A special Christmas for father, daughter

A baby’s first Christmas is always a memorable occasion, but 4-month-old Amelia Guyer will be getting an incredibly special one this year – she’ll be getting a visit from a real life hero – her dad.

This will be her first time seeing her father since she was only a week old.

Nic Guyer of Roseburg will be coming home from Afghanistan on Dec. 18 to spend Christmas and a total of four months with his new baby and wife, Shandra. She is an instructional assistant at Hucrest Elementary School in Roseburg.

Guyer is a government contractor and has been working with unmanned aerial vehicles/aircrafts in Afghanistan since July. The new dad was able to welcome Amelia into the world and spend one week with her and her mom before deploying on the Fourth of July.

While wife Shandra has had to say goodbye to her husband a number of times.

“This one has been harder,” she said. “More of my emotion is for him missing all those little things like giggles and those first moments.”

Yet Shandra, coming from a military family, fully supports her husband’s chosen career and believes it to be a very honorable one.

The military was also previously familiar to Guyer as his dad and grandfather both served. Shandra said that from the time he was young, Nic wanted to be a pilot.

Guyer graduated from Roseburg High School in 2007 and then proceeded to military school. He met future-wife Shandra Tronnes, also an RHS graduate, while the two worked as swim teachers at Umpqua Community College.

In June 2009, the two were married and three weeks after they said, “I do,” he went to basic training with the U.S. Army National Guard for nine weeks.

“It was hard especially because there is no communication for three weeks except for letters, and a lot of those little things were the hardest, “ said Shandra. “As newlyweds, figuring out bills and all that comes with being a military wife without being able to really talk with Nic was difficult,” she said.

After basic training, Guyer immediately went into Advanced Individual Training in Arizona where he would train in flying unmanned aircrafts. Similar to his ambition to be a pilot, Guyer knew even before basic training that flying the unmanned aircrafts was something he wanted to do.

Guyer graduated and came home 10 months after the honeymoon in April 2010. Although they had been married just shy of a year, the couple finally got to embrace it for the first time.

However, it wasn’t for long. Guyer’s anticipated deployment came in July 2010. He would be sent to Afghanistan.

“Every time there was a decision like deployment, we would always talk about it,” said Shandra.

At the same time, the Guyer’s relocated back to their hometown of Roseburg from Albany. The two decided it would be easier to be with family while they made their next decisions.

“It has been really fun to have parents and grandparents around and be able to talk decisions out with people who have lived the military life and get their take,” said Shandra.

With Guyer in Afghanistan, Shandra began working at the YMCA preschool and coaching the swim team.

One year later, Guyer returned home and it was back to newlyweds.

“It was a little weird,” said Shandra. “We spent the first while just kind of getting to know each other – being newlyweds again – figuring out each other’s expectations.”

While the two enjoyed being married and sharing life together, Guyer was also still a part of the National Guard and spending anywhere from a few days to six months away.

In September 2014, the couple were thrilled to find out they were expecting their first child.

“He has always been a caretaker and put my needs before anything else, but it was even more so when I was pregnant,” Shandra said.

In March of 2015, just three months before their baby was due, Guyer was offered a noteworthy position as a private government contractor flying unmanned aircrafts in Afghanistan for a duration of two years.

While it was a tough decision, the couple decided it would be a good one for the family.

As the rest of the team deployed, the Guyers were thankful that the company allowed Nic to remain home until the birth of his child.

said Shandra. “It just worked out perfectly,” she said.

On June 25, Nic became the hero to another girl — Amelia Jo Guyer.

“He took such good care of her when she got here. Just a hands-on daddy,” said Shandra.

On July 4, Guyer left for his new job in Afghanistan and Shandra began learning the daily life of being a mom. The family talks on Skype every day and Shandra said she has had a lot of help.

And in three weeks, the Guyer family will be getting the best Christmas present of all – time together.

“We are going to have Christmas morning, just the three of us, and really start new traditions for just us,” said Shandra. And while the family has plans to see loved ones and travel, Shandra looks forward to “just hanging out with each other” and allowing dad and daughter to spend one-on-one time together.

Although their time will be limited, Shandra has always felt that this job Nic chose is an honorable one.

“I knew he was choosing a job to keep us safe,” she said.

This past Veteran’s Day, Shandra posted a photo of herself and Nic, and wrote: “So thankful for and proud of this man! He doesn’t wear a cape, but he will always be the hero in this house!”

Reporter Brittany Arnold can be reached at barnold@nrtoday.com.

“I wouldn’t have been able to survive any of it without his strength, encouragement and help.”Shandra Guyer

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