The start of the Christmas Season

Two things signify the start of the Holiday's for the Franchi family. First, the day after Thanksgiving means Maureen (and Ginger) are out shopping at 6:45AM for the entire day, finding unreal deals on all kinds of fun stuff. Second, the Sunday morning of the Wolf Brunch means its time to eat eat eat...did I mention the chocolate fountain?

Take a peak at some of the fun pictures below. We're looking forward to celebrating the Christmas with all of you!!!










Some Halloween pictures that I never had a chance to post. The Mackay's went as the Disney family, while the Franchi's went as the Skywalkers (Darth Vader, Queen Amidala, and their daughter Princess Leia.)

Fall 2009...Happy Halloween!!!

What a fun fall we have been having so far.



We recently found out how much Emily loves the swing at the park. She could not get enough of it. We spent some time there with Andy, Anne, and Katie Bigane. It was a ton of fun.








We visited a few pumpkin patches this year. Emily clearly is a little young to enjoy everything there, but she had a fun time. First we visited Sonny Acres pumpkin patch with the Mackay's somewhere near the border of Iowa (Virge!), then we went solo to Didier Farms in Buffalo Grove.










Our Halloween started early with Mae and Brendan Bigane's birthday party. It was packed with tons of family and tons of kids dressed up to celebrate. Emily was a pink bunny...and she loved chewing on her toy carrot.











On Halloween, we headed out to Ginger and Joe's Neighborhood Halloween party. The Franchi's dressed as "The Skywalkers". Emily was Princess Leia, I was her father, Darth Vader, and Maureen dressed as Queen Padme Amidale, Princess Leia's mother. The Mackay's did an awesome Disney theme. Jack and Maddie went as Mickey and Minnie Mouse, while Joe and Ginger went as Donald and Daisy Duck. It was priceless, and I laughed until it hurt. (pictures to come shortly)

My night at U F C 90 in Chicago

It was just over a year ago the Mixed Martial Arts (fighting style used in the UFC) was legalized in Illinois. There have been a few small regional promotions to have shows since then, but not until October 25th, 2008 did the UFC finally tread into Chicago.



My brothers and I have been watching this sport since borrowing UFC 1 VHS tapes in the early 90's, all the way to watching it mature into the huge promotion it is today.

It was an awesome night of fights. I got to meet several fighters that I have been watching for years. I was able to meet some of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world. Without boring you with to many details....here are some pictures.

Anderson 'The Spider' Silva vs Patrick 'The Predator' Cote







Thiago 'The Pitbull' Alves and Josh "Kos' Koscheck getting ready to enter the Octagon. This was an amazing fight, however eventually a one sided unanimous decision victory for Alves.






George 'Rush' St Pierre, arguably the best fighter on the planet. He is the 170 pound champ, and quite a nice guy.



Sean "The Muscle Shark" Sherk, on his way to the Octagon to fight Tyson Griffin. This was an amazing fight that Sherk won by unanimous decision.



Me with Cole Miller, American Top Team a 155 pound contender that is exciting to watch fight. Lethal kicks.



Clay 'The Carpenter' Guida. An exciting fighter who fights out of the NW Chicago Suburbs. Also in the pictures is Jeff Samardzija, rookies Cubs relief pitcher and former Notre Dame wide reciever standout. Maybe still the best wide reciever in Chicago.







Matt Sera, 170 pound former champion who knocked out George St. Pierre in the biggest upset in UFC history.



Me with ring girl Arianny Celeste. She's kind of cute.



Me with legendary cut man "Stitch".



Dean 'The Boogieman' Lister



Herb Dean, legendary referee.



Me with Shonie Carter, former 170 pound UFC contender. Famous for his appearance on "The Ultimate Fighter" reality show, as well as his amazing spinning backfist knock out of Matt Sera. You may remember Shonie from a previoous post, in which he was the referee in the 'Double Knockout' bout.



Spender "The King" Fisher, fresh off a third round triangle choke victory of Shannon Gugerty.



And or course, the crew.



A big thank you for the guy who made this happen.