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, December 26, 2008

Wow, you're HOW old?!
















Welcome to your thirties, Matt. Having been here for a little while now, I can tell you, your thirties are great! I have found them only to enhance the best part of me- I am not as concerned about fine and costly apparel, prooving to the world I am really smart, and you have one up on me- you are not single at 30. My, that was fun. This is really a sad attempt for me to be humorous, what I really need you to know is that you are greatly loved by me, by Valerie (though she will only admit it at midnight Christmas Eve/Christmas Morning after reading scriptures together and sharing), and by your sweet baby boy who can not get enough of seeing you. Me either. We love you!

You are valient and loyal, kind and gentle, hard-working and greatly intelligent, humble and steadfast, so kind and loving to me and just really, the best kind of person. I always have known that, and that is a pretty great thing to be sure of.

I look forward to growing closer to God alongside of you and to always being in love. It is pretty remarkable that we have made it this far and still are. I hope we treat you well on your day, I promise you a haircut and hope sincerely that such things are not a luxury for your 31st. Surely, you will have a better job and I think that will make all of us much happier.

I know your mom likes to post these, but I think she may not have access to older photos in Spokane, so I will do my best... I am using last year's posting as a start. the one of you terrified by the flaming, puffy birthday cake is pret.ty. hilarious, AND I love you and your mom in mondo glasses and you and your dad in nighties (by the way, your mom looks incredible in the nightgown picture, what a hottie!)

11 comments:

Jason and Dana said...

Happy Birthday Matt! Amen to everything Crystal said. You really are incredible. I hope your day is great. And can I say again how MUCH I love that heart/sparklers picture??? You should enter that in some photography contest Crystal.
Love you Matt!
Dana

David and Debby said...

matt, what a blessed day the day you arrived. that point in my life since i was delivering you one day after christmas, made me think what mary must have felt like when she gave birth to the Savior (i know, i know, he was born in april). anyway, you have always, always been a blessing in our lives. you were and are always kind and loving and respectful to me. now it is only intensified by the wonderful, caring, loving woman you have married. i hope you have a wonderful day. any, we never made it to spokane. we got about a foot of snow christmas even, and another foot christmas day. i hope you have a wonderful day, all of you. i am so glad you can be off today. i agree with everything crystal said. i wish i could have said things so eloquently. happy, happy birthday. i love you. xoxoxo mom

Leslie said...

Yes, ditto to everything Crystal said, Matt-cha-boo. I love the pictures of you, especially when you were little. You were so adorable! That blond curly hair with big blue eyes can't be beat. (I can't wait to see Asher grow!) You've become such a fine man and such a hard worker. Our family is very blessed because you're in it. Hope you have a wonderful birthday. Love you!

Colin & Lori said...

Matt, hope your day is great, great, great!! You have a great wife ya know! You are a great guy too and it is wonderful to see how you have changed and grown with your own baby boy. I hope the next year brings only happiness and joy to your life. Lori

Colin & Lori said...

Matt,
Happy Birthday. I officially thought about you first on your birthday. It was at like 2:00 am when I was working last night.
I hope you had an enjoyable day today. It was great to see you for Asher's blessing. When it warms up we can hopefully see each other more.
You're definitely an example to us all of going through hardships without murmuring or complaining about your circumstances. I haven't heard you complain once about your job, as much as you might not like it.
Happy birthday.
Colin
PS-Dad, I really dig that nightgown. Where can I pick one of those up?

Gerald and Cathy said...

Dearest Matt,
Happy birthday, my dear. You are and always have been dear to my heart. I remember your dad commenting that if something happened to your mom he wasn't sure I would let him have you. I am still not sure that I would have. You are blessed with a sweet family and our hopes and prayers are with all of you. Happy Birthday, my Matt.
Gram

rebeccaV said...

Happy Birthday Matt!! I just have to say ditto to everything everyone else has said. You have such a true and pure heart. I love you so much for that. I can also tell that you are such a good dad to little Asher and I am so happy about the way that has come so naturally to you! I hope your day was great and the next year is full of wonderful things for you and your family. I love you.

abbynormal said...

It's Matt's birthday, YAY! And it's so great that you got the time off today to enjoy with your family. And what a great family it is. I know you're frustrated that you had to work on Sunday to get this time off, but that's just a reminder to me about what a good, solid example you are of living every aspect of the Gospel to the fullest. You always try to do what's right. Thanks for that. Love you!

David and Debby said...

Dear Smokey Ranier,
I agree with all of it, and you are my guy. I also agree with Crystal that your mom was hot in the nightgown photo, although you're not allowed to notice such things. That photo reminded me of how I really loved the great times we spent together as you were growing up and I was growing old. We had some great, memorable bonding moments. You kept me young and proud to be your dad, and I remain so.

btw Colin, I'm surprized you could see the night shirt with the glare off Abby's braces, but wasn't she cute?. And, yes, I still have the night shirt (sexy isn't it?) and it is available to the highest bidder. Anyone??
Dad

rebeccaV said...

Skip around the room, skip around the room, we won't stop 'till you skip around the room...

Crystal said...

I was going to make a video of skipping after I took a shower, but I sat down on the bed and woke up an hour later, by which time it was Matt's turn to sleep before work. We were so tired we did not go to church today and I am feeling guillllllll.ty.

Anyway, maybe tomorrow he will skip, he likes being embarrassed ;-)