he said "kimi, i want you to stay in the state whatever you do. do not let them change it. ".y mom and dad have always been a big influence on me and my family and community. jeff: thank you for sharing, governor. have we ever told you how lucky we are to have you as a united states senator representing iowa? i know you have some very strong feelings and strong roots and folks you still think about every single day when you are walking the halls of the u.s. senate. senator ernst: it always goes back to my mother, my father, and grandparents. growing up in southwest iowa, and probably for many of you as well, you grew up near family. i was so blessed to live very close to both sets of grandparents. my mom and dad, very much like kim's parents, kim's parents played every sport, i played every sport,. unlike the governor, i was not any good at those sports. but my parents still came. my mother and father were very hard workers. mom on -- on my mother's side, my mother's father had passed away before she was born. so, she did not know her biological father. but you had a wonderful