Ryan Returns

My cousin Ryan, who has spent the last year in Iraq, made it home safely to his home base in Germany! When we were growing up, he and his brothers Jeremy and Chris were like extra siblings to my sister and I. I haven't seen him in 2 years (last Christmas he was in Iraq, the Christmas before he was training to be in Iraq and they wouldn't let him return home) and I was SOOO excited to hear that he will be back on December 23rd, just in time for Christmas. It is so strange to think about, but since the last time we have seen each other, both of us have gotten married, and I will have added 2 children! He hasn't ever met Charlie. My class wrote letters to him and his wife Ashley while he was away, and we sent him prayer bouquets and gifts. I wish I was at school so that he could make a visit to my kiddos from last year. They loved hearing about the animals he saw in the desert, how his room was like a box of tin, and how there was a Burger Kind and Pizza Hut for the soldiers to visit on base (that also looked like boxes of tin). I wish we were going to have more free time at Christmas that I could spend with them, but alas! The joys of parenthood.