2017 Family Letter

And just like that, it’s December again when we reflect on the past year and where all the time went.

After at least 50 camping nights, 12 courts of honor, and 6 years of wrangling 12-13 year old boys (including one of his own sons), Wally was released as Scoutmaster of the local Boy Scout troop. He’s still biking to work a couple of times a week, and tries to get out on the dirt trails a couple of times a month. Although he tries to be a do-it-yourself-er, his recent adventure putting in a new floor required a lot of help and advice from a lot of other people to prevent him from becoming a “do it yourself twice-er.” He and Ronni were able to go to the UK this summer for work, and spent a little time exploring London.

Ronni, who has been serving at our church as the “singing lady” (the Primary Chorister for kids 3-11), was relieved of her songleading duties a few months shy of her 6^th Primary Program. She still manages to rock it on the piano for the phenomenal choir performances in our local congregation. She was tapped to organize the ward Christmas party, and pulled off the best Pajama Christmas Party the ward has ever seen. She roped Wally into going backpacking with her (not that hard to do, as it turns out) to help with Girls Camp. She drives everyone everywhere while they drive her crazy. As the resident and very talented photographer, she takes amazing pictures you can see on her Instagram account @ronnipaxton.

Kelsie is a senior in high school and approaching the prospect of college next year mostly by sticking her fingers in her ears and saying “lalalalala” whenever we bring it up. She’s working hard in school this year, taking a few AP classes that she (mostly) enjoys, and earned an academic Letter. She joined the school production of The Sound of Music, and we are anxiously awaiting the show in February. Those of you who’ve experienced the unusual life with 17 year olds might understand: this year has been a strange mixture of “What in the world are we going to do with this kid?” and “Wow! I don’t know if I feel quite right taking credit for how amazing she is turning out!” But we take it day by day and, on balance, we are so incredibly lucky to have her as a part of our lives. And as a part-time chauffeur 

Brandon is 14 and a bit of a gym rat. He had a lot of fun playing on the freshman Football team this year, and took home the Heart of the Bear award for embodying positive mental attitude and good sportsmanship. But his real love is Basketball, and after a lot of hard work he managed to earn a spot on the undefeated (so far) freshman team. He also managed to talk his dad into a trip to see the Oklahoma Thunder on their home court defeat the Timberwolves. He spent a week hiking the high country near Santa Fe with the Boy Scouts and his dad and pulled a couple of nice trout out of the streams up there so we could have some fish tacos on the trail. Lucky for us, like a lot of 14-year-olds, he’s already got the world figured out, but, with a little encouragement and an occasional loud conversation, he allows mom and dad run the show most of the time.

Caleb, our 5^th grader, started the year already having read more than I have in my entire life, and added to it 9000 more pages just this summer, including the entire Percy Jackson series. He loves playing with friends, shooting hoops, and writing computer code. After managing to get drone propellers stick in his sisters long hair, he has practiced pretty hard and now is hands down the best remote control drone pilot in our family. Scouts is pretty fun most of the time and he is just a few check marks away from his Arrow of Light. Speaking of light, he helped run the lights for a couple of theatrical productions with the Missoula Play group.

Isaac is a bit of a performer and had some fun parts in a couple of Missoula Play productions, including a Cloud in Peter Pan (January) and a Wonder Bean in Jack and the Beanstalk (December). He loves to play with friends, defeat his enemies in Clash Royale, and create art. We’ve also managed to talk him into soccer and basketball, which he enjoys most of the time. He’s a joy to have around, especially on the Christmas Train in Chama, NM where he spread Christmas cheer by singing loud for all to hear.

Adam is our threenager, who has spent most of the year taking his Lightning McQueen cars with him wherever he goes. That is until he discovered the world of Ninjago, which has captured his imagination and his choice of wardrobe. These days are all pajama days with him very reluctant to wear anything besides the Red Ninja outfit that is sorely in need of a good wash. He loves to ride his scooter, as long as Mom is nearby to help him up the hills. Biggest news of the year though is that he uses the big kid toilet all by himself which means that: we are a diaper free family!!!

"May the spirit of love which comes at Christmastime fill our homes and our lives and linger there long after the tree is down and the lights are put away for another year." (Thomas S. Monson)

We're especially grateful for our Savior and for His birth, life, atonement, and resurrection. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love,
Wally, Ronni, Kelsie, Brandon, Caleb, Isaac, and Adam Paxton

A Year Worth Remembering - 2016

We hope this letter finds you well! Things this year have been going just as well as we could hope. And while, like for most of you, our year has been filled with both ups and downs, here’s some of the Good News from the Paxton’s for 2016.

Adam is our two-and-a-half year Jekyll & Hyde. He likes to ride scooters, dance, and play on anything with a screen. He does not, however, like to run errands, which he announces loudly, with weeping wailing and gnashing of teeth to any store he finds himself in for longer than 4 minutes. On the flip side, he loves to sing loud for all to hear and has been practicing his dance moves to The Whip for over a year now. And it’s important to point out that he enjoys throwing balls, and pretty much anything else round that fits in his hand.

Isaac is our little ray of sunshine. Visitors to our house around any holiday will find a wide variety of decorations hand-crafted by this creative 6 year old. He’s also got a little taste of Drama, landing a couple of bits in some volunteer productions this past year. He also enjoys riding his bike (mostly downhill), building with Legos, which can be found in every room of our house, especially at night by bare feet. Isaac is enjoying first grade, his first year of soccer and basketball, discovering the world of Terreria (a video game), and playing with and making new friends wherever he goes.

Caleb is our nine-year-old scholar, whose love of Harry Potter motivated him to read all 7 books -- seven times! – and has now moved on to 39 Clues. He plays the piano, basketball, and the heartstrings of the girls in his class. He’s mostly at home guiding his friends (and little brother) through the world of Terreria and the recently re-discovered world of the Legend of Zelda. Thankfully, the digital world hasn’t hampered his social life, and he’s had a lot of fun this year making new friends, working on cub scouts, and exploring our neighborhood on the electric scooter.

Brandon, our newest teenager, is kind of an open book. You really ought to check out his instagram feed @brandon__paxton, but just to sum up: he plays any sport with a ball, runs track, and loves to learn Piano Guys songs on the piano. His tackle football team made it to the YAFL Superbowl this year. And after a couple of years of “almost”, Brandon’s hard work finally paid off this year and he made the middle school basketball team. He’s a great babysitter for his little bros, and is working hard in school and Scouts. A huge fan of OKC Thunder, he keeps us up to date on Russell Westbrook’s stats, with a running tally on the number of triple doubles.

Kelsie turned sweet sixteen this year, which brought two important rites of passage: 1) she’s joined the ranks of licensed – and responsible – drivers; and 2) she’s begun the unusual ritual of teen-age dating. To help satisfy her increasing appetite for cellular DATA, Kelsie got a job at a local tutoring center where she can share her love of learning with other kids. She was a YCL at girls camp where she taught campers how to do CPR and other first aid. She also was able to go on stake pioneer trek over the summer. Kelsie’s classes in her Junior year are challenging, but she’s a dedicated student and has started to see the positive effects of her diligent scholarship. 

After a power struggle that concluded with a series of Minute-to-Win-It games and an arm-wrestling match, Ronni continues her reign as the de facto Family Manager, an often thankless and mundane job punctuated by moments of utter frustration dealing with the domestic challenges of mothering kids over the broad spectrum from toddler to teenager. But there are moments of absolute joy, like the kind that comes from helping a kid overcome fears and challenges of speaking in front of people and knowing that you had something (a lot!) to do with that. She’s taking lots of great pictures, running lots of miles (including an Albuquerque Half-Marathon!), and playing lots of great music for the Ward Choir. She also serves as the tireless, inspiring, and fun “Singing Lady” (music chorister for kids 3-12 year olds) at church, with another excellent Primary Program under her belt.

Wally’s been enjoying work at Sandia. His work this year took him to Germany to organize a conference on Micro- and Nanomachines. While there, he caught up with his postdoctoral mentor who was just awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry this year (Congrats Fraser Stoddart!). He’s enjoyed another year of camp outs with the Scouts this year, and finally made it to Bisti Wilderness Area in northwestern New Mexico, an otherworldy landscape that’s been on his list for quite some time. He’s always trying to find people to go biking with him more than once.

As 2016 comes to a close, we have had a chance to reflect on our year and the many blessings that we have. It’s been a good year for us and, in addition to the hope of life we might have more abundantly through the  we’re most thankful for our family and our amazing friends who have given us lasting memories of every place we’ve lived. Thank you for your love and friendship. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2015 Year End Letter

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 2015 has been a year of ups and downs, and at the end of it we can happily report that we are all alive and well. Here are some of the highlights: 

Adam (1½) Warning: This one has teeth and always is on the move. Consistently voted “best hair” in our house, mostly because it gets happily noticed by strangers every time we go out. He’s starting to get real chatty, and even though we can’t understand most of what he says yet, his facial expressions give us a pretty good idea what he’s thinking. He sleeps a full 10 hours a day, and we’re always happy when those overlap with the hours we sleep too.

Isaac (5) Our kindergartner is loving school. He’s always smiling when Ronni visits the classroom, and crying when she leaves. He’s inherited his brothers’ love for Legos, which can be found scattered about every room of our house. For reasons we can’t fully explain, he loves vegetables and prefers a cucumber to a granola bar any day of the week. It’s been a fun year of new experience for this kid: he’s started soccer, learned to ride a bike, started to read, and is swimming without the floaties.

Caleb (8) This kid can tell you: It’s great to be eight! In addition to Cub Scouts, playing basketball, tennis, and graduating from swim lessons, Caleb was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and started the 3^rd grade. He’s getting pretty good on the piano, and Minecraft, and he wants to be an inventor. We are encouraging this last pursuit, and suggested, as a starting point, he work on designing Lego’s that clean themselves up.

Brandon (12) This kid can tell you: It’s also great to be twelve! Brandon has spent most of the year practicing his skills on the piano, the trombone (advanced and jazz bands), and on the basketball court. His efforts on the football field and in the classroom earned him an Honorable Mention for the New Mexico Student Athlete Award. It’s been fun watching him reap the rewards of his hard work. He survived a week at Scout Camp with his dad as the Scoutmaster, and was ordained a Deacon in the priesthood at church.

Kelsie (15) This has been a big year for Kelsie too. She finished her Personal Progress, survived the 4th year backpacking trip at girls camp, and spent a week at EFY in Denver. She’s been working hard keeping her grades up, and enjoyed her second season on the La Cueva High School volleyball team. Her work on and off the court earned her the Blue and Silver award for excellence as an athlete-scholar. She’s behind the wheel now and aims to have her driver’s license by next Summer. Consider that your fair warning.

Ronni Still showing off those dimples, Ronni enjoys her work as “the Singing Lady” with the little kids and church and wailing on the piano for the choir. If we can still claim some sense of sanity in our family of 7, it is largely because of her efforts to keep things at home moving like a well-oiled machine. In between running kids to football, basketball, tennis, swim lessons, birthday parties, scouts, volleyball, church activities, etc., etc., she still managed to find time to train for and run in Albuquerque’s first ever Hungry Half Marathon. Married now for 16 years, Wally and Ronni spent a week in Berlin, Germany earlier this year, part work for Wally, all fun for Ronni. Aside from the spectacular time they had there, Ronni now has her first stamp in her passport. Not to be left out, Wally, has also had quite the year. He turned 40 in July and we celebrated by going back to the 1940's and danced the night away with the big band. He continues to be the worlds best Scoutmaster and somehow hasn't gotten tired of it yet. He survived a week of scout camp with Brandon (it's not always easy being the Scoutmaster and the Dad). He has had a lot of success at work publishing papers, has his name on a pending patent,  and was even mentioned in the news for some of the work he has been working on. He's pretty awesome at what he does, but we think he's having the most fun helping Kelsie with her chemistry homework this year. 

We hope that this year has brought many days full of joy and laughter! We're grateful for this season to reflect on the things that are most important to us, especially the birth, life, and Atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We hope you feel His love during this holiday season and know of our love for you!

Love,

The Paxtonians

Follow us on Instagram: @wfpaxton, @ronnipaxton, @kelsie_paxton @b.paxton27

Paxton Year In Review 2014

2014 has been an exciting year for our family! Our most exciting news of the year was the birth of our fifth baby, Adam, in April. Wally lost the battle to spell it "Atom", but there's some sacrifices a chemist has to make to make it work. Kelsie was only a little disappointed with another brother, but has come to terms with her role as the only princess in our family very well. Our travels this year took us to California, Colorado, and Utah. We spent a few days at Zion National Park with Wally's family where he and Kelsie hiked the infamous Angels Landing. We tried a few new things this year including snowshoeing, kayaking, backpacking, and surfing. 

Adam (8 months) fits right in with the rest of the Paxton clan, and his band of brothers. He is the happiest, chubbiest, most laid-back baby that we have had. But he's not afraid to speak up when he needs some attending to. Everyone loves to be around him and help him with whatever he needs. He has the best curly mop of hair on top of his head and his big blue eyes are to die for. We are so glad that he is part of our family.

Isaac (4) has settled in as a big brother quite nicely. He fell in love with the movie 'FROZEN' last year and is more than happy to perform 'Let It Go' for everyone. He has taken over all the decorating for the holidays and is constantly coloring, cutting, gluing, and taping things to the walls all over the house. He is working on learning how to ride a two-wheeler and is excited to start soccer next year. He is the cutest little boy with the funniest things to say ("I'm in a crying mode right now!"). He is excited to start kindergarten next year.

Caleb (7) continues to amaze us with his mad Lego building skills. If he isn't busy building new creations with Legos, he's busy playing Minecraft. He is in second grade this year and is in an enrichment class, where he gets to do extra math and reading. He decided that soccer was not his thing, so he is now giving basketball a try. He swam through swim lessons this summer like a champ and passed a couple of levels in just one month! He just started wearing glasses and can't believe how much clearer he can see things.

Brandon (11) started middle school this year! He is still trying to decide how he likes it, but he is doing well in school. He played his first season of tackle football this fall and loved it. He played mostly as a running back and tail back. He is playing basketball now and loves to fake out other people and "break their ankles". Needless to say, there is a lot of ankle breaking going on here. we're just glad it's the figurative kind. He also signed up for band this year and has been learning to play trombone. We have been learning to listen to him learn to play the trombone.

Kelsie (14) graduated from 8th grade and started high school this year. She made the freshman volleyball team at school and we had so much fun going to her games and watching her play. They had a good season and she impressed us all when she was able to make her serves over the net during her last game. She mostly likes her classes and especially loves seminary. She had a great time at girls camp this year and came home on a "spiritual high". She also attended Youth Conference at church and loves going to the stake dances as well.

Ronni is doing her best to keep up with five kids. She had no idea how much more busy it would be with one in high school and a baby, but has mostly been able to keep her sanity! She continues to serve as the Primary Music Leader at church and really loves to sing with all the kids. She still enjoys exercising every day and her hobby of photography.

Wally has had a good year of work. He published a few papers and traveled to Germany over the summer for a conference he co-organized on Micro- and Nanomachines. He is still the best scoutmaster there is and loves working with the 12-13 year old boys. He's looking forward to Brandon being 12 next year. He heads out to the foothills and mountains any chance he can on his bike and has had a couple dare devil falls to prove it.

We are so grateful for this time of year to reflect on our Savior, Jesus Christ. We invite you to watch this video about the true meaning of Christmas. We hope this next year bring you joy and happiness!

With Love,

Wally, Ronni, Kelsie, Brandon, Caleb, Isaac, and Adam Paxton

Follow us on Instagram: @rpax12  @wfpaxton

Merry Christmas!

In case you got our card and didn't scan the QR code!

Christmas 2013 - Final from Ronni Paxton on Vimeo.

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