The story of this family is probably not any more amazing than any other, but in our corner of the world we like to feel it’s pretty special (and pretty important for at least 7 of us!)  Chris grew up in the small town of Pearl City in Northwestern Illinois.  Jody grew up at the other end of the state in Campbell Hill.  So how did this family union come about you ask?  There was a student organization critical in this story and that is FFA (formerly Future Farmers of America).  While Chris was serving on the state officer team, Jo was asked to fill in for their Section President.  Jo likes to believe that Chris was making funny faces at her from across the room all weekend.  However, we all know that it was that magnetic personality of Jo that caused all the skuttle.  🙂  Anyway, the story doesn’t end there by any means.  We kept in touch for years after that through letters and an occassional phone call (especially near holidays and birthdays.)  The spring of 1994, Jo was looking at applying for an internship that Chris had held previously, so got in touch looking for pointers.  (Illinois Farm Bureau is yet another important organization in this story and thus continues to be important to our family.)  It was at this point the relationship was kindled and quickly grew into something very special.  Approximately six months later, we were engaged to be married.  Five children later, the rest as they say is history.  We’ve ended up settling into Avon, Illinois (in between where we both started out, and very similar to both the communities we grew up in.)  We hope you enjoy keeping up with the family news on this page.  We always love to see comments and hear from friends both new and old.