Let the Countdown Begin!

A flight has been booked for me to go home to Iowa for 10 days in two weeks.
I cannot wait.
There is something about going home to the place that I grew up; spending time with my sweet nephews and my niece; having silly, running to the bathroom, crazy times with my mom and my sisters, that is just so good for my soul.
The last couple of months have been really hard. Dealing with health issues, being jobless, and a multitude of other things that seemed to all end up happening all on top of each other at the same time.
God is definitely teaching me so much during this season, and it's good. Hard...but good.
Sometimes when things get hard, I just want my family. Thankfully, I have the time to spend a good chunk of time with them, and all the kids are out of school.
They even said they are saving me some sparklers. I have a feeling some sparkler dances are in our near future!
I can't even handle these pics, and I can't wait to hug all these babies (not so baby anymore though.)

It's gonna be a good time!

Iowa Here I Come

I'm headed home to Iowa next week. On Monday. I CANNOT wait.
The weather is beautiful...highs in the 70's lows in the 50's. I'm gonna pack my big red suitcase full of fun fall outfits.
I can't wait to wrap my arms around my mom and just not let go for awhile.
I'm excited to snuggle with my sweet Lily Margaret and do lots of girl things.
I'm excited to play and be wild with my nephews Will and Sam.
I'm excited to sit and have a deep conversation with my oldest nephew Jackson and see him play his drums in the marching band.
I'm excited to make Max smile so that I can take in his dimples that never stop.
I'm excited to see Noah's new dance moves.
I'm gonna go ahead and say that I'm excited to see the sweet Lucy dog and wrestle with her cause she's the best dog ever.
I'm excited to make fun of Cookie the dog cause she is so scrappy.
I'm excited to get made fun of by my bro-in-laws for the amount of layers I will be wearing.
I'm excited to hear Don say, "EMMY!!" and tell me some funny and not so funny jokes.
I'm excited to laugh with my sisters until someone pees their pants.
I'm excited to see the leaves changing.
So many things I'm excited about.

IOWA: A Special Gift

My time at home has been really sweet. I love my family. 

We get pretty silly...most of the time.

It is snowy and cold.

The kids are just adorable and I can't get enough of them. 

My mom gave me a sweet gift. She gave me a box that had scraps of papers from my dad's artwork. She said I could write on the backs of them whatever I wanted to. Scripture verses...memories...or whatever. I started looking through each picture and the smell overwhelmed me. It smelled like him and my eyes filled up with tears. The smell. Maybe I was the only one that could smell it and even so, it was for me. God brought back a sweet memory. 

I love gifts like these, cause it helps me remember him. I was 16 when he died. Old enough to remember a lot about him, but 13 years later I feel like I start to forget. These precious gifts are so special to me. Here are some of the papers:

Sounds Like I'm Famous Folks

My sister posted this on my facebook wall this morning:

Will:"Someone famous is coming to Iowa tonight"
My sister: "Who's that?"
Will: Emily! everybody knows she's in a band.
My Sister: who's everybody?
Will: everybody at school.
My Sister: How do they all know that?
Will: mom....people use the internet.

Oh my heart. I need them now.

I Can.Not.Wait.

I texted my sister Jill yesterday and told her that I needed her to take pics of the kids and send them to me. I just needed them and I couldn't wait.
I will be there tomorrow.
But I couldn't wait.
So this was the series of pics I received.

Will: 

 Sam:

 Max:

um...he didn't want to do it. 

But I couldn't wait. I need them now.

Then I got to skype with my other sister Laura and the kids. 

Cause I couldn't wait. 

The best part was talking with Lily Margaret, here was the best conversation: 

Me: So Lily, we should make a list of fun things to do when I get there.

Lily: Yeah! 

Me: So...what should we do when I get there?

Lily: (She gets real close to the camera): "Snuggle". 

OH my heart. done. 

Then she goes and posts these pics on facebook.

Jack:

Noah:

Lily:

I can.not.wait. Between Max's dimples and Lily's lovliness my heart will be full!!

Side note: when I skyped with them yesterday I was wondering where my stocking was. 

I just got this text. 

"Ok...we are ready for you to come now."

Amazingly ghetto and I love it.