Bunn, N.C. — Sgt. Leo McKeithan is among the more than 4,000 North Carolina National Guard Soldiers with the 30th Brigade who are currently serving in Iraq this Christmas.

“This is the first time we've actually been away from each other since we've been married this long, especially this is our first Christmas not being together since we've been together,” wife Teresa McKeithan said of her husband's deployment.

At the McKeithan's home in Bunn, the family was able to see and talk to the solider in Baghdad on Friday with the help of Skype, is a software application that allows users to make voice calls over the Internet.

“We miss you," Linda McKeithan, Sgt. McKeithan's mother, told her son via Skype.

Through Skype, Sgt. McKeithan gets to virtually be with his family on Christmas

“It’s good that I’m able to communicate and be able to see them and talk to them on a daily basis. It kind of keeps me back at home,” Sgt. Leo McKeithan said.

“Being able to see him and see that he's fine, his health is good. It’s just amazing with the technology now,” Teresa McKeithan said.

Before he logged off Friday, Sgt. Leo McKeithan had one more thing to share.

“I want to tell everybody in North Carolina, Merry Christmas,” he said.

Since her husband's deployment, Teresa McKeithan has put yellow ribbons around the house as a tribute to the troops serving overseas.

The troops with the 30th Brigade should start heading back home from Iraq next month. They should all be home by the end of February.