Only 1 reason to go to ILLINOIS in JANUARY...

And it sure isn't because of the weather! Yes, folks, that is 16 degrees. And that was a warm day!


We got to spend New Year's with Jared's family in Illinois. It was so wonderful to get back and see his siblings and family. It was so cold, our doors froze shut! Thankfully, Jared grew up in that kind of weather and knew just what to do...pour a cup of hot water on the door, open it very quickly, and turn on the car for 30 minutes and let the entire thing defrost. Sariah got to see some family members that she had never met, and we had family pictures taken. As soon as we get those, we'll be sure to post them.

Here is our lovely little girl with her lovely Aunt Tracy:


Here she is with her Uncle Doug:


There's only 1 thing that will get Grandfather Franklin to get on the floor, and that's to play with his little granddaughter:



Doug & Sandy...if you're reading this, I don't have pictures of Sandy with the baby! I thought we took some but I can't find them. Email me one and I'll be sure to get it up on here.

We sure had a lot of fun and were blessed with safety and the pleasure of being with Jared's lifelong best friend, Scott...even when they went sledding. Here are the boy getting ready for the big trip:


I went, too, and had about 5 layers of clothing on. We had a blast!