When the Becken family comes together, it’s a lot of people — 25 in all, including Kay and Tom, their five grown children and spouses and 13 grandchildren.

“We try to get together as many times as we can,” said Kay, who enjoys hosting their extended family at their longtime home in Lake Elmo.

The Beckens’ house, which they built 40 years ago, is large enough to accommodate their extended family. But in warm weather, the family prefers to dine and relax in the fresh air. That left them with a choice between sitting outside and getting bitten by mosquitoes — or squeezing everyone into the Beckens’ porch.

Our screen porch was very nice but it was too small for our family,” Kay said. “When we had dinner on the porch, we could never get enough card tables and still move around.”

Last year, the Beckens decided it was time to expand their screen porch, so they turned to Mom’s Design Build, Shakopee.

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