Happy Birthday:) My 57 Years

Do you ever dread having another birthday because you're another year older?? I've decided to be THANKFUL that I have another year to be alive and spend time with those I love. Tomorrow I will turn 57 years old, but as I think over those 57 years I have SO much to be thankful for. I've decided to do a little Bio for my kids and grandkids and share a few things that have shaped "my life" and made me who I am.

I was born in Provo, Utah on January 16, 1958. We were living in Price, Utah at the time where

my dad was teaching at the college. I was the third daughter born to

Robert and Christa Kendall.

A few weeks after my brother was born in Aug. 1959 we moved to Albuquerque, NM where

my parents purchased their first home for $10,800. We only lived there one year and then my dad got

a teaching job in Wasco, Ca. where we lived for 4 years.

My mom had 4 kids in less than 5 years...needless to say we kept her busy!!

When I was around 4 years old my mom got a job. We didn't need the money, she just wanted to work.  I don't fault her as she was raised differently, in Germany during the war.  Somehow that really affected me though, as a child coming home to an empty house & us kids getting into trouble and fighting all the time. From the time I was very young I always wanted to be a "stay at home mom" and I think it was because of that.

We moved to Salt Lake City in 1964 where we rented a house for a year and then my parents

purchased this home at 2826 So. 2520 E. for $15,500. 

My dad got a teaching job at East High School teaching Biology. I actually drove the car in the driveway during my High School days. One of my memories of this car was changing the oil filter with a roll of toilet paper. You would just dump out the old one on a bunch of newspaper, wipe out the tin canister & insert a new roll and it was good for several months.

I was a typical kid. We walked to school each day and yes we had to wear dresses everyday until I was in Jr. High School.

This is my 3rd grade school pictures. I'm on the front row, third from the left.

One of my most memorable summers as a kid was going to visit my Uncle Harry & Aunt Geneva on their dairy farm in Idaho. The summer we were there, their big barn burned to the ground and so my parents let my sister and I (Christine) stay with them for a month. We had so much fun riding horses, milking cows and swimming in the canal.

I almost hate to post this next picture….you guessed it, I was 14 years old and life was miserable…so I thought. Its a trying time of your life, but if we can just see past ourselves it can be O.K. One of the things that changed my life was when I was 16 or 17 I got a job working at a nursing home. All of a sudden I started caring about other people and forgetting about myself and learned to love many of the patients I took care of. I would even attend some of their funerals when they passed away.

 Mother/Daughter Weekend

After graduation from High School I attended Dixie College for two years. I'm so grateful I had that opportunity as I learned a lot about myself. For the first time I was given some BIG responsibilities that I had never done before and learned the importance of "following through" with assignments. I was the Chairman of Mother/Daughter weekend for the whole college. I received my Associate Degree from Dixie.

 In between my two years at Dixie I spent the summer working in Alaska at Glacier Bay. Being a minority as a member of the church brought new meaning to "Every member a missionary." Many kids working there had questions about the gospel that I couldn't answer. I loved sharing what I knew, but realized there was a lot I didn't know. It was here I started thinking about going on a mission.

After I received my Associate Degree from Dixie College I worked for 7 months at a Pharmaceutical Company awaiting my 21st birthday to go on a mission. I left the day after my birthday and served in the California Arcadia Mission. My mission was one of the hardest things I've ever done, but one of the most rewarding and I learned many things that have helped me throughout my entire life!!

When I returned home from my mission my dad was set on me going to BYU, but as I prayed about it I felt very strong that I should go the University of Utah. My second quarter at school I knew why the Spirit had directed me to the U as I met the MOST important person in my life. I get emotional  even as I write this as Russ has helped me become who I am more than any other person on this earth. He has always believed in me, even when no one else did, has loved me no matter what & has truly loved me for who I am…faults and all. I thought and still do think he's the most handsome guy I know!!

On September 15, 1981 Russ and I were married in the Salt Lake Temple…it was one of the happiest days of my life!! We've been married 33 years now and I pray we'll have many more years to come!

After we got married we moved to Logan, Utah where Russ and I both graduated from Utah State University. After being married only 4 months we were surprised to find out I was pregnant!! Going to school full time, working and being pregnant was a real challenge, but we were so excited to be parents for the first time. 

The Lord knew I needed Kristy in my life over the next four years while Russ was in dental school. She was born October 10, 1982 and has been a HUGE blessing in my life, along with all of my children!!

After graduation Russ was accepted into 4 different Dental Schools and we chose to move to Oklahoma City, OK. My dad purchased this home and we paid rent to him. We did lots of work on this home and it had the nicest yard in the neighborhood when we left. It was in a rough neighborhood and as I look back now I KNOW we were being watched over there. We had so many weird things happen while we lived there. We actually purchased a handgun & kept it loaded in the house. I got it out a couple of times, but fortunately never had to use it.

My biggest heartache & worry when we moved to OKC was that I had to get a job and find someone to watch Kristy. She was only 10 months old and it KILLED me to leave her. We finally decided I would get a job where I worked from 3:00 pm -12:00 am everyday. This way she only had to go to the sitters for 2 or 3 hours and Russ would watch her when he got home from school. I got a job working at the Oklahoma Blood Institute working in the Lab. I would help do all the tests on the blood donations to see if they had HIV, Syphilis, determine blood type, etc.  Russ would go to school from 8:00 to 4 or 5 everyday, come by my work and get the car (we only had one car for the first 10 years of our marriage) & then pick up Kristy from the sitters. At midnight he would take her out of bed and drive downtown to pick me up. We did this for four years. Russ felt bad, but there was no way he could work, take 40 hours a semester & study, so I was the soul provider. I would do all the house stuff in the mornings, make dinner for Russ, do church assignments, etc. before I went to work. It was a VERY challenging time in our lives. 

Needless to say I was soooo happy when Russ graduated from Dental School. Three months before Russ graduated I found out I was pregnant!! We were so thrilled as we had been trying for several years and I'd gone to a fertility doctor and had had many different procedures and tests done on me.

 As hard as those four years were, when we moved we stood in our empty house and both cried like babies.  Kristy assured us, when she saw us crying that we'd make new friends when we moved. The truth was working on something so hard together had helped bring us closer together.

I know this is getting WAY too long so I'll pick up where I left off in a couple of days. The next adventure of our life was joining the Air Force! 

I'm grateful to start another year of my life and pray I'll be able to help a few people along the way:)