Below is an email I got from Mike a couple of weeks ago. I delayed posting it since he was coming here on leave. He arrived last week and spent the holiday with us in College Station. He'll be in the States for a couple of weeks.

I am posting this from the UK, enjoying some Balti cuisine, eating chocolate from the Cadbury factory in Birmingham, and working of course. My civilian work brings me to this part of the world twice a year and apart from the perpetual jet lag I enjoy the visit. I attended a BBQ at my colleague's home on Saturday and managed to perpetuate the stereotype of the hearty American appetite for meat and beer (in my defense, it was forced on me). In the morning, I'll be eating black pudding for breakfast, being the only employee from the States willing to take that challenge. Following this trip, the Aggiefamily will be taking a much needed vacation to Colorado for some off road excursions, hiking, and fishing. Pictures will follow. Speaking of pictures, I have a bunch from Mike that I'll be uploading tonight (UK time) and they should be available by this evening (Texas time). Mike's update email follows:

Quote::

Hey y'all...I am doing geat. I have a hard time getting my internet to stay up over here and lately it has been really really slow. I recieved the package and the card today. The beef jerky as usual doesn't last long..haha...and the picture of Kenneth is greatly appreciated. I was happy to hear that he was able to be there with y'all at the wedding. I think that I will be home around the 5th but I can't be for sure for another day or so. I want to thank everyone for the emails, packages, and prayers. It has been getting pretty hot over here so we switched over to nights. If we could get our military light sets to work right then it wouldn't be a bad thing. Our latest adventure was putting the asphault roofing on with a haji pneumatic staple gun that lasted about 5 minutes then fell apart..haha. So now we are installing it with the ONE hand stapler that fits the few staples that we brought with us. Everything over here is of course metric and our staplers are of course standard. But then again I am getting use to how things go over here. Maybe one day they will get things straight and we can get some decent tools to finish the project. I will probably be in Waco for about a week then will be off on an adventure with Kenneth to go camping and a six flags for the remainder of my time on leave. I am looking forward to seeing everyone on leave. Sorry I haven't updated the website with pics but I had to buy a new computer when my last one bit the dust and the program to resize the pics was on that computer. I can't seem to get anything to download on this wireless internet. Something about freeing up some air space to allow more people on the network. I hope this email finds everyone doing well. Love you all and thanks again. Mike

UPDATE: I uploaded 266 photos to Mike's album for your viewing pleasure.