September, 2020

 Greetings Chayenne,

Hope all is well with you this September. I can’t believe that it’s going to be Penny’s 7’th BDAY. As she has grown we discuss our life very openly and honestly and she has recently talked about how excited she is to “someday be a mommy and also adopt a baby girl too”. She just knows that her birth was special and love surrounds her, and fun fact that she likes to point out, “me and brothers were all born in Albuquerque”.

Despite life still being different in the COVID world, we are trying our best to maintain balance and growth.

While I’m working at the hospital, Tessa has taken on a large role in primary online homeschooler along with her role as City Councilor, which has stayed really busy. It’s been neat to watch to kids grow closer to each other during this time.

1) Today, Penny, Elliot, and I went on a walk:

https://vimeo.com/455052947

2) A couple of weeks ago school started. At present, our district is all online. Penny attends live Zoom meetings and works with Tessa and I on homework. She misses her friends as she is an extremely social creature.

3) We get to teach about the environment and giving back through volunteer service. Last month we began helping cleanup some local roadsides of trash.

4) Always ready for a pose, and she chooses her own dress up themes.

5) We have allowed for a few play dates with other children who have families that take COVID seriously and practice the precautions. Here, she is learning about chickens and ducks at a farm in Mesilla valley.

6) We got to take the kids fishing in Ruidoso at Alto Lake.

8) Penny loves to help with chores, building things, cooking things, and especially eating things!

9) She has been asking for an indoor playhouse for a while; we are starting with a princess tent.

10) I had to travel for an event recently and quarantined for 2 weeks upon returning. We still got to do nighttime stories and tuck-in with Face Time. The boys and Penny are also rotating through as readers.

11) Depending on the day you ask her she will tell you a different combination of possible future career interests. There seems to be a theme with medical obstetrics, saying “I want to help mommy’s in hospitals have babies”. Tessa is usually the “picture taker” which is why you may not see her in many of the photos. My photo skills aren’t as good.

12) 4th of July fun

13) Rafting the Rio has been our favorite family outing since quarantine in the summer.

Hope you year is going well. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions about life in Cruces. 

Stuve Family: June 2020

Chayenne,
I can’t believe it had already been 6 months into 2020. Our world and country has taken a strange turn over the past 3 months. Between the challenges at our hospital, and for Tessa at the level of City Government, we have certainly been busy leading through the COVID pandemic alongside our community.

Although we haven’t posted anything recently, I’d like to post this video which really showcases what our kiddos have faced and how this experience has affected them.

Persephone is our beautiful, strong, intelligent, amazingly creative, and strong-willed Angel. We love her to the moon and back. This morning, she surprised us by asking us to help her take out a loose baby tooth. Usually, this ends in a lot of belabored procrastination and crying until the tooth wills itself out of her mouth. But today, she was so resolute and confident and is now fast asleep awaiting the Tooth Fairy.

Below is the video, and we hope you and your family are safe and well.

https://vimeo.com/423446815

Love,

The Stuve Family

Stuve Family: 11/30/2019

Stuve Family Thanksgivings

Lots of love from the Stuve family!

We ventured up to Albuquerque this Thanksgiving and got to play in the 6 inches of snow!

We don’t often see this kind of snow in Las Cruces so we took advantage of the unexpected weather.

We had a great time visiting with Tessa’s side of the family and just taking time for the quiet moments. 

This downtime was much needed after a lot of hard work as Tessa just recently won her City Council race here in Las Cruces (District 2). On 12/30, Tessa will be sworn into office and will be the first female councilor who is simultaneously raising school-aged children to serve in local government. There are so many important issues that face our community, and especially this group of young professionals and working families, and I am so proud of Las Cruces for supporting this missed perspective. We are all so very proud of Tessa and what she will bring to our city.

This Fall has been a lot of fun and Penny continues to be such a delight in our family. Her personality is well beyond most kids in terms of being playful and imaginative. She can turn any situation into a chance for make believe. Sometimes it’s challenging to keep up with the listing of characters and scenarios that she will delegate to those in the room with her.

She played Little Red Riding Hood for Halloween and “Honey Lemon” from Big Hero 6 in ABQ Comic Con. 

Neighborhood Park

80’s Theme night at School. Tessa serves on the Parent Teacher Organization and loves to role model .

In Mesilla, on Diez y seis de Septiembre, Luca learned how to climb the greased pole in the town square to collect the money at the top; the crowd cheered. Penny made it up the pole a few feet and is determined to keep trying next year.

 This past year so “graduated” from developmentally-delayed preschool (DDpre) for language and reading into “regular” Kindergarten curriculum. Her eyesight and brain pressures have maintained stable levels. She is doing so well!!

And of course, Grandpa time...

And, a check in from our pets...

Addie

Slushy

Scout (top) and Purrcy (bottom)

We are a blessed family and so thankful for our thriving bundle of joy, Persephone.

Chayenne, we hope that your holidays are warm and peaceful!

Lots of love from the Stuve clan,

-Penny

-Luca

-Elliot

-Tessa

-Todd

-Slushy

-Scout

-Addy

-Purrcy in

Hello Chayenne!

Stuve Life has been active the last few months!  Penny is growing in so many ways and we are simply in awe of her brilliant confidence, caring attitude, and imagination.

It is so neat to stand back and watch her interactions on her own, with friends, with family, and at school. She readily gets along with just about everybody. 

Penny knows when she is in front of a camera, and has a certain photogenic style that is completely of her own accord (it certainly didn't come from Tessa or Todd).

Here is a photo of a unique art display at our state's Capitol building in Santa Fe. Tessa worked as a Lobbyist during the legislative session this year, and we got to come visit.

I appreciate that the family still appreciates a "dog pile family hug/photo". The boys are 10, so that will probably change soon. : )

For Elliot & Luca's birthdays, they earned their own pets (Luca - Slushy the Husky; Elliot - Purrcy the Black Cat). Within the last few weeks, we adopted "Stormy Sky Sprinkles Stuve". Penny is responsible for all of those name combinations. I'd like to say that the "Sprinkles" name came from her beautiful, "Stormy Coat", with "Sprinkles" of color; however, it more likely means she still "Sprinkles" in the house.

Give a girl a tee-pee and watch her world expand. This is true for Penny. If you would like to visit, be prepared for a fully-scripted adventure!

We love taking trips to places like the Zoo, and last week (July 2019), we visited the Smithsonian Zoo in Washington, D.C. Here is our reaction to the Arapaima, the largest Amazonian fish we learned about on "River Monsters".

It's great when Form meets Function, Dad found some Bunny Shoes that also have wrap-around rubber sole protection, which are perfect for the rough-and-tumble ground play that Penny loves. She just had to show her hair stylist.

Penny has NO trouble making friends at school. I'm still deciding if she is Bossy or just Assertive, time will tell : ). Nonetheless, she has thrived being one of the only girls in our Pre-K classes, and now looks forward to starting her Kindergarten year in one of the best schools in Las Cruces. 

The Stuves love a cheeky family photo op...

Here, we brought both of the dogs to get "Poochy Cones" at Caliches, our neighborhood custard shop. Slushy (Husky) devoured his; Stormy (Great Dane) savored hers. 

Here we are again (some actors missing), but this time with Elliot's cat, Purrcy. I think we were the inaugural cat to receive such a treat.

Penny loves her Grandpa time, either with Papa (Todd's Dad)...

Or, with "Grandpa Frank" (Tessa's Dad)

Of course, there's her God Father, "Uncle Nate". Who doesn't mind being goofy to get a smile. He also happens to live right behind us, which is nice.

When live is hard, we sleep, but totally in full costume, with accessories close by (who taught her this?)

On our Washington D.C. trip Dad got to spend some quality time witnessing Penny's first air travel.

During our trip to D.C., we also had the chance to advocate for climate action on a national level. Here is another girl about Penny's age from Albuquerque that is also learning about our planet.

We got to meet U.S. Representative from NM, Deb Haaland and listen to her passion about protecting our children's environmental future.

So many humbling landmarks in D.C. The Washington Monument overshadows almost all who stand before it.

Stunning view from the WWII Memorial, across reflection pool to the Lincoln Memorial in distance.

Just a casual breakfast, and a beautiful smile that lights up our hearts. 

Kindergarten begins in less than a month, so many things to be thankful for.

We hope you are doing well Chayenne!

Lots of Love,

The Stuve Family
-Stormy
-Slushy
-Purrcy
-Scout
-Penny
-Elliot
-Lucas
-Tessa
-Todd