Teenage years can be hard enough for parents with just one teenage child. Imagine having four teenaged children—all the same age.  That’s the case for Polson parents Kristi and Jim Jore, who have 14-year-old quadruplets and a 2-year-old daughter. Brian, Alisha, Elizabeth and Melina, in that order, were born via C-section to the overwhelmed parents on Jan. 10, 1996.

“The first ultrasound showed three heartbeats, so we got used to the idea of at least having triplets,” Jim said of the pregnancy. “Then somewhere in the middle they did another ultrasound and saw four babies. We said we had to stop having ultrasounds because we’ll keep finding more babies.”

Two months premature, each child weighed less than two pounds, and spent three months at St. Patrick’s Hospital in Missoula, where the parents said they were met by a media blitz hoping to get a glimpse of the tiny foursome. A group of nearly 20 medical staff helped deliver and take care of the babies during their hospital stay.

After celebrating their 14th birthday on Sunday, the quadruplets are grown up now, and will enter ninth grade, and high school, this fall. Each has their own personality and goals in life, with an emphasis on helping others.

“All of us have strengths and weaknesses that we help each other out with,” Melina said.

All four have aspirations to attend Carroll College in Helena, the alma mater of both Jim and Kristi. They all also agree that their favorite vacation was to Disneyland to celebrate their 10th birthday. Brian enjoys science and sports, and hopes to go on to be some sort of engineer. Alisha hopes to become a doctor or teacher, but hasn’t really decided yet. All agree that Elizabeth is an excellent writer, and they usually go to her for help on school papers. She hopes to write books or get into journalism. Melina, the “youngest” of the quadruplets, thinks teaching may be her passion as well.

All enjoy reading and sports, and are articulate and well mannered, a result of their upbringing in a hectic environment, their father Jim believes. He said that cooperation was a major point of emphasis throughout their childhood, and that it has paid off with their respect and appreciation of each other. 

“They’ve had to share since pretty much day one,” Jim said. “Sharing everything has helped them grow up; I think it’s a good life lesson. One thing we started way back when was that whenever it is movie night, they all four have to agree on the movie. That’s cooperation and sharing and all that.”

The kids learned the hard way to get along: “Sometimes there was no movie,” Alisha said.

Though the firstborn, Brian is outnumbered three to one and now with Olivia, four to one. While it can be tough being the only boy, he has made the best of the situation, and has a great relationship with his sisters.

“It’s not so bad,” Brian said. “Sometimes I wish it wasn’t like this, but most of the time, it’s OK. We get along pretty well. And I get my own room, which is the good part.”

At times, the lifestyle of a family with quadruplets can get pretty frantic. Jim said that as the kids have grown, it’s been harder to keep up without a set schedule. When they were babies, he said, the parents would change all four diapers at the same time, and they would stay occupied by playing with each other. Now, each one has their own set of interests and activities that can make keeping up slightly difficult.

“This house is rarely quiet, I can tell you that,” Elizabeth said. “It gets crowded at times. Mostly it’s issues with space.”

Still, not one would give up their quadruplet status for the world.

“I’d be lonely,” Alisha said. “I think, how boring is that, being an only child? There’s chaos everyday here, and that seems so normal, so I couldn’t imagine life without it.”