Two years after their engagement at The S-R clocktower, Idaho couple welcome a new member to their family

Two years ago on Dec. 30, 2019, Travis Christensen got down on one knee in The Spokesman-Review clocktower and proposed to his girlfriend Kendra Buell, and she said yes.

The towering proposal in downtown Spokane followed a nearby and detailed scavenger hunt – which included the Spokane Club, Jewel Box Salon, Finders Keepers, Auntie’s Bookstore, Rain Lounge and Colby Acuff, Wild Sage Bistro and Riverfront Park – before popping the question at the newspaper.

Fast forward to this month, and all is well with Travis Christensen, 34, of Moscow and Kendra Christensen, 28, of St. Maries. The couple, who live in Genesee, Idaho, had planned to wed at Overbluff Cellars in Spokane on April 18, 2020, but the pandemic thwarted their plans, so they instead got married in his parents’ yard in Coeur d’Alene on April 10, 2020, with friends and family watching via Zoom.

“We didn’t want to wait to get married because we didn’t know when the pandemic would end,” Travis Christensen said. “We were ready to start our new life together.”

And “halfway to Christmas this year,” as the enthusiastic Christensen, who works on tugboats in the Puget Sound, said over the phone Wednesday afternoon, the couple welcomed their first child, baby boy Arlo, on June 25 at Gritman Medical Center in Moscow.

“Oh, man, it was kind of indescribable,” Christensen said of Arlo. “A nurse friend of ours in Alaska who delivers babies said the best thing that new couples can do is go in with a plan. It took longer than we had planned, but it was amazing.

“We waited until birth to know the gender and were so glad. It was such a thrill.”

How did the couple arrive at the name Arlo? “We just looked at a name list,” Christensen said. “It was from A-Z, and it was a pretty quick discussion. It’s not an exciting story, but it’s a unique name.”

How is married life to his wife, who works as a contract administrator in the Office of Sponsored Programs at the University of Idaho?

“I have a trained answer now,” Christensen said, laughing. “I used to reply, ‘It’s pretty good.’ When I told Kendra, she said, ‘Why is it only pretty good, Travis?’ So, the answer is married life is pretty great. It’s awesome!”

As the new year approaches, the new dad is looking forward to being around the house.

“I need to finish projects that I’ve already started,” he said. “The kitchen cabinet project is still going on eight months later.”