Boyd Family Weekend

This past weekend my dad's side of the family all got together.  We have not all gotten together since my Nana passed away last February, it was a fun reunion, though she was deeply missed.  We met outside of Dallas at a really neat retreat house, that was very large and able to accommodate our growing family.  Everyone brought their favorite treats, and many of Nana's wonderful recipes.  When the Boyd family gets together we eat and play games, so there was a lot of both of those going on this weekend.  I didn't take many pictures, but here are a few.  We really enjoyed getting to see all of my cousins, second cousins, aunts and uncles, and can't wait to see everyone again in June!

Christmas Time

It seems like I have been behind with this blogging thing, so to catch up this post is all about our Christmas break this year.  We spent Christmas day with the Boyd family, and enjoyed a lot of fun games and family time.  We did everything from homemade gingerbread house competitions (yes, everything is a competition in the Boyd family) to playing Rockband, and I think everyone had a lot of fun.  Shane was in Texas for almost 2 1/2 weeks, so we had a giant wedding to-do list that we completed together.  We registered, took engagement pictures (blog post to come), completed premarital counseling, picked wedding food, found a temporary place to live, started the process of making my wedding band, made honeymoon reservations and probably more I can't think of at the moment.  I am also happy to announce that I finally found my wedding dress!  Aside from wedding plans we had a lot of fun just relaxing together.  We met up with a few friends in Kemah one night, and enjoyed walking around the boardwalk.  We spent a few days in Odessa visiting and relaxing with the Darville's.  Shane also went to Army's bowl game in Dallas, and cheered on Army for a win against SMU.  I think we all had a good time seeing his family and spending New Years Eve playing games with friends and family.  We hope you enjoy some pictures of our Christmas break!

 Shane was great with our registry gun

 Taking a break from registering, and getting a massage at Bed Bath & Beyond

 The cutest 1 year old around!

 Between my engineering fiance and father, and construction brother cutting gingerbread became an exact science, and quite the ordeal.

Shane and I with our beautiful gingerbread house!

Everyone hard at work

All of our masterpieces

 At Kemah Boardwalk

 Joseph and Shane having a ball, shooting off fireworks.

 After three years together, Shane and I finally managed to make it under the century tree on campus. 

All Academy Ball 2010

We attended the All Academy Ball in Midland again this year with the Darville's.  It was a great night with many good friends and family, and lots of dancing.  This was our third All Academy Ball together, and by far the best.  We never would have guessed that three years ago when I flew to West Texas to go to this ball with Shane it would lead to a lifetime together.  Three years later, and we are five months away from getting married!

I thought it would be fun to go back and look at pictures from the past three years.

Our first ball in 2007

 The second All Academy Ball we attended in 2008

 A friends wedding Christmas 2009

 This year's Ball 2010

Lost Pines Resort

A few weeks ago my parents and I went to the Lost Pines Resort outside of
Austin.  There were so many fun things to do, but my mom and I just explored, went for a LONG hike, and went shopping while my dad had meetings.  It seems like it would be a great place for families during the summer.  At the resort they have bikes, archery, frisbee golf, a water slide, lazy river, horseback riding, golfing, campfires, hundreds of trails for hiking, and a lot more!  Here are a few pictures from our hike.

Family Ski Trip

For Christmas this year my family took a ski trip to Copper Mountain, Colorado.  Unfortunately, Shane was in the middle of finals so he couldn't go, but we're already planning the next ski trip where hopefully he can attend.  We had a great time skiing and being together.  It was also our families first big vacation with my niece Emma, so we enjoyed lots of her cute giggles.  We skied for three days straight, and were exhausted every night and went to bed about 8pm.  Driving from Denver to Copper Mountain was a little stressful as the roads were icy and it was snowing heavily, but driving back proved to be a much better experience.  Luckily, we had tons of snow and beautiful weather while we were there, which made for great skiing conditions. 

 My brother and I enjoying the snow!

 My parents who ski better than I do!

Can you tell we were really cold?

My sister, mom and I accidentally went on this black diamond run...it was an adventure, that I don't wish to go on again.

Emma LOVED sledding and laughed the whole time.

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving together at Shane's parents in Odessa this year.  It was a welcome break from our busy semesters, and we were so thankful to relax and take it easy most of the break.  There was a lot of eating (wonderful food), and catching up to do, which left little time for pictures, so those are limited.  We enjoyed a delicious family meal on Thanksgiving with Shane's parents, and grandparents.  Followed by the big game Thursday night, which ended quite nicely!  Friday, Shane and I ventured out to do some Black Friday shopping (not at 4am, though my sweet fiance offered to), apart from a CVS raid and some ammunition we were slightly disappointed.  We also all went to the shooting range Friday afternoon to test out a few new guns.  Though cold, we had a great time.  Saturday, Mark tested out his new charcoal grill and made the best and only back strap I have ever eaten, mouth watering.  After cooking out we enjoyed sitting around their new fire pit and visiting.  All in all it was a great Thanksgiving break in Odessa, we truly have so much to be thankful for, and we are excited for Christmas break to begin! 

Branch Weekend

We have been waiting about three years for this past weekend, and it finally came!  It was branch weekend at West Point!  A lot of our future would be revealed this weekend, and we were both excited and nervous to see what branch Shane would get.  Whitney flew to New York on Friday and got to spend the weekend with Shane.  We had a great weekend, filled with cold weather, pretty fall colors, apple orchards, Army football, tailgating, a winery, and don't forget Branch night!  We'll let the pictures do most of the talking.

  A beautiful, but very cold and windy morning for a parade at West Point.

It was fun to see Shane in his full dress uniform, and watch my first West Point parade.

Trying to stay warm at the Air Force vs. Army football game.  I had on 2 pair of socks, tights, 3 shirts, 2 pair of gloves and my nice wool coat.  Brrrr!

We visited an apple orchard in Warwick, NY.  It was beautiful, and so fun to walk through rows and rows of apple trees.  You were also allowed to eat as many as you wanted while you were there, delicious and nothing like the regular grocery store apples.

We also did a wine tasting at a local winery near Warwick.

All of our fun weekend festivities lead up to branch night.... 

We sat in an auditorium filled with anxious Firsties waiting to open their envelopes for what seemed like hours.

It was finally time to open them, and  the winner was....

Engineers branch detailing Infantry!!!!!

God is so good to us, and we are excited to see what else he has in store for our lives in the coming months!