Dear Blog...

Do you still love me? 
Haven't been here for awhile, although I think of you often.
I have been very busy writing my book and sewing for my beautiful granddaughters.
Don't give up on me - I will be back.
I may even post a chapter from "the book."  Not sure, the book is very personal and exploits my soul.

Here are a few things that I have decided - random thoughts from my brain:

*  I love writing - I see more than one book in my future. 
*  I love making beautiful things for my granddaughters - I have waited such a long time for little girls to sew for.  I think I am about to get my practicing over - I'm back in the saddle.  Next creations should be mah-velous Dahlings.

*  John and I have been on the hunt for a church just like CLC in Fayetteville for almost THREE years.  We have not committed to a church since we moved from Fayetteville. We continue to visit and visit and visit but never land.  Well - this is the year we land.  Actually, January is the month we land. We will never find another CLC because every church is unique - we WILL decide on one and make it our church home.

*  I'm not trying to wish my life away - but please come fast February - The Florida Keys and Bahamas are calling us.  We have a week planned with Carl and Janice in February in the Keys then hopping on a cruise ship for the Bahamas.  Oh how I love sand and warm weather.  In my previous life I am sure that I was a princess that lived in a castle on the beach and there were handsome young dark-haired men that brought me a steady supply of fruity drinks with umbrellas and fresh seafood.   Ahhhhh........

*  As I have searched genealogy this year, looking for links to my very distant past, I discovered that it is very hard work and the facts are not easy to come up with.  I have found things that warmed my heart and things that made me go seriously?????  All things that I am glad to know because they are part of who I am and have made me who I am - even though some of the things were less than glamorous.

*  Based on the last statement - I have decided 2 things.  First - I am writing everything that I know about me and my extended family present and past just in case my kids, grandkids, and great grands to come have an interest.  Second -to be fulfilled at a later time
*  I am looking forward to 2011!  I predict it will be a fabulous year! Going to usher it in with my wonderful soulmate, husband and friend, John, and his work peeps.  Should be fun - hoping my knee is up to some dancing tonight.  Love to cut a rug with my baby.

*  I am ever mindful that I am nothing apart from God.  The older I get the more I realize that everything in me that is good is from Him and if it is not so good, it is my flesh.  I want to grow in  Him this year - become more like Him - my desire is to come to a place where others look at me and see only Jesus.  I know that will most likely never happen on this side of Heaven - but I am going to strive for it anyway.

*  Reading the bible from cover to cover again is a goal I have set for 2011.  I don't want to do it just to say that I have done it - I want to do it because the Word is alive and like a 2-edged sword - it will cut thru the chains and set me free (er) and will live (be alive) inside of me.  Can't think of anything better for the new year - more of the Word and Jesus inside of me.

*  Finally - I feel blessed beyond all comprehension - above and beyond everything that I hoped and dreamed for.  God has blessed me with a wonderful husband and best friend; 3 handsome, smart, responsible sons that I am  beyond proud of; Audrey and Laura are perfect daughter-in-loves, if I had been allowed to hand pick them - they are the ones I would have chosen; 5 incredible precious beautiful grandchildren; many trusted, loyal and loving friends; we all have good health and are happy.  Really - I am the luckiest girl in the world!

Happy New Year!!!!!

Woo Pig Sooie!!!

College football season has begun! 

John is a college football fan - I am a fan of only one team - ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS!

Believe it or not, there was a time when I didn't even know what a Razorback was!  It's true!

As you know, my parents moved to Arkansas from Colorado to retire the day after I graduated from high school.  I had absolutely NO intentions of moving to Arkansas.  I stayed in Colorado for college.  I remember my daddy trying to talk me into moving and going to the U of A.  He said that I would love being a Razorback.  And I said, "what is a Razorback?"  He proceeded to tell me it was a wild Hog.  I am sure I rolled my eyes and let him know that was the most ridiculous thing I had ever heard.  I was going to CSU to be a RAM!   Who would have known that many years later - this girl would be calling the Hogs at the top of her lungs, an avid Razorback fan???  Gotta love karma. 

This past weekend was the first home game - my sweet wheelin-dealin hubby found us front row seats for the game.

We (as in the Razorback football team) POUNDED Tennessee Tech.  It was so fun.

We tailgated before the game with some folks from John's work.  Good food, great conversation and maybe just a bit too much beer for Poppy.

Our seats were on the 40 yard line - yep - front row!  You know who sat right in front of us?  The Tennessee Tech football team.  Oh my goodness!  The crowd taunted them - at times it was funny and at times I felt bad for them.  Aactually, the players took it well - the coaches got really mad.  ;-)

Out next front row seat game is when we play Ole Miss.  Uncle Carl will be with us.  Should be interesting and fun.

Here are a few pics from the first game!

Summer Fun!

I am going to call this post Summer Fun because as usual, I am behind on blogging.  It has been a fun-filled summer and I am going to try to cram a recap into this one post.

First - summer please don't go! I am not ready for summer to be over.  I love summer and sunshine and warm weather and the lake and the pool and playing and birthdays and grandbabies and family and friends...... OK - most things on my list will carry over into Fall and Winter - but not on the same level as summer!

For the first time in MANY years, I allowed my skin to see the sun.  I did protect it with 70 sunscreen - but still ended up with an awesome tan.  No brag - just something God blessed me with.  I have to admit I have enjoyed the beautiful bronze color that my skin naturally becomes when exposed to sun - even managed to avoid the "there's just something about Mary movie lady look."  You know the gal I'm talking about. ;-)

John and I bought a boat this summer - actually, we bought two boats!  The first boat was an awesome Criss Craft witha HUGE engine that went really fast.  Liked that one a LOT. By August, we had determined that it wasn't big enough to put the entire family on at one time.  Sold the Criss Craft and purchased a Party Barge.  It will accomodate all of us at once and allow us to grill, etc.  John and I took it out yesterday - it is going to be great. 

July 21st we celebrated Emma Grace's 2nd birthday!  It was a fun party at the lake house with a Crab theme.  Lucy and Emma Grace celebrate their birthdays together.  It was hot and fun.  Love you my beautiful baby girl!  Part of her birthday gift from Nene and Poppy was a trip to build-a-bear and a spoil me rotten afternoon.  Emma Grace is not quite ready for a weekend - I am betting she will be next summer.

August 15th Lawson celebrated # 8!  Oh my goodness - hard to believe that our handsome little first born grandchild is in the 2nd grade.

August 3rd our beautiful Laura was another year older and on September 8th, our beautiful Audrey will have a birthday.  We are going to celebrate the two together since there was a lot going on in Laura's birthday month.  I am so thankful for my two daughter-in-loves.   It is amazing to watch them love and care for my sons and grandchildren.  I tell them all the time, and I mean it, I couldn't have chosen better life partners and mothers for my grandchildren if I had made the choice myself. 

Lawson played football again this summer.  He is so adorable all decked out in his pads and helmet.  He had a great season too - even made 2 tackles that got his name announced on the loud speakers.  He was so excited and so proud. We missed that particular game because it was late and we live in Bella  Vista - but he called us and told us the big news right after the game.  Proud of you little man.  It is surreal to watch Lawson play football on that field at Springdale High School.  I have watched MANY games there and listened to the announcers call out the Coble Name multiple times.  I know, time flies by.

We got a new car this summer.  I really think it is Poppy's mid-life crisis car, but I am enjoying it too.  I don't have a picture, but it is a black Jaguar - the Vauden Plaus edition. 

Took our 3 oldest grands to Branson for a week.  That was a fun time.  See post below.

I so love our family.  I am humbled when I look at them and think about how very blessed I am. Someone said to me recently "you are so fortunate to have such a loving family."  Well - it is WAY past fortunate - it is all-out BLESSED above what I deserve or could have hoped for.

As much as I don't want to, it's time to wind this summer down.  I will miss every weekend at the lake and fun in the warm sun.  I won't have to miss my swimsuit though, I still wear it every weekday morning at the gym - swimming laps.

Onto Fall - Woo Pig Sooie!!!!!

Nene duty!

I love Nene duty!

Nene duty is when the parents of my sweet babies need a helping hand.

Sean was busy moving one evening and I got to watch Lawson while Britain played her t-ball game and then take both to their swimming lessons.

Britain had a great game! 3 good solid hard hits and two scores. She looks adorable in her uniform.

After t-ball, we raced to swimming lessons.  The kids changed into their swim suits while we inched along in the traffic trying to get out of the ballpark.

After swimming lessons they were starving!  Poppy had hamburgers and mac n cheese ready for us at our house.

This last pictures is one of my favorites.  Britain has a friend, Phoebe, that went to play school with her for quite awhile.  Phoebe moved to another playschool about 6 months ago.  Both girls are playing T-ball.  Phoebe spotted Britain first and came running to her.  They hugged each other for about 30 seconds and then told one another how much they missed the other.  It was really sweet.

Last night, Ryan and Laura had a date.  Nene and Poppy got to keep our sweet Taylor and  Emma Grace for the evening.  Lots of fun!

Nene and Emma Grace.

Taylor does NOT like to have his picture taken - actually, in order to get a picture of him, one must sneak which is very hard, bribe him - pretty hard, or just take what you can get.  Following is the best I could do last night.  Love you Taylor Lee.

Emma Grace loves "outside."  She will say that over and over and over again until she is outside.  So cute.

Look at this pony-tail basket shooting girl.

The menu for the evening was pizza, corn dogs and ice cream!  Hey - Nene and Poppy were in charge - whatever they want....

Please note Poppy and Taylor in the background - those two played the Wii most of the evening.

Look at this little face.  It makes my heart happy!

Emma Grace has added another very active word to her vocabulary - "self."  Which means - let me do it myself.  She tried to put her jammies on "self" - below she has the top on the bottom.  But hey - she did it "self" and that makes me  happy just because it makes her happy.

One last picture.  It wasn't taken last night - it was taken about 4 years ago - back when Taylor let us take his picture.  This was the little face he made when asked to "smile!" 

Now this just makes a Nene's heart happy.

The end.

4th of July 2010

I am very patriotic and I love celebrating the 4th of July - our country's independence day!  I am thankful that God allowed me to be born here and not in Afghanistan or Pakistan or Iraq.  When I get frustrated with high taxes and all of the beauracy in our government, I have to remind myself that I am not a citizen of Mexico, trying to find a way to escape from the horrible life and government there.
I'm just saying "THANK YOU" from the bottom of my heart!

I am thankful for all of our men and women that risk their lives voluntarily to protect my rights and freedoms - I am mindful of the ones that made the ultimate sacrifice.  I am aware and mindful of the sacrifices these men and women make on my behalf.  I love the opportunity to thank one of them for their service.  Each time I do this, I am amazed at how humble the receipient is - like it's no big deal.  I have watched grown men tear up when thanked for their service.  My guess is that they don't hear it enough.

I love fireworks as part of the celebration.  This year John and I got to watach 2 awesome firework shows on the lake.

Friday  night - Aaron, Audrey and sweet baby Lila joined Poppy and I on our boat for fireworks.
I love this sweet family - it makes my heart happy to see the way that Aaron and Audrey love and respect one another and of course the beautiful little girl that they made is our precious granddaughter, Lila Grace!

After work on Friday, we all headed to the lake - got on board the boat and headed over to the restuarant at Ventris Cove's Trails End Resort.  Poppy and I love this restaurant and the people that own/run it.  They have amazing food - they actually grown their own vegetables, bake their own bread, etc.  Yummy food!

Lila did not like her life jacket!  But she had to wear it.

Beaver Lake is beautiful!  I love being out on the water.

Walking up and I mean UP the trail to the restaurant! Remember, the food is worth it!

Lila ate really good.  She especially loved the home made rolls. (Nene sneaked a couple out for her to munch on later)

Beautiful Audrey and Aaron!

Nene and Poppy!

Aaron was brave and got in the water while we waited for the fireworks to begin.

Once we got the boat situated with the anchor down, Lila got to come out of her life vest and she had fun playing while we waited.

The boats began to gather in anticipation.

Amazing - Lila was not a bit afraid of the loud noises coming from the fireworks.  She watched in awe.  Nene with her great camera skills was driving herself nuts and everyone else in the boat  because I couldn't catch the darn fireworks exploding!  All I got were a couple of embers or total darkness.  Aaron to the rescue - I think he was tired of listening to me.  ;-)  Thank you Aaron for these pictures.

And - Miss Lila got sleepy so she put her jammies on, inserted her binky and grabbed her snugggle toy.  She was asleep in no time.

The end!

Branson part 2

Well, I found more pictures that I want to share from our wonderful trip to Branson with the grands.
Lawson, Taylor and Britain are very close and love one another very much.  They really act much like siblings when they are together,

They all wanted to sleep on the sofa that made into a bed.  Seriously?  They chose that over a bed.  It made into a queen size bed so they could all fit.  It was pretty cute.  In addition to the novelty of sleeping on a sofa that made into a bed - it helped that it was right in front of the television.  First thing every morning Poppy turned the cartoon network on for them and we let them fall asleep watching the cartoon network.  Nene and Poppy are so cool!  ;-)

Waking up happy!

We had breakfast on the deck each morning.  Menu for most days were waffles and bacon.  They got to choose.  I think a pop-tart may have sneaked in one day.

I love the following picture - we have one of Taylor from a couple of years ago.  Inside of Silver Dollar City, they have this sign posted over a hole in the wall of a building that says "Don't Look In This Hole."  Once the sign is read - they can't resist looking in the hole.  Lawson had just finished reading the sign outloud - Britian ran for the hole - and Lawson was on his way to tell us about it.

So cute!

This last picture I truly love.  It is the epitamy of what pouting looks like.  We didn't have much pouting on our trip - but I had to snap a picture of this - Britian was working so hard on her pout face.  We were sitting in The Cracker Barrell waiting for our food - she was very tired and was pouting because she had to wait for a turn to play with that silly game they put on the tables there - the lille triangle with the golf tees.  Britain, I love you and your sweet face - this look is priceless.

 I will finish with my favorite picture of all.  My precious Lawson, Taylor and Britain happy and having fun.  I had the time of my life on this trip - I am trusting that it will be a fond memory for each of my precious grands - I know it will for me.
Love each of you bunches!
Nene