HISTORY

A Little History:
Our story begins in Pocatello, Idaho, circa 1972, when the lovely Debby Christensen agreed to a first, though fateful date with admirer, David Croshaw. Long story-short, he bade her follow him, and they went arm-in-arm to the Logan, Utah temple for establishment of an eternal family unit, Generation 1, on May 23 1973.

From their first blissful summer in Salt Lake City, educational pursuits took them to Provo/Orem, Utah, birthplace of Leslie and Rebecca, and to San Francisco/Oakland California, birthplace of Colin and Matt. Then, for establishment of livelihood, expansion of the tribe with Abby and Dana, and for raising/unifying of Generation 2, it was back to the roots in Pocatello for a rewarding sojourn.

In time, driven by a raging, but commonly shared sense of adventure and independence, one-by-one, Generation 2 escaped the homeland to distant regions of the country and the world, each ultimately developing their own tribal expansions by pairing with worthy mates and initiating Generation 3.

Now sensing fulfillment of their purpose in Pocatello, Generation 1 has also left those roots and transplanted to Cascade Idaho, from which base, they anticipate more abundant contact with The Posterity, Generations 2 and 3, in the future. That contact however, awaits fulfillment of a call to LDS missionary service in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, wherein they hope to help the state of the world by sharing the love of Jesus Christ.

So now, including Generation 0 (Grandma and Grandpa Christensen) home base includes Yuma, Arizona, Pocatello, Idaho, Cascade, Idaho, Vancouver, BC, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Spokane, Washington, Boise, Idaho, Los Angeles, California, back to Boise, Idaho, and on and on (Generation 3+) to infinity.

Our Mission Statement:
This is the blog of our eternal family unit. Initiated years ago, it served well as a journal, but even more so, as an archive of our personal interaction. It was a gathering place, a confabulation instrument, a unifying force for four generations of widely dispersed and progressively prolific posterity, and their valued associates. Though it served these purposes well for many years, it eventually took a back seat to new-kids-on-the-block, Facebook, and Instagram, and was sadly forgotten.

We now move to resurrect this blog with an added functional purpose of archiving the missionary experiences of Generation 1, of their movements and activities as they participate with The Gathering of Israel in the land northward. In so doing, we hope that via their own comments and posts, this blog will again serve to gather and unify the posterity and their friends.

As in the past, that the young and vibrant may know the old and tired, that enduring bonds may be fostered and maintained, that experience and encouragement may be openly shared, that posterity may embrace truth, and that hearts may be knit together, we must resist detachment despite our geographic divergence. We shall do so here.
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Friday, June 29, 2007

Maggie's Blessing



We blessed Maggie on June 3rd, I know, I'm a little behind! These are some pictures from that day. This is the same dress Grace wore. Donita made it and I love it so much!! It is so pretty, and made out of the same material as my wedding dress. Here are some highlights from Maggie's blessing:
She will develop a deep and abiding love for the Savior
She will know that He knows her and loves her
She will be able to separate the things of earth from the things of Heaven and know what is important
She will help her brothers and sisters, as well as mom and dad, to grow
She will find a righteous man and their love will last throughout eternity
She will be healthy
It was a really special blessing and I wish you all could have been there. We can't wait to see you in August!!

Employee of the month!


Abby is being recognized for her work regarding the implementation of a new version of Telephone Follow-Up (TFU) for the Annual Services Report. Completely new TFU procedures and walkthroughs were created, as well as detailed presentations describing how to use the new system. It is testing out very well for SAS with few minor problems, due to her contributions in troubleshooting and foreseeing potential problems. The new procedures and specifications were accomplished in a very short time. Good work, Abby!

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Look at me and my providential self

Thanks to a Sabbath day full of messages about living within your means and preparing for the unexpected, me and Princess planted a vegetable garden in our backyard yesterday! I almost took pictures, but didn't think you'd all be too excited about a big pile of soil.

But also! I finally went to Luray Caverns, and it only took me three summers! Here is a visual tour for all to enjoy.

xo

Abby

Monday, June 25, 2007

The New Place


Here's the sweet new pad if you're interested. Come on in, the water is fine.

Cleveland Rocks


The blog has been a little bit deprived lately so I thought I would drop a note. I also will be losing my freedom in less than a week so now seemed like a good time. Anyway, we're getting settled here in Ohio. As you can see from the picture, I guess the neighborhood is a little more rough than we thought. You should see the other kid though. Actually, Jack has discovered that he can climb quite well, it's the landing that he doesn't quite have down yet. He actually did that while we were over at the JT Nelson's house a couple weeks ago. Michelle was there for JT's new baby, so of course it is not possible to pay attention to anything else. It's a good thing he's tough.
We got a pool pass just in time for the 90 degree weather, so Lori and the kids have been spending time there. The weather has actually been pretty nice. I guess we better enjoy it because it will start to get cold and snowy in a couple weeks. We have the house put together a little more. Now all we need is some visitors (hint).
I started orientation last week. You gotta love sitting in a room listening to people tell you a bunch of stuff you will just forget in a couple hours. I guess I will start officially in a week. We got our pagers today, so I guess this is actually all real. I have mixed feeling about it. Actually, I guess it's just one feeling - I don't want to start yet. Actually I think if I was home any longer Lori would probably drive Lori crazy. I'm actually excited about going out there and finding out I don't really know anything.
We are very glad we got to see everyone in May. Mom has informed me that we are doing Thanksgiving here this year, so if you don't have a better offer you can come here. I hear the weather is great here at the end of November. I'm doing my best to get that day off but or course there are no guarantees. Maybe we'll celebrate a day early. I hope to see a little activity on the blog.
Colin

Saturday, June 16, 2007

Mia's Ballet Recital Pt II

Mia's Ballet Recital Pt I

Graduation




As most of you know Colin's graduation was weeks ago but it is taking us weeks to catch up to real life again after our wonderful cruise! Thanks David and Debby. Thanks to Colin for graduating so we could go. Cruises are a lot of work but so much fun. Anyway, here are some pictures of graduation and thanks to all those who were able come. Colin starts orientation next Thursday. I still can't believe were are here sometimes. It is a good feeling though.




Mia also had her dance recital about a month ago so that is posted here too.




I have been counting my blessings lately and we have been so blessed in every way. Through school Colin and I didn't have many opportunities to pay much tithing, living off loans and all. We have discussed how now we will pay on a regular basis and what a blessing it will be. Later on I was listening to Dave Ramsey, the financial peace guru, and some lady called in to tell him that they were debt free because their whole family, kids included, put together a plan and they all stuck to it. She mentioned how God had blessed them. The Spirit testified to me of the truthfulness of Malachi 3:10 - "Bring ye all the thithes...if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing there [there shall] not [be room] enought [to receive it.]" I know, if we pay a full tithe, that we will have more blessings than we need. It is such a comfort to know that the Lord will take care of us through obedience to this law




We are looking forward to seeing you all in August for such a wonderful celebration. Also, everyone is invited to our house for Thanksgiving if you can get here. =-)

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Arachnaphobia!!

So, I get home last night and Ray tells me that he found spider pictured below in Grace and Maggie's room. I seriously started freaking out, then he tells me that he actually found the spider in an outside bait station at an account he was at. NOT FUNNY!!! Aside from a tarantula, this is seriously the biggest spider I have ever seen. This is a quart jar it is now living in. Ray caught this little frog in our yard for the spider to eat, but they just hung out together all night. He looked the spider up and it turns out it is a harmless wolf spider, yeah right!! He also assured me that a spider that big could never slip in through the cracks in our house.

There are so many bugs in Oklahoma, bugs I have never seen. There is also so much wild life living in such close proximity. Ray caught this little frog in our yard in no time. We have found big old toads in our yard, the other day I opened the front door and found a turtle the size of a frisbee on our front porch. Grace and our neighbor Reid found a little baby turtle the size of a silver dollar in our yard a few days ago. I always see armadillos on the side of the road, sometimes smashed armadillos!! It has certianly been an eye opening experience living in this part of the country! I hope you don't get too creeped out by this spider, believe me, it will be destroyed when Ray gets home!!



Sunday, June 10, 2007

Coming soon to a chapel near you...

For your evangelical enjoyment, please check out this link. Be sure to read the bios. I wish we could get them to do a fireside.

It reminds me of a scheme Marcia and I have been talking about doing. When we go to concerts, there are always people outside after the show, handing out fliers and CDs to promote their up-and-coming bands. No one really looks at these right away, they just take them and glance over them later. We decided that next time we go to a concert, we're going to hand out pass-along cards and CDs of the Book of Mormon in mp3 format. Basically, we're going to trick everyone into being exposed to the Gospel. :)

UPDATE: Marcia found out they're coming to Maryland this weekend. Looks like we'll get our non-fireside, after all.

Eva's 1st Birthday!

We had a good time on Eva's birthday. It was much different than how we celebrated Colby's (big party, lots of friends and presents) it was just Jason, Colby, Eva, and I. We had dinner and she got to play on a play gym for the first time ever. Then, we had cake and ice cream and she got to play with her new presents. It was fun and she LOVED the cake!! Sorry there are so many pictures, I can never decide which ones to post!