New Haircut

Don't you just love getting your haircut? For some reason I always feel better after a visit to the salon. Here is the new cut I got today. Nothing too drastic! You know me, I am not that daring to try anything crazy. Although, the low lights have a red tint to them. That is crazy enough for me!

P.S. Notice the stockings hung by the door way with care!? I can't wait for Christmas!

Wicked excited!

I am very excited to tell you that Fran and Melissa got us tickets to Wicked the Musical in Jan. Some time ago Fran recommended the book Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Greogory Maguire. The story is told from the very beginning of the Wicked Witch of the West's life, all the way to when she meets Dorothy and beyond. It was a fantastic book!

I have since enjoyed many other books written by Maguire such as Confessions of an Ugly Step Sister and Mirror Mirror. Gregory Maguire takes old fairy tales and puts his own crazy spin on them.

Anyway, Fran noticed that Wicked was coming to Cincinnati and offered to go blind staring at her computer to get us tickets when they went on sale. She got a bunch of us seats for the showing on Jan.24th and I am wicked excited! ;o)


If anyone is curious the next book by Maguire I want to get lost in is What the Dickens? The Story of a Rouge Tooth Fairy.

Until we meet again...

Dear Ben,

I can't believe that a year has gone by already. Although, to be honest some days it feels like you have been gone for years. I think about you often and wonder how your life would be today. How would your trip to Europe have gone? Would you have come home engaged to Heather?

Aaron misses you too! I see it in his eyes when we talk about you, which is quite often. I know he misses his friend.

Things changed with the group when everyone got home. We didn't really ever have Friday night dinners. I think it forced all of us to realize that you were not coming back and well none of us liked it. Your parents came down and we all had a night with them. They are fantastic people! We had a lot of fun with them reminiscing about the fun times. And of course we got nachos in honor of you with no black olives!

Your mom sent me pictures from your sisters wedding. She looked beautiful! I never realized how much you two looked alike. Although, I am sure she looks better in a dress than you! Your whole family is so proud of you. I think you would have been a little embarrassed at all the great things people have said about you. But they were/are all true. We were all blessed to have had you in our lives.

I have asked Aaron some things since you have been gone. And he replies with 'We can ask him when we see him again someday.' I guess I wasn't really thinking that way. I was to busy being sad to realize that we will someday get to see you again. And that is definitely something to be happy about!

We miss you down here but I know God is using you for great things in heaven. I bet you have already asked him about the theories you and JR used to argue about. I can't wait to hear the answer.

Until we meet again can you watch over Aaron? We are going to be in the Army for awhile and he needs guardian angels.

With love and respect,
Jackie

CPT Benjamin D. Keating

KIA 26 NOV 06
Kamdesh, Afghanistan

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

16th CAV Regimental Ball

Last Thursday, Aaron and I attended the 16th Cavalry Regimental Ball at Caesars Indiana. The night was filled with toasts, speeches (Guest speaker: Major General Robert. M. Willams) , food (The steak and chicken were great!) marriage proposals and weird traditions. We had a good time but remarked that we missed our 3-71 friends. I guess things can't stay the same forever.

Here we are all dressed up. I know, I know my dress is red. I need to get a new color. But I really liked this dress!

Here you can see the dress from the back and my hair. My hair was falling out before I even left the house. But with the help of my neighbor, Christie, and Aaron a crisis was averted.

Paul, Isaac and Aaron.

This is Aaron's class. If you are wondering why some uniforms look different, it is because there are students from Switzerland, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Australia and Sylvania.

Oh, and if you are wondering about the proposal...the girl said yes!

Ribs...yummy!

Last weekend Aaron and I went up to Cincinnati to hang out with Matt and Fran. They were good friends from when we were at Fort Drum. They are living in a suburb of Cincinnati until they buy a house. I miss being able to hop in the car and drive 20 mins to Sackets Harbor to meet up the the crew. But I guess we are lucky that Fran and Matt are only 2.5 hours away!

On Sat. Matt and Aaron went off on their own to climb walls in a gym somewhere. (Aaron said he had a lot of fun!) While they were doing that Fran and I went shopping. I was able to find earrings to go with my dress for the 16th CAV Regimental Ball (pictures to come soon!). And Fran was able to find some great pants.

For dinner they took us to the Montgomery Inn At The Boathouse. Their world famous ribs help make the restaurant the most popular restaurant in the Greater Cincinnati Area. And let me tell you the food was great! I had bbq ribs and bbq chicken. And it was incredible!

Here we all are at the table with our bibs on. Trust me we needed them because like I said very yummy!

Here are Fran and Matt at the restaurant. Aren't they cute!?!

Fran and I sitting outside the restaurant with their mascot of sorts, Mr. Ribs. At least I think that was his name.

After dinner we went across the bridge into Newport, KY. There we had fun watching the crazies at the Hofbräuhaus. It is modeled after he original that is located in Munich, Germany. It is a place with a lot of different brewed beers, music and fun.

Aaron and Matt trying the Hofbräu Dunkel.

My handsome husband and me.

We had a lot of fun! I wish we could do it more often.

Never Forget...

Happy Veteran's Day!

'Making Strides Against Breast Cancer'

On October 28th, my friend Lauren and I walked in the 10th Annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk in Louisville, KY. (I am posting about it now because I just got the pictures from Lauren. Her e-mail has been going crazy!) It was a 3.2 mile walk starting in the Waterfront Park.

A few days before the walk we got together and made t-shirts to show our support. I was walking in Memory of Karen Benson (Briana's mom) and Lauren was walking in Honor of her Aunt Marie. We had lots of fun with iron-ons, puffy paints and glitter glue.

The day of the walk the sun was shining bright and we had on our walking shoes. We met up with some people from Lauren's job but decided they were walking to slow, so off we went. The walk went surprisingly fast. Probably because we were laughing and talking the whole way.

Here are some pictures from that day:

Here we are in our homemade t-shirts.

We are starting across the bridge while others are finishing the longest part of the walk.

Here is a good picture of the bridge we walked across to Indiana.

Proof! You can see the Welcome to Indiana sign.

People really got into it. We saw a lot of people with balloons, crazy shirts and fun hats. We liked this hat the best.

It was a great day! Not only was it for a great cause but we got some exercise too. Be watching the news to see when you can help make strides against breast cancer in your area!

French Onion Soup

Oh, how I long for a night at The Bees with the ladies. I miss you guys!

Home Already!

Delaney was able to come home much early than anticipated. So I went to Ohio to visit Briana and Delaney while Ryan was away on business this past week. I am pleased to report that both mother and daughter are doing great! Delaney is still tiny but is gaining weight everyday. I had a lot of fun hanging out with Briana and getting to hold Delaney was awesome.

Below are a few pictures from my stay:

Here she is sleeping, which she seems to do almost as much as eating.

Here is Rosie watching over her. She seems very interested in her new little sister.


I couldn't believe how small her preemie diapers were. I thought I would do a side-by-side comparison for you. See...I told you she was little!