Uncle Kunio

On our way down to LA for the Tigers Tournament, I received a call from my brother that our Uncle passed away. He lived next door to us growing up...we would have to show our report cards to him ... Preferably before our parents...I remember staying with my grandmother after my grandfather died. My uncle who lived with them, let me stay up late...I remember him counting the number of hours of sleep I would get if I stayed up until 9..."okay, you will still get 9 hours of sleep if you get up at 6." little did he know, I really needed 11-12...or lately more...

Below is his obituary that my brothers wrote, and I edited...tee hee...



Kunio Ikeda, 83, of Salinas, passed away Friday, May 27, 2011, after a short hospitalization.

Born in Gardena, California on July 29, 1927, Kunio moved to Kagoshima Prefecture in Japan with his family in 1936. Due to the war, the family was separated and he graduated from Kajiki High School in Japan. He was unable to rejoin his family until 1951 at the age of 24.

Kunio moved to Salinas and helped run the family business, Ikeda Farms. Following the death of his parents, Yeizo and Satsu, Kunio continued farming with his brothers, Isamu and Don. He was active with the farm until his death.

In addition to farming, Kunio was an avid fan of sumo and a member of the Buddhist Temple of Salinas, Kagoshima Kenjinkai, and the Salinas Valley Japanese American Citizen League (JACL). In recent years he has enjoyed spending time with his close friend, Kazuko Piacentino.

Kunio is survived by a sister, Atsuko (Jack) Obata of Gilroy; brothers, Sam and Don of Salinas.

He was preceded in death by brother, Hiroshi and sisters-in-law, Yoshiko and Joyce.

His family also included a number of nephews and nieces - Alan (Kevin Heath) Obata of Gilroy, Teri (Tom) Hinmon of Gilroy, Yuko (Tom) Ohe of Sunnyvale, Reiko Ikeda of Salinas, Dean Ikeda of Salinas, Sheri (Jeffrey) Minamide of Fremont, Gary Ikeda of Sunnyvale, and Dave (Shizuka) Ikeda of Alameda.

Memorial service will be held Saturday, June 25, 2011, at 4 p.m., at the Buddhist Temple of Salinas, 14 California St., Salinas, CA 93901.

Arrangements by Struve and Laporte Chapel.

Online condolences: www.struveandlaporte.com


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Seems like he just left...

Jordan is coming back tomorrow....Didn't he just leave? But, hey, we missed him, even if Neil won't admit it...but, let's face it, Neil is getting clingy like the cat....so, we KNOW he misses his big brother!


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Mom...1 year

It has been a year since Mom died...in some ways it has been a LONG year, heck, it has been a long week with Uncle Kunio in ICU...but all in all, it has been a healing year.

Dad and Dean are adjusting to life at home...Dad did have a very slight stroke about a month ago...he was really lucky and it only affected his right leg...but, he has been cleared to drive and is doing fine.

Grandma has been coming to my house every afternoon, has dinner and then we take her home.

We are all doing fine, we have survived our first year of "firsts"...we are finding out that we are stronger than we thought.

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Santiagos

The Santiago's were in town for a family celebration...so, we were able to meet them for dinner on Friday night...


The kids are getting so big....I can't believe Mae is starting to apply for colleges next year...


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Cake pops...

Have you tried the latest fad? Cake pops...okay, so, I have been wanting to dabble with the latest sweet treat...but, I wasn't sure what they were like or what to do. After tasting some at a tailgate, I thought I would try them out...

First you make a cake, crumble it and add some frosting. The cake pops I had were really sweet, so, I added some cream cheese to the frosting.



Then, the fun part starts...roll them up into balls.


Dip in candy coating and decorate.


Last weekend we were invited to a friend's house, unfortunately, we had to cancel so, I made the cake pops and took it to his office...


Here is a closeup of the "flowers"? I put a styrofoam ball in the terra cotta pot, layered on some Spanish moss and inserted the cake pops through the flower cut outs...cute, eh?


The reason we had to cancel on our friend is that my bachelor uncle had been admitted into ICU/CCU. For a while it looked really grim, but after a week, he was able to move to a regular room...I made these for the ICU/CCU staff...they took great care of Uncle Kunio...



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Does color matter?

While we were gone, Neil finally got his Science Project grade. I wrote "finally" because, at the fair, he had a second place ribbon, but a "?" for a grade.


Neil's project was about whether colored candles and non-colored candles burn at the same rate...the results...non non-colored candles burn faster.



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Happy Mother's Day

After a two hour delay, Jeff and I made it hope to the Bay iArea around 4:30 pm. Luckily, United was able to find a crack in the hydraulic line that controls the landing gear BEFORE we left JFK...so, we ended up chaining planes. Unfortunately, this meant going back on the plane to retrieve our carry-on luggage. I had forgotten that I put my camera in the front seat pocket, and I remembered about 10 minutes prior to boarding our new plane. Luckily, I was able to have a gate attendant retrieve it for me. After thinking about it, I could have gotten a new camera...especially since I had downloaded all of my NYC pictures onto the iPad...oh, well...next time...

After picking up the boys, I went home to finish the dolls for the great-grandmothers. I worked on the legs, kimono, and obi on the trip...but, I still had to stuff and sew one body together and sew on the clasps....I finally was able to finish around 1 am...( 4 am NYC time)! They turned out cute...



This morning we joined the Jangs and Sekigahamas for The CYS Mother's Day pancake breakfast at the San Jose Betsuin (Buddhist Church). It was a nice breakfast fundraiser with almost 1,600 people attending. Afterwards, we did a little browsing in San Jose Japantown and met Gary for lunch.

After Ninja practice, we are heading to meet the family for dinner to celebrate Grandma's 95th birthday.



I think Grandma liked her doll...


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