Caroline's March to Atlanta

Visiting Atlanta in June 2010 provided plenty of opportunities for Caroline to entertain and be entertained: at the Braves game, at the Princess Diana exhibit, at Stone Mountain Park, at the President Carter Library, at the Georgia Aquarium, and in the hotel pool. At the Braves game, even though there was a long rain delay before the game started, Caroline enjoyed the atmosphere of the stadium and liked calling out the numbers of the players when they were on the field. She tried her best to rally the team by shouting, "Come on, players!" At the Atlanta Civic Center, she got to see an exhibit of clothing worn by the late Princess Diana, highlighted by her amazing wedding dress. Stone Mountain Park is best known for its carving of three Confederate figures, but it is also an entire village of things to do, including watching glass being made through the heating and molding process. At President Carter's Library, Caroline got to pretend that she was in the Oval Office with her dad, and at the world's largest aquarium, she saw sharks and even whales and all kinds of fish. She then took all that to heart and made like a fish herself, paddling around the hotel pool like a pro before her fourth birthday. Oh, and did we mention that she also go to see where Elvis Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi? She got to visit Elvis' house and see the church where Elvis went with his parents when he was a boy, and a museum of his roots in Tupelo. Caroline definitely enjoyed seeing all this since she knows so many Elvis songs by heart anyway, but she decided that there was one thing Elvis missed: having a little sister in his life. So Caroline imagined filling this void by strik-ing a pose in a pic of a young teenaged Elvis, who is holding his guitar with one hand and his little sister with the other. Sail on, Caroline!

Three Months Today

We love you and miss you, Winston, more than we can ever express.

How We Laughed the Day Away

The classic movie The Wizard of Oz was released 70 years ago as of October 2009. The small town of Wamego, Kansas, about an hour west of Kansas City, held a weekend celebration that included four of the surviving munchkins who were in the movie, costumed actors as the Oz characters, tours of the Oz museum with incredible amounts of movie and book memorabilia, and visits from the descendants of the author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum. Caroline was scared at first by that wicked old witch of the west, but then she got her own magic wand from Glinda, got to take her picture with the original lollipop kid, got a kiss from a Toto lookalike, enjoyed all the dolls in the museum, and after all that and more, by the time our day there was over and it was time to head back home, she was saying as we were walking back to our van, "I had a great time!" We would definitely recommend visiting the Oz Museum for anyone who loves the movie and is in that area, not far from Kansas State University in Manhattan or the President Eisenhower Museum in Abilene. By the time we pulled up in our driveway back in Arkansas, though, I'm pretty sure she also said, "There's no place like home!" But it was definitely a memorable experience to celebrate a legend and meet some of the people who actually made it so seven decades ago. It reminded Galen of the old Land of Oz theme park in Banner Elk, North Carolina, from the 1970s, and maybe one day Caroline can share this story with her children too and keep passing down some personal association with that place over the rainbow.

Third Annual Birthday Poem

C, we can't believe you're 3!

We remember so well just bringing you home.

There was no way to prepare,

although we could share,

for the responsibility to raise such a dear.

But three years have gone by,

and with them the realization

that so much more is yet to come.

We don't want to rush, nor your growing to crush--

For a parent, the way's not always clear.

But we are certain of one thing,

which is that you are so full of spark,

energetic and funny and smart.

Thank God for you, C, for you will always be

the very life's blood of our heart.

Caroline had a wonderful birthday celebration this year. She had a little party at her preschool with her buddies, a party at our church where everyone was so gracious and pitched in to buy her a bicycle, a night bouncing on the inflatables at the Northwest Arkansas Naturals baseball game, and a trip to the Oklahoma Aquarium. There are plenty of pictures of all the fun at www.facebook.com/galenj. Thank you for visiting, caring, and being our friends!

Ham and Cheese

Caroline has learned her parents' habits well enough that she knows how we like to take pictures of her with landmarks. Take, for instance, our recent stop in Nashville on the drive from North Carolina to Arkansas after Christmas. While walking around the grounds of the state capitol, if Caroline saw a statue, she would run to stand by it, and then wait for a picture while holding her pose. What a ham. But here is the evidence.

Also notice the ability to produce a cheesy grin. In fact, this picture was made, as you might can tell, with her actually eating a grilled cheese sandwich at the time.

So we have a daily dose of ham and cheese from Caroline. But Winston and I join in if we get a chance to pose with a picture of Elvis.

Lori is of course ever the level-headed one, adding a touch of class to our travel photos.

Merry Christmas 2008

How excited is Caroline for her third Christmas? As you can see in the picture, she is already looking for holiday treats, and she is also excited at the prospect at getting presents for being a good girl. Everybody out there join her in being nice, not naughty, and we hope you enjoy a blessed Christmas!

For unto us is born a Savior, who is Christ the
Lord (Luke 2:11).

Queen Bee

1-800-CAROLINE

STRANDED ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD? THEN PICK UP THE PHONE AND CALL 1-800-CAROLINE FOR HELP.

I CAN HELP YOU GET BACK ON THE ROAD IN NO TIME!

Game Face

Caroline's recent visit to the gravesite of one of baseball's all-time greatest pitchers, Warren Spahn, has inspired her to work on her own pitching technique. Basically, she has decided that she can strike you out in one of two ways. One, she can give you a stare-down that will put you in such fear of her fastball that you won't be able to hit her pitch. Or, she will flash you a look so cute that you won't be able to compose yourself well enough to concentrate. Either way, she's going to be the one celebrating in the end.

What a Great Week!

We have been very blessed over the past week to spend some very happy times together. The main event was what we call the "Galen Bowl," the opening football game of the college season between Wake Forest and Baylor in Waco, Texas. Not only did Galen do his undergraduate studies at Wake and his doctoral studies at Baylor, but Lori has also been an employee of both universities. Watching our two schools play, surrounded by some of our dearest friends who had also converged in Waco for the occasion, was an unforgettable experience. Caroline was very good, especially at the game, when she let our friends play with her and comb her hair while she said "Go, Go, Go" for both the Deacons and the Bears. Wake won the game, 41-13. Galen even got to say the pregame prayer for Wake, like many years ago when he was the team chaplain, and spent time with Coach Jim Grobe and the players, and he also spent some time with Baylor radio announcer John Morris. While in Waco, we also had a nice, relaxing visit to the Dr. Pepper Museum. And on the way to and from Waco, we visited the grave sites of several sports legends--Warren Spahn in Oklahoma, and Tom Landry and Mickey Mantle in Dallas. Then on Monday, back in northwest Arkansas, we met Olympic gymnastic Dominique Dawes, who participated in three Olympic games and was part of the 1996 US Women's gold medal team in Atlanta. This was at an event to raise money for underprivileged children, and Caroline did her part by walking a whole mile and winning a medal. Now it's back to school for both Galen and Lori, and our long-awaited end of trip and vacation are over, but these recent memories will stay with us for a long time!