Farmtown

Mabel and Molly

Two more additions to the Coburn clan. Hopefully, this fall we will have one more!

And then there's this...

Pictures from this year's PBC are slowly starting to trickle in...I'm really sorry the Coburn clan missed the outing this year! Glad you guys had a good time (from the looks of it) and can't wait for the next run!

Colton Sawyer

He is such a ham...but a cute one!

A busy Easter Weekend

After the storms rolled through on Thursday night (and yours truly spend a few minutes in the closet with the pups and Nana--Blu had taken Mitchell to meet his mom in Clarksville and then decided to ride out the bad weather in Russellville), the weekend came in and I can say Saturday was perfect! Sunday was another story, but at least we didn't have any tornados, just storms.

Blu and I went fishing on Saturday and had a lot of fun--not too many fish, but I think I caught my fair share (I had most of the 'big' ones!).

My good friend, Karyn, got her first turkey (a tom) early Saturday morning too...Congratulations Karyn! I know her hubby, Matt, is probably beaming from ear to ear.

Saturday night, we went to dinner over at Blu's nephew's. We had a great time catching up with family.

Little Angels

Chloe is on the left; Scarlet is on the right.

Home!

Mr. Little Funk is going home from the hospital today! YAY!

Welcome Baby Funkhouser!

Jaydon Ellis Funkhouser, born 4 April 2009 at 2:01AM. 8lbs, 8 oz.

Congratulations Jaysson and Cathy! We love you guys!

Twins!

The extended Coburn family welcomed twins on Tuesday, 31 March 2009. Chloe Angelina and Scarlett Emery. Congrats Kristen and Knox!

(That's John and Sam holding the girls).

World Autism Awareness Day is April 2nd!!

World Autism Awareness Day, April 2, to show your support for the Alpha Xi Delta/Autism Speaks partnership!!!

Sad and angry

I heard about this story on the late news last night. And it left me very conflicted. A family (the husband just happens to be a NFL player) was on their way to a hospital to see their dying mother and ran a red light. A cop caught this and pulled them over in the hospital parking lot. The cop was very adamant about going through 'procedure' (the wife/daughter of the dying mother eventually ran in to the hospital w/o listening to the cop, leaving the husband outside to deal with the situation). The hospital even sent out a few nurses to try to talk the cop into letting the husband go in to the hospital. In the end, the cop issued the husband (and driver of the vehicle) a ticket for running a red light. And he did not get to say his goodbyes to his mother-in-law.

On one hand, there is a cop trying to do his job (albeit, without any compassion)--what if the driver had hit someone while running that red light? (Even though it appears he did slow down through the intersection and he did have his emergency lights on)

On the other hand, I understand the family trying to race to the hospital to spend those last few, precious moments with their loved one. And I can say that because I have been there, and no one (gun or no gun, badge or no badge) would have stopped me from trying to get there in time.

The City's Police Department has issued an apology to the family, canceled the ticket, and the cop has been placed on leave, pending an investigation.

This is one of those hard stories. What would you have done?

Ft. Worth, Texas

I was visiting another city this week...Ft. Worth, Texas. We had a regional conference to attend for work and it was much fun. For a team building exercise, we had a 'scavenger hunt' amongst the city's historical markers. That was a lot of work and a lot learned along the way. We stayed at the brand new Omni Hotel in downtown and I highly recommend it. There are signs of spring showing all around the city.

And how was your week?

Kicken' it ol' school...kind of

Portions of this picture have been edited for content...

Blu, Annie, and Brent decided to listen in on Mitchell's muzak...in his truck...fun times indeed.

Why we love Annie...

...because she brings so much joy and laughter to our lives! We love you Annie!

Double Baby Shower blues...and pinks...and yellows...and greens!

We held a double baby shower for the Funkhousers and the Becks over the weekend...what a grand time we had! Can't wait to meet Baby Funk (April) and Baby Beck (May)!

Arkansas weather

I really should learn to expect this...we go from being 70+ degrees one day...to having snow showers the next. It was pretty while it lasted and didn't cause any major problems!

Meet Bailey

She is Deb's baby and a new playmate to Zip and Katie. Just how cute can you get?

Tired.

Lots of driving in the past couple of weeks. Two 'day' trips (one to a project on Bull Shoals Lake in Lead Hill, Arkansas and one to a project in Batesville, Arkansas). One trip for 3 days to Shreveport, LA for an annual conference/convention. And one 'round trip' from Little Rock to Springfield, MO. to Fayetteville, AR. and then back to Little Rock in 2 days. All of which I drove on my very own. I'm ready to stick around here for a little while...

Ice pictures

Our neighbor up at the farm took these pictures and shared them with me. You can see the amount of ice that just covered everything. I told her that it's hard for us that are down here in Little Rock to imagine what it's like because we don't see it and don't face it every day.

I heard they finally got power back yesterday and I am glad. We have a long road to recovery, but I know we'll get there.

(thanks Susan for sharing and letting me use your pictures!!)

Just a taste...

These pictures offer only a smidgen of what it's like up in north Arkansas right now. I actually shot these during a previous ice storm (around the beginning of January 09). It's pretty to look at, but just devestating to deal with.

I hope and pray those that are still w/o power will have power soon. I am reminded just how lucky we are when such events happen.

Blu and some other family members went up to the family farm earlier this week (he has yet to come home), and they say it is really bad. We have some fence-mending to get done, but can't get to it until the ice melts. The cows are doing fine; looks like we have some work to do in the coming months. Stay tuned for more pictures of the farm!