saying goodbye to louise

we left the beach a day early to head 5 hours west to my dad's hometown of spring lake, north carolina, so that we could be there for my great-aunt's funeral.

like i said, we had NO appropriate attire.

but my brother was home - and lives close to our home. so...i texted him a drawing and detailed descriptions of the outfits for pat and i, and he did a great job finding it all and bringing it to us saturday morning!

we got there friday evening, ate a quick dinner, checked into the hotel (check out this room! amazing! fit our whole family with room to spare!!!)

 

and then headed to the visitation. seeing all those relatives was so special. and saying goodbye to louise still doesn't quite feel real, but we did it. i can't capture in words what bailey was like. she was amazing. NOT afraid or intimidated by death at ALL. we let the older 3 decide for themselves if they wanted to see louise - they all did. bailey didn't leave her side the WHOLE evening. touched her all over, took every detail in, asked LOTS of questions. that girl is one amazing thing!

hannah, john and steve arrived saturday morning and we were all together for the day...at the funeral and at a nice lunch put on for our family.

{a little side note: i gave up sugar for lent...any desserts, etc. but i broke it at this lunch...hours before easter. the way things are done in the south go WAY back in my heart...being at gatherings where "the church ladies" bring all these platters of food...especially dessert...and ESPECIALLY when there's been a death. i will NEVER forget the TABLES of food in my grandparents house when they passed...there were card tables set up all OVER the house just to hold the food! it's how they love. at the lunch on saturday, there was this chocolate cake that i needed to eat. not even because i WANTED the sugar that badly - the cravings do go away! but because i wanted to fully enjoy the love that was being lavished on our family. it didn't even taste that good, but i'm glad i ate it.}

our cousins...
alden, hannah, me, steve and kenneth

then we headed home...

got home around 9 pm, pat and the kids unloaded the car while i went grocery shopping for easter. at 11 pm, pat and i were filling easter eggs :-) but the special days we had just had were WORTH all the craziness!