Robinson Kiser, BS

Your read it folks, Rob now officially has a BS degree...2 years after he got his doctorate. It's a long story, but he's the short version. Rob worked for an organ procurement company while in dental school. During the interview process he said he had graduated from the Univ of Utah. I went to his graduation, along with Rob's parents and grandparents. He was even invited to a department honors graduation ceremony. Well, when this company called to check on his resume he found out that in fact he didn't graduate! We moved out to Cleveland before he finished some research and the professor never passed him. He was 2 classes shy of graduating. Because of the move and the fact that this wasn't his final degree, we never noticed that we didn't receive the diploma in the mail. After a lot of phone calls, he found out if he finished the research (which included running rats twice a day for 2 years, performing brain surgery on them and writing a paper) then he would get his degree. Well Rob is 2 years into dental school at this point and very far away from Utah. We just figured it would never happen. Fast forward 2 years. Rob's dad is on the Utah State Legislature and makes a few phone calls as the Honorable Todd Kiser. It turns out he does qualify for a medical biology degree and can use his credits from dental school towards his degree. Due to a lot of paperwork and missed deadlines, Rob finally got his diploma this week. So, Rob is officially full of BS....two years after he was awarded his DMD.

This new dog of ours....oh where do I start? Let's just show this image. You can't sit down or move to another room or use the bathroom without Otis following you. Ben took a nap on the couch and Otis was right there with him. It drives me nuts, but Ben didn't seem to mind.

Yearbookyourself.com

My old mission friend and fellow blogger, Alita, had a hilarious blog about what we would look like if we were born during another time. With the help of www.yearbookyourself.com you can see if maybe another graduation year would have suited YOU better. First there is Rob.
1956 
1958
1962
1964
1970
1974
1976
1980
1984
1986
1996(This is the year he graduated and I have seen with my own eyes a picture of him looking EXACTLY like this)
1998
The handsome man himself in 2008.
1954(I have seen a picture of my mother looking like this and I look just like her)
1958
1962
1964
1966
1974
1978
1980
1982
1984
1988
1994 (The sad thing is that this looks just like my senior year shot.
1996
2008

What I discovered last night

When I went in to check on Isabella last night this is what I found. She's done this a couple of times now. I guess this is payback for when I was two years old and would take off my DIRTY diaper and smear it on the wall. I bet my mom is paying her off. Augh!

We've had another baby!

Yes, we've had another baby. This one is of the canine type, but another child nonetheless. I can't believe we actually got him, but I guess there is no turning back now. I found him on japanupdate.com from a family that's PCSing and they can't take him with them. His name is Otis and he's a 9 month old pug. I feel like I couldn't pass Otis up because his owners paid $1200 for him when he was born...we got him for free along with all his stuff. Unfortunately he hasn't been to obedience school yet and he will promptly be enrolled in the next available class. He is (mostly) housebroken, but learning the rules. I admit he's pretty cute, but it's taking some getting used to. He is SO devoted that he follows us around everywhere and wants to be on my lap everytime I sit down. The kids love him and since we are the only people out of all my friends that have a dog, he is quickly being adopted as the neighborhood dog. Stay posted for more news on our little addition.

Rain fun

We've had a LOT of rain from the typhoon even though we didn't score a direct hit. The kids normally play outside a lot and it was hard to have fun while staying dry. After a few days of complaining about the rain, the kids finally just played in it. They got wet every afternoon, but they had fun!

On the last day of real rain I busted out the Slip N' Slide. I figured it's raining anyway let's make the best of it. It was raining pretty hard, but we still turned on the hose.



Issy is "so cold."

This pic is blurry because I kept coming from the cool, air conditioned house to the hot, humid porch. My lens kept fogging up.

Issy and Jake making silly faces. Jake is always trying to make people laugh.

Katsuren-jo castle ruins

We had a fun family outing on Saturday to the castle ruins of Katsuren-jo. It's about 1/2 hour from our house and up a steep hill. Once at the top you can see why this was such a great stronghold during times of war. You can see 360 degree around and there is a wonderful view of the ocean (there is always a wonderful view when you live on a island). I'm not quite sure exactly how old this castle is, but I know it was defeated in 1458 and I think it's been abandoned since then. There are no walls, but there were labels like "shrine" or "living quarters" in different areas.


I told the boys to give me a "storming the castle" pose.


Can you tell Typhoon Sinlaku is around here...Noah is about to blow away. It was a very overcast day which made for great pics, but it did start raining right before we left. It was soooooo windy. A bad day for me to wear a skirt.


This is Rob's attempt at being artistic. I think he did well, but the subject was rocks so it's hard to get enthusiastic. He was trying to catch the texture of these stones. Something like this wouldn't fly in the States. There was no guard rails between us and the several hundred meter drop in most spots. The footing was authentic and unstable. The kids loved climbing all over the place, though.

Sinlaku moving away

Well, I have to say that I'm a bit disappointed. Typhoon Sinlaku is moving away and we won't get a direct hit from her. I know that I should be happy, but I was rather excited for my first typhoon. Now we'll just get some wind and rain and it'll make for a cruddy weekend. At least we won't be on lockdown. There are still 2 more months in typhoon season.

Gordie's Hamburgers

I know....there are too many pictures with just about every post I do. Tuff. It's my blog and I can do what I want. That being said, here are some more pics. We discovered yet another little restaurant called Gordies. It's actually a hamburger joint. It only has hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, onion rings and fries...oh, and beer for those of you that are into that sort of thing. I had a terrikaki burger and Rob had a BLT hamburger. Both were divine. It is run by a husband/wife team that look younger than me. I love it and plan to go back soon. Almost across the street the kids didn't miss a beat noticing the playground by the seawall. Of course we had to mosey over there after our meal. There are basically no safety standards for the playgrounds here which makes them VERY fun. There's a zip line at almost every one and this was no exception. The sun was setting and it was just really nice family time. Life doesn't get much better than this.


Soup and fries with every hamburger.

Two thumbs way up!






When did Noah start looking so big? He looks so old to me in this picture.

The two cutest brothers ever.

Aren't we a darling couple?

PS-I'm writing this just after I put the kids to bed. I hate it if they get up after I put them down. Before I went upstairs to tell them to settle down "OR ELSE" I had to think of a good threat. So this is what I came up with:

Mom: If I have to come back upstairs because you guys are making noise/goofing off then I'm going to make you stand outside when the typhoon hits.
Noah/Ben: NO!!!!
Noah: So if we stay in our beds, then we can stay inside when the typhoon comes?
Mom: Yes, but only if you stay in your bed and I don't have to come upstairs again.

Ahhhh...it's been 20 minutes and I haven't heard a peep from them. Am I a horrible mother or what?