Who We Are

Hi! I’m Kari! Welcome to R Serenity Acres. I’m a country girl at heart who loves Jesus, family, and friends and being a blessing to others. I’m married to my high school sweetheart, am a retired first-grade teacher, homeschooling mom of three amazing girls, and seven-year homesteader on our small farm in Woodstock. Both my husband, Jeremy, and I grew up on land. We were blessed to grow up exploring in the woods, looking up at dark night skies sprinkled with stars, and learning the value of hard work, all while making childhood memories that would last us a lifetime.

When we got married, we lived in Crystal Lake on a tiny lot. We loved our cozy ranch home, but after 14 years, we missed our country roots and wanted to give our children the same opportunities we had as kids. We found 40 acres and convinced both sets of parents to purchase it with us! Amazing right?!? God is good! We now have three homes on our 40 acres we lovingly refer to as our “Family Compound!” Our three daughters get to live next door to both sets of grandparents and grow up surrounded by love!

Besides longing for space to run and play, we wanted a homestead to raise and grow our food. Not all animals are raised in a healthy environment. That bothered us. We love animals and have a healthy respect for all of God’s creation. We like knowing what our animals eat and having control over how they are raised. We raise all of our animals and produce organically. We are what we eat, and therefore what our animals eat matters.

Our Nigerian Dwarf goats provide us with delicious milk that we turn into cheese, yogurt, ice cream, caramels, and creamy mashed potatoes. Our honeybees help pollinate our fruits and vegetables and give us delicious honey to add to our homemade elderberry syrup, teas, and homemade chocolate goat milk. Our chickens lay us beautifully colored, delicious, and nutritious eggs. Our garden, small orchard, berry patch, and grape vines produce many fruits and vegetables that we enjoy throughout the year.

Sounds too good to be true right? Well, it wouldn’t be real life if we didn’t have struggles amid our blessings. We have weeds in our garden beds and in our lives. We are real people who experience success and failure, love and loss. We choose to find joy in this life when it’s beautiful and when it’s not. Our motto is, “Learning as we grow.” Yes, we are growing dairy goats, chickens, bees, vegetables, and fruits. We are also growing our faith, compassion, humility, patience, and knowledge. This life is a journey and homesteading is part of ours. Want to join us…?