December Birthdays slideshow

'tis the season...

things that make you go "Hmmm"

>>>President Bush in an interview for Nightline on ABC said that his belief that God created the world is not incompatible with the theory of evolution (link)

>>>Columnist Gideon Rachman writes: "For the first time in my life, I think the formation of some sort of world government is plausible." (link)

>>>Statement about race at Bob Jones University (link)

>>>CIA personnel lied to Congress in April 2001 about a missionary plane shot down in Peru that killed a woman and her 7-month-old daughter (link)

>>>An anonymous donor gave a huge sum of $50 million to Wycliffe Bible Translators this week making it possible to translate Scripture for the last people groups still without the Bible in their native tongue more quickly. (link)

>>>This "One Preacher's Perspective" thoughts on President-elect Obama reads "Because the Bible says that leaders are “ordained of God” (Rom. 13:1), I do not believe there was any emergency meeting in heaven due to this turn of events." (link)

family photo Sunday

Somewhere in my memories...it appears that this was the year Brandon received no presents - just kidding :) ...Christmas 1992

enjoying the holidays

It always seems like Thanksgiving is the beginning of the holiday season around our home. We rarely decorate for Christmas until after Thanksgiving and this year will be no different even though Christmas is only three weeks away. We enjoyed our Thanksgiving day with my mom and dad and sister Loretta and her son's family, Kenny and Casey and Caden in SC. It is so nice to be only 2 1/2 hours from my parents now.

Caden is about 2 1/2 years old and now has a "big boy" haircut - he also entertained us by "playing" the piano. I took these photos after the meal so I missed getting photos of the men - they were unavailable:)zzzz

Special, Special! Read all about it! Meredith turns 2

family photo Sunday

We enjoyed a brief visit with our son and his family this past weekend. This photo of Brielle was taken during the children's hayride at their church in Pennsylvania.

Happy Thanksgiving

family photo Sunday

As we approached the cemetery, a ladder truck was fully extended with a huge American flag flying in tribute to my cousin Mark Rice (Click to read Remembering Mark Rice)

tribute to cousin Mark Rice

It was just a year ago that my Uncle Jimmy Rice died. This week we were saddened to lose another member of our family when his son, Mark Rice, died after a courageous battle with cancer. The following obit was posted at the Charlotte Observer:(click to read more)

Happy Fall Ya'll ! (Slideshow)

Photos taken this Fall around and about Georgia, from Lawrenceville to Ellijay. We have enjoyed watching the leaves change colors, but not the raking of the leaves!

family photo Sunday

This photo of Brielle with Uncle Brandon and Aunt Rachel was taken in Sept. 2008 in Pennsylvania.

along the journey

I woke up this morning and the first thing on my mind was an old Knock, Knock joke -

Knock, Knock.
Who's there?
Dwayne.
Dwayne who?
Dwayne the bathtub I'm dwouning!

So I wonder what this means, other than being really weird. Since we are both a little sick with allergies this time of the year, my wife and I both slept in today. Maybe I just slept too long! I guess with the fall season and the leaves falling like snowflakes, we are both allergic to something in the air. Cindy is having a worse time of it, even after one round of antibiotics she still has a dry cough. Just love the smell of vinegar and water boiling on the stove :) If you know of any more home remedies for the dry cough, please let us know.

The school where Cindy is teaching this year, Integrity Christian Academy, just moved from the Oak Road Lutheran church to a larger facility at Bethany Christian Center in Loganville. It is about 2 miles further for her to drive but it still is only 15 minutes with good traffic. The school has room to grow now and everyone is excited about the new facilities.

We are looking forward to the holiday season. We will be visiting my mom and dad for Thanksgiving and will get to see Josh, Janelle, and Brielle while there. I am glad to see the gas prices drop. The Walmart gas station was $1.82/ga on Friday and I really did not think I would ever see it that low again. I filled up my gas tank for $22 unlike a few weeks ago when it cost $52. This should help with everyone's traveling budget this season.

Duke wins 2nd game of tournament

Duke 97, Georgia Southern 54

Duke easily won their 2nd game (vs Georgia Southern) during the Coaches vs Cancer tournament and will play the next game against Rhode Island on Nov. 16th at 4:30pm. This game will only be carried on ESPNU. One notable change in the Duke line-up this year is that Greg Paulus, a senior and team leader, is the 6th man coming off the bench. Last year Jon Scheyer played the entire year as the 6th man, but this year Jon is a starter. Not sure if this is just an early season move by Coach K, but I would not be surprised to see Greg move back to a starting position. Regardless, he scored 11 points coming off the bench in this game. Kyle Singler (photo) had second straight 19 point game.

Recap at ESPN.COM

Tribute to Veterans

A special thanks to all Veterans today! According to USA Today there is only one living veteran of WWI; there are 2,306,000 living veterans of WWII and there are 2,307,000 veterans of the Korean war alive today. This video tribute was presented at half-time of the VMI - Citadel football game on November 11, 2006.

some may say I'm confused

Yes, some people probably think I am confused, but I am not the only one! We are in the midst of college football season and my favorite team, the Gators, are at #3 this week in both the AP and the ESPN/Coaches Poll. And the excitement is building towards the #3 Gators playing the #1 Crimson Tide for the SEC Championship on December 6th.

BUT, something else happened today that you need to be aware of - Duke Basketball began it's regular season in the "Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament" playing Presbyterian College at 7 PM tonight - final score Duke 80, Presbyterian 49 - Recap of the game at ESPN

Next game - Tuesday night at 9 PM and should be broadcast on ESPNU (if you have this channel)

Photos from tonight's game - I just love the faces Jon Scheyer makes when he plays ball.

family photo Sunday

Photo of my mom and dad before they were married - photo taken in March 1951 - This was one of several photos given to me recently by Aunt Louise. The photos were in a little book that belonged to Grandma Rice (mom's mother).

November Birthdays Slideshow

Star Wars acapella tribute

We can always use a little humor(and music) to cheer us up! Enjoy this acapella tribute to the music of composer John Williams.

good night, dear heart

Recently, composer and arranger Dan Forrest was emotionally moved to write a new choral piece titled "Good Night, Dear Heart" after his brother and sister-in-law lost a baby that they were supposed to adopt. You can read the story behind the song at this link to BJU.edu and listen to an excerpt from the premiere performance on Oct. 24th.

After leaving his brother’s home just moments after the news arrived, Forrest searched on the Internet for words that would describe his sadness. His searches eventually led him to a poem that was inscribed on the grave marker of Susy Clemens, the daughter of Mark Twain. The inscription read:

Warm summer sun shine kindly here, Warm southern wind blow softly here, Green sod above, lie light, lie light -- Good night Dear Heart, Good night, Good night.

Your Vote Counts

Well-done video that encourages us all to do our part and vote today, Nov 4th!

family photo Sunday

Here is a recent photo of Sophia Martha with daddy (Stephen) from the Fall of 2008. Sophia is our youngest grand-daughter and is 7 months old today.

Gators embarrass the Bulldogs, 49-10

Click this link to check out my Gator blog for the results of the Florida-Georgia game.

Pumpkinheads

Natalie and Meredith make a cute picture in the pumpkin patch!

Dear Mr. Obama

Over 11 million people have viewed this video posted by a veteran of the IRAQ WAR. Even though he lost a leg, he is supporting John McCain for President!

spreading the news around

I am posting links to three articles that I think everyone should read before they vote on Nov. 4th . . .

Even CNN won’t buy the Obama line any longer. (Click to watch the video of Drew Griffin of CNN as he checked out Obama's link to Ayers)

Barack Obama is the most extreme pro-abortion candidate ever to seek the office of President of the United States. (Click to read Robert George's article)

"I think that when you spread the wealth around, it is good for everyone.” (Click to read "The Obama We Hardly Know at foxnews.com)

family photo Sunday

A recent photo of our granddaughter Meredith (Fall 2008)

Joe the Plumber ☆

Thought you might like to view the unedited version of Obama and Joe the Plumber so here it is....THE WHOLE CONVERSATION - You listen, then you decide if you want Obama to spread the wealth around.

family photo Sunday

Natalie, our oldest granddaughter, is proud of her schoolwork. She is being home-schooled by Leah for K-4 this year. Don't they grow up fast!

IBBI golf tournament slideshow

I took a few pictures at the golf tournament last Friday. I was one of many volunteers to help during the course of the day at the IBBI annual golf tournament. Independent Baptist Builders International will use the funds raised to build more churches on the mission field next year.

family photo Sunday

Josh, Janelle and Brielle in a family photo taken for the school yearbook, Fall 2008

Ayers and Obama - Too Risky for America

The political video of the week has to be this latest by John McCain. After CNN and New York Times published the facts about Ayers and Obama, McCain finally puts out his own ad. Yes, Obama is too risky for America.

October Birthdays

fall is here

Fall has arrived here in Georgia and not only does it feel cooler, but I am reminded everywhere I look by the fall decorations of scarecrows, the pumpkin patches, the corn mazes, and the leaves that are falling. One town up the road tried to set a Guinness World record by displaying over 4000 scarecrows. Duluth had their fall festival the last weekend of September, Norcross had their's last weekend.

Ellijay will be hosting the Apple Festival during the next two weekends. We visited Ellijay a couple weeks ago when our friends, Paula and Marianne from Jacksonville, paid us a visit.


But I am almost out of apples and ready to go there again!

family photo Sunday

When I visited Aunt Louise with Mom last week, she gave me some old photos from Grandma Rice's photo album. This photo is of my Grandma and Grandpa Rice - Ethel Mae and John Sherman Rice - taken in May of 1960.

Life after IKE

I thought I would post a family news update blog, but since Hurricane Ike has affected much of the family, I decided to title this blog "Life After Ike."
A few weeks ago IKE roared through Galveston and Houston and on up through Ohio leaving destruction behind. Even now in the Atlanta area we are facing "day 23" of a gas shortage. Cindy was waiting in line Monday afternoon to fill up her car at the only station in a 6 mile radius that had gas and her car died. By the time I arrived from work, the station was out of gas. So I pushed her car with my car the rest of the way home, then grabbed the gas can and went looking for gas. After driving about 6 miles towards downtown Lawrenceville to no avail, I turned around and headed back towards I-85 - another 6-8 miles the opposite direction - and found a Shell station with gas. I had to wait about 20 minutes in line and filled up the gas can and my car. Now over three weeks after IKE, the lines are disappearing but only regular gas is available. One silver lining for me is that my company is going to let us work at home one day a week until things are back to normal.
Our family in Texas felt the brunt of the storm, and we heard that they all have electricity now. Patrick, Brandy's husband, lost his job right after IKE but he has started working on a new job now. Hope and pray that things work out for the best. Carl's Tahoe was totalled by the damage from the tree limbs (see previous blog here) so he is in the process of looking for a new vehicle. I am sure they all have stories to tell about life after IKE!

Frank Luntz Focus Group: Palin is Ready!

Political video of the week:
Sarah Palin definitely won this debate. I thought she stayed focused on the McCain campaign for President and not on herself. She pointed out many faults and weaknesses of Obama and Biden without sounding mean-spirited.

Brielle's 2nd birthday party slideshow

CLICK TO VIEW ALL 16 PHOTOS AT FRANKLYBAGGS GALLERY

October is my favorite month

I took this photo when we visited Ellijay, GA, on Saturday (apple country)