The Jehl Family
Family member names and ages: Joe, Becky, Abbie (9) and Claire (5)
Do you have any pets? 2 guinea pigs – Jewels and Snuggle Puppy Muffin Berry
How long have you lived in this neighborhood? We moved from Andersonville in Chicago in 2014 to Pioneer Park neighborhood, then to Scarsdale in 2019.
Where are you originally from? Lake Zurich, IL
Why did you choose to live in this neighborhood? We love our neighborhood. We were initially drawn to the proximity to downtown AH, the charm and character of the neighborhood, and the diversity in many different types of homes. After moving in we quickly met a lot of wonderful people, neighbors, and families, and it became obvious why there are so many families that have chosen to stay in the neighborhood for decades and across generations.
How did you and your spouse meet? Embarrassing and endearingly so, we met in elementary school.
What do you like to do together as a family? We love to travel together. Everyone of us enjoys experiencing different places together. It's always fun to hear each person's favorite part of where we travel. We have recently been to a small island in Mexico, Montana, Lake Louise/Banff (Canada), froze our butts off glamping in Michigan in the fall, and try to paddle board as much as possible in the summer. We also love all things celebrations. From Christmas and Halloween to annual STEM day, we love to celebrate!
How did you and your spouse meet? Embarrassing and endearingly so, we met in elementary school.
What do you like to do together as a family? We love to travel together. Everyone of us enjoys experiencing different places together. It's always fun to hear each person's favorite part of where we travel. We have recently been to a small island in Mexico, Montana, Lake Louise/Banff (Canada), froze our butts off glamping in Michigan in the fall, and try to paddle board as much as possible in the summer. We also love all things celebrations. From Christmas and Halloween to annual STEM day, we love to celebrate!
Tell us something unique about your family. We volunteer as a host family for a charity that is near and dear to our hearts, Safe Families for Children. Safe Families for Children ("SFFC”) hosts vulnerable children and creates extended family-like supports for families facing a crisis through a community of compassionate volunteers to keep children safe and families together. This means we take kiddos into our home for extended periods of time, allowing the parents to get back on their feet from a variety of different crisis situations. Sometimes it is a simple as providing babysitting for a mom who needs to work, or a longer term hosting when a mom is recovering from a medical condition. We have hosted over 20 times with 8 different families since early 2020. We actually had our first placement 2 days before all the COVID lockdowns. After the hosting arrangement ends, the goal is for families to remain in contact, thereby reducing social isolation for the placing family and potentially providing ongoing support to the placing family after the child returns home. We have stayed in close contact with many of the mothers and the kiddos.
FAVORITES
Restaurants: Our favorite restaurants depend on the day and type of food, but we find ourselves most frequently eating at local places like Passero, Salsa 17, Gumrai Thai, or Shakou.
Sports teams: We are big sports fans (Bears, Cubs, Wisconsin Badger sports).
Music: Our favorite musicians include Mumford & Sons, The Lumineers, Guster, Zac Brown Band, and Tim McGraw.
TV Shows: While we've enjoyed many of the popular newer shows our all-time favorite to watch together is probably The Office, Schitt's Creek, or Parenthood.
Family dinner: Anything we can cook together at home and the kids will eat! A recent favorite has been homemade pizza.
Vacation destination: We like to spend our free time together as a family at home or traveling. Recently we have loved going to a small island in Mexico called Isla Mujeres near Cancun. The primary way around the island is on golf carts, with a plentiful supply of popsicles, fish tacos, margaritas, and $1 beers for the win. We have also enjoyed recent vacations to the Canadian Rockies with upcoming trips to Acadia National Park (Maine) and Charleston, SC in 2023.
What are your favorite things to do around town? One of the main reasons we chose AH was its walkability. We all love to walk around town – whether it be to visit our friends, go to the pool, park, library, or downtown AH for drinks and food.
Restaurants: Our favorite restaurants depend on the day and type of food, but we find ourselves most frequently eating at local places like Passero, Salsa 17, Gumrai Thai, or Shakou.
Sports teams: We are big sports fans (Bears, Cubs, Wisconsin Badger sports).
Music: Our favorite musicians include Mumford & Sons, The Lumineers, Guster, Zac Brown Band, and Tim McGraw.
TV Shows: While we've enjoyed many of the popular newer shows our all-time favorite to watch together is probably The Office, Schitt's Creek, or Parenthood.
Family dinner: Anything we can cook together at home and the kids will eat! A recent favorite has been homemade pizza.
Vacation destination: We like to spend our free time together as a family at home or traveling. Recently we have loved going to a small island in Mexico called Isla Mujeres near Cancun. The primary way around the island is on golf carts, with a plentiful supply of popsicles, fish tacos, margaritas, and $1 beers for the win. We have also enjoyed recent vacations to the Canadian Rockies with upcoming trips to Acadia National Park (Maine) and Charleston, SC in 2023.
What are your favorite things to do around town? One of the main reasons we chose AH was its walkability. We all love to walk around town – whether it be to visit our friends, go to the pool, park, library, or downtown AH for drinks and food.
OUR KIDS
Abbie loves to draw, swim, and tolerates gymnastics. She is best using her imagination “behind the scenes”, creating scenes for her sister to dance and act out.
Abbie loves to draw, swim, and tolerates gymnastics. She is best using her imagination “behind the scenes”, creating scenes for her sister to dance and act out.
Claire loves to be “on stage” and lucky enough for us she thinks the world is her stage. Whether it be full song and dance, or watching her climb and jump off nauseating heights, the girl loves to perform.
What schools do they go to? Our kiddos are at Westgate elementary school. Both super happy, mischievous, they love to read and pretend to hate math.
What do they like to do for fun? In the best way possible their favorite thing to do is be messy and create – science projects, forts, art, plays, shows, floor is lava. You name it and they will find a way to make it come to life. They especially like to be outside. They are involved in many park district activities from the show choir performances to gymnastics and cooking classes to swim. They both have been able to swim and love to do so from such a young age – both off the big diving board since age 3! Both are starting ice skating lessons this winter.
What schools do they go to? Our kiddos are at Westgate elementary school. Both super happy, mischievous, they love to read and pretend to hate math.
What do they like to do for fun? In the best way possible their favorite thing to do is be messy and create – science projects, forts, art, plays, shows, floor is lava. You name it and they will find a way to make it come to life. They especially like to be outside. They are involved in many park district activities from the show choir performances to gymnastics and cooking classes to swim. They both have been able to swim and love to do so from such a young age – both off the big diving board since age 3! Both are starting ice skating lessons this winter.
PROFESSIONS
What is your profession? I am a Nurse practitioner; working in family practice as a primary care provider in Chicago at a Federally Qualified Health Center, but also with a specialty in wound care. I use this expertise at the local nursing homes and NCH. I have an undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a graduate degree from the University of Illinois-Chicago.
What does your spouse do? Joe is a Managing Director at a real estate private equity firm in Chicago, investing in commercial real estate companies around the U.S. Joe has an undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a graduate degree from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
PASSIONS
Are you passionate about any charities / nonprofits? We try to find time to volunteer together as much as possible and instill that value into our kids at a young age. We are actively involved with Gerry's Café, a local coffee shop that is staffed by people with disabilities (plan to open spring 2023 at the old Starbucks location on Arlington Heights Rd just south of Palatine Rd), the Good Neighbors Network, Safe Families for Children and other local charities.
Are you passionate about any charities / nonprofits? We try to find time to volunteer together as much as possible and instill that value into our kids at a young age. We are actively involved with Gerry's Café, a local coffee shop that is staffed by people with disabilities (plan to open spring 2023 at the old Starbucks location on Arlington Heights Rd just south of Palatine Rd), the Good Neighbors Network, Safe Families for Children and other local charities.
Are you involved in the community at all? We actively participate in many AHPD events and activities and especially appreciate their connection to NWSRA. At our kids' age we frequently visit the local parks, pools, and the library, and try to get to the farmer's market as frequently as we can during the summer months.
What do you like to do to relax? Watch movies, binge the latest shows, and we both love to read – I prefer historical fiction surrounding WWII, but also love a quick read from Colleen Hoover or the like. Joe reads a healthy mix of boring business books and legal or crime novels.
What are you most grateful for? We are grateful for so many things, but the immediate things that come to mind are the health and safety of our family and friends, and the opportunity to live and raise our girls in such a safe and welcoming community.