Our three granddaughters-Dec. 2007

college basketball - let the "real" season begin

read highlights of Clemson-Duke on Saturday

Even though, college basketball started in early November, I still feel like the real season has just started. In the last week or so, conference play began for Florida in the SEC and Duke in the ACC. It has been fun to watch the young players at Florida as they become a team over the last few weeks. Everyone expected this year to be a rebuilding year for the Gators, but they had a solid win over Kentucky Saturday night. And, of course, I have been patiently waiting for the Dukies to move up in the polls. With two great wins last week against Florida State and Clemson, the Blue Devils are now 15-1 and sit at the no.3 spot in the ESPN/Coaches poll and no.4 in the AP poll. It was really nice of North Carolina to lose on Saturday and help the Dukies move up in the rankings (UNC is right behind them in both polls.) Coach K is just an amazing coach and after a couple of tough seasons, I think he has found a winning combination. Duke is led by one senior, Demarcus Nelson, and one of the juniors as starters, Greg Paulus, and then four sophomores and four freshman that were eight of the top recruits in the nation are also on the roster.

view photo gallery of game

Family photo Sunday

I decided to post my "family photo of the week" on every Sunday beginning today. The rest of the week you can view it on the sidebar, but the photo in the sidebar can not be enlarged for viewing. I hope you will enjoy these photos from the present and past. This week's photo proves that we did get snow in Atlanta. All of our neighbors had told us that it never snows here. Well , we did get about an inch or more, but not enough to make "snow ice cream" !

Who knew?
Frosty is a Gator fan!

five hours later and still snowing

It's been five hours since the snow began and now they predict it might snow until 9pm tonight. We took a walk around the block and I took some more photos of the neighborhood. (click photo to enlarge) Kids were sliding down hills and building snowmen already. Cindy thinks we should build one later today. Mmmm... snow brings out the kid in you again!

here we snow again!

The weather man was right for a change. I went to the men's leadership breakfast and Bible study at church this morning around 8am and it was still raining. On the way back to Duluth at 10am, the rain had just changed to small sleet pellets. I stopped to get a haircut and watched in wonder as the rain and sleet changed into light snow. After my haircut, I stopped at Publix to buy the essentials - bread, milk, snacks and food for two days at least - and when I came out of the store it was snowing large flakes and the grassy areas and cars were covered. What a beautiful site we're having today! We are supposed to get 1-3 inches of the white stuff and then the temps are going to drop to 17 tonight! Brrrrr! Here are some photos from the start of our second snow day in a week - and our neighbors had told us Duluth never gets snow!

the first snowfall of the season

I will have to work on taking pictures when it comes to snow. It's been so long since I have seen the snow falling, and it was just about dark when it began, that these pictures are the best I could come up with. We did get about an inch of snow here as it snowed for about 3-4 hours last night, but not enough to keep me from going to work today.

Some photos of our visit to Stone Mountain Christmas

reading with a new perspective

As I began reading the first book in the Bible (Genesis) in my quest to read the Bible completely through this year, I noticed that I was reading with a new perspective. We have been attending Berean Baptist since we moved to GA in August, and one thing Pastor Sweatt has taught me is that I should not only read the scriptures to learn what a verse "says" but also to learn what it "does not say. " This week as I read about Noah and his building of the ark, my initial thought was that I could tell this story from memory. However, this time as I read the end of the account - how that God made a rainbow and put it in the cloud - I realized that I have always thought the rainbow was a reminder to us(mankind) that God would never destroy the entire world by a flood again. The rainbow was not just to be a reminder for us, but even more it was to be a reminder to God. Anytime God sees a rainbow today, it is a reminder to Him ("a token of the covenant") that He promised Noah and mankind that he would never destroy the entire world with water again.

Genesis 9:14-17 (KJV)

And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.

Cabbage Patch Kids at Babyland

signs along the journey

I remember telling someone a few years ago that there was one place I would never go - Babyland General Hospital -where Cabbage Patch kids are "born". . . . . . what we won't do for our granddaughters!

more Christmas photos

Josh, Janelle and Brielle
Brielle Michala, Christmas 2007

Josh sent a couple of photos from Christmas Eve taken at his church in Pennsylvania.

JANUARY birthdays slideshow

family news update

To all our family and friends, we wish you a happy new year!

My 2nd resolution for the new year is to NOT post a birthday blog for every person in our family. Instead I am returning to the monthly family "news" format. So if you send us a card, letter, or email - even a phone call will do - with news, baby announcements, birthdays, anniversaries, awards, prayer requests, etc., then I will try to include it in the blog.

For January, we have a lot of birthdays to celebrate. Some are on my side of the family - the Franklins - and the others from my wife's side - the Baggetts (hence the name "franklybaggs.blog")

Happy birthday this month to:

Robbie Blackstock . . . Jan 3rd
Colin Baggett . . . . . . . Jan 8th
Pam Baggett . . . . . . . . Jan 11th
Noel Baggett . . . . . . . . Jan 29th
Tyler Huston. . . . . . . . . Jan 29th
Catie Baggett . . . .. . . . . . Jan 31st
Cindy Franklin . . . . . . Jan 31st
Philip Logan . . . . . . . . Jan 31st

OTHER NEWS>>>Our niece, Brandy McDonald, sent an update about her son Noel who was very sick. The test results were salmonella and nothing worse, but keep praying for his recovery>>>Josh had to spend New Year's Eve watching the ball drop at the ER. He has bronchitis and would appreciate your prayers also >>>Stephen, Leah, Natalie and Meredith came to visit on Dec 23rd and left Tuesday to drive back to Wisconsin. They arrived home about 4pm on Wednesday.>>>I could not rub it in about our warm weather though, because it disappeared when they left. It was 15 degrees the last two mornings here in GA! I think if it's going to be that cold it ought to at least snow a little bit!>>>We enjoyed having Brandon and Rachel visit for the weekend, too, but they had to head back to Jax on New Year's night. >>>Cindy went to her job interview and workshop for Gwinnett County Schools today, so in about two weeks she will be able to start substitute teaching. This is another answer to prayer! >>>

a new year - 2008 begins now

In a recent issue of Reader's Digest I read an interview with a famous Hollywood actor and he mentioned that he tries to read the Bible through every year. It has been awhile since I tried to read the entire Bible in a year, so one of my resolutions is to do just that. I found this website that will be useful to read the Bible on line this year called One Year Bible Blog.com. Each day provides a link to Biblesearch to read specific verses from the Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs on line, or you can read the passages from your own Bible.

Christmas Day photos

click to view CHRISTMAS DAY 2007 IN SC photos

Christmas Eve photos

Click this link to view photos from our Christmas Eve "family reunion" at cousin Judy's home.

Christmas Eve photos

A few photos taken at cousin Judy's Christmas Eve party/family reunion. I am still working on my online photo book and will post those asap.


Caden enjoyed chasing Darrell's dog, Ginger, around the house.



Emilee and Natalie sing along as Mom plays Christmas songs on the keyboard.




Dylan and Emilee playing with the train under the tree



















Judy with her sons, Darrell and Tony

family news

Special days in DECEMBER

There were at least two family birthdays in December – Meredith, our grand-daughter who lives in WI, turned one year old on Dec 2nd. Kimberly Arthur, our 2nd cousin, celebrated her 26th birthday on Dec 23rd . Of course we always think of Cindy’s dad, J.L. Baggett, whose birthday would have been on Dec 24th. Winnie made his favorite apple nut cake to eat on that day in his memory. Gene and Martha Franklin (my parents) celebrated another anniversary (#56) on Dec 22nd ; Joshua and Janelle Franklin celebrated their 4th anniversary on Dec 27th.


We really enjoyed the Franklin family “reunion” at my cousin Judy’s home Christmas Eve. We do not get to go to this every year with my mom and dad, so this year was special. Our middle son Stephen, Leah, Natalie and Meredith arrived from WI on Sunday night and were able to join us for Christmas Eve in SC this year. Also at the party were Tony Mitchell and Darrell Mitchell, Judy’s sons; Pat Brown and family members: Donna and Mike Daley, Trey and Logan and Greg, Kylee and Emilee Brown; my sister, Loretta Brooks, along with her son’s family, Kenny, Casey and Caden Arthur; Gloria Walker and her daughter’s family, Kimberly, Paul, Dylan and Kaitlin Arthur; and it also nice to see Miranda (Dianne's daughter.)

On Christmas Day we opened presents all day long it seemed. We enjoyed seeing Natalie and Meredith opening presents Christmas Day morning and I think we were all happy with the gifts we received. Just as we finished, the Logans arrived with more presents to exchange (my sister Deborah and Charlie, Jonathan, April and Philip) As the mothers prepared dinner for Christmas, other family arrived with more presents to exchange after the meal. My other sister, Loretta and her son's family - Kenny, Casey and Caden joined us for the day. Mom and Dad were very happy to have there family together again at Christmastime.

IN OTHER FAMILY NEWS:
Leah is expecting their third girl due the first of April - which may or may not conflict with our youngest son’s wedding. Brandon and Rachel will be married on March 29th at Victory Baptist in Jax. Our oldest, Joshua, will perform the wedding ceremony.

Also we are praying for Joshua’s wife, Janelle, as she has severe kidney problems and they are running test on her now. Also we are praying for my cousin Gloria Walker as she continues chemo treatment for cancer.

Philip Logan is a freshman at Stetson University. He is involved in music with his guitar classes and ensembles, the men’s choir. He also is participating on the Stetson crew, the rowing team. April Logan has one more semester and will graduate in May 2008 from the school of nursing at BJU.

time for a carol

The Story of the Birth of Christ
(click on link to read)
the angels appeared to shepherds, who were watching their flock in the fields, with the glorious announcement of the birth of Christ.


There was no room in the inn for the baby Jesus to be born, so he was born in a manger, probably in a cave where the animals were kept. Do you have any room for Jesus in your heart and life today?



It's Christmas time and time for a carol,
Time to sing about the newborn king,
So Merry Christmas to one and all!!

sweet songs of Christmas

Our church chorale sang this song during the "Spirit of Christmas" program at Berean two weeks ago. It has a very powerful message in the words - the text written by Eileen Berry - and the music which fits the text so well is written by Dan Forrest. Dan Forrest graduated from Bob Jones University and recently completed his doctorate in Kansas. He returned to staff at BJU this fall. I was searching for the words on line and noticed several university choirs featured this song in their program this year.

You can listen to "Carol of Joy" at this link to Dan's site and the words are below:

Carol Of Joy

Green leaves all fallen, withered and dry; Brief sunset fading, dim winter sky. Lengthening shadows, Dark closing in. When through the stillness, carols begin.

Oh fallen world, to you is the song– Death holds you fast and night tarries long. Jesus is born, your curse to destroy! Sweet to your ears, a carol of Joy!

Pale moon ascending, solemn and slow; Cold barren hillside, shrouded in snow; Deep, empty valley veiled by the night; Hear angel music–hopeful and bright!

Oh fearful world, to you is the song– Peace with your God, and pardon for wrong! Tidings for sinners, burdened and bound–A carol of joy! A Saviour is found!

Earth wrapped in sorrow, lift up your eyes! Thrill to the chorus filling the skies! Look up sad hearted–witness God’s love! Join in the carol swelling above!

Oh friendless world, to you is the song! All Heaven’s joy to you may belong! You who are lonely, laden, forlorn– Oh fallen world!Oh friendless world!To you,A Saviour is born!

the spirit of Christmas

I really enjoyed being part of the Christmas program, "The Spirit of Christmas," at Berean Baptist Church. Even though I am "extra tired" from the six performances this past Friday-Sunday night, I still have some voice left. And by now, the music is so thoroughly entrenched in my brain that I have to share some of it with you - at least the words. The first 20 minutes of the program were traditional Christmas songs. After a solo of "Chestnuts roasting....(the Christmas song)" the choir greeted the audience and began the program with "The Spirit of the Season." This is a very happy Christmas song with such words as "people smile as they pass you by...the day will be here soon" and "snowflakes falling as you rush downtown...the city seems to glow..." Yes, the spirit of the season does fill your hearts with love and care! Other songs included the teens singing about a "marshmallow world" with a lively Frosty the snowman in person. We concluded this portion singing "Dashing through the snow..." and "there's no place like home for the holidays..." ending with "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas..."

The first section of the program was followed by an interlude. It gave us a chance to rest our feet, unless you were serving the desserts and drinks. During the interlude, there were musical numbers and skits as people enjoyed the dessert, coffee and hot chocolate.

The remainder of the program focused on the true story of Christmas with many carols and songs. Between the full choir, the men's ensemble and the ladies ensemble a narrator tied all of this together. We ended with the song "Christmas Pastorale" sung by candlelight. If I had to choose a favorite it would be this song.

Like a lamb so meek and mild,
Softly sleeps the holy child,
Lying on a manger bed
Where the ox and sheep have fed.
Lamb of God, pure art thou,
At thy humble throne I bow.
With the angel choirs I sing
Gloria to the newborn King.


God's own Lamb by Heaven adored
Shepherd's own thee as their lord,
Gifts of tribute have they none,
But their hearts for God's own Son.
Lamb of God, pure art Thou
At thy humble throne I bow,
With the angel choirs I sing:
Gloria, Gloria, Gloria to the newborn King.

Callaway Gardens photo gallery

We met up with our friends, Bob and Linda Benn from Jacksonville, at Callaway Gardens last week.

You can view the photos at this link

AND you can view three short videos I posted at youtube

festival of lights at Callaway Gardens

We traveled to Callaway Gardens at Pine Mountain, GA last Saturday to enjoy the Festival of Lights. We chose to drive through since it was so cold, but you can also ride the "Jolly Trolly" which is a tram pulled by a large truck (bring a blanket, etc). I tried to record the lights with my digital camera, and I posted three short videos. They give you a "taste" of what it is like, because there are lights above you as well as on both sides of you as you drive down the road. It took about one hour to drive through the six miles of lights. Some are animated and all scenes have music. Our favorite was the "Twelve Days of Christmas" from the partridge in a pear tree to the twelve drummers drumming (really drumming). We also enjoyed the light animation of building a bicycle. It was our first trip to Callaway and it will not be our last!

photo gallery

We enjoyed spending Thanksgiving weekend with the family. We ate a lot on Thursday, went shopping on Friday afternoon, visited with Judy and Darrell on Saturday evening, and then went to church with my Mom and Dad on Sunday. And on top of all that, my Mom got to play with one of her great-grandkids!

Click link to view more photos

it's tradition, you know

While we gathered at my parent's house for the traditional Thanksgiving meal, we also continued another tradition. The "Franklin Family Singers" sang an old gospel song, "Do You Know My Jesus?" at Calvary Baptist in Cowpens on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Cindy took a couple of photos of our practice session on Saturday night, and the laughter in the second photo is because of Brandon using his "soprano" voice. Our newest addition to the family is Brandon's fiancee Rachel, who sang "Whispering Hope" as a solo, one of Grandpa's favorites.

Thanksgiving Day Photos

photo gallery

It has been a busy week at work. Since I took off two days vacation for the holiday, I had to work extra to get caught up. I finally downloaded some photos from Thanksgiving.


We enjoyed watching "2nd" cousins Caden and Brielle playing together for the first time.