Our Christmas Letter

Just wanted to post our Christmas letter I sent to our family this year. That way if you didn't get one, you can still know what all has happened this year with the Grant's! Hope you all had a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

December 2009

Hello Family and Friends! Wow has a lot happened this last year! The biggest news of the year (as most of you know) is that Guy is done with school, and he got a job, and we bought our first house! We moved to Cody where Guy works for the Department of Transportation as a Civil Engineer. I am so proud of his hard work with school, and I am so happy that he is all finished. He really loves his job. During the summer he worked 60-80 hours a week and I never heard him complain once! We love living in a town where there is family, and where we are both close to our “homes”. Cody is the perfect place for us. We bought our first home in September. It’s a perfect starter home for us.

Besides work, Guy enjoys going to the Rec Center every weekday morning. He also went hunting this year and got a five point Elk. This summer he also bought a four wheeler. I am sure he will have a blast with it.

As for me, mid November I started working with two dentists as a Dental Assistant. I love being back in the dental office! I work 2-3 days a week, so it is perfect. I love to be home with the boys, but it is nice to get out of the house and make a few extra dollars too. In July I got to go to Northern Montana for a family reunion on my mom’s side, how beautiful it was there. Then in August, my brother Max and his family came to Thermop for a family reunion. How fun it was to have my whole family there! First time in 3 years! What a fun summer! As most of you know however, I lost one of the most important men in my life in August. My step-dad of over 14 years lost his battle with cancer. I sure do miss Mike and think of him every day. But I know he is in heaven watching over us.

Micah is almost 4, and started his first year of preschool this September. He loves it! It amazes me how smart he is. He knows how to spell and write his name, he also knows all his shapes, colors, and uppercase letters. Now we are working on lowercase letters and letter sounds. He sure does love to learn. In his preschool class he has 2 cousins and lots of friends. He is always so excited for school. He still loves his superheroes and watching cartoons. He is mom’s little helper and is such a well behaved boy!

Gabe is 19 months old, and a very busy child. He always wants to wrestle and play with Micah. He is very strong-willed! (I wonder where he gets it?) This summer he battled bad ear infections, but through lots of chiropractics he finally got better. We are just starting to understand a few of his words. He’s quite the talker, but it’s still gibberish to us. The funny thing is, he refuses to call Guy “Dada”, we are both “Mama”! I can’t wait for him to talk more.

We have had such a wonderful 2009, and we hope that you have too. We wish you all joy and happiness in 2010. We love you all! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love, Guy, Afton, Micah, and Gabe Grant

PS- Guy and I are both on Facebook, and our blog is: aggrant.blogspot.com

A job for a Laramieite/Cheyenneite

For any of you that live in the Laramie/Cheyenne area and need a little job, I got one for you. My mom works for Redbox in Gillette, and they are looking for someone to work in Laramie/Cheyenne. It's a easy job, just a little time consuming. All you do is stock the machines and clean them, with the occasional repair/jam. If anyone is interested, let me know. I helped my mom with it, and it's a good job.

Update from the Grant's

I too have been bugged a lot lately about not blogging, so I thought I would do a quick blog (I guess it's quite long, so hang in there!) to update you on our family.

Guy's work has slowed down a lot. He is working 40 hour a week now, and it is so nice to have him home at a decent time everyday. About a month ago, he got his elk, a nice 5 point. However, that meant a lot of cutting up meat! (Which I did NOT enjoy!) It is nice to have a full freezer though.

I just started working part-time as a fill-in dental assistant for 2 Dentists here in town. I worked 2 days last week, and another 2 days this week. I love it! It's nice to be back in a dental office after 5 years! I will start working 3 days a week in the end of Dec. for about 2 months, and then we will see how much they need me. I have also been busy with exercising. I have been working out 4-5 days/week. And have lost 8 pounds, only 7 more to go! Other than that, I have been busy with the boys.

Micah is doing great in preschool. He sure does love going to school with his cousins. He also loves to do homework at home. He likes his new primary class. (There are 7 boys and 1 girl)I can't believe he will be 4 in one month!

Gabe is starting to talk like crazy. Although it's still hard to understand him, he tries to say what we say all the time. He is now sleeping in a toddler bed, and he loves it. The transition went really well. He loves to wrestle his brother.

We have a very busy rest of the month coming up. Guy and I just got called as sunbeam teachers. We are also going to be going to Billings 3 times in the next 12 days! Our niece Kasi is going on Thursday to take out her endowments, Saturday is our Stake Temple Day, and the next Saturday is Kasi's wedding. And not to mention Thanksgiving at our house! YESH!

Hope all is doing well. We miss all of you that we don't see very often. We (I) can't wait for Jess and Kat to come! So hurry and get here! :)

We got some new family pics, so I will try to get them uploaded on here soon!

We are coming to Laramie!

Hey all you Laramieites! The fam and I are coming to Laramie next Wed. the 23rd through Sun. the the 27th. I want to go and have a girls night out Friday night, so put it on your calenders. We will also be going to the game Sat. and sacrament on Sun. Hope to see all of you!

More Sad News!

I know I am the barer of bad news lately, I'm so sorry about that. But this is more for me and my memory.

Sunday night my step-dad died. He has fought cancer for over seven years, and finally gave up the fight. The last 6 months had been pretty rough, and he had lost around 50 pounds. And the last two weeks were really rough. 2 weeks ago, his doctor gave him the news that there was nothing else they could do for him, and that the cancer was everywhere. This was the first time he wasn't optimistic. That's when he said he is ok with dying, and that he has accepted Christ as his Savior. At last weeks appointment he found out that he had fluid around his heart, so we figured we only had a few weeks left with him. I got to see him last Thurs and he wasn't doing well at all. We went to our new house, and he had a hard time walking from the street into the house. He was so weak. After seeing us, he went on to Thermop to see his mom and brothers. On Sunday they took him back to Billings (where he lived) for his weekly appointment. When they got there, he wanted his brother to take him to the ER, when they got there, he had passed away.

I am happy that he isn't hurting and unhappy anymore. I know he is in heaven and watching over us. I am glad that he got to see all of his family this last weekend. I am also so thankful that we got to see him 3 days before he died. Ever since I found out that he wasn't doing well, I pictured him in a hospital bed either in a lot of pain or doped up on medicine and incoherent. I knew I wouldn't be able to handle either situation. So I am relieved that he went so quickly.

The hardest part for me is knowing that we won't see him on earth again. The other hard thing is knowing that my kids won't ever know him. Micah is still so young that he will probably not remember him much.

Mike has been a part of my life for the past 15 years and I loved him like he was my own flesh and blood. He was one of the most loving and caring person I have know. He was also so very selfless.

He will be missed more than anything.




These pictures were taken August 2nd, 28 days before he died.

Sad News!

Two nights ago one of my friends, and high school mates, died in a horrible car crash. Her one year old son also died. Please keep her family in your prayers, and also her daughter who survived, and is in pretty bad shape. What a wonderful mom she was! Life is SO Fragile! I will miss you Sara!

Happy Anniversary Love!

Today is Guy's and my 5th Anniversary! It has flown by! What a great 5 years. Looking back, we have lived in 4 different towns, 7 soon to be 8 homes, have had 2 precious boys, have gone through 5 years of college, and it's all been great! We are so blessed. I am the luckiest girl in the world! Love you hun! Here's to many more years to come!

Side note: Today I am in Gillette visiting my mom, and doing a Pampered Chef show. What a horrible wife, to leave my hubby on our anniversary. What an understanding husband I have! We will have to celebrate when I get home.

Update on the House!

Things are coming along slowly but surely! The beginning of next week they are putting in carpet and appliances. Then they will finish the electrical and plumbing. They are also starting the fence. Next Friday will be the Appraisal, and in 2 weeks will be the closing! I can't believe it. Everything is on track for being done when we move in, except the landscaping! YEAH! I was going to put some recent pics on, but last week my camera was in my purse, and I spilled Gatorade in it! My camera is BROKEN! I was so mad at myself, so all my posts will be picture less for quite awhile. Sorry!

WE GOT A HOUSE!!

For those of you who haven't heard, we finally got a house! We are SO excited! It is BRAND new, not even finished yet! The only reason we can afford something so nice, is because it has a VERY small lot. But we figured we will live there for 5 years max, and thought that we could survive with a smaller yard. (Living in apartments for 5 years, we haven't had ANY yard, so I think we will survive.) It is supposed to be done the 31st of this month, and we are supposed to be able to move in on Sept. 4th. Its a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath (we have our own bathroom off our bedroom!!) 1661 sq ft, 2 car garage home. It is SO nice! Here is a pic of the unfinished house. YEAH! We are SO blessed! :)

Update on the fam!

I thought I would update you all on what's going on lately in our household.

Let's start with the boys- They are both doing pretty good. Gabe has been battling a bad case of ear infections for the past month and a half. Today we went to the doctor for the 4 time, and it's still not gone, but doesn't look too bad. They want us to go to Billings to the ear, nose, and throat doctor, to see if he needs tubes put in; however, we decided to wait one more month to see if it keeps getting better. Hopefully it does. He has become such a sassy bully! He always wants to wrestle, hit, push, and scream. I have my hands full!

Micah was complaining of an earache in the middle of the night last night, so while we were at the doctor, I had her check his ears too. He has one ear infection too! She said that kids his age should get over it on their own. So we will have to hope and wait and see. We just enrolled Micah in preschool for this fall. He is so excited. We start swimming lessons next week.

Guy just found out that he passed his big engineering exam he took in April. He is so relieved! Also, yesterday he got his first raise. 4%! That's an extra $155/month. Every little bit counts. He is loving his job and getting lots of overtime.

Nothing really new with me. Just the same old, same old. We have just been busy looking at houses. Last week we spent 4 days in Lovell for Mustang days. It was fun but busy. Yesterday we got to go to Billings to go to the temple. Guy's nephew went through for his own endowment, and is leaving for the MTC on Wed. We are looking forward to Guy's 3 1/2 day vacation. Again, it will be very busy, but fun, with all the 4th of July festivities. Hopefully I will get some pics taken this weekend.

House Hunting

I know, I know it's been forever since I have blogged. The big news is that we have decided to buy a house. We don't know what for sure, but we are looking. It's been so much fun going shopping for a house. We hope to get one within the next few months. Other then that, not much else is new. We are looking forward to Lovell's annual Mustang Days this next week. We went boating on Saturday, and we are going to go again next Saturday. Hopefully I will get some pictures this next time. I am SO looking forward to the Tippett's coming this week! We can't wait for a fun filled week!

Matching PJ's

Aunt Brook bought Gabe a pair PJ's for his birthday, and they match Micah's. They love their batman pajamas, and they are SO CUTE! Thanks Aunt Brook!

Missing Laramie!

I just wanted to let all you Laramieites know that we (especially me!) are missing you, and thinking about you often. I made the best friends ever the short time we were there. I think about you guys daily and I miss all the fun times. I especially miss Volleyball on Wednesday nights, playgroup, and girls' night out! I miss the quick trips up to Cherry's house and the eating over and playing Wi with the Tippetts'. In our new ward we don't even have a playgroup!! People keep telling me to start one...but there is one problem....there are hardly ANY kids in our ward. Micah is one of two sunbeams! Quite different then we are used to in Laramie! Make sure if any of you are in the area, to give me a call! You know...Yellowstone is a beautiful vacation spot! (Hint, Hint!) Miss and love you all!!

Here are a few pics that I love-

Gabe is 1!!

I know I am almost 2 weeks late...but life has been crazy! My family came over to celebrate Guy's graduation, so while they were here we had a party for Gabe. We let him dig into a piece of cake, and he LOVED it! We had a fun day at the park celebrating Guy's accomplishment and Gabe's big day.







By the end of the day Gabe was so exhausted, he fell asleep at dinner time in his high chair. What a cutie!

I finally found my cord that runs from my camera to my computer, so there will be more pictures to come!

We made it Safely!

Well we got to Cody safely! It wasn't easy...but we made it. I was driving Guy's truck, and about 35 miles outside of Laramie it got so windy that the lid over the bed was lifting up. I was 20 miles behind Guy, so I called to see what I should do. He said to strap the lid to the truck with a stap that was inside the truck...so I did. About 5 miles later...the lid blew completely off!!! I was SO scared! I am just so glad that it was a crosswind, so it blew it off into the barrowditch, and not behind me, or across the road to the other lane onto another vehicle. So I called Guy again hesterical and made him turn around to come help me. The lid ended up so damaged that we just left it on the side of the highway! (The only good thing about this was that I didn't have to worry about it blowing up anymore the rest of the way. And boy was it windy the WHOLE way!) Sorry hun...I know you loved the lid! Other then that everything else went well. The Boys were great for me. Now there is a TON of unpacking to do! Oh also...I called 3 weeks ago to get a storage unit to hold for us. Well, they didn't save it for us! So we have tons of CRAP sitting in our living room. Man what a tough past week!

Goodbye Laramie

Well, I thought I would write a quick blog to say goodbye! Today we have been very busy packing and cleaning, and tonight we will be super busy loading and cleaning even more. We are so excited for the next chapter of life...but I sure will miss all the friends I have made here. You all have been so great..and have made Laramie a great experiece for me. When we moved here almost 2 years ago, I was so homesick, and afraid to leave our families. It has been a blast! I know that Cody will be awesome, but I will never forget the frienships I have made here! We hope to see you Laramieites agian soon. We will be back in the fall to visit, and to go to a football game....but until then....see you later!

I LOVE these girls!

I have had such a blast here in Laramie. I was so sad last night when I had to say goodbye to all of my volleyball girls! I am truly going to miss each and every one of you! You have all made Laramie so much fun for me. Thanks to you all! We will be back to visit sometime this fall...so I guess I will see you then!

New at this

I have never had a blog before. But because SO many of you have asked me to get one....here it finally is. I am new at this, so bare with me! It might take me awhile to get it looking good, and to get pics on, so be patient with me! :)