Heading into 2010...

sixwises 2010, originally uploaded by 84037wise.

Ten things you should know about our family in 2009:

1. Steve made it to the big five - O...and I don't mean Hawaii.

2. Marie went to Peru - again...and is planning on it in 2010...again.

3. Melissa is still working at Home Depot in Layton, Utah and telling people where to go. (She works at the service counter and quite often has to give directions to lost folks.) She also tag team wrestles with her 3 kids ages 2-3. Except during the days she has no one on her team to tag her out.

4. Robert's boyhood dream of serving a mission in China when he grew up came true...kind of. He did go to China in 2009 but only for 2 weeks instead of 2 years and represented Volume Bike Co instead of the Lord.  He had a great time and made some money in the process.

5. Stephanie reached 3 milestones in 2009 - finished her first year of college at Weber State University, cut her long hair short, and got her first boyfriend. She gets to sport her cute 'doo' while she is working at Fifth Avenue Tuxedos.

6. Kelsie's long time boyfriend, Chase, should be concerned for their future together at the close of 2009. She met a young man at the school where she works who professed his love and desire to marry her. He told the bus driver "I'm going to marry Miss Wise someday". When Chase gets back from his mission, this new suiter will almost be done with 4th grade. Kelsie works at Tolman Elementary.

7. Everybody in the picture above had an awesome time at Magic Mountain in California. The only thing faster than Goliath the rollercoaster was the trip itself...out and back in 44 hours.

8. Grandpa Steve (see #1 above) finally put a lock on the kitchen drawer which holds the knives. Of course, this was just barely after two of the three aforementioned kids (see #3 above) aerated 2 of our couches with the butcher knives in said drawer.

9. Kelsie got a new car. Two weeks later Stephanie got a new car. Kelsie drove Stephanie to the place where Stephanie bought her car. On the way home they got in a wreck...with each other.

10. Steve and Marie are still happily married...after TWENTY SEVEN years...especially because of 1-9.

Our family has been tremendously blessed over the years.  We are grateful for this great country, for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for each other and for our many family members and friends scattered across this great land - most of whom we rarely get to see.  But we think of you very often and still feel close in our hearts.  We pray for God's greatest blessings on all and for the time to see each other soon!

Flat Black Beemer

20091127_IMG_284, originally uploaded by 84037wise.

Rob started the day off replacing his headlights.  I think his thought process must have gone something like this..."Well I am replacing these headlights - might as well paint my car, eh?"

He actually started piece mealing this thing a couple of weeks ago by painting his taillights, mirrors and a few other accessories flat black. He liked it so much he decided to finish the job. I asked him what he was going to do if he didn't like a flat black $15,000 car. He said "well I was going to get it painted anyway".

Sounds like a no risk activity to me.

Anniversary 27

steve (7 of 100), originally uploaded by 84037wise.

So the wife and I celebrated our 27th with a weekender to Torrey, Utah. "Torrey, Utah?!", you ask. Believe me, if you go once, you'll go again.  We stayed at a gorgeous place called "The Lodge" outside of town about 2 or 3 miles.

While there we hiked in Capitol Reef National Park and a place called Calf Creek Falls which is located between Boulder and Escalante - 2 more obscure towns that I hardly knew existed until 10/30/09.

One other gem we discovered this weekend is Utah Highway 12. Wow!

In this picture we were on our hike to Hickman Bridge in Capitol Reef. The camera caught us in a...uh...private moment.  Slide show.

California Vacation 2009

Well we went and did and returned. There are few things more fast and furious than our weekend trip to Los Angeles and Six Flags. Here are some of the stats:

-Boarding passes forgotten, 1 - Marie printed and presented to the TSA dude all but...mine.
-Miles driven in our rental Yukon, 300
-Hours spent driving 300 miles in our rented Yukon, 11 - Friday from LAX through downtown and down Santa Monica Blvd through Hollywood all the way to Malibu (3), from Malibu to Valencia, 60 miles, (3...aaaauuuuuuggggghh!), from Valencia to LAX, 45
miles, to p/u Rob (2...aaaaaauuuuuuugggggghhh!!), and back to Valencia (1).
-Method used to find the perfect place to take Kelsie's picture with the Hollywood sign in the background, pure luck.
-Number of stars we saw on the Hollywood walk of fame, lots
-Number of cars made to look like a shoe, 1 - you guessed it...on Santa Monica Blvd in Hollywierd
-LDS temples driven by, 1
-Count of Mercedes, BMW's and Jaguars seen on Santa Monica Blvd in Beverly Hills, can't count that high
-Wharfs walked upon, 1 - in Malibu
-Dollars spent on lunch at the end of the wharf in Malibu, 76
-Number of toes that got Malibu beach sand all over them, 30 - Marie and I left our shoes on and Rob wasn't there yet.
-Manta Rays seen on the end of a fishing line, 1 - baby caught by Malibu wharf fisherman
-Number of 'u' turns in Valencia looking for our hotel, 6 or 7
-Hours standing in line for rides at Magic Mountain, 8
-Minutes actually riding on rides at Magic Mountain, 15
-Name of the most awesome rollercoaster in the whole universe, X2 (tatsu according to the kids, the park bench according to Marie)
-Longest first drop on a rollercoaster, 250 feet on Goliath
-Fastest speed attained on any ride, 100mph in 6 seconds on Superman
-Most unexpected thing that happened while riding a rollercoaster, blacked out on Goliath in a turn...kids did too...Marie didn't cause she had her eyes closed
-Number of times I heard Rob scream like a girl, lots
-Number attending Magic Mountain same day we did, 26,000
-Number of non-caucasian people attending Magic Mountain same day we did, 25,994
-Hour at which Magic Mountain closes, 12am
-Time we left Magic Mountain, 12am
-How long it takes to eat at Denny's in Valencia at 12:30am, 1.5
-Flight departure time on Sunday morning, 6am
-Time left hotel so we could drive 45 miles to airport, turn in the rental car, check in at airport and go through security, 3:30am
-Hours of sleep I got that night, zero
-Time spent in shower trying to stay awake, 20 minutes
-Cost of good times had with the wife and kids, priceless!
Photos of good times.

Addy Unplugged

Addyson will sing this all day long to you if you let her! :) Marie likes how she just gets too tired to finish the second rendition! Funny kid...

Steph at dusk on the 4th over I-15

I had an idea for a picture at dusk and Steph was a good sport and went along for the experiment. See it bigger.

Work was finally hard today

Here is a pic of me Allison and her sister Natalie with the mountain i climbed. the other pic is me on top of the great mountain in the background. Everyone was tired today, the hike wore us all out. Work was finally hard today. I had to mix stucco, it wears your legs out. After lunch i had to load a truck with gravel, wash rocks in the river and then load the truck with the rocks. hopefully i won't end up with some parasite from the river. we have to leave at 6 in the morning because there is a strike and they (meaning a bunch of drunk people) block off the road with rocks and throw them at you if you drive. It will be a long day tomorrow but it will be great to get a lot of work done. we only have 1 1/2 days of work left. it has gone by so fast. well it is my turn for the shower. i have to go wash all the dirt out of my hair. i can't wait to see you all. i miss everyone so much.

Independence Day - Peru Style

Hi family,

I am sending just one email to the fam tonigt cuz it is late and I am tired. It was the most fantastic day ever. We went to Pisack. I am sure i totally spelled that wrong. It was almost as cool as Machu Pichu. took 173 pictures there. I was absolutely amazed by it all. I kept falling behind the group cuz I was taking so many pictures.Sound familiar! I can't wait to show you all the pictures. It is so nice to have the computer to download the pics. I also took a bunch of movies today. The last picture is my lunch. It was so good. One of my favorites. The thing I liked the most was a deep fried root that comes from the jungle. You know how I am with deep fried food. The best part of the day, we had a party at the orphanage. We had chicken and fries for dinner and they had cake for Windy and Kristen. Windy's bday is today just like Melissa and Kristen's is Monday. They borrowed a sound system and played guitars and sang and we had a dance. We made a fire and roasted marshmallows and finished the night with fire works. It was so much fun. I didn't get pictures at the party cuz I left the memory card in the computer. Windy said I could download hers on the computer. She has a video of me dancing with one of the kids. It is pretty funny. He spun me so much that I couldn't even stand up by myself after cuz I was so dizzy. We head for Machu Pichu tomorrow at 5 so you won't hear from me until we get back on Monday night.

It was great to hear from all you girls. Tell Rob hi.

Dirt Ovens ...?

Today we went to a realllly poor village to give the kids some clothes. Two boys are doing their Eagle projects here. They brought so many clothes with them. They gave us baked potatoes that they make in little dirt ovens. As you can clearly see, they were so delicious I had to close my eyes and savour every bite! I am at the hotel right now. Two of the girls are sick, one is pretty sick. Mark gave them a blessing and Juan Carlos brought us back to the hotel so they could sleep. The rest of the group was going to the salt mines and since I have already seen it I wanted to stay with the girls and take care of them. I can't believe the trip is half over. I am sad and glad at the same time.

Holla Family

I made stucco today and also put it on the walls. I am pretty profesional now. I was thinking of doing our house when we get home all we need is dirt, straw, and cactus glue. Get a pit ready to mix it in and we will have a beautiful new casa before you know it. How are things at home? Tell all the girls to write me. Tell Addy hi, I miss her. I am proud of Melissa. I will call tomorrow let me know what time will be good.

love to all

Wise Girl in Peru

Marie is off on another adventure to the Sunflower Home near Huayllabamba, Sacred Valley of the Incas, Peru (which is a short distance from Urabamba, which is a similar distance from Cuzco, which is a 1 hour flight southeast of Lima, which is 8,000 miles southeast of Fruit Heights). She left Friday, 6/29 and won't return until Saturday, 7/11. I am guessing she will ultimately take up permanent residence there because she loves it so much. To make matters worse, a lot of the little kids, really cute disadvantaged little kids who she got attached to from the last trip, remembered her from last year. Ohh, boy. Like she needs any more encouragement.

Here is her first email.

Hello everyone

today we did wheat. first we had to hike up a huge mountain to get to the field. we gathered the wheat that was already cut and carried it down a hill and up a hill and put it in a big pile. donkeys walked on it and crushed it that was a 3 hour process then we took shovels and threw the stuff in the air too separate the wheat from the other stuff have pictures and movies. it was crazy then we hiked to the farm and crossed the river. the hike i swear was harder than angels landing.. girls allison says hi. she has the most handsome boyfriend.. how is everyone? you all should email me. how is addy and the boys? i miss everyone ill try and email again tonight and attatch some pictures

hugs kisses and love you all

Kelsie Likes Her New Car

I finally persuaded Kelsie to let me take her picture on her new car. Yes, she is the proud owner of a car payment!

Rob DC photoshoot video

Rob's Skull Candy Ad

Pretty cool...

What a Blast!!

We have finally had some stable, dry weather and we were quick to take advantage of it with the grandkids before sending them to their dad's house for the w/e.

Grandma produced some bubbles and some hot air and the kids took it from there! Of course obnoxious Grandpa (or 'Campa' as Addy puts it) had to stuff a camera in their faces.



Follow the link for more grandkid mug shots from the eveining.

Big Month for Rob...

Robert has pretty much had the time of his life the passed few weeks. He spent the week of April 20th back in New York City doing some filming with DC Shoes. He got back in time to rest on Saturday and then he spent the day on Sunday with some camera dudes taking pictures and making a web movie "Rob Wise Day in the Life" and is aired on Ride BMX Magazine online.



On Monday 4/27 he left for Shanghai, China where he was invited to ride in the Asian X-Games. He is still fighting back problems from time to time but he fought it off enough to place in the top 10...barely...sliding in at #10 in the BMX Street Freestyle. He will be in China until 5/9.

May 5th is his birthday and he is planning on going skydiving in Shanghai! What a life, eh?! As Marie would say...shee-ma-neesh!

Addyson goes A.W.O.L

Melissa was terrified today...she couldn't find Addyson ANYWHERE!

The two of them were in our bedroom watching a movie. Melissa left Addy there to go check on the boys or get something downstairs or something. She wasn't gone for very long at all. When she came back Addy was no where to be found! Melissa called for her and called for her...no response. She searched the house from top to bottom, checked the doors - everything she could think of and no Addy. She checked all the usual places...in the girls room in front of the mirror putting make-up on, nothing; in the kitchen emptying drawers of their contents, notta; in the bathroom stirring 'things' in the toilet with the toilet brush (like last week), not there.

In the past she has shut herself in our closet and not able to get out so Melissa went to check it out. She opened the door to the closet...the light was out. But there was Addy! Sitting in the dark, behind closed doors - eating Marie's Lindt milk chocolate bar that I brought home for her the night before! Melissa said Addy had a surprised/guilty smile on her chocolate covered face and said "oh...hi"!

Proof from last summer that Addy is a chocolate lover.

January 2, 2009

No success can compensate for failure in the home...