This is us and our crazy bunch. I'm Gretchen, the mom. Knut is my husband and then there's our 5 kids. We live on the farm where my husband works, and live in his childhood home. We have 10 chickens in the yard, and 1 dog in the house. I like to write, knit, sew, cook, garden, and other farm-wifey things. I actually grew up in the city so all these "regular things" on the farm like making jams are not so normal to me, but I'm getting there.
Most of all, we strive not to meet some stereotype of what a farm family does, but to live according to the life God has called us. We walk by faith. We work hard, but we depend on grace. In our house, we sometimes need grace by the truckload.
Silje has creativity and imagination flowing from every part of her. She's an amazing reader, and reads about anything she can get her hands on. She likes order, friends, and planning elaborate, yet organized parties. She would be the cruise director on our crazy ship. At age 8, she's the type of person to overhear something in a conversation, and then come ask either Knut or I "what's embryonic stem cell research?" and will push until she fully understands every angle. She loves to sing, dance and draw.
David is active and passionate 7 year old. He plays outside every chance he gets and loves to cross country ski, ride bike, play baseball, and do really any other outdoor activity. If David does something, he does it at 150%. He knows no other way. He's the type of personality you always want with you, not against you. He's always full of questions, and is really into rockets and paper airplanes. He's compassionate and competitive. He's snuggly, and fast.
Elias, the 4 year old "middle child". He is known for having trouble communicating these days. He's known in our house as a big caregiver. He's always wandering around making sure everyone is happy. He especially protective of Solveig and takes his job as big brother very, very seriously. He is a bit of a clown as well. He already knows how to charm the ladies, with a flirty smile that stops grandmas at the supermarket in their tracks.
Solveig is our joyful 2 year old. She's now on the move and is into everything all the time. She's a fearless climber, and has trips to the ER to show for it. She's everyone's sweetheart and is always full of smiles and big slobbery kisses. We loosely translate the meaning of her name in Norwegian: "Sunshine of the House" which actually fits her perfectly.
Ingrid is our little baby born December 2012. So far, she's easy going and easy to please! She loves being held all the time, but since there's a line of people in this house always waiting to hold her, that's not a problem!
