When Bill and Donna Fiedler moved to Highland Woods in 2009, the neighborhood was still finding its shape. Fewer than 20 homes dotted the landscape.

"You could see clear across the neighborhood, and you knew everyone," their daughter, Christina Moses, remembers.

Seventeen years later, the view has changed. The closeness hasn't.

Today, three generations of the Moses and Fiedler families live in Highland Woods, with Bill and Donna right across the street from Christina, her husband Matt, and their kids, Brynn and Ryder.

Christina's Highland Woods story started on her parents' doorstep. After college, she lived with Bill and Donna before she and Matt built their first home in Meadows Edge in 2011. In 2017, they moved to Ridgeview. They've grown their family without ever leaving.

"We especially love living across from one another," Christina says. "It makes holidays very easy, and the kids can run over and say hi whenever they want."

It goes beyond holidays however. "Having my parents nearby means we get to share everyday life together," she adds.

Bill and Donna were high school sweethearts at Lake Park High School in Roselle, the same school Christina and her brother later attended. For more than 45 years, they've owned Flexaco, a packaging business. Donna recently semi-retired, which mostly means she found a new job: helping her daughter bake bread.

That bakery is Kneaded by Christina, a licensed sourdough cottage bakery Christina launched in September 2024. Loaves for family and friends turned into weekly preorders and Friday pickups. She also teaches sourdough classes at Fox Den Cooking School in St. Charles and created The Sunday Loaf, a beginner's sourdough journal. She does all this while serving as Senior Vice President of Human Resources for PLTFRM Companies. 

"So many neighbors have become regular customers of the bakery," Christina says with gratefulness. 

Matt, a former Indiana University football player who works in packaging sales, runs the bakery's operations side. Both Matt and Christina coach teams their kids play on, while also serving on the Central District Girls Softball League board. Christina served as President for a few years as well. The couple has also been active in the neighborhood, running Santa at the Clubhouse and the Easter Bunny/Egg hunt for several years. They started the food truck nights in the summer several years back and hosted the Run for Ribs in the neighborhood during 2020.

Bill and Donna escape to their Wisconsin lake house to boat, ride UTVs, and track down the next great supper club, but only if they aren’t watching their grandkids play sports or volunteering at West Ridge.

Brynn, 12, a sixth grader at Prairie Knolls, plays softball, basketball, and flag football. Ryder, 9, a third grader at Country Trails, plays football, basketball, and lacrosse. Both kids are in 4-H. And on nearly every sideline or event that the kids are involved in,  you'll spot two familiar faces: Grandma and Grandpa.

Back home, rescue dogs Otis and Remi keep the energy high, while Yoshi the bearded dragon keeps his cool.

For the Fiedler and Moses families, Highland Woods has given them far more than homes across the street from one another. It has given them friendships, customers who have supported Christina’s growing bakery, neighbors who show up for community traditions, and countless opportunities to give back. From coaching young athletes and volunteering at school to creating neighborhood events that bring families together, service has simply become part of how they live. 

After all these years, they remain deeply grateful for the community that has supported their family—and proud to give some of that support right back. Three generations may share one Highland Woods street, but it’s the relationships built throughout the neighborhood that have truly made it home.