Part of the reason we invited Nathen and Jennifer to come visit is so they could take pictures of us. Clearly we made it to Nauvoo. We've decided that the best road into town is the one that runs along the Mississippi from Carthage. It is so cool to make the turn into town and see the temple show up around the corner. The building itself is huge to area standards (there's a lot of nothing between Chicago and Nauvoo), but can you imagine showing up in old-days Nauvoo to see this gorgeous building...perhaps the tallest building you've ever seen? Too bad it got all burned down and tornadoed. I'll never forget the general conference session when President Hinckley announced its rebuilding.
We went through the temple this time, and had the oppourtunity to do a little bit of tourism while inside. The little old man took us down to the basement of the building to see the baptismal font, and showed us the spiral staircase that climbs from the basement to the top floor, whithout a pillar in the middle. Call me sappy if you want, but I found it very emotional to stand at the front door of the temple looking out towards the Mississippi River, wondering if Daniel D. McArthur did the same thing 160 years ago. His farm was located where the Visitors Center currently stands. Meanwhile, Sara's relative, Ira Allen, arrived in Nauvoo to find that the house he had previously bought was in the process of burning to the ground. This house was directly across the street from the temple to the South. He then returned home to earn the money for buying a new house. When he finally returned to Nauvoo, Brigham Young asked him to donate the money to the church, which he did. Ira and his family ended up spending 3 or 4 years in Winter Quarters helping other families get to Salt Lake with financial support. We appreciate the struggle our relatives went through, and we show that appreciation by camping very rarely. Nauvoo has become quite a special place to us.
About two weeks ago we went with Sara's parents and brother to the Lakefront Brewery. Randy, Diane and Tyler were looking for a stereotypical Milwaukeean experience, so we delivered to them a fish fry, a polka band, and a brewery tour all in the same evening. During the tour, the Brewery people took pictures of Zoe and interviewed her for their ad in The Onion. The issue with her add came out today, and we couldn't be prouder of our little brew princess. I guess we are now officially an integral part of Milwaukee culture. 
