>> thank you. >> gretchen? >> what a great story, brian, thank you. raindrops on roses, whiskers on kittens, we all have our favorite things during the holidays. next, sarah palin shares her favorite. >> sergeant james schmidt, i'm province afghanistan. i want to say hay to my 90% back home. i love you. i would also like to say hi to my daughter and parents in decatur, illinois. merry christmas. >> i'm major jeff barker from camp leather neck in afghanistan. i would like to give a shout out and holiday greetings to my beautiful life shannon and my lovely dawrdz phoebe liddy and abigail. spending the holiday season with their grandparents. merry christmas and have a great new year. ♪