Guns, Cookies, and Walsh

A few photos since some asked privately, via email. Duncan tested for his next rank in Kenpo Karate last Saturday. He won his first black stripe on his brown belt. Kenpo has three black stripes before you test for black belt. It usually takes as long to go from brown to black as it does from white to brown... but his teacher is convinced Duncan will get it done in time for shipping out to Parris Island in late April, early May. Here is a photo of Dunk and the only other student to make that rank and also -- just for That Girl -- a photo of his arm. I wanted her to know that Joey's arms on that dancing show might not make the cut in Dunk's platoon!



Tis the season for cookie making. My daughter, Kara Graves, has been over a few days making cookies with my wife, Kami. They have made the house beautiful with their presence and laughter and they've made it SMELL TERRIFIC with the umpteen varieties of cookies. Now... if they'd only tell me where they hid them...



Some asked if there were any photos of Navy Corpsman Chris Walsh who I blogged about yesterday. Here is the only photo I can find of this American hero. Also, there are photos of his mother holding baby Mariam and Mariam after surgery with a couple of the medics who helped transport her to Boston from Iraq.



I have some guitar news but it can wait a couple of days. It would be unseemly to talk about that right after looking at these photos. Remember the Walsh family in your prayers along with Baby Mariam and her family in Fallujah.