The Growing Gant Family...

I know I've spoken with some of you about the tragic accident of a family in our church.  Coming up on the 22nd of this month will mark the 2nd year anniversary of Dawson and Devin's death.  They were both instantly killed in a car accident and now reside together as brothers in Heaven.  There isn't any parent who can ever imagine what it would feel like.  Lenny and Teresa Hunt lost not just one, but both of their boys that day.  In an effort to bring joy to some of the most difficult times of the year, over thirty of the lady's at our church brought gifts to Teresa every day through Christmas and up until the day of the accident.  I took today... Here's the letter I included with my gift.  I found out later it brought tears.  But hopefully, it meant as much to her as her boys have to me... Teresa- I don't even think I've ever officially met you, but I wanted to be sure and send you something to help brighten your day. The heartache you've...

Cory, Lori and the boys came up the weekend before Christmas for our celebration with them, Grandma Marsha and Grandpa Bruce.  I always love how excited (or "asited" as William says it) William gets when he knows his cousins are coming (o;  He just loves spending time with them and I love how good they are with him, including him in all of their play.  It's pretty fun to watch... Plain and simple, I just love being around family.  No matter how close together our visits are, time with family always seems separated by too much time. Hangin' with Gpa Bruce Calvin's experiencing Grandma's nativity-hands on William's "I'm excited" face as he opens presents in Daddy's lap My fam...I really don't think I could love these three anymore than I do... William and his cousins checkin' out their new legos! William still needs a little help from Grandma to put his together (o; Then, due to our trip to Califor...

We were fortunate enough to get to spend some extra time with Auntie Tata before she left for another extended stay in Japan (she has another teaching job there for at least a yr while she fulfills her contract...+ she's got someone she's pretty fond of over there (o;  Yudi-we're so glad you were able to visit us here too!).  Usually she's in California with the rest of my family and then leaves the country via LAX, BUT she was up here visiting the Portland area so we were able to spend a few nights with us before we took her to the airport this morning. Here are some of my favorites from our time together... Tauna, Yudi and Calvin! A sunny break in the weather called us to the orchard for a walk!...or run! Not sure about William's face in this one, but...Still cute! And here's Auntie Tata gettin' a little Calvin giggle on...(o; Definitely a moment I wanted to capture...It was early, so I just transferred the boys from...

Christmas was a little different this year...Not different in a bad way, just out of the norm.  We had planned to drive down to California to see my family over the holidays.  Driving, of course, requires a few days of just travel time (if you're planning an 18hr drive, minus any food or potty stops and esp if you're traveling with little ones) in order to sanely reach your destination.  *Dad, I don't know how you managed to road trip it all those years with us while we were little over Christmas breaks (well, yes I do...I remember climbing back and forth between the cab and the bed of our truck to sleep and play, with little concern for seat belt safety.  Definitely more fun than being strapped in a car seat... (o;  ).  We've stopped at friends houses along the way during past trips, both to visit and break up our drive.  Traveling so close to the holidays made it a bit of a challenge for this... So, we decided to fly (yes an expense, but only 3 tic...