2008 Summer Games: Jessop Style

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the 2008 Olympic Games in Hamilton, Montana. While Team USA has been dazzling us in Beijing, Team Jessop has been accomplishing amazing feats of their own!

We start with a highlight of our first athlete, Joe. Battling a bruised ego after his first motorbiking experience in the mountains with brothers, he got on the bike again. This time he knew not to gun the motor while jumping over logs in hazardous terrain. After tumbling down a ravine he was bruised up yet ready to go again. Unfortunately, during the second outing, this athlete's grace and finesse cost him the victory as he damaged his ulnar nerve and was left with no feeling in his arm, hand, and all fingers for about a week! The ulnar nerve is sometimes referred to as the funny bone yet there was nothing funny about this injury! He didn't even hit his funny bone, he just damaged the nerve from holding on too tight! Weird and bizarre!

Joe competed in one other event rather successfully however. In the middle of a thunder storm he was able to summon the entire Hamilton Fire Department while burning some trash! Pyro-Joe as he is called, was much more cautious than when he accidentally burnt 5 acres of land 3 years previous. But his gasoline drenched pile went up in flames just as a close crack of lightning happened to hit which obviously caused concern for a passing by car who heroically called in that the Jessop's house was burning! A word of advice to Olympian Joe: please stick with golf!

Our next athlete has kept busy the month of August with teaching Spanish to a 6 year old girl, learning how to make tamales from scratch with Mexican friend Eva and neighbor Kristin, and reading many books (yes, she finally started the Twilight books and loves them! Who knew vampire books could be so captivating.) However, this athlete (ok, so I use the term loosely) tackled the challenge of tubing on the Clark Fork River! She and son Jansen held on to the tube while being raced around on a boat at Granma & Grandpa Albert's Cabin in Thompson Falls. (Jaylee & Easton's grandparents) After her thrilling, adrenaline filled ride, our interviewer asked how she like it. She replied hyperventilating, "Ahahahahahahahahahaha!"
Yes, the ride left her screaming and giddy. She could not stop laughing from the rush!

Next we head to the basketball portion of the olympics. Team Jessop never disappoints in this event. After a triumphant return of receiving Gold at NBC Whitworth, Carlie returned with wrist injuries. Jansen headed off to NBC Spangle and his team received a Silver in the final game of the camp. Jansen and teammate Easton had a great week at camp and then followed it up by boating, water skiing, and tubing at Easton's grandparents house. Jansen was finally reunited with his family members at the cabin for a day filled with more fun and adventure! After all that basketball throughout the summer, he has now turned his attention to Hamilton Golf Course. With a membership and borrowed clubs from dad, he is ready to tackle a new sport. He won a gold in the most time spent on a golf course in 24 hours with friends Eli and Kyle. He shot 18 holes in the morning, 9 holes that night, and 9 holes the next morning! Good thing Team Jessop hasn't been tested for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder!

Our next athlete is having a hard time walking to the medals podium..no literally! Carlie biffed it on her bike while traveling to Penny's house. Thankfully she didn't turf it till right in front of Penny's house. One word sums up her olympic experience....OWEE! Carlie's leg is road pizza from her knee all the way down her shin. She has demonstrated Olympic Heroism by not complaining or even crying. Her head is held high as she enters her next events: piano lessons and her first paid babysitting jobs! You Go Girl!

Rounding off Team Jessop are Will and Kristen. Will has competed on the greens with his dad but mostly likes the team sport of playing with cousins Chase and Kobe. Always full of energy and imagination, nothing can stop this kid except for one thing...spiders. He has developed a huge phobia lately. Many of you remember how he has referred to his brain as a digital camera for some years now. As he put it, when he thinks about spiders, "There isn't a delete button on my camera. I can put it in the trash but it comes back out!" Last night he received a Gold medal by staying in his bed after a spider nightmare! His reward was a day playing in Pinesdale with cousins mentioned above!

Kristen has had a successful olympic experience this month with her dazzling tricks on the trampoline. She can jump and spin like a ballerina! Her hands finally reach over her head! She was sad that she was ousted from the swimming events as her inflatable pool blew away into a barbed wire fence during the night. But that doesn't get this olympian down. Other members in the Olympic Village have made sure to cheer her on. Kristen was taken to Lake Como with the Gwynns and then to Schallenbergers pond to get her water fix. And yes, even Bishop Schallenberger swam the afternoon away with her, Coley, and kids! As she receives her medal, she gives a shout out to her one and only true love Eli, Eli, Eli!

As we enter the close of these games we have to mention the other Gold Medal players of the month:

Team Gwynn: Gold for Coley going off to college on scholarship to play Volleyball! Gold for Brenda learning how to let go of her awesome daughter! (Don't worry, you will always be her mom and thank goodness for free Verizon to Verizon minutes!)

Team Albert: Gold for getting to go to Europe on the NBC Basketball tour. We have missed you guys Mark, Carla, Ashley, and Kaurie! Gold for Easton and Jaylee's grandparents for sharing a day at the cabin!

The other team Jessop: Gold for Moine getting over to college in Great Falls to run Cross Country!

Team Kanenwisher: Gold for the most amazing photography I have ever seen! (Check out her blog at www.kristinkanenwisherphotography.blogspot.com)

We have loved watching Michael Phelps smash world records over in Beijing and win medal after medal! He reminds us that anything is possible in this the land of the free and the home of the brave!