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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Monday, July 13, 2009

The Swimmer and the Screamer

About the poll- I really do not care. Valerie voted for next year because 2 years is just too long to wait (don't we all know that feeling, girls?! I speak in missionary terms, of course...)

Tomorrow is Valerie's last swim meet-- after tomorrow, it is preparation for Championships. Tuesdays are long enough- get off work at about 1, take Valerie to where ever by 5, then out till 10... she swims the 50 freestyle, 50 breaststroke, 50 backstroke and the 200m relay just about every meet. It is a long night, but not as long as championships.

Champs take all day. They are July 25.

Anyway, the kids get to go off the diving boards on Mondays. They call it "Manic Monday" and it is a super-special treat. This is Valerie diving at sunset.



Asher is a SCREAMER. He would not stop screaming all during sacrament... or gospel doctrine... or priesthood, apparently yesterday. He just sits there, tilts back his head and SCREAMS as loud as possible. I have been trying to ignore it at home, but there is no ignoring it at church. He made up the bulk of the foyer quorum yesterday.

I took the mid shift. He was crawling all over the place- tried to pull himself up using a baby who was walking by (also part of the foyer quorum) and she weighs less than 20 pounds, so I picked up his hands and ungrasped her dress from his hands. He did not mind, but I scared her so she cried. Then Asher crawled to her mom and was getting ready to pull himself up on HER skirt as she was consoling her baby, I could just see the consequences of that... so I moved him over to the omni-present floral sofas. He pulled up on those, then over to the table, where he pulled the tablecloth down... with the flowers, bulletins, and announcements... it was a fun hour, that is for sure. Anyway, in foyer quorum, he did NOT scream.

Anyway, tonight, I was taking pictures of the kids diving and that made me the cool mom. I am generally the cool mom, but tonight, I was extra cool. I am not, however as cool as my friend Kari who goes diving with the kiddos. I do not currently own a bathing suit, nor do I plan to.

Note** I am pretty sure that the lifeguard is not checking out the cool mom. I wonder if he knows they are TWELVE, hello?~**

PS- all of you have daughters, the fun is yet to come, dads. I say start practicing now for what is yet to come.




Valerie flipping off the diving board. This is a huge move forward, she used to do it all the time, then was "scared." I think she tried it tonight for the photo op. Works for me.

Matt continues to work at Ariake USA, I am now working in a lab at JMU. It is great, but very different (lonely!) from working at UVa. I start teaching again at the end of August. I will be teaching 6 classes (a first-ever feat for JMU to have) and Valerie will be starting 7th grade. Asher will be going to a baby sitter 5 days a week and that is KILLING me, but honestly, we have no choice. Maybe one day, but not today...

I am still the Laurels' advisor and Matt is a ward missionary at church. I was supposed to start up an LDSSA at Mary Baldwin, but since I officially quit there 2 weeks ago, that will not be happening now (I don't think).

That is what is up with us. How about an update from everyone else.

7 comments:

Colin & Lori said...

That is a CRAAAAAzY flip Valerie. I would NEVER do that. When we all go to Lake Powell there are some great cliffs to jump off. I will not do that for sure but Colin loves to. You two will have to have a contest! Thanks for the update. I so wish I lived close so Asher could hang out with us and I could be his babysitter. I can't believe Valerie will be in the 7th grade. Are you just anxious and nervous for her. Jr. High is so different! She will do great though. I am looking at "The Matt Croshaws" picture of her and she has grown and changed so much. She was more of child there and that was just two years ago right? Now she is so much a young lady. You are doing a great job Crystal!

David and Debby said...

Crystal, What an incredible photo that is of Valerie's sunset dive. You caught a perfect silhouette on the first one. You should consider selling some of your photos. You have a good eye for great scenes. Did you know DK has a photo website whereon he has some of his work for sale? I'm not sure what the URL is, but you can get to it through Abby's blog.

Asher is a funny boy, getting his own personality now. I can't wait to see him - just 3 more weeks.
David

Crystal said...

Asher LOVES everyone. He is so used to getting everyone's attention. He cries If someone doesn't smile at him. He still is nor afraid of strangers but he does cry if mommy leaves the room... Or goes to work. Poor thing. Thank you for the comment on my photos it is a real source of joy to me.

Crystal said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jason and Dana said...

hey, there is a picture of Matt, he is still alive!!!
Jason

Crystal said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
abbynormal said...

I love the sunset picture, and I always love pictures of Matt and Asher. And I LOVE that you caught the lifeguard red-handed!