Leonard and Rosemary Kempker of Eugene, Mo., will celebrate Grandparents Day today in grand style, like they do with many other notable events throughout the year.
It's not hard to have big family gatherings when you've got a dozen kids and 122 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
The Kempkers freely acknowledge having such a large family hasn't always been easy - but they say it's been a blessing.
On Grandparents Day today, they'll be spending it with some of those family members - just as they've spent countless other occasions from baptisms to graduations to weddings.
It was actually at a wedding where they met some 65 years ago. Leonard's sister was getting married to a cousin of Rosemary's. Leonard said Rosemary made a indelible impression on him - enough that the 170 miles between them wasn't a barrier.
"We've been together ever since," Leonard said.
He lived in Henley, and she was in Ironton. She was an 18-year-old recent high school graduate who worked at the hospital there. He was a farmer with an eighth-grade education who grew corn and wheat and raised livestock.
Maybe not a pairing that would have been suggested by Match.com, but they fell in love nevertheless. Eight months later, they married.
Leonard's parents were looking to build a new house, and they put Leonard and his new bride in charge of "a whole bunch" of pigs that were to be raised, butchered and sold. A major flood occurred that year.
"They all got cholera, and they all died," Rosemary said with a laugh. "We had a rough start."
Leonard had only one sister, but he liked the fact that his new wife - one of 10 children - came from a large family. But other than that, they never had a solid plan for the number of children they would have.
"We didn't plan nothing," Rosemary said.
Still, the Catholic couple, intentionally or not, heeded the Book of Genesis' urging to "be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth."
They had 13 children. One died at the age of 7 weeks, while the other 12 survive.
They worked hard, doing everything needed to provide for their children. One thing they did was enlist the help of their children early on.
By age 6, the children were feeding livestock, milking cows and helping inside the house. If one complained of boredom, Mom quickly put them to work in the garden.
Leonard was the hard-working farmer who liked to play practical jokes. Rosemary was more the disciplinarian. She also took the children to their sports events.
"There for a while, I thought I was going to meet myself coming back from ball games," she said.
Daughter Loretta Berhorst recalled: "We worked hard, but we played hard, too. We worked in the morning picking blackberries ... and in the afternoon, we'd usually went to go swimming (in the Osage River) if we got our work done."
The Kempkers don't have the world record for the most grandchildren and great-grandchildren. That honor reportedly goes to Filipino woman Bai Ulan Kudanding, who gave birth to 14 children, who themselves produced 107 grandchildren, 138 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren. She died Aug. 31, 2013, at the age of 105.
The Kempkers have slowed down as far as hosting family events - both have health concerns - but commitment to their family remains steadfast. They still insist on hosting Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter, although they let family members bring a dish to share. On an ordinary day, it's not uncommon to find children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren around their home. But on these three holidays, the couple's modest three-bedroom ranch home, located just down the road from the Eugene schools, is filled with around 200 family members in every room of the home, as well as the scent of multiple hams and turkeys in the oven. Tables are set up wherever they can fit, including the basement and garage.
Meals at family events are held throughout the house and outside. Some family members can always be found in the family's butcher shop out back, enjoying snacks or drinks, which often have included Dad's homemade wine.
"They're always very caring, and Dad likes to joke around with everyone, of course," Berhorst said. She recalled specifically when her father was talking to her son Jake's girlfriend on Christmas. "He took her hand and said, "Your fingers look so lonesome, so bare.'"
It was his way of razzing Jake for not giving her an engagement ring for Christmas. Within the next couple of weeks, she had a ring on her finger.
Now that Leonard and Rosemary are advancing in age and facing health issues, their grandchildren are stepping up to help them by bringing them meals, among other things.
Since the interviews for this story were conducted, the family has added three more to its fold. Courtney and Jake Berhorst of Westphalia had a baby girl, Leni Clara Berhorst, and Jon and Amber Schulte of Eldon gave birth to Hattison Claire Schulte. Also, Auggie John Robert Vaughan was born to Derrick and Jenna Vaughan.
And, this just in: Rumors are swirling of another possible addition to the family, although a confirming doctor's visit hasn't taken place yet, Loretta Berhorst said.
In addition to being interviewed for this story, the Kempkers issued a joint statement through their children, which they requested not be attributed to either one of them individually: "We are so grateful and blessed to have had a part in creating this family. When we see these grandchildren, we know we have done something right."