I just talked to Aaron! For those of you who don't know, Aaron is my Marine baby brother who is in 29 Palms California right now getting ready to go to Iraq. He's got some down time before his unit goes on two-day leave. He's going to Las Vegas, and he gets to see his wife, Kelly, who has flown out there to see him. It's a great unexpected blessing, because they didn't think they'd get to see each other again until he comes back from his seven-month deployment. Once he gets back from leave, his group is on standby to leave for deployment, which means they could leave any time in the next few weeks. Pray.

My family has also gotten two letters from my other Marine baby brother, Ryan, who is in basic training in Parris Island, South Carolina. Ryan does not write the long descriptive letters that Aaron wrote to us from basic training (not so much Ryan's style) but he is doing well. He's been made a squad leader, which is more work for him because if his group doesn't perform well, he pays. But he seems to be doing well. He says hello to everyone and said he is very thankful for all the mail he has received from family and friends. Mail, it seems, is the highlight of a recruit's life in basic training.

That's all for now.