Wiser Olympics (Our Christmas card)

We welcome you to the 2009 Wiser Olympics.
We’d like to introduce this year’s team members and the events that they have participated in.

Immediately following the opening ceremonies, our athletes competed in the “Buy a House” event. Many people do not fully understand all the preparation and work this event needs. Not only does it require extreme hand endurance (for all that paperwork), but it also entails moving from one house into another. This portion of the event calls for organization, spacial recognition, and speed taping. Travis seemed to excel in this portion of the event, which helped their time when Addie was caught unpacking the boxes. Overall this team performed very well and scored a 9.25, getting a great deal on a great house in a good neighborhood. (*Please take note of our new address*)

Kennedy (7yrs) participated in the “losing teeth” competition, and had a personal best. She scored a 4.5 (losing 4 teeth this year-6 total). She was fearless. Some of her teeth she pulled by herself. Kennedy scored an extra 0.5 for pulling her cousin’s tooth out for him. Way to get those bonus points! We loved her holey smile. She also competed in “Learning to Ride a 2-wheeler Bike.” She blew out the competition by taking only 10 minutes! She is a natural. She continues to compete in “2nd Grade”, and is looking forward to the off-season when she is getting baptized in Feb. She continues to make this team better with her helpful nature and continues to lead the younger athletes.

It was Camden’s (5yrs) first year to participate in the sport “School” specializing in the event "Kindergarten." He is a very dedicated athlete who was the only one in the school to win the "responsibility" award. He has befriended all of his fellow competitors and they fight over who gets to sit next to him at lunch. But his true love is...”Football”-which was just made an official event last year. He is this year’s champion of "Self-thrown" football-where he completes an entire football game against himself. Every Saturday, Team Wiser competes in "Family Sports day"-a different sport is played each week. Camden makes sure this team competes every week. His enthusiastic attitude continues to benefit and uplift the entire team.

The "Hug-a-thon" is Addie's (2yrs) specialty. She is currently ranked as the #1 hugger in the world. Her language skills are improving with each new competition, and she has cute nicknames for all of her teammates-Daddy, Mommy, Sissy, Duh, and Baby E. True to typical 2 yr old form, she can be loving one minute, and the next, throwing a terrific tantrum. A new event for her (and the whole Wiser team) was the "Zip line". The eldest 4 found this event to be a real treat at the biannual “Pugmire Games". On the last day of competition, Addie stepped up to the plate, put on the harness, and jumped off the platform. She scored a perfect 10 in that event and helped catapult her team into first place.

Easton (8mo) was a new addition to the team this year. He is a very determined competitor. He was so determined to even join the team that he came early and just barely made it to the ER for his birth! This trait has added to the Wiser team, and Easton continues to demonstrate it with crawling at 5 ½ months, standing at 6 ½ months, having 8 teeth, and wanting to go everywhere…now! He keeps the team in good spirits with his continuous smile and great laugh.

“Hospital Stay” was a difficult event that required several heats. The first heat was Easton’s birth-which was quick-Amber almost didn’t make it to the event venue. At five days old Easton decided to take his hand at the event. After a 24hr stay, we discovered that he is allergic to dairy proteins. Amber was in the next heat (3mo later) when she had a kidney stone that was stuck and had to be blasted. Four days later, she went back to perfect her performance with emergency gall bladder surgery. Both Amber and Easton medaled in this event. Even with her this time-consuming event, Amber still participated in many others. She excelled in "Book Club," "Indoor Soccer," and "Room Mom". The kids enjoy showing off their mom in their classroom, and Amber enjoys that they want her there. She just recently resumed training for the "Half Marathon" and is excited to participate in it after the New Year.

Travis was asked to compete in a new event this year "Eagle Scout Coordinator". Amber found this comical since Travis only made it as far as Tenderfoot. But sometimes we are called to perform in areas that make us stronger. He has taken that charge and just run with it. His performance earned him a silver medal. Where Travis really excelled was in the "Self-reduction Marathon". He started working hard in August and to date has lost 40 lbs and feels great! We are very proud of this gold medal achievement. Along with these new events he also continued adding to his previous achievements in the events of "Work" and "Daddy Duties".

As we review these 2009 games, we reflect on the Closing Ceremonies. Team Wiser again feels very blessed and fortunate. We are grateful for and celebrate the birth and mission of our Savior Jesus Christ. We wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

"Go Team Wiser!"
Travis, Amber, Kennedy, Camden, Addie, & Easton

4509 S Rock St, Gilbert, AZ 85297 / 480-610-4849 / www.wiserside.blogspot.com