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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Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Getting to know the grandchildren

Hi everyone,

On my way home from Cleveland, I wrote a few things about my Cleveland grandchildren. I hope all of you will put things on the blog to help us get to know our precious posterity better. We are not around each other often, and while we love the grandchildren, we would certainly love getting to know them better. Here goes:
Mia is a darling, smart little girl. Sh is willing to give anything a try. Mia feels things very deeply, and acts on those feelings. She is very mothering and nurturing. She loves to learn new things and is very teachable this way. She sounds out words everywhere and gives it a good effort. I think she will be an excellent student. It is difficult being the firstborn. You want to do everything the adults are doing; you want to be included. I remember feeling that way myself, but being excluded at times because I was "too young". Because she feels things so deeply, and also because she is confident, sometimes she gets going in one direction, and keeps going even though she knows she shouldn't. I feel like that sometimes, too. David still has to put the skids on my sometimes, too. So, sometimes she gets herself in a little trouble. What I really love about Mia is that she is teachable in these situations. When her patient, loving Mom takes her aside and explains things to her in a way she is able to understand, and then she is able to return and apologize.-- Never an easy thing to do, but a very noble quality. We all need very patient, loving people to help us understand and correct things we have done amiss. For Mia, it is the beginning of learning repentance. She has good parents to teach her. She will understand that process long before she is baptized. She is becoming a lovely young girl, who loves to play and have fun. She is a good sister to Jack.

I really think Jack's personality is similar to his Grandpa Croshaw. He is a 'stop and smell the roses' kind of guy. There is no hurry in him. We took a walk, and whenever we came to a wall or a log, over he would go to walk along the edge, or middle of the log. He is very determined. If he wants to do something, he finds a way. When we were at the park, Jack found a way up this steep incline to the big toy. Mia couldnt' do it at first, but then when she realized Jack had done it, she too found a way. Jack is practically swimming. He jumps off the side, swims under the water, leaving his eyes open the whole time. Once he even jumped off the deep end, but some adults there were watching and listening to me yell for Jack to "Stop". They got him out and sent him back. He is very courageous. When he came out of the water his eyes were red and his eyelashes were spiky, and he looked just like his dad did years ago. Jack also loves Mia very much. They are wonderful playmates. He is a charming little boy, and has the sweetest voice. I wish you could all talk to him. He loves to play! He is lucky to have a dad who also loves to play, too.

Cole is so adorable. One of the first things I noticed about him is that he is very strong. Remember how Grace held up her head so early? Cole is just like that! I was thinking how babies can really only use their arms and legs at first, but he is also trying to control his head. If you were to hold him, you would see him holding up his head. When he got upset, which wasn't often, it would really help him if Lori would just hold his arms and hands, so he couldn't wave them around. It really calmed him. He is very snuggly, and we spend many hours, he and I snuggled up together. First he would fall asleep and then I would. I only had one semi-delirious moment, along the lines of Becky coming into our bedroom when I was on the verge of sleep--"Becky, it's your mother!!". I can't remember details. Maybe Colin and Lori can. I think Cole looks like Jack. What do you think Colin and Lori? Cole is very patient with everyone, especially with his big sister who takes such good care of him, and is such a help to her Mom. He is growing quickly, and I am sure changing so much.

They are a wonderufl family and I was blessed to be able to spend those days with them. Colin and Lori are great parents, and also continue to learn howto be better parents.

Please let us all hear about your children. xoxo Grandma

4 comments:

Colin & Lori said...

So the story goes like this. Mom is holding Cole and she goes and sits down in the chair and puts her feet up. She says, "let's talk about the Book of Mormon" then talks about Captain Moroni how he was such a good leader. It's at this point she starts to fall asleep. She says, "the Nephites wore white coats and the Lamanites wore gray coats." Then she was out. Lori and I are laughing at this of course. Then Cole starts to slide down to the side slowly. Once he gets down to the arm rest I pick him up and move him up to Mom's chest. She wakes up and I tell her Cole is sliding down to the side. She picks him up and says, eyes still closed, "I can't see you but I sure love you" and gives him a kiss and lays him back on her chest. Within 10 seconds she's back asleep. A minute later the same thing happens, so I try to pick him up without waking her up. She did wake up and I told her what happened and she laughed a little then was instantly back asleep.
Good times. Where's a video camera when you need one.
Colin

Colin & Lori said...

Actually, I didn't want to wake her but I was laughing so hard, silently. When she picked Cole up and was still asleep, or her eyes were closed, she said, "I don't know what you look like but I love you." Then she kissed him. The last time, and I think third time, Colin took Cole and Mom said,
"I was holding him" then she was out, just like that. We all had a great laugh later. It was so great to have you here Debby!!! After you left Jack asked if we could go visit you at the airport. You certainly gave a thoughtful impression of my mothering to our blog readers. I so seldom feel adequate or even like I am a good mother. Debby, your blog helped me see Mia in a bit of a different light. I forget she feels so deeply, I often just view it as drama, drama, drama! I have so much to learn and about the time I probably feel as though I have figured it out to a minute degree she will be off to college. I just hope we are always close like I am with my mom and like all the girls are with you. I do love to observe you relationship with Grandma also. I love to see you two get together and laugh so hard you both cry. I love you!

Jason and Dana said...

Hey, we miss you guys. Maybe someday we will live close enough that the boys can go to football games while the girls go to the mall.
Jason

Colin & Lori said...

I was watching the BSU game last night and I told Lori if we live in Boise I'm buying season tickets. You guys should move back to Idaho.
Colin