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, June 29, 2010

Grandma Speaks

Hi everyone!  I have been on new.familysearch.org the last couple of days, and I just noticed tonight that none of my children have their information entered.  I can do your birth, etc. dates, but you need to get yourselves on and your children on.  Just saying...    I love my eternal family!!  (notice photo to the right of this post-->)

xoxoxo
grandma

Lilia speaks

I might have posted something exactly like this before, but it never gets old, does it? She started this up all on her own during lunch.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Mia Speaks

The other night I was snuggling with Mia at bedtime. She made a comment about how she wanted David and Abby to come for a visit. I mentioned that it would be fun but Abby just got a new job and it would be hard for her to get time off but, we would see them in a few months. She asked me about Abby's new job. I gave her a lame explanation. Mia then said, "I think she is either a doctor or works at a hot dog stand." After wiping away the tears from laughter I told Mia that I knew Abby didn't go to medical school so I was sure she wasn't a doctor. I also knew that Abby went to college and graduate school so I was even more sure that she didn't work at a hot dog stand.

More Thrilling Things to Do in Prison Than Knit.



Tonight while watching the news I saw a news report about this and just thought it was to funny to pass up sharing it. It just goes to show that the truth is sometimes stranger than fiction.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Jackson Speaks

There comes a time in every boy's life when he needs to be taught the pull my finger trick. I felt I was being irresponsible to deprive Jack of it. So the other day I introduced him to the greatness of it. Of course, he thought it was the funniest thing ever. The next day was church. So Jack obviously REALLY thought it was funny, because he had to tell someone else about it. That someone else was his primary teachers. I'm pretty sure they already knew about it, but they thought Jack telling them about it was hilarious. And of course it was.
Maybe I should have waited a year or two.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Sweetness


For any of you who have not read V6 recently, I'm duping here Becky's amazing photo of Baby Naomi in Daddy Ray's arms, clinging to her security, though asleep.  Check out the diminutive little hand clenching Daddy's thumb - a literal "thumbnail" of a thumbnail, so to speak.  Does this make you appreciate the miraculous wonders of procreation, or what?
Dad

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Way to go Mexico!

This should have been posted a couple days ago, after Mexico absolutely CRUSHED France in the World Cup. We bought a donut in celebration of their awesomeness.

David and I watched the game at a restaurant in Tulum because Alex suggested that we watch the game properly. We were surrounded by devout Mexican fans (and one sad table of France fans that made David feel just a teensy bit guilty for cheering for Mexico). The entire restaurant basically stopped functioning while the game was on. No one ordered anything, no one served anything. All the servers, cooks, managers, customers, and passersby were glued to the TV and they were EXCITED! At the end, one of the cooks yelled, "Tequila shots for everyone!" (We neglected to oblige.)

I have a theory that Americans would be more excited about soccer if our announcers weren't so boring. Even if they could just adopt "GOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!" I think the sport could really go somewhere. Just sayin'.

Bring it on, Uruguay!

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Things I learned in Church

I have learned several things in church the last week or so and wanted to share them with you. The first are strictly secular, learned at a 'relief society meeting'. Just a few:
Peppermint can curb your appetite, and will help an upset stomach.

Put a sour sponge in the microwave for 30 seconds (learned the same thing that Dad read somewhere)
Make sure you know what is in the punch at a reception.
To remove burned on food, soak the saucepan with water and some fabric softener. (heard but not tried)
Mascara goes on better when it is warm. I think this applies to personal interactions as well, the warm part.
Use old fabric/dresses from DI, Goodwill for quilts, or use the buttons for other projects.
If you really like some fad shoes, get some knockoffs inexpensively at Walmart.
Use wadded up newspaper for mirror streaks. (heard but not tried)
Keep a phone book in the car.
Find good resource people/experts to ask questions.


Some sacred things:
To bear true testimony say: I know, I testify, I witness.
The scriptures are the primary 'manuals' in all church lessons.
In 1 Nephi 11, talking about tree of light, Spirit asks Nephi , "Behold, what desirest thou?" The Lord wants to know the desires of our hearts. We need to tell him what they are, and to seek them (righteous desires, of course). Maybe part of this is personally defining what the desires of our hearts are. He is anxious to give us the desires of our hearts. This also relates to the brother of Jared going to the Lord, seeking light in the barges. (Ether).
Don't forget to pray.


What are some things you have learned in church?

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Recent Events

We've been so busy with recent events, that the blog has suffered.  It is so great for us to have the last of you graduated, married off, or whatever, but the preparation, travel, and conducting of the events has been exhaustive.  Some of you have posted your photos here or on your own blogs, which have been great. Thanks for running interference while we recovered from the month of commotion.  Now, we will share some of our photos.

For starters, in early May, we lost our sisters when the mission closed their area.  It was great having them while it lasted.  We were blessed, and hopefully their work benefited.



Abby's Graduation:
Some of us met in DC, May 8, for Abby's MBA graduation event  It was a fun day.
Matt, Crystal, Valerie, and Asher  (Okay - Mostly Asher - my camera has an affinity for babies)


Here, Asher was obviously headed out for a day in the sun.












Can't help but wonder how the other guy looks.


Matt and Crystal, anxiously contem- plating what to do as Asher sum- marily dis- assembles the house.





Hey, check this one out little Buba.


Taking time on his rare day off to explain things to the boys down at cor- porate...


Matt, solving the world's problems over a little breakfast.





Could it be?  Is he finally wearing down?





Ahhh.  Finally!





Crystal multi-tasking as she holds the row for the gang.











It's Done - She's officially a Master - Post grad photos:





A peck on the cheek from the proud fiancee...





...and, a peck with the camera - a common stance for David





And here's the shot.  Not really, but a very similar one.





She's such a good poser.




The proud parents.










Uh-oh - He's awake again.





Can't wait for the future.




Okay, she's taken the cap off - must be about done.




Back to the house for some gradu- ation cake (cap), prepared by Chef David...




... and the awarding of the ultimate graduation gift from David, a base guitar. Now she can be a literal rock star.

Just one more photo...




And finally, back to the university for a night photo.



Okay, that about does it for the graduation. The Wedding is next (including the much awaited video of the group Chicken Dance, and of Elliot's break-dancing prowess.) But, this post is long enough, and it's late, so the wedding shots will have to wait for another day.