for posterity...

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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Sunday, February 15, 2009

Question

What is truth?

please comment

Friday, February 13, 2009

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Someone pinch me, I think I'm dreaming.

Did Norman Gentle SERIOUSLY make the top 36!?!??!?! Can I get a "Woot! Woot!" I'm so excited about this season.
Amendment to the post, I saw something that said his personality is really "Normund Gentle." And I totally get the hoo.....t joke too.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Family Blog Evening

In our sacrament meeting today, one of the speakers talked about all her siblings being scattered around parts of Idaho and Oregon, and how, to keep track of everyone, her father had started conducting a sort of weekly Family Home Evening with all of them through their family blog.

Mom and I thought that was a great idea, very germane to our mission statement, so we decided to try it. I'll start, and she and I will then take turns each Sunday evening, posting a gospel topic about which we would like to have your separate families talk amongst yourselves and apply a comment sometime during the subsequent week. No pressure, but we would also like to see the branch family comments occasionally come from those who don't often blog, people like -Oh, I don't know-maybe Ray, Alex, Matt, Jason, for instance. If you can't get to it every time, we'll all understand. We don't want this to be an obligation, but an opportunity to share and communicate.

If Mom and I are traveling, or for any reason can't post on a given week, we will assign one of you to sub for us in determining and posting the topic for that week.

OK, on to tonight's topic. I was spiritually impressed by a hymn that we sang in our ward's choir practice today. The lyrics generated some deep memories and feelings for me. Page 293 of the current English hymnal - "Each Life That Touches Ours for Good". It's a newer addition to our hymnal so if yours is older, it may not be there. So click this link which will get you to the music portion of the Church website, and you can play the tune, adjust the tempo, etc, and sing along - it's like a karaoke machine for hymns. As you go through it, really try to contemplate it's meaning to you. OK, I'll set it up by giving you my impressions, and I can't wait to read yours.

The hymn speaks of good friends, people the Lord sends into our lives to help us. Mom and I have many good friends who would absolutely qualify in that way. What a great influence and what tremendous support they have been in our lives. I'm sure you all have Christ-like friends like that, and that you are each such a friend to others.

I think that, primarily because of the second and third verses, this hymn is often sung at funerals, but what a great reflection of the Plan of Salvation. As I sang these verses, I thought of my mother and father who, more than anyone else, "strengthened my faith and enriched my days." I also think of your good mother, who has contributed greatly to my life in that way. I can't think of her without thinking about all of you who have enriched my life. Becoming a husband and father forced me to focus on someone beyond myself, to learn to sacrifice for others. Beyond those vital lessons I continue to be impressed with the other things you teach me through your examples of "devotion to the Savior's name." My parents and all of you are friends, "gifts" the Lord has bestowed on my life, friends I just happen to be sealed to. "What greater goodness could I know?" Beyond those special family relationships, the world is full of many good people, inside and outside the Church, to whom we can be such friends, and who will then be such friends to us and others.
Dad

Saturday, February 7, 2009

You know you're a Clevelander when....

You know you're a Clevelander when you watch the weather forecast and see it's going to be 25 degrees tomorrow and say to yourself, "oh nice, it's going to be warm tomorrow."
Actually it was in the 50s today so I can't really complain, except I was indoors working all day.
Here's a couple rants now:
1) Does anyone know Al Gore's phone number? I need to call him and tell him to bring his Nobel Prize for Global Warming research to Cleveland and help me shovel the 4 feet of snow off my driveway with it so I can go to work. It makes me want to drive home the long way home and use more fossil fuel just to spite him. (I shoveled the snow 3 times the other day, the last time being at 2:00 am when I got home from work, I had to shovel because the plow blocked me so I couldn't get to my garage).
2) Seriously, do you have to report 9 year olds getting shot on the news? Every night the news kicks off with reports of people getting killed. Why does that have to be the most noteworthy news for the day. I miss Idaho with their "boring" news that's not about innocent people getting shot.
The End

Friday, February 6, 2009

Remember Snacking Cake?

I thought I would share this recipe with you guys. I found this recipe on the back of a package of flour. We used to have snacking cake for breakfast. The beauty of it is that you mix and bake the whole thing right in one pan. I'll give the recipe for a 9 x 13 pan . Half for 8 x 8 pan.
1 2/3 c flour (can add some wheat flour)
1 c brown sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 c water
1/3 c vegetable oil
1 t vinegar
1/2 t vanilla

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix flour, brown sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt in pan with fork. Stir in water, oil, vinegar and vanilla completely. Bake until wodden pick in center comes out clean--35 to 40 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar if desired.

Applesauce snack cake: Omit cocoa and vanilla. Stir in 1 1/2 t allspice (or cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves). Reduce water to 1/2 c add 1/2 cup applesauce.

Chocolate Chip Snack Cake: Omit cocoa and vanilla. Add 1/3 c chopped nuts, sprinkle 1/3 c mini or regular chocolate chips over batter.

Double Chocolate: add 1/2 c chocolate chips.

Oatmeal Molasses Snack Cake: Omit Cocoa and vanilla. Stir in 3/4 c quick cooking oast, or regular oats, and add 1 t allspice into flour mixture. Stir in 2 T dark molasses.

I often made banana snack cake with left over bananas, 1/2 c water, 1/2 c mashed bananas and 1/2 t cinnamon. You get the idea, mix dry ingredients, add liquid ingredients. You can add pumpkin instead of banana or applesauce, etc.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

American Idol is Back!

So, who are your favorite picks, before the final 20? I really like the roughneck, guy who works on oil rigs--jasper?. I like the diva black girl who survived. I like the single mom-megan from slc who sang the really original song. I liked that girl ann marie. i liked the bald buy, a little heavy. don't like puerto rico girl, her laugh drives me nuts, really like the guy from hollywood dark hair who auditioned in san francisco, i think he has been in wicked, great voice! i like jesus, i really liked that first group that performed, three guys and a black girl, liked the acapella group. really like the guy and his friend who were in the acapella group. one of the friends wore glasses. i like the guy with his lip pierced twice--nathaniel marshall, very emotional, and i like the blonde girl with the dark hair underneath. (they were together with nancy wilson) so glad bikini girl is off. I LOVE NICK! i think they like frankie. do you like the blind guy? i liked lil and matt giraud. i am certain i am forgetting some, but what do you think?

Sunday, February 1, 2009

A good day

Today was a very good day- it started off early for me (and for Matt too) as Asher woke at 1, then at 4, which is typical, but I could not fall back asleep at 4. I have a lot of things on my mind, mostly the kinds of things that keep most adults up and generally, I am so exhausted I engage in a typical train of thought, and fall back into sleep fairly quickly, but today that did not happen, so at 4 am, I decided to bear my testimony in my mind as I tried to fall back to sleep. This is something I do when I am having trouble sleeping and as I did this, I was aware of many things I am have testimony of, but especially that I am grateful for this knowledge when so many other things are things of which I remain horrifyingly unsure.

I was up first, so I did my morning things, woke the three children (I jest) and we all got ready with no cross words exchanged (maybe the first time ever, mornings are fun anyway, but with 4 of us to get ready and 2 to feed (Valerie is still not the best at fasting quite yet, but she is getting better), it makes for certain challenges, but we left on-time and happy this morning. I even gave everyone high fives in the car for the lovely morning.

At church, our Young Women president bore her testimony, then our girls got up one after the other and I felt compelled to get up so I asked Matt to move his legs so I could. He did and I sat there for a minute, and the 2nd of our twins got up. They were raised in an orphanage in Russia till they were either 6 or 8. They speak the language of my heart. I love those girls, so then Matt whispered "go!" and I did. It was a pleasure to testify of some of the things I know to be true. The most-humbling is that I have a father in heaven who loves me. That has always brought me a strange, tenuous joy because I don't even know what it is like to have a father on earth who loves me, but certain moments in my life, and tender mercies during my days have shown me throughout my life, my Heavenly Father has given me people to love me and to be loved by me, a family of my own, experiences I would have never dreamed of and for the most part, great peace. That is an assurance to me that yes, I am loved by my Father in Heaven.

As I closed, I noticed the screaming baby, was in fact, Asher, so I went to him and took him to the foyer and after circling the chapel twice and admiring the other babies in the foyer, I came back in to sit. That is when Matt told me Valerie had gotten up to bear her testimony too! I could not believe I missed it and I could not ask what she said, so I reached over and pet her for a while, grateful for that experience for her (her first time EVER to do that) and that I have been able to raise her in the knowledge of the most-important things on this earth.

In young women, we closed with testimonies and since many had already borne the things they know to be true, we got to hear more about these precious girls' knowledge and... Valerie got up again to say she knows the Church is true, that Joseph Smith restored the Gospel, that Jesus died for her and that she can be with her family forever and that if my brother and his wife so choose, they can be reunited with Gavin again. That just... I can't explain it. I am so grateful Valerie has a knowledge of those things and to all of you parents, I thank you on behalf of your children for being an example to them and letting them grow and develop their own testimonies. That is the most-precious gift above all. Sometimes, parenting really is so amazingly rewarding.