God Bless the USA

Hello all! So, I have been getting a lot of questions about why we chose to go and visit the troops in the Middle East, and so I just wanted to tell you a bit about that.... I have a bunch of family in the military, as does the rest of the band. Both of my grandfathers fought in World War II, my dad's uncle lost an eye in the Battle of Normandy, my dad spent a year in Vietnam, and my dad's brother was in the service as well, my mom's brother is a doctor in the Navy, and my sister is engaged to a Navy man, and that doesn't count the numerous friends of mine, or the family and friends the rest of the band has in the military.... I am always thinking about what it must be like over there, being away from home, in such an uncertain and isolated environment, and myself and the band, we really wanted to find a way to say thank you.... we were thrilled at the chance to go over for the Thanksgiving holiday and say thank you in person. It makes me so emotional just thinking about all these guys sacrifice for us - they are essentially giving up their freedom to protect ours. It is freaking amazing and I cannot even put into words the admiration, respect, and love I feel for these men and women. I will be writing more about what the experience was like and sharing stories, pictures, and video that I took from the trip, but for right now I just want to say to all those we had the honor the meet, and also to those we didn't get to, to all of our soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines- thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! I also want to give a big thanks to Christine Lakin and Andrew Roy - it was really these two that made this opportunity possible, and we are eternally grateful! The tour flew by and we were not ready to leave - in that desolate, dusty desert, those guys gave us the trip of a lifetime!! We love you!!!