My Iowa Trip July 2008

I love love love Iowa.
I went home for 10 days and had a great time! I loved flying in and seeing all of the green fields and barns and tractors.
There were many highlights of my trip here are a few...

The annual 4th of July parade complete with random floats, scary clowns, a guy in a pig costume that violated Joe's personal space, lots of candy, The Shriners who drove around on their little 3-wheelers, ( I was just waiting for one of them to wipe out!)

Family Bocce Ball game. "The Pit of Despair" in Joe & Laura's backyard.

Family kickball game. We had team captains, Jack and Sam...the last to be picked were Grandma and the moms. The first to be picked...the dads. Of course! It was kind of funny!
Team names..."The Orange Pirates" and "The Green Polka Dot Cubs" If you know my family at all...you can probably guess who was on each team! :)

Dancing with Lily Margaret, she loved wearing the tutu my mom made for her. She would get it on and we would automatically start dancing...notice I said, "we". We had our little routine down. It was lovely.

Fireworks, bottle rockets, snaps, sparklers, and sparkler dances.

Food. Lots of food. Pancheros, sweet corn and pork chops, chocolate, Joe's famous bbq burgers and hot dogs, Pancheros, Sonic special drinks (or not so special), chocolate, bbq beef sandwiches, TX Roadhouse buns. Yes...I really think I gained a good 20 lbs on this trip!

Getting picked on by my brothers. I call them my brothers even though they are in-laws. Joe likes to say that he's just catching up time from all the years that I went without a brother. I love Damon and Joe, even when they pick on me, they have both taught me a lot about being a man of God and the character that I pray would be in my husband some day.

Finding my old prom dress and trying it on. Actually this wasn't so much a highlight because I could not get anything zipped up. But it was fun to be reminded of how funky and cool it was. My mom made it and so no one else had a dress like it! It fit me and my personality...and it was purple!

Having conversations with Lily. She is so sweet. She will come up to me and say, "I like your necklace" in this most sweet precious little voice. It's SO cute! I love her so deeply.

Going to the Natural History museum. Sort of like the slip n' slide, Jack's comment was "The older you get the smaller it looks." It was great to go back through and see all of the different exhibits and animals I remembered from when I was a kid. They are definitely getting old...the rhino and zebra were having some issues!

Having a sleepover with Will and Sam.

Chocolate Marshmallow Mattey's

Photo booth. Seriously...hours of fun. But bring some extra undies. We had once incident...I won't mention any names...but I will say that it was NOT me!

Having an amazing breakfast with lots of green peppers with Holly!

Watching Barney in Spanish with Meghan and Guillermo. (and some Photo booth)

Having breakfast with some high school friends!

Gordmans

Spending time with Shadley. The first attempt at getting her nose pierced which ended in some Chilli's, fake sparkly glue on jewels, Sonic special drinks and, if you're not that hungry, an extra long chili cheese coney.

Andy and Jonna's wedding. My good friend Andy got married and I had the honor and privilege to sing in their wedding. It was absolutely beautiful! They had the rehearsal dinner at Kinnick stadium, where Andy takes care of the field.
We had fun running on the grass in our bare feet, Jamie and I did some touchdown dances. It was great! I wanted to tackle her, but thought that it probably wasn't a good idea! :)
The reception was fun with their proposal video (which I also got to be a part of, singing) and lots of desserts and dancing, it was great to see many friends!

One of my best friends, AJ, flew in from North Carolina for the wedding and got to stay with me for a few days. We always have a great time together and we got to hang out and catch up and she got to experience the craziness of my family!

I got to see one of my other best friends Joanna who has recently moved back to the states from Japan. I got to meet her boyfriend Mikey and we also got to spend some good time being goofy!

Kelli Burrier and her husband Marcus came down for the day and we all got to hang out, along with the Grimes, and Jamie K. This was only the second time that Kelli and I have met face to face. We actually met through Joanna on our blogs and we instantly became good friends! I feel like I have known her forever! She is such a blessing!

Texas Roadhouse Buns...did I already mention that?!

"Shoes" aka Joanna, forgot to bring extra shoes to wear so she had to wear her wedding shoes the whole time. We had fun giving her a hard time about it! It was great! "Shoes" is her new nickname.

Hanging out down at the Ped Mall, getting some Java House and chillin'.

Shadley finally getting her nose pierced and looking HOT! My favorite quote from her as the guy was sticking a qtip up her nose afterwards--"I don't think I've ever had anyone stick anything up my nose like that...I kinda like it" Nose Piercings brings people together! (right Steph?!)

Watching Wipe out with my family.

Having a picnic at Kent Park with HyVee Chicken, Sterzings potato Chips and EL Fudge Cookies (did I mention that I gained a good 20 lbs on this trip!?!?) Playing another great game of Bocce Ball and going down the slides at the park. Actually...watching mom go down the slides...and climb the rock climbing wall. :)

Wii games

Having a quarterly family discussion on why I'm still single and coming up with suggestions on how THEY can make something happen. (actually not so much a highlight! haha!)

Seeing Cody and Vanessa, and getting to feel their baby kick! I think it was because Cody was singing "I like to move it move it" into the belly. I LOVE them!!

Swimming at the North Liberty Pool

Seeing and scaring Jenna in the card aisle at Target!

Noah's dance moves

I'm sure there is much more I'm leaving out. There were people I didn't get to see, which made me very sad. I always get stressed out when I think of trying to fit it all in...but I must realize that it's ok.
There will be a next time.

I made a video/slideshow of pictures and a couple videos of my time in Iowa...it's a good 20 minutes long...so watch when you have some time! I hope you enjoy it!