flip book video and my baby brother

so, if you'll remember, i talked about this super cool flip book booth that our friends--justin and ashley--had at their wedding. if you don't remember this, you can read about it here. 


anyway, i got the best text EVER earlier from ashley. she sent me mine and mikey's video that we made in order to make our flip book at their wedding! so at the wedding, we were recorded for 7 seconds and then the guys from flip pics printed out the frames and made it into a little flip book for us. so. cool! i posted the video below and though i'm probably a liiiiiiiiiiittle bit biased, i have to say i think it's just the cutest thing ever!

in other news, my baby brother, christian, posted the most amazing pictures on his facebook, and i just had to share some of them with you. a little bit about my brother: 

• he's 20 years old. 
• he's a navy hospital corpsman for the marines.
• he's been based in twentynine palms, ca.
• currently, he's deployed in afghanistan, and got to celebrate his 20th birthday (on june 11) over there.

he and i have been keeping up with each other via email and facebook since he left back in march. he's very positive and just such a sweetheart. he told my mom (who in turn told me, which is just like him telling me, right?) that for his birthday gift, his commanding officer gave him the american flag that had been hanging over their base in afghanistan. what an amazing honor! i'm just so proud of my brother. he's found something that he's very good at (medical-type stuff) and is using it to truly better the world. he goes out each day with his marines knowing that he could possibly have to save their lives at some point. the coolest part about it? if something bad did happen to one of them, he has the knowledge to actually do it. i know that heroes come in all shapes, sizes and walks of life. to me, 'hero' equals my baby brother, christian.

here's some of the pictures he's put up since he's been deployed (some from his birthday, some not). 

that's him on the front row, second from the right end.

silly boy. i think this was for his birthday party?

receiving the flag from his commanding officer.

christian with his flag.

with the afghani locals.

i love this picture.

in the camp.

another birthday shot. 

out on patrol.

my other favorite photo. with some of the afghani children.

is it just me, or do the giant guns and weapons in these photos kind of freak you out, too? i don't think i'll ever get used to seeing my baby brother holding them, especially like it's no big deal. can you imagine walking outside your house and people are just walking around with giant guns?? i can't. i'm so grateful to live in america. 

christian- i love and miss you! and like i said before you left, if you don't come home safely, i'll kill you.