Road Trip 2 - Welcome Baltimores

August 6, 2017

    We woke up early Sunday morning at our hotel, grabbed a quick breakfast and then got on the road to Green Bay. The drive  took us on a highway whose concrete had separated and was quite a jibbity drive, it turned into a bit of a joke. We were meeting the whole family: my Dad, siblings, spouses and children, who also made the trip from Baltimore, at Sts. Peter and Paul Church for Mass and the start of our Heritage tour.

   After Mass the kids were all excited to see their cousins and the adults swapped road trip stories, including Joe, Magaly and the kids having to sleep in the van because all of the hotels were booked. We got a chance to say hello to Uncle Don and Aunt Sue before we gathered together to hear some of the history of the Jauquet's and Cleereman's connection to the church. My Dad passed out the book he and I had worked on all summer, full of photos and history of our Belgian ancestors' beginning in Wisconsin.

My Dad and Uncle Don told us stories of their great Grandparents donating stained glass windows and their Grandfather donating a statue of St. Therese of Lisuex in Thanksgiving for surviving a logging accident. They had also discovered a family portrait of their grandmother's family. I was excited at the find as it was a missing connection we wanted for the book.

The Ascension

The Nativity

St. Hubert, Patron Saint of Belgium

   After our intro to family history we went to the Tundra Lodge to check in and get settled into our room for our 4 night stay. We worked out a system of determining who slept where and with whom. Hanna would be sleeping on the floor at the lodge. Meg and Bridget were sharing a queen, and Em and Rae were sharing a fold out sofa. 

        Uncle John and Aunt Kathy invited everyone over to their house for a barbecue, so we were soon headed out but the lovely weather turned into rain. We were surprised to see all of the effort they put into the event. The whole front lawn was covered in greeting and they had rented a tent so all was dry. They have always called us "The Baltimores", and so that is how greeted us. We were surprised that they had invited the whole extended family and cousins had come in from all over the state. I was really touched.

It was a wonderful time to get to talk and visit with the family, especially those that wouldn't get a chance to join us on the bustrip the next day.  The kids played a huge game of capture the flag and drank a lot of pop. The food was great and Aunt Barb made some delicious desserts.  Then they surprised my dad with singing and cake for his 75th birthday.

They had also invited a photographer, so they gathered family groups for pictures, plus we all gathered into the back yard for the huge group photo on the hill.