Slideshow-February birthdays

Franklin and Baggett relatives celebrating birthdays in February:

Kendra Alexander(daughter of niece Kim Baggett A.)Feb 4 in TX
Eric Walker (son of my cousin Gloria Walker)Feb 4 in SC
Joshua Pettit (son of my cousin Jamie Pettit)Feb 8 in SC
Neeley Brown (daughter of my cousin Jeff)Feb 8 in SC
Brandon Franklin (My son)Feb 9 in FL
Airel Baggett (son of Sam Baggett)Feb 10 in AR
Lisa Baggett (wife of cousin Noel Baggett)Feb 12 in CA
Logan Daly (son of my cousin Donna)Feb 13 in SC
Erica Pettit (daughter of my cousin Preston)Feb 15
Charlee Ann Wardlaw (daughter of cousin Lori Baggett W.)Feb 19 in AR
Matthew Williams (Son of Christina Blackstock Williams)Feb 21 in AR
Jacob Pettit (Son of my cousin Ray)Feb 25 in SC

Happy Birthday to my dear wife

Happy Birthday, Cindy!

Yes, not only did I get you flowers, candy, a birthday card, and dinner(lunch) at Ruby Tuesday after church today, but you get your own blog post! How about that!:)

Last year I posted a picture of you with your three sons, so this year I am posting a picture of you and your three daughters. This was from the weekend in PA when we found out all three were expecting in 2009!

things we do for fun

We are listening to Prairie Home Companion on the radio, enjoying the logs on the fire, and putting away Christmas decorations, finally! Well I was sick for the first two weeks of January, so it took us a little longer to put them away this year. A few minutes after I put the tree in my front yard, I went back out the front door to hang our normal "Welcome" sign and heard my next door neighbor talking on her cell and telling someone "You wouldn't believe what just happened. My next door neighbor just took down his Christmas tree!" Now, that was funny to over-hear and I needed some humor after watching a miserable ball game as Duke lost big-time to Georgetown. To top it off, President Obama was there and CBS had to keep showing him over and over. Hopefully, the Dukies will learn a lot from this loss and I am glad it was a non-conference game. (That is the bright side, if there is one)

Cindy is re-organizing the Christmas decorations into four clear plastic boxes, so I will get back to helping her now.

Duke beats FSU - top 5 plays

the state of the union should be interesting!

Thanks to Gary Varvel for adding some humor to everything!

family photo Sunday

My mom and dad recently celebrated their 58th wedding anniversary! This photo was taken when they were still courting back in 1951

Once upon a dead tree (slideshow)

family photo Sunday

I took this photo in the lobby of our church the Sunday after Christmas. Our middle son's family: Stephen holding Ethan, Meredith, Natalie and Leah holding Sophia. We enjoyed have them with us for the holidays. They were able to stay 11 days this year.

Christian group uses Tebow in TV ad - CFB News - FOX Sports on MSN

Christian group uses Tebow in TV ad - CFB News - FOX Sports on MSN

The former Florida quarterback and his mother will appear in a 30-second commercial during the Super Bowl next month. The Christian group Focus on the Family says the Tebows will share a personal story centering on the theme "Celebrate Family, Celebrate Life."

Slideshow - New Years Eve Family Fun

This year we spent New Year's Eve downtown Atlanta. After finding a free parking spot on a side street near the aquarium, we walked over to the corner at the CNN building to watch the Chick-Fil-A Bowl parade. We then joined the hundreds of football fans in line to visit the World of Coke Museum. It was a little crowded to spend time reading all of the information in the museum but we enjoyed it. We especially like the tasting room, but I was only to taste about 10-12 flavors out of 64 available. We ended our day with a meal at Cracker Barrell near Suwannee, GA.

Click to view my slideshow at kodakgallery

family photo Sunday

We visited the World of Coke with our family on New Year's Eve. I took this picture of Leah, Natalie and Stephen (Ethan in the stroller) as they were leaving the Coca-Cola Store.

Slideshow - holidays and time with family

After Christmas photos

Brandon and family drove all night Saturday, the day after Christmas, and made it to our house at about 6 AM Sunday morning. Stephen started a fire in our fireplace and we opened presents after church Sunday and had a "2nd Christmas". Click this link to view my photo album

Christmas photo gallery 2009

Ethan's 1st Christmas

I have posted links on my sidebar under "Family & Photos" to view the latest photos that I uploaded to the Kodakgallery.com. I used to have my own home page on kodak.com, and I posted the photos under the franklybaggs gallery. But the new kodak site is different. I had to send myself an email to get the link to view my photos- Hmmm. I must be missing something somewhere- oh well. Click this link to view Christmas Day photos.

Slideshow- January Family Birthdays

family photo Sunday

There are so many pictures to choose from this time of year, but I really like this photo taken Christmas Eve - my first cousins at Judy's home. Click to view slideshow

Franklin family portrait, Dec. 24th

We all took a moment to pose at cousin Judy's for a Franklin family portrait :)
14 family members made it this year for the Christmas Eve gathering!
Gene and Martha (mom and dad) and from left to right:
Loretta (my younger sister) Meredith, Leah holding Ethan, Cindy holding Natalie, Stephen holding Sophie, Kenny and Casey holding Caden, and of course Ginger had to pose with us (Darrell's dog)

family photo Sunday

I tried to get all four grand kids to pose in front of the tree, but no success on Christmas Day. (I will keep trying this week.) Natalie and Meredith were ready to open presents and quickly struck a pose for me.

Christmas at our house 2009

On the 11th day of Christmas, I posted pictures from Christmas day at our house in GA opening presents. Today we get to try on clothes, take clothes back to be exchanged, play with toys and enjoy the memories. Lots of food left over and more to be cooked.



Also more gifts will be exchanged Sunday after Brandon, Rachel and Charlie arrive. Special memory: Ethan, Charlie and Layton's first Christmas!

and today we say to all.....

Christmas photo - born in a manger (2 more days)

Luke 2:1-7
1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.

2(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)

3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)

5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

Christmas photo - the birth of Christ is announced to shepherds(2 more days)

Luke 2:8-11 (KJV)

8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

Christmas photo - Mary had a baby (3 more days)

Luke 2:1-7 (KJV)
1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.

2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)

3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)

5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

Christmas photo - memories of years gone by (4 more days)

Memories of Christmas past, this photo was from 1979 - Christmas in Arkansas - with Josh on the floor in front of me and baby Stephen on Cindy's lap. I think the other kids are Brandy, Carl, Zach, Allison and Kim.

Christmas past - 2006 (5 more days)

From Christmas 2006, when we only had 3 grandchildren (now we have 7!). This was Brielle and Meredith (right of Natalie) enjoying their first Christmas with us in Jacksonville, Florida.

we say "Merry Christmas" - only 6 more days

It is unfortunate that many retailers want us to spend money for gifts at their stores, but refuse to use the word "Christmas" in their ads. Some do not even allow their employees to say "Merry Christmas" when you check out. Well, just in case you are wondering, we still celebrate Christmas in our family and hope all of my readers have a very, merry Christmas!

Christmas photo (7 more days)

We lived in Jacksonville, Florida for 30 years, and this photo above is from Christmas 1989. It is the only white Christmas that I can remember - even growing up in Cowpens, SC. According to the weather channel, we have a chance of snow on Thursday this year in Georgia!

Christmas photo (8 more days)

From Christmas past, Natalie picks oranges from Paula's satsuma tree on Christmas Day 2005 in Jacksonville, Florida - so this is a FLORIDA CHRISTMAS PHOTO!

Christmas photo (9 more days)

We can always dream of a white Christmas, and this picture from National Geographic makes me want snow for Christmas - put that at the top of my list :) The weather forecast calls for a chance of sleet or snow this weekend - Hmmm, we'll wait and see!

Christmas photo (10 more days!)

This is a really nice photo that reminds us to say "Merry Christmas" ! I actually received this via emails from several people this week and really like it. After a busy weekend of music at church, I am starting to realize Christmas is almost here. We presented Handel's Messiah on Saturday night, with our first "community sing" at Berean. Sunday night, we presented our Christmas program with lots of special music. Our mens ensemble sang "Mary Had a Baby" accapella. It was very challenging (especially to sing the high tenor part), but it turned out well. One of our young men played a cello solo, "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" that was almost as good as Yo Yo Ma! He also accompanied a mixed trio for "Away in a Manger." Just a lot of good Christmas music this past weekend!

family photo Sunday

My cousin Pat's grandson, Logan Daly (my 3rd cousin), is a member of the high school band. Being the bandsman that I am, I enjoyed finding his picture on facebook recently! He joins a long list of "Franklin family" instrumentalist: I played baritone horn and was the drum major (Sr.year); Loretta (my sis) played the flute; cousin Tony Mitchell played clarinet; all three of my sons were in band - Josh played tuba, Stephen played euphonium, and Brandon played trumpet. Two of my sister Debbie's were in the band: April Logan played clarinet and was drum major (Sr. year) and Philip Logan played tuba. (Did I miss anyone?)

like father, like son

Josh sent us a couple of recent photos of his son, Layton and Daddy Joshua - two true Gator fans!

nice to live where the seasons change

Now that fall is almost over and winter is on the doorstep, and I have these few photos to remind me of the beautiful fall we enjoyed this year. Now if it will stop raining long enough for me to pick up the rest of the fallen leaves!



Our house is on the left with the country porch, and I really enjoyed sitting in our wicker rocker this fall. We only have 11 trees now, so the leaves seemed less this year. Also, we had all the branches trimmed that were hanging over the front and back of the house.

family photo Sunday

We enjoyed spending time for a few days with Brandon, Rachel and Charlie T. We had a great first Thanksgiving in our Georgia home, with 16 for the meal on Thursday (including the baby). (Charlie T with his sunglasses, ready for the trip home to Florida)

Tim Tebow's Bracelet - ESPN Video