Hi Everyone!
The Christensen family has had a few very busy and productive weeks. Anne came to visit for two weeks and she reminded me that it is nice to keep in touch more often so we know what is going on with everyone. I agree. So here is my new attempt at sending news every week. Sometimes I think life is so busy that it is a miracle that we just get through every weeks activities let alone record them, but my memory is so awful that if I don’t record them I’ll get to the end of this life and wonder what I did with all my time! I just want all of our family members and friends to know how much I love you all.

Anne flew in on the 17th of October and we took her to Orem where we were helping Stacy put a new roof on her house. Stacy, her boys, Mom and Matt had already been working on it for a couple of days taking the old roof off. They actually ended up taking two roofs off. We helped on Friday night with the demolition and then Saturday we laid new OSB, tar paper and put the shingles on. It is really satisfying and rewarding to do something like that. We were putting on the last ridge shingles in the dark on Saturday night. Unfortunately we didn’t get the fascia done and Stacy had to finish that on Monday. Eliza and Sam came and helped us too and Beka and Eric came Saturday afternoon. It was fun to have everyone there on the roof.

The fall leaves in Utah were still pretty so after church (We attended Rachael and Rob’s ward to watch their cute little baby, Jack be blessed.) on Sunday we drove up to Aspen Grove and hiked the Timpanogos trail up to the falls.

The Rodabough’s get together for Sunday dinner every month and we were lucky enough to get to go. It was a Halloween dress up dinner at Mom’s and with the help of Stacy’s wonderful costumes, we were all decked out for the party. It was so much fun to see everyone, especially the little kids in their cute costumes. Nita made Taco bowls and the food was wonderful. We played games that Maureen brought and we visited and looked through photo albums.

The kids have been doing great in school. The quarter ended last week and we went to parent teacher conferences. All of the kids are doing well in school. I appreciate how diligent they are in their studies and that they are honest. Grandpa and Grandma C. teach Maxwell’s Sunday school class and the lesson this week was on honesty. They learned that there is a lot of cheating that goes on in school. I’m glad that my children are committed to being honest and good students. David really enjoyed visiting with the teachers. It is fun to know them personally and to have them like and enjoy our kids so much. Mr. Roper can’t wait to have another one of “those optimistic Christensens” in his class next year.

We decided to take a mini-vacation last week. The kids were out of school because of parent teacher conferences and Anne was here so we decided to go hiking in Zion National Park. I missed the hike the youth did this last summer because I was so involved with the youth cultural celebration. We drove there on Friday, picking up Sam and Eliza on the way. We did a few of the shorter hikes that evening. Saturday morning we headed up Angel’s Landing. (Abi’s good friend, Liz, and her parents met us at the parking lot and we hiked with them all day. They moved to Page Arizona over the summer. It was great to see them and visit.) Angel’s Landing is such a beautiful hike. It is quite exposed as you hike a narrow ridge, holding on to chains that have been bolted into the rocks. We saw two California Condors catching the air drafts and flying over the trail below us. The birds were as big as people and absolutely beautiful. The top was breathtaking. We sang “Nearer My God to Thee” which seemed appropriate especially the part about “. . . Angels to beckon me.” David had a great time visiting with all of the foreigners on the trails. There were several Germans and a really sweet Scottish man and his new wife. That afternoon we headed to the Narrows trail head. This hike is in the bottom of a very narrow canyon and you have to hike through the water the whole way. The water temperature that day was only 47 degrees. We put on our water shoes and headed up the trail. I was only able to cross three times and I decided it was way to cold for me. By the time I had picked my way across, me feet were hurting so badly I couldn’t move. Everyone else went on and Max and Sam made it to where the canyon forks. It was a great trip. The fall colors were amazing and the canyon was wonderful. I would like to go and spend a week hiking. Zion National Park has a great shuttle service and you can get anywhere in the park so easily. It is a ‘must do.’

We visited the orthodontist this week too. Madi, Kelsey and Max all need braces. Kelsey has been to the dentist twice since then to have teeth filled and a crown. I told her she is now officially a princess because she has a real crown! She has had a sore mouth, but it is getting better. Now we need to orthodontist to decide which teeth to pull out and she’ll be ready for braces.

The girls had a soccer party here at the house on Monday afternoon. They have so many good friends on the soccer team it was fun to get to know them. They ate and played games and watched a movie.

Wednesday was the ward Harvest Banquet. I enjoyed visiting with Nan Johnson, Linda Barney, Carrie Burton and several other people. David and I are serving in the nursery and sometimes we feel like we are in a complete information vacuum. It was nice to catch up on the news with people. The High Priests and Elders put on a skit of Snow White. Bobby Worthington has a saved head and they put big ears on him to dress him up as Dopey. I will never be able to look at him the same way again! It was great!

Friday David and I took Anne to the Airport in Salt Lake for her flight home. We had a great visit with her on the way there. Now I guess it is our turn to go visit her. At the airport I was wishing I could go with her and meet her parents and see what her life is like in Germany. She is such a blessing and a joy to us and we are so glad she is a part of our family now.

I hope you all have a great week this week. The next letter should be a lot shorter because I’m going to try to do this every week. Hugs and kisses until next time!
Kim

Twin Falls Temple

Tonight Kelsey, Max and I went to the open house for the Temple. We met Beka & Eric and Eric's family at the temple and toured it together. It is such a perfect temple, small but adequate and very beautiful! I am awestruck by the details and how the temple reflects the Magic Valley. The ordinance room with the mural of Shoshone Falls and the valley was beautiful. There are syringa flowers in the glass and gold leafing. It will be such a blessing to have the temple only 45 minutes away!

Well, I started this and I haven't written anything for several weeks. Sometimes I really wonder if anyone is interested in the 'goings on' in other people's lives and I wonder if there is really anything great to write about. Most of life is just maintenance, watering the yard and garden, cleaning, laundry, cooking and dishes. That's what life is made of but occasionally there are wonderful bright spots that make everything else worth while. I'll try to fill in a few of those that have happened recently.

Last Saturday morning David, Sam and I went up to our wards scout camp. We were going to ride our bicycles from Lake Cleveland all the way home. It would help provide the boys with a 25 mile bike ride that was pretty easy because it is mostly downhill. We had a great start, except for when I forgot to unclip my shoes on a gravel hill and when I came to a dead stop I fell right over and smacked my heat on the ground! I know it must have looked really funny and then David, in all his wisdom, remarked how he has biked enough to have unclipping become second nature. (I really laughed when he fell over 1 mile from our house when he forgot to unclip!) The best part of the whole trip was Jade Larsen. He is a young man with a heart condition and has had at least 2 open heart surgeries, the last one being almost a year ago when they put in a pig valve and several synthetic patches to repair his heart. He was so young when they did the first surgery to save his life that, because the size of the area they were working on was so small, they accidentally cut one of the nerves and now his heart beats twice then skips a beat. Jade was going to ride with us for the downhill portion but his dad really wanted him to put his bike in the back of the truck and drive to the top of the Albion grade and then ride his bike the rest of the way home. Jade wanted to ride the whole way. He already knew that he couldn't keep up with the other kids, but he wanted to do it. I think the climb is 2 miles long and just a steady grade so David and I told him how to shift into a low gear and just keep peddling at an easy pace. He was amazing! He kept a steady pace and stopped and rested when he needed to and when he reached the top, his fist went into the air and you could feel his elation! That was a great feeling. I was impressed by his determination and his fighting spirit!

There are several things that are bringing me such joy right now. I am so excited for the Twin Falls Temple Celebration and Dedication coming the end of August. I get so happy just thinking about it. I'm lucky to be directing our youth choir from Declo Stake. There are 60 choir members and they will participate in a choir of over 700 youth from 14 stakes. We've had so much fun learning the music (6 songs) and preparing. I love our youth from our stake and have enjoyed getting to work and play (The Declo fire department came last week and sprayed everyone to cool us off.) with them and getting to know them better. I've also been making costumes for this production and that had been so much fun. Madisen, Max and Kelsey are dancing and Eliza and Abigail are singing with the choir. Eliza made an audio/visual presentation to help me teach the youth an original song that was written for this production. Our general director was at our practice the night we used it and she loved it so much, we're re-making it in a higher resolution to be shown on the large 9'X12' LED screens that the church is sending to us to use! I'm also thrill to be directing one of the dedication choirs. It is very humbling and I feel so inadequate. I hope our offering will be beautiful and full of the spirit for this special occasion.

Other bright spots I have enjoyed lately are, working in the garden with the kids, fresh peas & lettuce & chard, a silly dog, watching the kids get pulled on the tube in the river, watching Eliza be Dorothy, a visit from Beka and Eric, Honey's great grilling and several other things. Life is good.

Along with bright spots in life come sad times too and the loss of my brother Harry has been a very sad spot for me. I grew up with him and knew him when addiction was not a part of his life. I knew his brightness and uninhibited joy as a young boy, and saw glimpses of his true self occasionally. I'm left with the thought, "I wish........" and I do wish so many things had been different; that he could have been able to find happiness, peace, love, success. I wish he could have realized his amazing talent and potential, we all saw amazing gifts he had. I wish he could have enjoyed his children more. I hope he knew how much I loved him. I hope he has finally found the peace he didn't have in this life. And I say along with Brandon and all my family, "Goodbye for now, Harry. We love you."

This looks like fun!

This looks like fun so I thought I would give it a try. I was really good about sending out letters while Sam was on his mission in Chicago, but I stopped when he came home and now I'm wondering what has happened over the last 3 months and how I felt about all of it, and there is nowhere to go to remember. I've been a terrible journal keeper but maybe with some luck, this will be the thing that keeps me recording all of the wonderful things that are happening. We've had a great spring with Sam coming home in March, Rebekah's wedding May 1st and Eliza's High School graduation the end of May. I'll try to post some pictures and fill in the details of these landmark events in other posts. Now we're on to preparing for the dedication of the new Twin Falls Temple. That has been the major focus of the last month and will continue as a priority until the Youth Cultural Celebration on August 23rd and the Dedication services on the 24th. More information will follow on coming posts. Everyone is so busy living life, it is hard to record it and share it, but I really do feel this is important and I love to see and hear from others too. Thanks for reading and keeping tuning in for more great things to come!