46 Years Ago... (see movie clip on right)

When we saw this little movie clip, we couldn't help but notice the similarities between Brendon and his Grandad Christensen. In the Summer of 1963 Marvin Christensen departed for his 2 year mission in Aukland, New Zealand.

46 years later and now Brendon and Connor are the first of the Christensen grandsons to go on missions!

Brendon had to mimic Grandad's little moment of pretending to nervously bite his nails as he headed to the airplane. Brendon was feeling a little nervous too!

Leaving on a Jetplane...

The hour is finally here! Sending a missionary out is a lifelong dream and a long, tedious list of things to do and things to gather.


But ultimately we all felt very excited and grateful for the great work that Brendon would get to contribute to. What a blessing it is to know that Brendon will be serving the Lord and the people of Brazil. He will be building the kingdom of our Heavenly Father and will be sure to experience many wonderful changes in his life as he learns discipline, charity, obedience, and reliance upon the Lord.

After a late night of last minute details, we woke up at 5 o'clock AM to get everyone ready and out the door for the morning flights from Sacramento.

Brendon and Connor both flew out of the Sacramento Airport
 straight to Sau Paulo, Brazil.

HOWEVER,

Connor left at 8:25am on American Airlines changing planes in Dallas

and

Brendon flew out at 11:35am on Delta Airlines changing planes in Atlanta

Needless to say this was a long Goodbye!

GOODBYE TO CONNOR!

Brothers say Goodbye - until tomorrow when they meet in Sao Paulo!

2 more hours til Brendon's Flight... Let's Get Breakfast!

 

New companion? or bread twin?

...and take a drive along the Sacramento River!

 

Back to the Airport...

Brendon was relatively calm during the wait,
however, we could tell he was getting a little nervous
when he started trying to offer comic relief.

He can always make us laugh!


He looked so handsome in his Missionary attire!

Goodbye Dad and Mom!

Goodbye Little Sisters!

DESTINATION: Sao Paulo! Goodbye Elder Brendon!

Our Official Missionaries!

The evening before the departure, we met with Bishop Fox and Stake President Watkins where the boys were set apart as official missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It was a great experience and we are so grateful for these two great men that helped make this possible.

The goal - 1 carry-on suitcase and 1 backpack to fit everything needed for 2 years in Brazil.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

The suits, the official uniform of a missionary, laid out just like the night before school...
These boys are excited to go!

The TwinStone

While skipping rocks into the river, Brendon found a very interesting stone. It had split almost exactly in half and he had found both pieces that still fit perfectly together.
We decided that this stone was very symbolic of Brendon and Connor and the transition that they would experience very soon. Just as this stone had once been whole, so had Brendon and Connor, together since before birth. In two parts, the stone is still beautiful and strong and each piece is unique, but together each piece supports and compliments and strengthens the other.

Soon a change in life will seperate our sons for a period of time, but one day they will be brought back together, best friends and brothers, united again. This stone now sits at our home on our fireplace mantle, a reminder of our day in Hope Valley.

For now, the stone is together, as a whole. But in October, when Connor goes South to Porto Alegre and Brendon goes North to Fortaleza, we will separate the stones into two pieces. They will remain apart until one day in August of 2011 when we will bring each piece to the airport and each of our strong, unique sons will join the stone together again.

August 24, 2009 -Hope Valley - A Little Time Away

By the time Sunday night rolled around,
the farewell talks and parties were over,
and the guests had all gone home and the to-do list was mostly done. We realized we really just wanted to spend some time alone enjoying each other as a family. We decided to let the girls take the day off school and spend part of Monday on a picnic. Hope Valley came to mind as a beautiful, inspirational place in the nearby mountains. Grandma Carpenter came with us and we had a lovely,
memorable day.

It was a good thing to have lots of leftovers from the past couple of days of parties and dinners... we had a delicious lunch!

  

The Carson River drifts lazily through this beautiful canyon,

a perfect spot for a picnic and a little ankle-deep wading.

Farewell Weekend

Early Saturday morning we got a surprise.... Uncle Todd, Uncle Kevin, and cousins,        Nick, Zach and Noah had driven 13 hours     ALL THE WAY FROM ARIZONA!!!

...Just so they could be here for the Open House and Farewell and to give last hugs and goodbyes! This was especially meaningful because Brendon and Connor's closest cousin, Nick will depart on his mission about 6 months before they return home. It will be a long time til they meet again!

We spent most of Saturday preparing for the Open House and were happy that so many kind friends came to wish the Elders good luck and Goodbye.

Sunday was a special day. Brendon and Connor spoke in church and their sister sang a beautiful solo arrangement of "I Know that My Redeemer Lives" accompanied by piano and cello. It was a very heartfelt piece of music and touched everyone in attendance.

          Brendon, Aunt Karen, Grandma Carpenter, Aunt Jody, Connor


Then later Sunday, after the boys from AZ departed, we had a big family dinner with all of our family that live here close by.  It was a very special day!