A Week in Iowa

Nick and I made a trip to Iowa last week to be with family. As many of you may know, my beautiful (inside and out!) Aunt Melissa passed away after 6 tough months with aggressive cancer, so we were in town for her services, to see family. While we were in town, Nick's grandma passed away, so attended her services as well. It was an emotional week, but with family is where we needed to be. Heaven gained two hearts of gold. 

Here are some photos of the week in Iowa:

Typical midwestern beauty on our drive. 

The sunset from Aunt Melissa's - one of her favorite things. Out in the country where they live, the sunsets are breathtaking. 

My cousin Jenny and I enjoying the sunset. I wish I had photos with the rest of my cousins, but we didn't take those, darn it!

My dad gave the eulogy at Aunt Melissa's funeral and did such a great job. I'm so proud of you, dad! You put so much heart and soul into your words to honor your youngest sister, which you're always great with. You are truly one of a kind with such a beautiful heart (especially for your family :)) - we're all blessed to know you!

With all of the rain this season, the corn out back of Aunt Melissa & Uncle Tim's is crazy tall! I'm so thankful to have this man by my side through this journey in life. 

Once we were in town with Nick's side of the family for his grandma's services, we got to spend quality time with them too. We always love time with Hank! He's growing up so fast and is just the cutest. 

The church Nick's grandma and grandpa have attended for many years in Decorah, IA. Nick's parents were married here too.

From Decorah, we took Amber back to Des Moines to see her hubby Zach after being apart for over 2 months. It was fun to see this fam come back together and fun to see how excited Hank was to be reunited with his daddy. 

Another Iowa sunset on our way to Des Moines. 

Handsome boys!

My well dressed man. Did you know next week is our 5 year anniversary?! It's crazy. We've had some crazy 5 years, but I wouldn't want anyone else by my side through it all. Love you, babe!

Today's Pinspiration:

This poem was at Aunt Melissa's services, I really like it. We will miss Aunt Melissa and Grandma Kathryn dearly and wish we had more time with them. We know we will see them again someday, and I get teary picturing their bright smiling faces with our Healer in Heaven. I think they'd tell us to dry our tears and that they're ok and that all is well. 

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Iowa Trip & Prayers for Aunt Melissa

My dad and I took a trip to Iowa last weekend to be with family. My Aunt Melissa had surgery Monday to remove a large tumor on/in her kidney, thought to be cancerous. We (along with many of my aunts/uncles/cousins) were in waiting rooms all day Monday for her surgery - I think it was 14-15 hours at the hospital for most of us including her prep, the surgery, and a few hours in recovery. Since Nick and I have lived out of state since we got married, I haven't spent as much time as I would love to spend with family and I'm so glad my dad and I could be there. The surgery went well thankfully, though her cancer has spread farther than we had hoped.

Kaylee, Aunt Melissa and Jenny

These girls and I spent so much time together growing up and not nearly enough time together as grown ups (since I'm far away!). Our family is still very close and I loved spending quality time together. 

Cousins! 

I love this one of my (left to right) Aunt Melinda and Melissa (they're triplets with my uncle Mark (not in the photo) but I didn't know until this weekend that these two are identical twins!), Aunt Michele and my dad

Aunt Melissa's cancer appears to be aggressive and it was caught in stage 4, so doctors are preparing our family for what seems like a fairly dim outlook, but we all agree God is the one in charge here and our trust is in Him. My Aunt Melissa's faith is inspiringly beautiful and it seems like she was the one reassuring many people that God's in charge here and she trusts Him. The victory is already hers since she has given her heart to the Lord. It doesn't make it easy on us, but this is where we really truly have to trust the Lord's plan. He doesn't want us to worry, fear, be anxious, etc. We can love hard, enjoy each day, the many blessings (family is such a blessing!) and carry thankfulness with us everywhere we go. If you wouldn't mind praying for my Aunt Melissa, I know she is feeling every prayer lifted up. She will likely be getting out of the hospital this weekend and will recover for a few weeks and I think will start chemo treatments in a month or so. My family also set up a Caring Bridge site for Aunt Melissa to keep everyone updated (it's amazing to see all of the love for her pouring in!) - feel free to click the link to get to the site.

I hope she won't mind:) but here's my Aunt Melissa, just a handful of hours after surgery (which spanned horizontally across her chest - left ribs to right ribs) walking. My cousins and I were back at the hotel room and were in awe when Uncle Tim (her husband) sent this photo. She has been pushing herself to do what the doctors ask of her even when it is SO hard. I can't imagine! We joined hands in prayer and praise when we saw this. Through Him, all things are possible. 

While in Iowa, I was also able to see Rachel, my step dad Joe (who many of you have prayed for after his accident), step sister Tisha and her daughter Kristen, and dad and I got to visit my grammy. Grammy fell the day after we saw her and needed surgery on her elbow. She could use a few prayers as well for her recovery after her surgery. 

I also got to see Maggie and get cuddles from sweet Addy (my friend Hannah's baby!). 

Addy has those cheeks everyone likes to kiss:)

Hudson (Maggie's youngest) loves Addy and I think this photo is so precious seeing my friends' babies love each other. 

Huddy boy. He looks SO grown up, and is so adorable. Remember him from my Mommy Assistant post?

I tried Sweet Rewards gluten & dairy free bakery in Waukee while we were in town. The cherry lemonade cupcake was my favorite!

I ran into my friend (and former roommate!) Dana at the DSM airport when we were headed back home and was so good to see her and catch up with her. I don't think I had seen her since our wedding day! She was my personal assistant and I love her so! 

Dad and I on the final leg of our trip. He hadn't flown in 20 years and I'm glad I let him take the window seat - he loved seeing the beautiful sights from the air. 

Though we're here, back into our day to day routines, our hearts are with Aunt Melissa and our families. I know the Lord is being glorified through her life. 

Today's Pinspiration:

I follow Caroline in Texas on Instagram (@carolineintexas) and she posted this (she made it!) this week. It hit home with me. We ARE healed. 

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My cousin Jenny sent this to me this earlier this week. I like this - what cancer CANNOT do!