Growing up as a Guell

Growing up being a Guell was the best! People who know me and my cousins always say to me, "You must have had such a fun childhood growing up with all your cousins." This is the truth. I have the best family in the world that contain the best cousins a girl could ask for and because were all so close in age and not to mention we all pretty much have lived less than a mile away from each other our whole lives so we were always there for each other.  My Guell side starts with my Grandma and Grandpa Bob and Rose Guell. They had four kids starting with Tim then Jim then David (my dad) and last but not least my aunt Carolyn. Us cousins always love hearing stories about our parents growing up cause some of them are pretty funny, I dont know how my grandma could handle them sometimes lol When they all grew up Tim married Denise and they had four kids, Terrell, Tom, Haley and Tyler. Jim married Claudie and they had Henry and Amanda. my dad married my mom and they had my brother and me and then Carolyn married Mike Schaefer and they had Kristin, Aaron and Adam. They live in Mayville though so we dont see them as much besides holidays but there still family and Guells at heart even if they dont live with the rest of us in Guellville (aka Waucousta, where we all live lol)
But I seriously did have the best childhood growing up with such a close knit family and with all 11 of us together all the time we all became really close and since my cousins and I all practically lived next door we had sleep overs all the time whether it was at our grandmas house or one of our houses. And my grandma would always make us grand kids matching pajamas since she is really good at sewing so im sure you will notice matching clothes in some of the pictures lol

Sleepover at my house with Haley and Tyler, liking the matching pajamas :)

Amanda and I at the fourth of July parade in Campbellsport with our matching red dresses, so cute!

I was recently watching a some old taped videos we had from when we were younger and they were just so fun to watch. Im talking birthday partys with babies and toddlers everywhere! The one I recently had been watching was Haleys 4th or 5th birthday and I remember she had a ninja turtles birthday cake (we were all really into the ninja turtles back in the 90s lol) and there would be Terrell standing next to the cake claiming which piece he wanted first and that he wanted a big one lol Tyler was at the end of the table crawling around while the rest of us were either crying or crawling around on the floor. We all loved going to each others birthday partys growing up it was always a fun time getting together to play games, baseball, hit pinatas and eat cake, and since my birthday was in the summer mine were always fun because then we'd also get to have water fights or get to light sparklers and just be outside.

Here we have Amanda, Jesse, my dad, Tyler, me and Henry and Terrell in the back being goofy lol

Here we have Henry sitting next to me and Jim Sina (our pretty much adopted uncle in our family, hes a hoot that's for sure, and then little Aaron)

Tommy, me, Jim and Aaron

A little backyard football game at my house with Aaron, Kristin, Adam, Terrell, Henry, Tyler and Haley

 Then there was the tape of Tim and Denises kids pretending they were Indians lol and all of them were running around the living room yelling while making indian noises with out shirts on and they all had paint on there faces, then half way through the video Terrell stands up and says, "Hey I just remembered Indians dont wear pants either" lol so they all try taking off there clothes as my uncle Tim is yelling, "Denise the kids keep trying to take off there clothes!" So my aunt Denise comes running in and makes them put there clothes back on, by then Terrell and Tom had decided to have a wrestling match in there living room. These two were always so rambunctious, I always loved when they came to babysit, I'd always make them give me piggy back rides and it was kinda a free for all. And if ever I was being naughty I remember Tom would always pretend to call my parents lol

But Holidays with the Guells have always been my favorite. I know when we were little we would always go to my grandmas for Easter and she would always have Easter baskets for all of us but then my grandpa would go and hide them all around the yard and we'd have to go find them which was always fun, usually the boys would end up with there baskets in a tree or in harder spots so they couldn't find them lol And Christmas is just as fun. Back when my grandpa was still alive we would all sit in a circle in the living room and he'd pass out the gifts to us one at a time making jokes in between that he would make everyone listen to (he was always telling jokes and stories) but now my Uncle Mike has kinda taken over the role and now he does it.

 Another family tradition for the Guells on holidays is all cousins play the game Apples to Apples. My grandma and I both own it but we've kinda added our own touch to my grandmas set. For instance on the cards that say create your own card we just write down names of our family members, so far we have a Tom Guell card, A Henry Guell card, a Mike Schaefer card and im pretty sure Terrell and my granda have there own too, so if someone would lay a green card that said crazy I could lay a Mike Schaefer card and Id probably win haha We just love this game and get pretty into it, sometimes bets even get places when Tom, Terrell and Henry get too confident lol And its a game that gets everyone involved so once you join the family..ur playin! And now Brice (Haleys husband) and Shelly (Toms fiance) and Lizzi (Tylers fiance) and Ryan (Amandas boyfriend) they all have gotten pretty good at the game too.

We start em young in my family, even Zekes got the hang of it lol

I truly have been blessed with some of the best cousins in the world, our faith and love for each other is so strong and we would do anything for each other. My childhood wouldn't have been the same with out them, always having a playmate right next door, some one to go swimming with, have campfires, go hiking, race each others dogs with, play sports with, go biking, have sleepovers, laugh with and just to talk with, I really got the best of them <3

Here we are at Lakeside park, where us cousins used to always have picnics when we were little

Mauthe lake with Jesse Tyler and Haley, one of our favorite places to swim

Hiking on Dundee Mt. with Haley and Tyler, I wish we still did this more it was always a fun way to get some exorcize and be together

Back when Tim & Denise use to live on Triple S we would always have campfires at there house

Back in the day my second or third cousin Sam Mueller used to play for the Badgers so that was always a pretty big deal to us.

Easter Brunch with my brother, Aaron and Kristin

I am so fortunate that growing up I always had my grandparents right down the road. They have always done so much for each of us whether it was picking us up from school when we were sick or taking us to appointments, letting us borrow there vehicles, taking us out to eat and many more. They are such good people and we are so lucky that growing up they always were right next door and we could always bike up there if we needed something. growing up I know how we would all talk about how my grandpa would always drive past our houses on his little yellow moped all the time and just show up at our houses always, sometimes we swore some of the episodes of Everybody loves Raymond were written about our family cause we could relate so well lol my grandpa would always come over to our houses and look around and let you know if there was something he noticed you needed to get fixed or if he thought something was in the wrong spot, one time he even planted a tree in my cousin Henrys yard when they weren't home cause he thought they needed one lol But since he left us 6 years ago we realize it was just his way of trying to help and show love for all of us, we still miss all his stories and jokes even though sometimes we didn't understand them but he was such a good man at heart. And he was one of those grandpas that was present at everything, him and my grandma were always at us cousins baseball games, plays, birthdays, choir concerts and every other important days in our lives.

 One of the last big events he attended before he died was my cousin Terrells wedding. It was his first grandchild to get married and were so glad he got to be there when Terrell married Irene who he met in Japan when he was serving in the military which my grandpa was also very proud of him for, he would tell everybody. It was such a nice wedding and we all had so much fun and were glad he got to be there cause it meant a lot to him so see his first grandchild all grown up and ready to start his own family.

And these will be the next two in the family getting married. A couple months ago Tom and Tyler both proposed to there girlfriends on the same day and didnt even know it lol Cant wait for more weddings to come!

The karaoke machine was a big hit at this wedding, and my uncle mike kept dragging us up there to sing songs with him lol

Here we have all my girl cousins with my Grandma Rose, who we are all named after because all of us have the middle name of Rose after our grandma <3

And here are just some more pictures of all of us through the years as we have all grown up now but are still just as close as ever. And as you can see our family is expanding as each of my cousins start to have kids of there own.

 

This picture was taken at me and Amandas confirmation. Amanda chose Tyler for her sponsor and I chose Haley, and my brother ended up chosing Henry so all of us cousins really look up to each other, I know I look up to all of them since im the second youngest and they've always been my role models growing up and we all have such a strong faith in God which I think is another thing that brings us together.

Growing up people would always tell me and Haley that we looked so much alike, which yeah we kinda did, I still get people asking me if im her all the time or people asking me if were sisters lol I take it as a compliment cause shes so pretty anyways, cousins by blood, sisters at heart <3

This is me and Terrells oldest son Zeke at Christmas this year, he is such a doll and full of energy just like Terrell, I love this little boy!

This is me and my god mother, my Aunt Carolyn, and my cousin Amanda

Me and grandma in our Christmas colors, shes so cute, were so alike, my grandma is big into going to the movie theater so every time were over shes always filling us in on the latest movies we need to see lol She is the sweetest woman I know. I hope I can be as great a grandma one day as she is for me. She always goes out of her way to do stuff for us and iss always baking us pies and such, my brother spends just about every Friday, Saturday and Sunday with her, and she takes him grocery shopping and to church and they just give each other company. I can talk to her about anything and I know she would do anything for me, shes the worlds best grandma <3

Me and my cousin Amanda are the closest in age out of all of us so growing up she was my best friend and still is. She has the biggest heart and is always going out of her way to help other people. Some of my best memories growing up were spent with her, we always spent most of our summers together biking to my Uncle Bobs farm and having our own little adventures over there during the day. We also both like to sing and act, as do most of my cousins. Thats another thing us Guells are blessed with is the talent to sing so most of us were all in plays and musicals growing up. Amanda has always been there for me my whole life and always understands me, we can tell each other anything and even though we both went to different schools growing up that never kept us apart and as we grow older were just as close and will be till the day we die, Im never letting her go!

Zeke and Sammie trick or treating at our house this year and little Sophie as a pumpkin below, wasnt to long ago my cousins and I would go around Waucousta trick or treating lol

My cousin Henry is more than a cousin, he is like a brother to me. He has always been such a good role model for me and I just look up to him as a person because he truly is one of the nicest guys I know and is always so supportive and would come to watch me dance when I was in High School and is just always there to talk to and have fun with and is always willing to give up some of his weekends to just come over and watch tv with us all the time (which he happens to be over as Im writing this lol). Hes also is so good with my brother, well all my cousins are really, and is just truly a best friend to him. Who ever marrys him and becomes a part of our family in the future is going to be really lucky cause they will be in good hands with one of the nicest most respectful guys I know.

And there you have it, my story of how I grew up in one of the best family's in the world, with cousins I love and adore and will forever be thankful for :)