Couple welcome 3 granddaughters from 3 daughters in 3 days

Mike and Joan Benda’s St. Cloud home buzzed with children on Saturday. Three toddlers squealed as they ran through their grandparents’ home. Meanwhile, three tiny newborn granddaughters slept, oblivious to the laughter that surrounded them.

This family grew quickly. The Bendas welcomed three granddaughters in three days this month from their three daughters. MaKenna Larson was born March 14 to Katie Larson, 30, and Andrew Larson, 31. She joined sister Alexa, 1. Katie Larson is the Bendas’ oldest daughter, and lives in Minneapolis.



Taylor Orth followed the next day. Michele Orth, 29, is the next-oldest daughter. She and her husband, Jesse, 30, live in Otsego, and have a son, Cameron, 2. Michele Orth’s younger identical twin sister, Melissa Valen, 29, and her husband, Andrew, 28, welcomed baby Lyla on March 16. They live in Albertville and have an older daughter, Faith, 7, and 2-year-old son, Jakob.

“It’s cool that I’m finishing the trifecta,” Melissa Valen said. All the newborns are healthy, their families said. And their family is ecstatic, if not busy. The granddaughters were born in their mothers’ birth order. The babies also fall in order for height and weight. MaKenna Larson weighed 8 pounds, 5 ounces and was 21 inches long. Taylor Orth weighed 7 pounds, 9 ounces and was 20 inches long. Finally, Lyla Valen weighed 5 pounds, 15 ounces and was 19 inches long.