What do you do when it's 113 degrees outside.....??

You go golfing! This year, the mom's got together and organized a golf outing for a few of us lucky guys. We got to play the beautiful Cache Creek Gold Club which is an absolute beauty of a course. On hand for the day of fun were Denis Ishisaka, Blake Takaha, Dave Yasuda and myself. All of these guys are regular golfers....for me, the last time I had golfed, Scott wasn't even born yet so it's been a while to say the least. The guys were very patient with me and let me cheat along the way. My kind of group of guys.....the temps peaked at about 113 when we left and I think all of us felt the heat to the bone. I lasted about 11 holes but the other guys powered through all 18 holes. It was a fun day topped off with a great dinner at the Ishisaka's! I'll be ready for another day of golf after I pay a few visits to the driving range! Thanks to Denis for the pics below!

Getting ready to tee off on the first hole...notice the matching shirts that we all got for Father's Day....each has a picture of our kids.

Beautiful view of the course

Great pics of the lakes


Trying to look cool in the 113 degree heat

Denis Ishaka, Me, Blake Takaha and Dave Yasuda

Go Party....it's your birthday.....

June 24....June 24....June 24....Renee always used to tell me..."funny, but for some reason, whenever I look at the clock, it says 6:24...that's my birthday!" Well....today is 6:24 and.....IT"S YOUR BIRTHDAY!" It used to be when we were young....birthdays would be filled with fun stuff and super excitment....well, now that we have 3 kids and jobs....the excitement and fun is a little different. On today's plate is kids school awards, after school picnic, boy scout merit badge activity and SASF basketball....not the ideal birthday! But we all want Mommy to know how much we love and appreciate her. She works hard and always goes out of her way to help people....she always tries to be positive and works hard at being a good mommy while holding down 2 jobs. There are a million reasons why we love her but I think Scott's present shows how much.......He got up extra early this morning to make pancakes...all by himself, for Mommy. Cori made a special card for Mommy, she was very proud that she did it all by herself. What is truly special about these two actions are 1) Scott is just like Mommy....he wants to make sure your day is special. 2) Cori is like Mommy....very creative and enjoys making beautiful cards. Now Justin.....he slept in and snuggled in bed with Mommy. Sometimes a good snuggle is the best gift of all......Happy Birthday Mommy....we LOVE YOU!!

A Little History.....

My Sister Marcia cleaned out my Dad's old Army footlocker and found a bunch of old family pictures....many from long, long time ago....so long, that we don't even now who the heck the people are in the pictures...but they must have been related somehow since my Grandma Kumamoto had them. I thought I would share a few with you.....

This one is cool because it looks super old. It was the funeral of somebody, must have been important beacause people are all decked out and the horse drawn carriage must have cost some bucks during a time when mose people didn't have lots of bucks....I don't who passed away or who is in the picture but I wish I did.....

This picture is titled, "Meeting of the ladies of the Japanese Mission, At Moneta, California January 6th 1917". I think my grandma is in the second to the bottom row, 4th over from the left.

This picture was from a cruise ship picture that my Grandpa and Grandma Kumamoto went on. It is dated Feb. 20th, 1936. My grandparents were pretty wealthy for the time. My Grandpa owned a produce distribution warehouse at the time. The traveled the world....of course, this was all before the start of WW2....they lost everything at the time of internment and my Grandma was pretty bitter about it until the final years of her life. My Grandpa is in the middle and my Grandma is sitting to the right.

This is a picture of my Grandpa's produce business before the war. My Grandpa is in the middle wearing the suit.

This is a picture of my Dad and his big brother.....my Dad is standing on the left.

This is my Mom and Dad when they were dating during the war....


This is the copy of my Dad's embarkation certificate.....the SS Argentina sailed from Le Harve France on December 24, 1945....nice Christmas present....

This is my Dad's Army ration card from Europe...if you open it up, all the cigarette boxes are checked off!

Rest in peace Jordy.....

When Renee and I purchased our first town house...before kids...before marriage....the first thing we did...literally, about a week after we moved in....was to go out and buy a dog. His name was Jordy and he was feisty....he bit me...he bit our neighbor...he bit my nephew Jason....we used to fight and he would growl at me like he was the man....

But Jordy would also play catch with me....we took him to the beach and threw the ball around and he would flop after it. When I would come home from work, I would lay on the ground and Jordy would lay on top of me and lick my face and hair until it was soaked.

When Scott came along, Jordy would smell him with interest but would never growl our make an aggressive move towards him. Cori...same thing. Jordy started to get more mellow with his age. When Justin came along, Jordy was used to having kids all over the place and basically just wanted to be left alone. He was becoming blind and deaf and I used to tell people, he was my old blind and deaf dog. With his advancing age, he started to develop more and more problems and we just could not keep up with them. I feel bad because we are so busy with this and that, we would often neglect Jordy......all these old age problems finally caught up to him. Over the past couple of days, he stopped eating and drinking and today, he could not walk. It was time to take him to the vet to find out what our options were. Basically, Jordy was just too old and we had to say goodbye to him.

As I write this, I feel some comfort in knowing that Jordy is no longer in pain or uncomfortable. He gave me a lick right before he fell asleep so I know he knows I was there with him. I petted him on the head like I used to when he was a puppy and spoke to him gently telling him to go to sleep and rest. When he was gone I stayed with him and told him that when I see him again, he better not bite me like he used to do.

Today is Thursday but by the time you read this post, it will be Monday. I don't want Scott to know yet....he has a basketball tournament this weekend and I want him to have fun with his friends. Out of all the kids, Scott will take it the hardest. Scott made sure that Jordy was always well fed....had water and was the giver of bones. He thinks Jordy is at the Doctor's office getting checked out over the weekend. Before Scott went to school today, he told me..."Daddy, if Jordy whimpers, pet him on the head....it makes him feel better...." That's Scottie....always caring for others. So when I talk to Scott about Jordy....I'll be sure to let him know that I patted him on the head, he did not whimper and that he is now resting in peace....

Rest easy Jordy, know that we loved you and we hope you have a peaceful journey...say Hi to BJ for me and I will see you again......

Love,

Daddy

Picnic Time!!

This past Sunday, we had our end of year Dharma School picnic. It was lots of fun and the kids had a great time. The weather was perfect and so was the food, games and friends!

Justin at the start line.....

They're off!

Putting it into overdrive.....

He's two steps behind his buddy Bryce.....flip flops are flopping!

Buddies....

Cori and her best bud Allie in the individual races...

Next up was the 3 legged race....

Not to be outdone by his sister...Scott ran the individual race.....

And the 3 legged race with his bud Brian.....

Brian and Scott doing some announcing at the games...

Justin's Pre-School Graduation Day!

I guess you can say that we have reached another milestone as a family.....Justin has officially graduated from Pre-School! He will now officially be in "big boy" school and for the first time in a decade.....we do not have any kids in pre-school! Justin's time at Learning Tree has been fun but he's ready for the big time now!

Mommy is sad that her last baby is growing up!

Justin's big day

Justin and Ms. Karen getting ready to present Mommy with a special award for helping out during the school year.

Justin and Ms. Karen

Some girlfriends.....please girls...don't fight over me....

.. ....and another girlfriend......

Family.......

Scott, Justin and Cori


A very proud Ah-Ma and Yeh-Yeh

Congratulations Justin!!

SBC Fireballs - End Of Year Party!

This past Sunday, we had our end of year party for Cori's basketball team. Of course, we had to do the bowling thing all over again...good thing the kids love to bowl! It was a fun end to a great season. All the girls had a blast and they beat Coach Kelvin in both games (his score against the top two girls scores) so Coach Kelvin had to dish out $5.00 to each girl. It was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

Coach Kelvin adding up the score and thinking..."oh man, I'm losing!"

For some reason...the ball should be in front of Cori, not directly below.....need to work on that form......


Cori lining up the pins

Justin showing off his form

Two handed bowler

Pleased with his results

The 2008-2009 SBC Fireballs

Auntie Paula cutting the cake while the girls look on...forks ready to go...


Diving in....

Air Monk's End Of Year PARTY!!

The end of the basketball season always brings the end of year party and nobody parties better than the families of the SBC Air Monks! The Sacramento Buddhist Church 5th Grade Boys Team - The Air Monks had a great season thanks to the hard work of the coaching staff (Denis Ishisaka, Ron Ikemoto and Marty Sakata) and the efforts of all the boys on the team. The boys are not only teamates but have all become great friends. We had a fun filled night of bowling and pizza.....with one more tournament to go, Fresno Cobras.....the boys will carry on the tradition of strong play....strong friendships and strong parties!!

Bowling babes....Cindy Kitade, Renee and Lesly "Double Donut" Ishisaka...

Bowling Babes II.....Janice Fong and Sharon "I kicked Ken's ass" Siu....

Yummy cake....

Aaron Kitade and Brian Ishisaka


Marty "I need a strike" Sakata

Hoping I can "will" the ball to go where I want it to

Ken "My wife is kicking my ass" Siu

Renee showing good form

Dave "299" Yasuda

Teri "Don't break a nail" Yasuda

Justin "don't get in my way" Kumamoto

Scott, Justin and Sharon bowling for dollars

Lesly Ishisaka celebrating hitting the pins

Bowling babes III.....Cara and Cori

Davis Yasuda and Michael Horita

Scott showing the form of a champ

2008-2009 Air Monks