Michael and Shauna Christenson with Brynna and soon-to-be-returned-missionary Ryan
Visiting at the Christenson home is a treat, especially if you enjoy a four-legged welcoming committee. Appa is a two-year-old, very well-trained St. Bernese who loves to be acknowledged as an important part of the household. He is wonderful. Shauna has done most of his training, but naturally, Michael does his part when Shauna is at work. Their family is made up of Appa, Michael, Shauna, Kyle, Ryan and Brynna. Each of the children were born at Alta View Hospital, each child is three and a half years apart from the next child and each child has a birthday on the 28th day of the month!
Shauna’s maiden name is Bond. Michael says with a grin, “I married a Bond girl!” For those that love “Bond, James Bond” we know just how great he thinks his Shauna is, and he’s right! Growing up, Shauna had been very self-conscious about her height. Someone close to her shared the following: “Tall is beautiful. To be tall and beautiful, you must stand up straight.” Those kind and instructive words really helped with Shauna’s self-esteem. During high school in River Heights, Utah, Shauna won a beauty contest! (We just never know how important our kind words of instruction and encouragement can be! What an amazing effect those encouraging words have meant to Shauna in her life!)
Shauna was raised in Logan. She has five sisters and one brother. Her daddy was a professor at Utah State where he taught agricultural economics and was also a farm management specialist. When Shauna was seven years old, her daddy took a two-year assignment in Bolivia working as an agricultural specialist. Yes, the entire family went with Daddy and lived in Bolivia for those two years! One fabulous memory Shauna has of that time was a particular Christmas holiday. The Christmas holiday is three weeks long in Bolivia, so the family decided to go visit seven countries in three weeks! Two of Shauna’s favorite memories of that trip included visits to see Machu Picchu and Iguazu Falls. (Now that was a fabulous Christmas break, for certain!)
After two years in Bolivia the Bond family returned to Utah. Eventually Shauna graduated from Hyrum, Utah’s new Mountain Crest High School. She was planning to attend college at Utah State where her daddy was teaching but found out about an “In Flight Service” certificate at Dixie College and away she went. While there, roommates discovered that our sweet, well-mannered, soft-spoken Shauna is a lover of heavy metal music! (Life is full of surprises!) Shauna received her “In Flight Service” certificate as well as her associates degree in art at Dixie. In 1989 at the age of 20, Shauna was hired by Delta. In September of 2019 she celebrated 30 years with Delta! (That’s awesome, Shauna!) Her favorite flights are those that have layovers in London. She flies to Europe quite often.
Shauna said that her favorite family vacation was when their entire family returned with Kyle to Germany to see where he served his mission. They also went to Czech Republic, Austria and the Netherlands.
Shauna’s greatest joy is her family. When her children were little, she took five years off from work so that she could be home with them. That’s when Brynna interjected, “She the best mom ever!” When Shauna has a bit of free time she likes to read, do yard work, and landscaping or research where to travel. Speaking of travel, Shauna has been in 34 countries and all but one of the fifty states. Hopefully, someday she will get to Delaware!
At this point in her life, her biggest challenge is to balance between work and family. However, if she were to give advice to anyone, she would challenge them to follow their dreams. As Shauna says, “You can have it all!”
Shauna and Michael met while attending a single’s ward in Taylorsville. Shortly after meeting, Shauna planned to move a bit closer to work. Shauna’s home teacher was a friend of Michael’s and helped Shauna move. The good news was that this devoted home teacher and friend of Michael’s knew Shauna’s address, which of course he shared with Michael.
Now Michael, among other things, is an artist. Shauna, being a flight attendant, was out of the country quite a bit with Delta. Michael started sending hand painted cards to Shauna signed by “Secret Agent, E.B., Eligible Bachelor.” This went on for several weeks when finally, a most intriguing card was sent to Shauna. The card indicated that Secret Agent E.B., Eligible Bachelor would be returning from Portland, Oregon the next day, and if she wanted to meet him, she should meet this particular flight.
Naturally, the next day, Shauna was at the airport waiting for that flight from Portland and watching to see if she recognized any of the passengers getting off that flight. She saw him first, then he saw her. Michael walked up to her and she asked if he was Special Agent E.B. Michael pulled out a business card that identified him as the correct person. THEN Michael asked Shauna if he could make her dinner on Sunday. She accepted, they “did church” and Michael made a fabulous Italian dinner and they spent the entire day together! Thereafter, every time she was in town, they would spend time together. So, meeting the Portland flight was in October, their engagement was in March and they were married June 14, 1991. They first lived at Promontory Point in Sandy then bought the home they are presently in, where they spent their first anniversary.
Let’s learn a little bit about Michael, other than he is very creative and makes cool cards to woo the woman of his dreams. Michael was born in Pocatello, Idaho and has a younger brother and a younger sister. His mother was a schoolteacher and daddy worked for the Idaho State Tax Commission. When Michael was 14 his family moved to Farmington, Utah and his daddy worked for the finance department for the church. Michael was eighteen years old when he graduated from Davis High School, and two weeks after graduation he was at the MTC. Michael had been called on a mission to serve eighteen months in the Italy Catania mission. That mission included the southern part of Italy as well as Sicily. Amazingly, Michael’s parents were in the MTC at the exact same time that Michael was there! His parents had accepted a call to serve a three-year mission in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where his daddy would be the mission president.
As soon as Michael returned from his mission, he attended BYU for a semester then went to Weber State where he received his BA in English literature. Michael has been on his own since he was 18 years old because his parents were serving on missions as well as other assignments. He really learned to rely on the Church and the Lord because his parents were always fulfilling assignments for the church. He really believes that one of his greatest accomplishments has been staying close to the Church in spite of the fact that his parents were not around.
Michael remembers fondly that he got the “travel bug” from his family. Before his family moved from Pocatello, Idaho, his daddy was sent to work in Mexico City for a while. A favorite neighbor-friend said she was going to drive to Mexico and wanted to know if Michael’s mother would like to caravan down to Mexico as well. Michael was 12, his brother was 8 and his sister was 5 years old. Michael’s mother drove the entire way by herself in a VW bus with a pop-up top. They stayed in cheap hotels and camped out the entire way. They had a blast!
Michael has a fond memory of always reading a lot. When he was in the second grade, he read a book called “Spooky Magic.” He was hooked! He became fascinated with magic. Michael learned at a very early age that if you are interested in something, there is a book about it, no matter what that something is. Michael became a magician and did magic shows for ten years. He made all his own props (no small task; thankfully he really loves doing woodworking) and really enjoyed his work as a magician. He did a couple of shows at the Sandy Amphitheater. Michael is retired from doing magic and teaches English at the American Preparatory Academy.
Michael is a published author and uses the pseudonym of Michael Darling which Shauna chose. He likes writing fantasy and science fiction. His books can be found on Amazon, where he is noted as being a best seller twice. His books can be found in other bookstores as well. Michael has written a dozen short stories and the next one will come out in the spring.
Michael enjoys reading, traveling, and cooking fancy Italian food as well as cooking “simple” foods. He really believes that, whatever you are born with, learn to live with it and make the most of it. No matter what that is. Also, Michael would encourage everyone to never stop learning. (Those are great words of wisdom, Michael.)
The Silvercrest Ward and the neighborhood are fortunate to have this talented, kind, knowledgeable and creative family living amongst us. Oh, if you have a desire to learn a magic trick to share with your family, Michael said he would spend five minutes to teach us! That’s a kind offer! Thanks Michael!
~ Sister Susie Austin