January Update/１月報告

One week after we came back from an arctic East Coast, we headed down to Sunny San Diego to meet up with Robert, Holly, Carter and Grant who had a two day lay over in San Diego on their way to their vacation in Hawaii:-)
とっても寒い東海岸から帰って来た１週間後、ハワイへ家族旅行の途中で飛行機乗り換えのため２日間サンディエゴに滞在するロバートとホーリー一家に会いに行って来ました。

This month Violet started her solids and so far loved everything we've given except Avocado just like her big sister... Only difference is when we gave avocado to Madison her face expressed Yucky! but Violet's face was of a confused look like what did you just put into my mouth!? She liked it after I mixed it with some broccoli puree though:-)

１月からバイオレットの離乳食を開始、今の所口に入れた途端に変な顔をしたのはアボカドだけで、それ以外は美味しそうに食べてくれてます：）アボカドが嫌いなのは誰かさん(マディソン)とそっくり：）

We really enjoyed the warm winter weather here in So Cal while we were sorry the rest of the country suffered and struggled with crazy winter storms... Spent some time on a Tennis court and our little girl is getting better and better with her hits and for some reason really enjoys being a ball girl so Dave and I get to enjoy some Tennis also...

アメリカ中過去に起こった事が無いくらいの極寒豪雪気候に困っている中とっても天気の良い南カリフォルニアにいる私達は外に出ていい気候を満喫(すみません...)。マディソンは練習する度にとってもテニス上手になっています、しかもボール拾いも好きなのでデイブと私がテニスする間とっても助かります：）ありがとうマディソン！

Dave's 35th Birthday fell on MLK's day this year so no work, Hooray! So we headed to Sunset Beach to spend a lovely morning together before we came home for our birthday steak dinner and homemade ice cream birthday cake dessert:-)

デイブの３５才の誕生日は好都合にこっちは休日、なのでクライン家はサンセットビーチでのんびりな午前中を過ごし、家に帰ってお祝いのステーキご飯とアイスクリームケーキ：）誕生日おめでとうデイブ！

 

 I wanted to post this picture because if you click on the picture and get a larger view of it you can see Violet's lips forming a perfect heart!

この写真をクリックして大きくするとバイオレットの唇が完璧なハート型になっているのが見えるでしょ：）とってもかわいい。

This month we had to say good-bye to my Grand-pa Iwai in Japan on January 17th. He was 10 days short of his 92nd Birthday... Unfortunately the last time I got to see and talk to him was three years ago when I went back to Japan with 1 year old Madison so it's been a long time.  He was one of those quiet grand-pas that smiles a lot and says very little. He was a skilled plumber and after he retired from that job he became a mail delivery person until he retired the second time. He LOVED spending time in his beautiful flower garden behind my parent's house and yes he had many Bonsai trees:-) A lot of my memory of him takes place in that garden, him and a pruning scissors. The back of my parents' house opens up to the garden, so growing up I would come home from school and eat my snacks from the sunny sitting area and watch him tend to his flowers. Once in a while g-ma would join me and this was the time he was most chatty talking about each flower...
１月１７日にお爺ちゃんが９１才で亡くなりました。あと１０日で９２才の誕生日だったそうです。アメリカに住んでいてなかなか日本に帰って来れないので最後にお爺ちゃんと話したのは３年も前。私のおじいちゃんとおばあちゃん４人の中で一番静かで口数少なく、でもいつもニコニコしている人でした。庭にある花や盆栽の手入れが大好きで、家の窓際に座ってお爺ちゃんが庭で水くれするのをおやつ食べながら見ていた記憶が沢山あります。

Because I've only been told about him passing and how the funeral was, it probably won't fully sink in until we go back to Japan this Summer. I wish I could have been there to say good bye to him, but I was told so many people came to pay respects that they couldn't all fit inside the funeral home... Hearing that gave me some peace during this sad time:-)
やっぱり家族からお爺ちゃんが亡くなった事やお葬式の事を聞いているだけだから、実感は半分ぐらいです。でも、沢山の人達がお爺ちゃんのお葬式に来てくれたんだよって聞いて、とっても嬉しい気持ちです。

This picture was taken for their 50th anniversary and I must say they do look great:-)
この写真はおじいちゃんとおばあちゃんの金婚式の記念の写真です：）

Dave and I were talking about what we can do to memorialize him here and we were going back and forth with the idea to plant some of his favorite flowers then a sweet couple from Church gave us a card and a gift certificate for a nursery we frequent so we can buy his favorite flower and plant it. Wow how so nice of them! so one Saturday morning we visited the nursery and were able to find the Japanese Peony and Azalea in memory of him and plant them in the sunniest spot in our yard.
ちょうどデイブとお爺ちゃんの祈念として庭にお爺ちゃんの大好きな花を植えようと話し合っていた頃に、教会からの知り合いの夫妻が花を買う様にってお金をくれたので、早速その土曜日に大好きなへ植物園へ行って来て、庭で一番日当りの良い所に植えました。
お爺ちゃんの大好きな牡丹とツツジ科サツキです。