This deserves a post to itself:

(From left to right: brother Michael, me, sister Laura, boyfriend Yannick, mom Betti, dad Mitchell)

Aaron, my brother who turns 22 on Sept. 16, has been in Australia since early this year and shows no immediate signs of returning. Since we couldn’t be there to celebrate his birthday with him, we decided to at least send him a pic that shows we’re thinking of him.