My Snow Bunnies

I have no pics of this, but wanted to tell about our 1st ski adventure of the season. We went skiing as a fam last weekend here at the West Point ski slope. It was Haley's second time (first time was in the Alps, poor girl) and Jake's first! Jake wasn't too sure about it before getting his skis on, but was a natural! The boy has got balance! I'm sure it helps that his center of gravity is so low to the ground. He got off to an amazing start, then burned out quickly - attention span. I took him and the sled over to an adjacent hill on the golf course to do some sledding. We, of course, had to go all the way to the top right to the treeline. We had 3 good rides before sledding got old. We went to the lodge for some hot cocoa and cheese sticks. His friend was in there watching Aladdin, so we thawed out for a while. Meanwhile on the slope, Haley had a slow start and was getting frustrated with all the falling and trying to navigate the tow rope. But by the time Jake and I headed back out for more skiing, she was whizzing up the hill and shooshing down like a pro! Mom and Dad switched off staying with the kids while going up on the lift for one run down. Lessons learned: don't buy lift tickets if you're going to spend the whole day on the bunny hill and buy used equipment instead of renting for 4 every time! We're looking forward to going again soon.

MAJOR Promotion

I had to add these pics I just got from Ryan's Dad. By the way, if you want to see what Ryan will look like in a few years, check these out - one of the many reasons I married him! Ryan's Dad has been able to pin him at every promotion so far and this was no exception. CSM Keating is the OK Nat'l Guard State CSM, and as we were visiting OK on 1 Jan., we got to have Ryan's ceremony there at his office. MG Wyatt officiated. It was so nice, b/c several family members were able to attend. I think Ryan cheated a bit, though, with the ACU's. That means velcro rank instead of actual pinning w/possiblity of drawing blood! I pinned his beret later at lunch, but he wasn't wearing it at the time, dang it!

Christmas at Granny's

Okay, bouncing around a bit with the dates, here, but have some time to catch up on my blogs. I HAVE to pay tribute to our trip to OK to Granny and Grandpa Keating's for Christmas. Sandy (Granny) goes Christmas crazy each year, especially if we come to visit. (Really I'm sure it's mostly for the grandkids, but Ryan and I love it, too!) To hit some highlights: we did some shopping, always a highlight for me, we went to Christmas mass together, had Christmas dinner at Granny's and got together with all the Aunts and Uncles and others at Patsy's on Christmas Day, visited the Morgans in Dallas and went to Build-A-Bear for Haley's 8th Bday, had another party at Granny's, I met Ryan's sister's fiancee, Brian, visited Ryan's grandmother in her new digs (nice!), played some Texas hold 'em, saw the Sutherlins, and had some of Granny's chocolate chip cookies!

Valentines Formal

These are a couple of pics from the EE&CS Winter Formal from the weekend. ELDP people don't look - will probably recycle this dress for the April BS&L formal! It felt like too long since going dancing with Ryan. We had a really great time. I think we set a record for how early we left, but it was only because of fatigue. They did a fun murder mystery to kick things off. The music was good, food was good and obviously, we're sitting at the cool kids' table! ~;-)

Flashback to Progressive Dinner Oct06

I never posted about this shindig - one of the many get-togethers we've had with the ELDP gang. We had a progressive dinner, going all together from one house to another (5 people hosted). Looking back at the pics, maybe there should have been a limit to how many stops included beverages! It was a fun evening and something we should do again! Looking forward to better weather, too, for another bbq and boat ride at Lake Poppolopen!

MAJOR PARTY!!

We joined forces with our friends, the Meerts and threw a "Major Holiday Party" in December for the ELDP cohort to celebrate Ryan and Robb's promotions to Major. It was much fun with lots of food, fun, drinks and karaoke! Jeff VanAntwerp kicked off the singing and many others followed suit. We have quite the number of crooners in our group! I expect to see Wyatt on Nashville Star someday. Ryan was a great D.J./M.C., treating us to a bonus couple of David Allen Coe songs. Haley and Katie Howell practiced for American Idol. Speaking of Idol, Lesley Hoyman was the proud winner of the American Idol Hits CD in our Dirty Santa game! I apologize to whoever wound up with the jingle bell boxers and not-so-matching redneck beer T-shirt. I did NOT pick that out! Jake was outnumbered by all the cute little girls to play with. A great time was had by all! Quote of the evening, "Those Keatings are just a party in a box!"