grandma's funeral

This post is way over-due but I was able to fly to San Diego for my grandma's funeral last month.  My grandma LOVED Hawaii - if she was just at home, you could always find her in a muumuu and my grandparents were even planning to go to Hawaii in July before everything happened with their health.  For the closing song, I played Aloha Oe (Farewell to Thee) on the harp while my two cousins sang and then the congregation joined in on the last chorus.  It was gorgeous and I luckily made it through without crying.  After, we had a luau!  The funeral was lovely and it was so nice spending some time with my dad's side of the family.

First we had to make a stop at one of our favorite places - the Oceanside pier.

missing dustin and shayna!

We had the graveside service first.

all of my dad's siblings and spouses

the program - check out her awesome beehive!

aloha oe grandma 

grandma and grandpa hunt

My Grandma and Grandpa Hunt both passed away recently.  My grandpa died and my grandma joined him in heaven 20 days later!  I am so grateful I got to see them and spend time with both of them when I was in Utah last month.  It was such a special experience to be in the temple with them and the rest of my dad's family for my cousin's wedding.  I will never forget that feeling, nor will I forget all the memories I have of them!  I love them and I am so grateful for the amazing plan of salvation.  Families are forever.

the last time i saw my grandparents.  love that me and grandpa kept our sunnies on.

i flew down to california with shayna and my parents when my grandma was first diagnosed with cancer.  

henry "bud" hunt

"to my darling wilmadele, with all my love and eternal devotion" 

-bud

love this pic of my grandma!  she ALWAYS wore muumuus. :)

aren't they so adorable?!

my cousin's wife hannah made this!  

"be loving sweet and kind" was my grandma's mantra.  such a special lady.

cancer sucks

Really, though.  It really does.

Last week we found out that my grandma's cancer has returned (she had breast cancer 13 yrs ago and colon cancer 5 years ago) and spread throughout her body.  It's in her brain, lungs, liver, lymph nodes, etc.  It's not curable, just treatable, with hope to extend her life and make her comfortable.  

This came as sudden, shocking news to our family.  She has been the healthy one who has been taking care of my grandpa, so it really doesn't seem fair.  She has such a strong desire to live and see more of her grand babies and great grand babies, and travel, and experience life.  She told me that she was planning on taking care of my grandpa, and then he would probably pass away first, and then she would go travel the world with her sister. ;) 

My parents and my sister and I flew down to CA to see her last weekend when she was in the hospital.  It was hard to be there when she found out that it was cancer again - I saw the bright cheery hope fade a little from her eyes - but it was good to be there, and to get to spend some time with both of my grandparents and our family.  Luckily she will be able to be at home with mostly out-patient treatments of chemo and radiation.  

So I guess moral of the story for now is cancer sucks.  And cherish your loved ones.  Tell them you love them often and enjoy every moment that life gives us!  Because what else can we do?