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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Thursday, March 10, 2011

Evening Antics



Hi, everyone. Not a lot to report here. It is "Spring Break" at JMU, but really all that means is that I dont have classes to teach. Instead, I am cleaning up a really, really, REALLY over-used Genetics lab and a terribly abused micro lab. There is one professor (who incidentally did not teach last semester) who has not trained his students to clean up after themselves. So, it is scrubbing floors and the like for my spring break. Ugh. The good news is that I am not going in until 10, so that is a super benefit. We will likely be moving next week if we can get a lot of things to fall into place. Valerie is super-excited about more room. I am more than a little emotional about leaving here... but it is what it is, I am trying to make myself not dwell. Not so excited about dealing with baby gates and stairs, very excited about screened-in back porch and no "great room." NEVER again, NEVER will I want one in my home. Ugh.

Asher is talking so much more lately. It is incredible, in fact. I had been seriously worried about autism because he would just stare at me blankly- even 6 weeks ago. His speech pathologist has been very good at casting those fears aside. Asher does need speech therapy, but not because of a mental development or cognitive delay (hallelujah!). I remember when he was a screaming baby, I could not even give him a pacifier because he could not keep it in his mouth. Whatever muscles are required to keep a pacifier in were not developed- that is absolutely related to his speaking and eating difficulties. He was/is still eating baby food purees and having bits of fruit in yogurt is enough to make him throw up... It explains so much, but still, to see the amazing speech strides he has made is truly mind-boggling. This week, he has started repeating me. That always makes me laugh. Again, this is something he should have been doing months ago, but he wasn't, so it makes it all the more monumental and exciting for me. He is a great, lovable, happy boy. He is full of energy and runs everywhere (and falls because of it). He is a joy and he does keep me busy. His personality is something that makes every person we meet fall in love with him- and make us lots of friends. Really and truly, he is one special kiddo. We are so lucky to have him.

Valerie is starting high school next year- she signed up for Latin which made me very happy. Somehow, she did not realize it, but I was quite the Latin scholar back in high school. I had 5 years and competed nationally in translation and oration ;-) I am excited about that for sure! She also had a fantastic time in Florida 3 weeks ago, although I think we are all still recovering from the 2 am departure and 3 am arrival ;-)

I can not believe how late Easter is this year! Does anyone celebrate Lent and/or Holy Week? I actually definitely include it in our family because I think those traditions are beautiful and so special.

I would love to know how everyone is doing! It seems like everyone has a lot of excitement going on!
Leslie and Alex with the baby at the same time as opening a "taco truck"
Becky and Ray with the upswing of business into the spring and Grace's baptism
Colin and Lori with the move to Washington and selling their Cleveland house
Dana and Jason as they settle back into their most-favorite town on earth and selling the Texas house
Abby and David as they get through long business trips
David and Debby in terms of getting water to the cabin...

There is a lot going on. How is everyone?

5 comments:

David and Debby said...

crystal, that video is so darling. what darling children, both of them. love to hear asher talking some. still no water at the cabin. have to wait to get city water. trying to recover from the drive through at the office. i sent matt a text, was in such a dither only sent one per couple. crazy day. feeling a little like spring here. carl and lynnae's daughter collette is getting married in three weeks. david is going but i am still on hold. don't want to miss baby delgadillo's arrival. snow has melted, but that could change overnight. my dad's knee is a little better, still swelling way too much. he is going to church sunday, though. my brother gerald had double hernia surgery this week. i feel awful, didn't even know he was going in that day. busy at the office, grateful for my blessings. grateful for you and matt and asher and valerie. david is working all he can on the latest crib. think that's all our news for today.. xoxoxo

David and Debby said...

He's a wild and crazy little boy. He will go far - on foot and otherwise.
Grandpa

Colin & Lori said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Colin & Lori said...

Crystal,
We're doing well here. The house will go on the market in a couple weeks. I have been sort of worthless the last few months because I have been studying as much as I can for the boards. I take them Wednesday so I can finally relax a little. It's like I'm back in med school again studying 8-10 hours a day.
We have found several houses we like in Spokane but we will have to see how our Cleveland house goes. We may end up renting if it takes a while to sell. We'll see.
Norah is doing well, gaining weight, staying awake longer.
We are all getting excited for the big change coming up.
We were all glad to hear about your promotion and Matt finding a job after so much time spent looking. We would like to make it out to VA one more time before we move. I think there are several places on our list of places to visit that we don't get to, but hopefully we can see you guys before we go.

Colin

Jason and Dana said...

We are missing Texas, but loving Boise. It's so hard for this to feel permanent when we don't have our own house. Not sure how long I'll last at the in laws. We're going to Pocatello this weekend unless the doctor tells me "any day," at my appointment Wednesday. I got to go back to the doc I went to with Colby and Eva and I love her! Plus she changed hospitals so I get to deliver at a really nice one with maternity suites and whatnot. Jason is really liking the new job, and it is not so demanding, which is really nice. He was in Washington the first 4 days at the meat processing plant for training. He's going back up on the corporate jet Thursday for the day. (corporate jet, who says that?) he's hoping if he goes up whenever that is scheduled that he won't have to go for an extended stay anymore. Colby is liking kinder and not getting in any trouble. I think 3 hour days vs 7 hour days was a good move for him. The girls are adjusting well! Jason took Colby and Eva to the Monster Jam on Saturday. I'm spending lots of time with Tina. Life is going well and seems like it can only get better. This is a much longer update than I meant it to be.