scans

the dinosaur on Beach Boulevard gets a facelift

It's the dinosaur you've seen on Beach Boulevard for decades.

Everything around it is changing, but it is staying.

I remember all the church trips to Gooney Golf on Beach Blvd to play putt-putt golf and also to ride the go-karts. Gooney Golf closed down several years ago, but it is nice to see that the strip mall going in at that location will keep the landmark "dinosaur." You can read the story or watch the video at firstcoastnews.com

another stage completed

I spent the day Saturday painting the outside of our new "family room". Here is the new look with a "balmy blue" color. All that is left outside is the window trim, and then to paint the rest of the house (this blue is a little lighter than what we had.) There is still work to be done inside to finish the drywall, but at least another stage is complete - what a good feeling! View remodeling photos at this link

Go Gators!

Check out this link for photos from the Gators Celebration at the Swamp yesterday. And you can keep up with all the Gators latest sports news at Gatorsports.com

photo gallery updates

I uploaded more photos to my kodak gallery site for viewing - see the sidebar "photo gallery" on my blog or use the links below.

Click on this link to Christmas photos for 2006

Click on this link to photos from the Gator Bowl Parade on New Year's Eve in Jax

Christmas in Carolina

Christmas photos of the baby boy in the family - Caden, son of Kenny and Casey Arthur. Born this past July, Caden celebrated his first Christmas too. That makes four great-grands for my mom and dad now! The little fellow has been sick and in the hospital with pneumonia this week, so we are praying that he will get well soon!

Happy Birthday Pam!

Happy birthday today to Aunt Pamela (Krank) Baggett (sorry, no photo available).
She and Uncle Leslie live in Sheridan, Arkansas. I believe this is the big five-o, so it's all downhill from here!

always something to do

For our latest remodeling project, we are turning our garage into a family room. As one of our friends advised us - "always have a project for them to do when they come home!" This project was our Christmas present from our sons and we are very grateful. We even enlisted the help of my brother-in-law and his son Philip. (Yep, it was my three sons and Uncle Charlie working away one afternoon!) Even the great-grandparents helped as my dad spent one afternoon pulling nails out of the old boards, and Cindy's mom helped Stephen hang drywall. Here are some photos of the work in progress, click for more at my kodak gallery.

Happy Birthday Colin!

Wishing a happy birthday to Colin Jay Baggett, son of (nephew) Jeremiah and Catie down in Texas. Colin was born on January 8, 2003.

Happy 4th birthday!

classics from the golden age

I discovered this unique website recently at www.kiddierecords.com These "stories on records" were popular when I was a child and even when my boys were growing up in the early 1980's. I still have some in my record collection. Now you can listen to them on line or download them to your computer or mp3 player from the internet. The record covers and inside pictures have also been uploaded to this site. If you scroll your mouse over the cover photo, it shows the words "look inside" and when you click on the cover picture, the rest of the pictures for that story are viewable. My grandkids should enjoy these! What started out as a project for one year has turned into a three year mission for the people who operate this site. Kiddie Records Weekly 2005 and Kiddie Records Weekly 2006 are now complete and the third and final year will be a work in progress.

Christmas in Texas

Thanks to Brandy for the photos from the Texas bunch at Christmas! "Grandma" Baggett was happy to see them all!

Kneeling in front is Brandy holding Noah, and Tyler - Standing is Ashley, Aurora, Joel holding Colin, "Granny" Wendy holding Payton, Jeremiah and Catie - Patrick, Brandy's husband, is in the back

Payton-3, Noah-1, Tyler-9, Colin-3, & Aurora-6

Another photo of the kids enjoying a hayride

Happy Birthday Aunt Robbie!

Happy birthday to Aunt Robbie Kay (Baggett) Blackstock, born on this date in 1940!

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