In Which the Little Brother Plans a Two-Year Hiatus

 This is the Little Brother.

It's a universal truth that he's the coolest kid around.

 Not to mention debonair.

He made a decision recently. A big decision. He's going to spend two years serving the Lord. It was just yesterday when he came home and found this waiting for him on the table.

Now, if this Little Brother were this Big Brother,

he would have called together his family and friends (heavy on the girls) and would have had a big hollabaloo party to celebrate.

But he's not.

If this Little Brother were this Middle Brother,

he would have snagged that big, white envelope and gone for a long drive and come home only when he had discovered the secret for himself.

But he's not that either.

He's the Little Brother. He contacted the far-flung members of his family and this is the information he got:

• Me: home in 50 minutes
• J's: could be at the ma and the pa's house in about an hour (give or take a diaper change)
• Middle brother: at work but available for skyping; otherwise, home in a couple hours
• Bodens: available to skype just about anytime
• Kelly: completely unavailable and unreachable for 3 1/2 hours (blast those adorable violin students!)

He did what only a Little Brother can do.

He waited.

Patiently.

Turns out 3 1/2 hours is a lot of time to fill.
 

 Even if you've got plenty of options.

It gave him time to really get to know his call on a personal level.

Finally, after just about giving up, the entire fam was together. Even the Bodens made it.

Hi, Bodens! I'm not quite sure who took this picture, but I'm glad they documented your presence. (Sorry, about the glare. You're just too ruggedly handsome, Dan. Even on webcam. We didn't want to make people jealous.)

The time had come.

His goofy smile right after he found out where and when he was going. Not staged. Now do you see why I love this kid?

You want to know where he's going?

There! And there's a sneak peek of his mission face.

This is how he feels about it.

Congrats, Little Brother! We're super happy for you! See, we even got the cakes to show it!

Mmmm.

What's that? You're still don't really know where he's going? Alright, alright.

Voila!

Image found here.

Good news is, he's a Spanish speaking champ!