The Farm: Summer Roadtrip Part 3

A very special time of our trip was going to the farm in Minnesota where Daron grew up and his parents still live. This farm has been in the family for over a century and now his sister, Sarah, is starting to work alongside her father to take over the farm eventually. I am truly amazed by her and it was so fun to go and be there with all of them for a week!

This picture cracked me up. As soon as we almost got to the farm, the little ones started plugging their noses! Unfortunately, a large pig farm opened up near the Jag farm, so depending on the wind and the heat, you get a pretty awful stench. It literally stinks, because all you want to do on the farm as a kid is be outside and now the pigs have moved in! Luckily, after a day or so, you get used to it.

There are four girl grandchildren on this side and four boys so far. Granted, five are our kids, but who's counting(except for me)? The littlest one is cousin Ida and she is Sarah and Brooks' daughter. She is such a sweetheart and the kids all LOVED playing together. It won't be long though until her brother and sister arrives and she will have a permanent playmate on the farm.

It can't be all play on the farm, so there was definitely work involved, and the kids loved hanging out with Grandpa and Grandma while they worked in the barn or the garden. Justus even got to drive the tractor by himself for the first time. He is getting so big!

Three generations of Jag men in the barn working...

The other kids all loved getting to help grandma in the garden. They LOVED it!


Isn't Ida just so precious?? I kept trying to get her to warm up to me, but she was more interested in the kids for sure! I love this little girl!

We also got a special treat in having one of my besties come and visit us at the farm. She hadn't met Fia and Kwame yet, so it was really special to me to have her come and spend time with them and us. She is the best. Love you Kristina!

With all of the 10,000 lakes in MN, we only made it to two this trip. The kids loved their time at the water either kayaking, swimming, tubing, and Daron even got to water ski. It was a fantastic and the weather was fabulous for being outside.

Greta couldn't help but love on her cousin every chance she could get!

Ella loved getting any special time with Sarah. She also got her to go play volleyball with her a bit and give her some pointers, as that is what Ella says she wants to do next in the sports world.

We had two celebrations at the farm when we were there. One was Mary and Maynard's anniversary, and the kids and grandkids treated them to a 'fancy' surf and turf dinner of shrimp scampi and steaks. The kids served them with handmade place mats and menus. They did an adorable job and I think Grandpa and Grandma liked it too.

The other celebration we had was for Justus's birthday, so we had all the second cousins in the area come over too. The kids had a great time and Justus got his favorite, a dirt cake, for his dessert.

Another fun thing we got to do was spend time with Grandma B., Mary's mom. She only lives a few minutes away, so we got to play some games of UNO Moo and SkipBo. Can you believe Ella in the picture below?? What nerve to do that to your sweet and unsuspecting great grandma!! ;)

All the boys on the farm got to go to the Twins game in the cities one day. They had a blast together and it was one of the highlights for Daron and Justus to go to the new stadium.

Justus, Grandpa, Uncle Brooks, Uncle Mark, and Daron: we really lucked out with these Uncles for our kids-they truly love our kids and are great role models (most of the time-I don't want them to get too big a head if they read this).

The rest of the trip, we just played with our favorite Doctor, Aunt Kathy, and continued to have more water fun. It was such an amazing time and special for the kids to spend so much time at the farm and with most of the Jagodzinske family that is around. Thanks also to Aunt Char for opening up their home to us too-we loved every minute we got to spend with her family too.

HAPPY 11th BIRTHDAY JUSTUS!!!

Just look at that smile, isn't that the best? I am so thankful for this guy that we have in our lives and can't believe that today we are already celebrating his 11th birthday. Wow-time really does go so quickly! This is going to be his last year of elementary school and next year he will be off to middle school. I also told him that in 4 years I will be practicing driving with him and he will get his license in 5. He said, I bet you are going to be nervous! I, of course, told him no, as the cool mom I am trying to be, but ummm-yes-nervous is an UNDERSTATEMENT!

Justus is such a GREAT kid with an amazing heart. He is the best big brother and most of the time looks out for his siblings-ha! Of course he tries to get under the skin of his sisters, but what normal brother doesn't?? He also sometimes forgets to clean up the pasta that he drops after cooking himself an extra dinner(right, Justus?). But besides that, I can't complain. He smiles and melts my heart. I LOVE this kid! I have so much fun watching him with friends, playing sports, being compassionate, and goofing off with his dad. He is one of a kind and I am so thankful to be your mom, Justus. Happy Birthday!!

Libertyville, Lake Geneva, & Rockford: Roadtrip Part 2

From Minnesota, we drove down to Libertyville. I first moved to Libertyville when I was around 5 yrs. old. At this time, a new Covenant Church was starting and our family got to be a part of it from the beginning. It was just about 10 people and it began with a small group, just as our church now-Alive Covenant Church, so it was fun to show the kids how my family was a part of this, and I thought that our kids story with church kind of parallels mine in some ways. My church experience was (for the most part) great. We had growing pains and such, but it(the people) helped shape me into who I am today. So, it was really special to bring the kids to church on Sunday and also spend time with some of our Libertyville church family the night before! Thanks to Dave and Darilyn for hosting our gigantic family, having a firepit with s'mores, and making us feel welcome. It was also special to my dear high school friend, Stacey(I am so thankful for you!) and 'Grandma Jill' there so the kids could get to know them more too. Jill babysit our family at times when my parents were out of town and we spent a lot of time with her, but for some reason (mostly because she was so awesome and nurturing to us), we started calling her Grandma Jill (which has always been funny b/c she is only like 13 years older than me).

Sunday after church we hit Portillos for lunch-yum!! I was having a hard time deciding between that and Max's Dawg House, but the decision got easier since the Dawg House was closed-major bummer!!

After lunch, we took the kids on a bit of a tour of the three homes I grew up in there, as well as my Elementary, Junior High, and High School. They weren't as intrigued as me-ha!-but it was still fun. I lived in 5 houses and one apartment, so when my family talks about the homes, we have different names for them. The first house we only lived in for a year before moving back to Seattle for a year. We called it the Sedgwick house(street name) and we lived here when my little brother, Erik, was born. I also remember beautiful pink roses in the garden here, a good neighbor friend Michelle, a HUGE snowstorm that year, and all around good memories.

This is the house we call the 829(street number) house. This was a home in a new subdivision and it was on a cul-de-sac. I LOVED growing up here. Across the street from us was a pond that we used paddle boats on in the summer and ice-skated on during the winter. There were at least 12 homes on the street and most of them had kids, so there were children galore!!! Most summer nights I remember fondly playing kick the can, ghost in the graveyard, and riding our bikes around. We lived here from the middle of first grade (I think) until my freshman year in high school(again, I think, my sister can correct me-she has the better memory!)

This was our third home in Libertyville that my parents built when I was just starting high school. This was our 1219 house. It was a light yellow though when we lived there and my bedroom was the top left window. I thought it was so cool. This house was right on a pond, so again we got to ice skate and had our own paddle boat. This was a really comfortable and inviting home. My parents hosted many get togethers after church at our home, as well as lots of graduation parties. I loved this house. Some favorite memories were family events when all our Rockford family would come and sleep over. Or when I had a graduation party, but had to leave it early to go to a Bulls championship game. This was also the home that my parents lived in when I got married. The year leading up to it I was doing my student teaching at a Libertyville school so I lived at home and got stuff ready for my wedding too. Such great memories....except when everyone left me at my house to go to the wedding!! Hello??? Who has the bride???!!! I called my dad and luckily he came back for me! ;)

After Libertyville, the Jag 7 drove an hour up to Lake Geneva, WI where I spent 8 summers working at Covenant Harbor during high school and college. We also went to family camp there growing up and I went there numerous summers for a week of camp up til high school. When I was in 8th grade, I was baptized in the lake and then on July 18, 1995 I got engaged to Daron on the waterfront one morning. Needless to say, it was nostalgic and gave me some serious warm fuzzies during our afternoon there!

Daron asked me to marry him when I was sitting up on the lifeguard stand, doing devotions together one morning. It was one just like this one. What was kind of fun about this picture is that the lifeguard, who is now the waterfront director, was our flower girl when she was just 6! Not anymore, she is now going into her senior year at North Park University. I am so proud of you Kira-and I feel old! ;)

I had to take a pic of some of the kids in front of the boat house. It was one of my favorite spots to see/be at camp.

Of course we made our kids pose for pictures on the dock we got engaged on. Unfortunately, it was a little sunny and I was the only one with glasses on, so they weren't too happy with us. Ha!

On July 18, it will be 15 years since we got engaged here!

After camp, we headed to Rockford to go see my family! We were lucky, because on a quick pit stop, we got to meet my friend Heather and Theo's son, Bennett. He was such a doll and we were all fighting over who got to hold him. Heather and I have known each other almost my whole life and have grown up together, gone to and worked at Covenant Harbor together and then attended North Park University and did the Swedish exchange program together. She also played a big part in who I am today, so it was amazing to meet their little one.

Two more weeks until I get to see her again when she comes out our way! Sorry, no pics of Heather & Theo this time, just their adorable little guy!

Our time with my grandma was wonderful! We got to go and visit for a couple days with her and all my Rockford family. We missed a couple of my favorite people (love you!), but those that we saw made our time there so special. Thanks also to my Aunt Joyce & Uncle Dan for being fantastic hosts; and even babysitting for us one night so we could go to the movies. We actually happened to go the night that Twilight was opening a few hours from our start time and it was CRAZY!! When we got out of our movie it seriously seemed as though we were going up against a crowd that was running with the bulls to claim their seats for the movie. It was FUNNY!

We even had cousins from outside of Chicago and Madison come up to play with us-thank you!! I LOVE my cousins, so any chance I can see them and their kids is a special treat. Our families really grew up together for much of our lives, so it totally warms my heart to now see our kids play together.

Another special treat was meeting my cousin Tyler's fiance that just came back from Romania with him. She is so beautiful inside and out and I can't wait to get to know her better. Honestly, any woman that he FINALLY decided to date, must be amazing, because that is what we think of him! Love you Tyler and I am so sorry we can't be at the wedding.

Wow! Look who's as tall as G.G!

Riding with 'Great' Aunt Joyce in her convertible to Stockholm Inn(famous for their Swedish pancakes) was definitely a highlight for the big kids!

All said and done, we had a great time with G.G. and our family! We love you Grandma!

Stayed tuned....Part 3 @ the Farm is next!