Five days after we got back from Cali, we packed up again and headed to Illinois to visit the Brauns. Go ahead...ask how the weather was. Cold. I took this shot below on the banks of the Mississippi. I could not believe how the slabs of ice just piled up. Yes, it was freezing but it was also SO beautiful (from inside the warm, warm car).

While in town, we had the opportunity to visit the Nauvoo temple again. This time I got to see different parts of the temple as we were honored to get to do some family file names. What a great way to spend a day!

We finished first and headed over to the visitors' center but Grandma and Grandpa weren't far behind. Look how happy Elizabeth is to see them!

What? What's that? You say that I have a tendency to exaggerate and that it couldn't possibly have been all that cold? Here's proof. I left my water bottle in the car overnight and just look at it. Frozen solid.

In any case, we had SO much fun. The cold weather gave us an excuse to all stay home (from school and work in some cases) and just hang out together. We played board games and the wii, spoiled Elizabeth and ate way too much good food. And, lucky for us, a heat wave hit right before we left. See?

Thanks Illinois Brauns. We had SO much fun and Elizabeth never gets sick of being spoiled with all your attention!