A Little Thought

Cory served an LDS mission in Tegucigalpa, Hondurus for 2 years when he turned age 19. There he taught about his beliefs as a member of the church and also did countless hours of service. I am amazed at all he went through and still loved every moment! He learned Spanish to go there and still speaks very well. I admire his efforts in life especially as I've seen his dedication to school. He hasn't missed a beat since he graduated from high school except for going to Hondurus for those 2 years to dedicate his full time to preaching the Gospel. I am amazed at Cory everyday. Not only am I lucky enough to be his wife, but I am blessed to have him as a best friend. Imagine someone who has a heart of gold, loves God, is kind to everyone, is 100% selfless, never gets mad at you, loves you unconditionally, smart, extremely funny, a friend to everyone, an amazing father, a hard worker, and extremely handsome. I mean, extreeeemely handsome. Well, that person is Cory. . . . . and I love that man with all of my heart and soul!! And I am the luckiest girl to be loved back by him!
To get to the point now. Cory and some of his companions he had on his mission take turns sending a Sunday Thought each week. It was Cory's turn last week and this is what he sent. It's very personal and I hope that anyone who comes across reading it, will with an open heart.

Here is the letter:

During the past month there have been a lot of things on my mind. For those of you, who got to know about my family while we were in Honduras, knew that my greatest heroes consisted of my Father, Grandpa Christensen and my little brother Andrew. While, I was in my first area of Cerro Grande, my little brother Andrew passed away and that was very hard for me to take. I loved him with all my heart and knew that he had been called home because there was work for him to do on the other side. Bobby was my district leader at that time and he helped me so much during that time of trial and I will always be grateful for him and his friendship then, now, and forever.

Well, last month I received a text message one Saturday night saying that my Grandpa Christensen was in his final stages of life and that he wouldn’t be with us much longer. I was in the last week of my summer clinical internship and knew that I needed to have my wife go to say my good-byes for me. The next day, my wife packed up the car and drove 12 straight hrs. by herself and everyone that is a parent knows that driving that long with 2 kids isn’t easy. However; the kids didn’t fight or whine during the whole trip which can easily be classified as a miracle like Dan talked about last week! After spending the night in Utah with her family and running a few errands in Provo my sweet wife drove the remaining 3 hr. drive to my home in Idaho.

She dropped the kids off at my parent’s house and walked to my grandparents and entered my grandparent’s room where my grandpa was. They had a great visit even though my grandpa couldn’t talk, but according to my wife she could feel what my grandpa was feeling and thinking. She said that the spirit was so strong and she knew that was a very special experience. She talked to him for about an hour and told him that I loved him so much and that I would be coming up on Tuesday but, not to wait around for me to come. My Grandpa passed away 4 hours later. That same night while I was still here in AZ, I had a hard time getting to sleep. As soon as I was asleep, I found myself in my Grandpa’s room talking to him. I can’t remember everything that was said, but I remember one thing that was said. I was told by my Grandpa to remember the good times that we had with each other and to remember that what I have been taught was true. I gave him a kiss and a hug, then woke up from my dream with and found a text from my Dad saying that my Grandpa passed away around the same time I fell asleep.
I know that this was a special experience of mine own and I am very thankful that I was able to have it. I wanted to tell you guys because I know that you know how special these things are. I am very grateful for everything that I received from my Grandpa, especially his love of the gospel and for our Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ. I know that They live and that They love us very much. I know that families can be together forever and I am dedicated to doing all within my power to make that happen. I know that the family is very important to our Heavenly Father and I am grateful for mine. I am also grateful for friends such as you I want you to know that I love you very much. Let us all tell our family members how much we love them and do what we can to make the blessing of eternal families and reality. Also, let us prepare for the wonderful weekend that we have coming up with Conference. Thanks again and love you all.

More New Haircuts

Sweet little Raegan not only took the scissors to her hair but, she knicked Easton's also. When I went to fix it - I decided to have some fun before I buzzed it. He had this mohawk for a couple days.

More Picture's of Raegan's new haircut.

My friend gave this to me. It says sisters by heart. I love it!

Raegan's new bed!

Easton's new bed!

Raegan's New Haircut

Raegan found my haircutting scissors and chopped off one of her pigtails. There went 2 years of trying to grow it out. Oh well, it's darling short too!

She didn't like that the hair was giving her "itchies" when I was fixing it.

I'm trying not to cry. . . . . . I loved her long hair. Oh well, it's just hair. Cory and I were trying not to laugh when we saw her with one long pigtail and one short.

Events. . . . .

I went to Utah for my little brother, Nate's wedding. I flew in on friday at 7 am and left monday at 8 pm. My Dad got stuck in Orem and was supposed to take me to the airport. I was in Mapleton. My other brother, Eric, who lives in Mapleton and just got married was in school. His sweet wife, Rachael was home but, without the car. So, we found the key to my Dad's other car (which is a monster taho) and she drove me to meet my dad so I wouldn't miss my flight. Normally, if I ever missed a flight I might be okay. But, this time, I MISSED MY BABIES and knew they were going to be at the airport waiting for their mother to come home. I was so grateful for Rachael helping me out and for my Dad taking me to the airport.

My beautiful twin sister, Aunt Carol, and Uncle Ken. I have a story about each of them from my trip. Becca, who lives in Salt Lake, stood up at my bro's wedding luncheon and talked about how she felt like she needed to have Nate move up to Salt Lake (from Mapleton) about a year ago, I think. She just cried (which isn't usual) about how much she realized she needed him there. Anyone who knows Nate, knows that he is the most kind and fun person to be around! She had a really good experience having him around. It touched my heart so much to hear her story.

My Aunt Carol (my mom's sister) and I went to a concert together on the 11th honoring 09/11/2001. She picked me up from my parents house in the pouring rain and had an umbrella ready for me. During the concert, we were both in tears. It was an amazing preformance! Afterwards, she and I went out for a whopper at Burger King. She and I sat there for an hour or more on a rainy sunday night, and she just listened to me talk about my experiences living in Arizona. It meant to much to me to have her spend that quality time with me.

Uncle Ken (my dad's brother) came to the temple wedding. His wife wasn't able to make it. I haven't seen him in such a long time. He is a great person! I was very very close to his mom (my grandma) and he resembles her so much. She passed away 2 1/2 years ago and it was very hard on me. I loved her so much and still do! Anyway, when I saw him a flood of emotions surfaced and my eyes swelled up with tears. He was looking at me thinking, "well what's wrong with her?" I told him and he got a little teary-eyed too. He said, "well, that's something else that I got from her - the tears that come so easily!" He is such a positive and kind person.

My littlest brother, Eric, is such a funny kid. We were ready to leave the ceremony and head over to the luncheon. I drove with him and his wife. He forgot that he had my mom's purse and without even thinking twice, threw it over his shoulder and started speedwalking to hurry and give it to her. His wife and I were laughing!

At Nate and Kate's Luncheon, there was a program Nate had at everyone's setting. He graduated in Digital Media and was able to whip this up the night before. You opened it up and on the inside was typed up "101 reasons why I love Kate". It was what he had read to her when he proposed. She is an amazing person! It's sweet, funny, and inspiring what he says. I am so glad that they both compliment each other so well. I was pretty much crying the whole trip to Utah. Happy tears. I am close to my brother and he has been there for me in the hardest times in my life. I have a very special connection with Kate, too. It was such a happy time!! I love and am grateful for my family.

When Nate and Kate came out of the temple after they were married, we were all outside waiting for them. When they walked out, he bent Kate over and gave her a huge kiss. It was so darling!

The bouquet. I love arranging flowers and my favorite event is wedding flowers. But, I sometimes let my nerves get ahead of me and freak out! I was scared that I wasn't good enough. I've done quite a few weddings but never for someone I knew until this wedding and another one in July. I did it though! And I think it turned out amazing!

I made the arrangements at my parent's house in Utah the night before the wedding and then stuck them all in their second fridge to keep them cool.

This is what the before picture looks like.




Cory and Easton. I love when they take naps together. It's so cute! My sweet boys! I have the most selfless husband. He stayed home with the kids so I could go out to Utah for the wedding. I wish he could have come, but it would have been too expensive to fly us all out there. And, I was stressed about wanting the flowers to be perfect (which is ridiculous, I know. I just need a little bit more experience under my belt and then I won't get so nervous). I missed Cory and the kids so much. Although, it's always healthy to have some "you-time". I am a big believer in that! You feel so refreshed when you get back. Especially when you're a stay-at-home mom. It's always priceless to see my kids fun as fast as they can when they see me at the airport. It is one of the BEST experiences to have as a mom. These two little munchkins just trying as hard as they can to get to me as fast as they can. I always try to keep myself calm so I don't overkill infront of all the other passengers getting off the plane. But, once I see those kids. . . . they're all I see. I speedwalk to them though. And I love love seeing my handsome husband. But he doesn't get attention from me and vis versa until the kids are home and in bed. Otherwise, they'd just be screaming and jealous.




Raegies first day of preschool. She loves her princess pap-pap.

Trip North and Preschool

Easton asleep on Aunt Alisa and Uncle Daxton's Futon. They kindly let us stay at their place in St. George on our way back from Idaho.

My little baby girl is starting preschool tomorrow. I've got her clothes all laid out. Her sharing time toy and a book she likes. She's going to love going to school!!!!

We spent a week at my parents house in Mapleton. My brother, Eric, has a remote control helicopter that the kids loved.

We were also in Idaho for a week at Cory's mom and dad's house. The kids loved being there!

Easton sleeping in the basement. I love taking pictures of him sleeping. He's so cute~

Random Photo's #3

Raegan is a sweet older sister and likes to hold her brother's hand when we drive.

There is a fountain at the mall in Arizona that the kids are always begging to jump in. I felt so bad one day when it was 115 degrees and I took them to the mall with me. They were sweating when we left so, I let them jump in with their clothes on. We got a lot of weird look but, they were two happy kids!

I uploaded a bunch of pictures from my phone and had this one on it from Easton's first bday.

I flew into Utah last minute for my brother's wedding. There was NO room for me anywhere.
So, I cleared some boxes in my mom's craft room and made me my own cozy bed. I was very proud of myself!My bestest friend in the whole wide world, Chelsey and her darling baby girl, Carmen. I LOVE these two!

My kids with their little white bottoms.

It's 2 a.m.

Funny Story: So, my youngest sister, Natalie/Noodle/Splat/Stretch/Rat-a-tat/Stroodle/Nat, left for college last week which is 3 hours away. My mom told me I could stay in her room while I'm visiting. She said she hadn't been in it yet because it would be too hard for her. So, for the past couple of days, I've been trying to think of the best way to get her in there. The idea was perfect and it worked perfectly! Mom was in bed upstairs and I was in Nat's room Downstairs. I called my mom's cell phone and told her I was downstairs and was pretty sure that I broke my toe. I was fake "freaking out". She said, "I'll be right down" and then hung up. While she was on her way down, I called Nat. Mom came in and said, "let me look at it." I just started laughing and cheering, "YOU DID IT MOM! YOU CAME IN NAT'S ROOM!" Then I handed her the phone and Natalie congratulated her. It was hilarious! I've never been hit so hard by mom, though!