getting away.

thank you so much for all your support after my last post. it all happened so suddenly and i'm still processing, but it's been comforting to know that prayers and thoughts and hugs are coming our way from far and wide.

before my halmuhnee passed, my family was really looking forward to the vacation we had been planning for the past few months. my immediate family, my dad's little brother's family and one of my mom's little brothers' family were all slated to go on vacation beginning on july 4. it had been in the works since early spring and we were all counting down the days til we could get away.

when we heard the news of my grandma's condition, the unspoken question that nobody really wanted to ask was, "what about vacation?" we briefly talked about canceling but then didn't really dwell on the subject much longer as much more pressing events were on hand.

my halmuhnee passed away last tuesday night, with the memorial and funeral services on thursday and friday. as we all spent time together planning the services, the grown ups (and in these situations, i still sit at the kiddie table) decided, with some hesitation, that we would go ahead and still go on our vacation.

my mom mused that perhaps my grandmother, who knew our plans for vacation, had passed when she had so that we could still go on our trip after all the services and burial had finished. maybe that sounds ridiculous and selfish of us, i don't know. it felt really strange for all of us to transition from this time of mourning to preparing for vacation, but now, instead of being excited about the beach and the activities, we were all looking forward to continuing to spend time together as a family.

our family is pretty much the bomb diggity and whereas others might not look forward to family time, we relish it. peter and i are so blessed to have this on both sides of our family and it is amazing how we both fit seamlessly in with each other's families.

the very people we were to be spending a week with on vacation had all been together since last tuesday, and now, with us being away together for a week, we would, in total, be spending almost 2 entire weeks breathing, living, eating, and sleeping together under the same roof.

that's what we were looking forward to most now.

this trip is our fourth to the outer banks in north carolina and we absolutely love it. the outer banks is probably my favorite vacation destination. it is so relaxing and refreshing here and we always leave with great memories. and this year, a large part of our trip will be a time of deeper bonding and healing and continuing to celebrate my halmuhnee's amazing life.

here are some shots of the start of our vacation:

our home for the week -- "to the lighthouse" in corolla light


even piper got to join us this year! this was her first time seeing/experiencing the ocean. her reaction was kinda hilarious. at first, she was really curious and did not mind the water at all...



and then, the waves came to get her and she had a mild freakout, totally trying to run backwards away from the oncoming waves. oh, my pup is such a scaredy cat!


after a few minutes with the scary waves, she got used to it. love this pic of her and tiff.


at the end of our first night, which was also the fourth of july, one of my favorite holidays, we got to watch the fireworks (something else piper is greatly afraid of!) from the top floor deck. gorgeous!


tonight is the end of day 2, and so far, it's been great...we are loving all the family time and it is just what we all needed.