San Diego Zoo & Wild Animal Park

For Mark's birthday we took the family to the zoo! Since Mark LOVES animals we thought it was the perfect place to take him.

One of the coolest displays at the zoo was the insect house. It was awesome! Here is a picture of a leaf bug

The kids loved the peacocks that roamed freely around the park.

We were lucky enough to have my parents join us!

I couldn't believe how cute the koalas were!

We have these same owls around our house. We see them from time to time in our front yard. They are desert burrowing owls.

I didn't like how that cheetah was looking at my boys!!!

Orphan Annie

Here is my little Orphan Annie! When I got done with her hair she stood up on the bathroom counter and exclaimed with arms open wide, "HELLO, orphan Annie"!

Costume Shopping

The boys told me that this year they were done with the lame super hero costumes and they were ready to be something scary. I responded, "If you are going to be something scary you are going to have to buy it yourself". I hate the nasty disgusting costumes especially the really evil ones. Since costumes cost a lot of money they both decided to let me buy their costumes.

The day we went shopping Mark immediately found a ninja costume he was excited about. Luke on the other hand was a little irritated he couldn't have a scary costume. I told Luke, "You just show me your most favorite costumes even the scary ones and we will go from there". He was happy about the freedom to choose and quickly narrowed it down to 5 then 2. In all there was only 1 scary one which was part of the first group of 5. He chose this boxing costume and was so very pleased about his decision. So was I!

The boys actually love their costumes so much they have worn them every day since we got them last friday. Mark gets fully dressed up and pretends he is a ninja. I already feel I got my moneys worth!

Luke's first touchdown!!!

Luke and his dad have always loved playing football. This season is his first to play on the flag football team. This is his first interception touchdown!

Luke ran like crazy and no one could catch him!

Score!!!

This was Luke's 5th game of the season. He is a natural at football. It is so exciting to watch him play! Every game he has interceptions and pulls a ton of flags. Our hearts palpitate with excitement as we watch his skills on the field!

My Sister Kate!!!

http://www.aynnthurmanphotography.com/2009/09/grand-adventure-is-about-to-begin.html

Check out this link for some way cute pictures of my pregnant sister Kate! This will be her third! Due next week! (Actually he was born this afternoon 9/12/09) No name as of yet.

Labor Day Weekend Fun!

We had a fun weekend! As a family we saw the play, "Annie" at the Tuacahn theatre in St. George. The outdoor theatre set amongst the red rock is so beautiful! Everyone loved the play. At one part the dog Sandy walks across a darkened stage signifying that he is out on his own again. Abigail gets a huge frown on her face and says, "Sandy's running away". Then she couldn't help it any longer and broke out in tears. She was bawling her eyes out and nothing would console her. When she finally calmed down she kept asking about Sandy and in the end they bring the dog out and she was so excited that she almost started crying again.

On Sunday evening we were driving home from Chad's parents house (where we have dinner every Sunday) and we get a call from my sister in California. She invited us to go with her family to the LA county fair. We quickly decide that even though it will be a quick trip it will be well worth the experience. They had so much to do at the fair and we did a little of everything!

Chad and Denver (Lorelle's husband) went bungee jumping at the fair!!! I guess they can check that off their lists on things to do before they die.

Chad's Bungee Jump

Denver's Bungee Jump

The basket ride up

Chad after the jump

Our dinosaur explorer!

Chad and Abby
The Miller family
Our family

Mark petting a baby alligator
Lorelle and her daughter Brooke

Birthday Surprise!!!

Chad is such a fun husband. I knew that if I married Chad I would always have fun and this has held true! Two days before my birthday Chad told me that he didn't have to go in to work till 10 am . I happily enjoyed the morning with Chad home. Chad was trimming the roses out front when I left to take the kids to school. Mark immediately came up to me in the car and said with a serious face, "Mom, I'm really going to miss you". I replied, "Mark I'm not going anywhere". He says, "Yes you are, Dad and you are going on vacation". I replied, No honey, Dad is just going in to work late today". He sat down and just before the kids got out of the car to school Luke turns to me and says, "Mom, you ARE going out of town. Dad is taking you on a surprise vacation for your birthday. Maridyn is picking us up from school and you are coming home on Sunday". I sat there with the same silly grin I had on my face when Chad proposed 15 years ago on my birthday. I said my goodbyes to the kids and then within the hour Chad and I were on our way to Moab for our great adventure trip. What made the surprise even better is that Chad told me that our great friends from Dental school were coming too!

Hummer Adventure Ride

Golfing

Dave and Kami

River rafting on the Colorado River

Chad and I

We had such a fun time on our getaway and enjoyed the beauty in Moab.

Chad and I both agree that the best part was spending time with our friends.

This was such a fun surprise!

Our Family

Our most recent family picture!

1st Day of school

Since my kids are on year round school it feels like a return from track break. The boys were very excited and were happy to see some familiar faces in their classes. Luke's first comment was, "Oh. no! There are two evil girls in my class"!

One last hurrah before school!

I thought 6 weeks sounded like a considerable amount of time for the kids to have off of school. It went by sooo fast. On Monday the boys start school and the routine will begin again (of course that doesn't mean the fun will stop). My friend Amy and her two girls joined us at Newport Beach this past week and the kids had a blast! They dug in the sand, made sand castles, played in a sand speed boat and went boogie boarding.

The Singing Barber!

The other night I spent the night at my parents house with the kids. To make things quick and easy we just scooted two of their ultra comfortable couches together for a quick bed.

I woke up to hear Abby singing, "wiggle your baby toes, wiggle my baby toes" from her favorite video "Baby Songs". I quickly turned around and Abigail showed me with a big grin some small trimming scissors. I quickly ran my fingers through my hair and found a lock of my hair in my hand. Luke woke up and exclaimed, "She cut my hair too", followed by Mark who said the same thing. Apparently Abigail had gone around the couch and sang while she trimmed everyones hair. She also trimmed her own hair. My first thought was, "I am so glad the scissors weren't bigger"!

Family Night!

For some reason this family night was one of the best! The Lesson was given by Luke who decided to share some of his favorite scriptures and tell why they were his favorite. Then Luke helped Mark share his favorite scripture story. Abigail said that her favorite story was about Jesus.

Next I told the kids that it was "kids choice for dessert", they could pick any dessert they wanted. They were excited to go to the frozen yogurt bar down the street. The kids love to put on the unlimited toppings.

We brought the dessert home and played games. First we played Dora Dominos, then a Pirate card game and finally UNO.

The Family is of God- make sure volume is on low

This is one of my favorite songs and I love to hear the kids sing it. It is pretty loud, just make sure your volume is on low.

Thank you so much, I love it!

Thank you Heather and Rebecca! You sure cheered up Abigail with your thoughtful gift!

If you chance to meet a frown...

Make sure your volume is on low for these videos....

All Adult Getaway!!!

Newport Beach

We just had our first ever Ishii Family All Adult Getaway. I was waiting to see who would blog about it first in the family but since no one has yet...I am forced to come out of my early Blog retirement. The guys got these sweet hats from a surf competition at Newport Beach. We are just showing them off. The hat worn by Kendra was won by my brother Ian when he won their push up competition. That's right!
Kendra, Kate, Amy and Lorelle

My sister Kate and Sister in Law Merrilee bumping bellies. They are due 2 weeks apart.
Ben and Merrilee
Merrilee, Kendra, Kate and Amy

Kendra
Denver and Lorelle

Lorelle

Serena
Ian and Chad

Brad and Kate
Denver and Lorelle
After dinner Kendra and Dave met us at Seth's Jazz Concert!
We had connecting hotel rooms and so at night we would all gather in a room and stay up talking. Another room would serve as the game room where people stayed up at all hours playing "Ticket to ride".

Merrilee and Seth
Game: " Ticket to ride"
Mom and Dad