Hello! It has been a while...

Ok, so once again I can make excuse after excuse...but the result is the same...I haven't posted in a LONG TIME...sorry...

The school year is coming to an end...so, life has been hectic...Jordan has his promotion on Tuesday, so last week was busy running off the invitations and programs. Luckily, some of the other Moms did the layout and approvals and all I had to do was the photocopying, collating and folding.

The big accomplishment was that I finished crocheting the leis for Jordan's class...mental note to self...star earlier for Neil's class...













Neil and I finished his teacher's year-end present...Remember that great deal on planters I came across a while back? Purple pansies --- purple and gold are Warwick school colors.













Finally, my little flower girl is getting married in August...she had a bridal shower today in Morgan Hill. I finished up one of her presents on Saturday...a family cookbook..with recipes that I copied from my Mother's recipe files. I found recipes from her grandmother, her aunts etc...funny how so many of the recipes called for deep frying!












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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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