Entries Tagged as 'derek'

Fun With Sparklers

July 10th, 2009 · 1 Comment

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Kyle & Kate

At the house in Michigan, we had a bunch of fireworks to light off on the fourth of july. The older kids, Chris (13) and Mitch (10), were really into the big explosives and spraying tubes and crazy displays. Tommy and Kate, who are only 3 years old were very reserved. Their dads helped them with a sparkler, but they didn’t seem to be into it much at all.

The middle kids? All they wanted were more FIRE STICKS.. aka, sparklers. More, more, more! Light it on fire! I don’t think they even cared about the big fireworks. Just the sparklers and the snake fireworks, which they loved because they thought it looked like poo. POO ON FIRE! Oh, and those little snap things you throw on the ground. I’m afraid we may have turned Ben into a pyro. After the sparklers were all gone he just wanted to light things on fire. Have fun with that back home in California, Kyle & Winnie!

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Ben

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Derek

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Derek

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Kids on the Lawn

July 9th, 2009 · 1 Comment

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After the Camp Fukuda photos, Uncle Neil went to the shed to get out his riding lawn mower. Not to mow the lawn, but to give the kids – Mitch, Ben, Kate, Hideto, Derek & Tommy – a in the ride in the trailer that was attached.

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The kids loved it!

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I think Uncle Neil may have liked it more!

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- – - – - – -

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Caroline & Mitch :: Brighton, MI

Dallas and I spotted these familiar tubes in Aunty Peggy & Uncle Neil’s garage. It was the same ladder golf game that my dad made for us. Aunty Peggy said that someone made it and gave them the game but they never played it before. Dallas and Mitch, who’d played at our house before, set the game up and we showed everyone how to play. Aunty Peggy and I won 5 games in a row before she purposely lost so that she could go refill her wine!

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Chris & Dallas :: Brighton, MI

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2009 Camp Fukuda

July 8th, 2009 · No Comments

After golfing we headed over to Aunty Peggy and Uncle Neil’s house. For the last two July Fourth holidays Dallas’s family has gotten Camp Fukuda tshirts made and then taken family photographs in them.

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Trying to assemble 25+ people can be maddening. People walk off.

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Other people pose together.

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Kids run around.

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Finally. Only Heather and I are missing. Heather was setting up her camera on a tripod so I took that time to make my own photo. There’s a photo floating around somewhere that has all of us.

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Back: Caroline, Aunty Glenna, Uncle BB, Jeff, Cory, Chris, Caroline, Danny, Aunty Gail, Naoko, Kenji, Doug, Tommy, Derek, Krystyn, Hideto, Scotty, Peggy, Neil. Front: Adam, Chris, Dallas, Kathy, Laura, Mitch, Kyle, Kate, Winnie, Ben.

Aunty Laura’s Family -

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Cory, Chris, Danny, Caroline, Aunty Laura, Krystyn, Hideto, Scotty

Kathy’s Family -

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Kathy, Caroline, Dallas, Rachelle

Shaka!

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Caroline, Dallas

Aunty Peggy & Uncle Neil’s Family –

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Aunty Peggy, Derek, Uncle Neil, Kyle, Kate, Ben, Winnie

Dallas & his sister, still goofing-

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Caroline, Dallas

Aunty Gail’s Family -

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Jeff, Heather, Chris, Mitch, Auny Gail, Tommy, Doug, Kenji, Naoko

Aunty Glenna & Uncle BB’s (sort of) family-

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Uncle BB & Aunty Glenna’s kids didn’t arrive til later in the night so they got Adam, a family friend, in their photo.

These are the people that won the 2009 Fukuda Cup earlier in the day. Notice that they changed into their winning shirts.

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Kyle, Jeff, Adam, Chris, Aunty Gail, Danny

I poured my beer into the award cup and each winning team member had to drink from the cup. Notice that Chris’s shirt is all wet. Doug, a sore loser, sprayed the hose all over the winners while they were posing for photos.

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Chris, Aunty Gail

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Adam, Jeff

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Kyle

These are the people who lost the 2009 Fukuda Cup. Dallas was giving “the finger” in some of the photos. He told his mom to do it and she gave thumbs up… wrong finger.. and everyone started laughing.

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Dallas, Doug, Kathy, Uncle BB, Uncle Neil, Scotty

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Dallas

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Glenna

After photos we spent the afternoon and evening eating delicious gumbo that Danny made, drinking, and visiting in the yard. Or inside. The mosquitoes were kind of brutal in Michigan.

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Christmas Dinner at Auntie Gail’s

December 26th, 2007 · 4 Comments

Derek
Derek

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Mitch

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Tommy

The first year I went to Christmas dinner at Dallas’ Aunt Gail’s house Chris and Mitch were the youngest kids I knew. Kyle and Winnie were visiting from California and they had 2 young boys, but I didn’t know them well and was overwhelmed by all the new people that I don’t remember them that much.

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Cory & Chris

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Winnie & Kate

Last year Tommy and Hideto were born and it was their first Christmas. It was so much fun. This year Scotty & Krystyn didn’t come out from California so Hideto wasn’t at the party, but Winnie and Kyle made it out and this time with an addition: baby Kate. It’s was her first Christmas. Kate’s brothers Derek and Ben are getting so much older and running around and playing with Chris and Mitch. And Tommy… so cute! It’s his second Christmas and he’s starting to talk and have a real personality. Naoko speaks Japanese to Tommy at home and he’s already bilingual. When Naoko tells him things in Japanese he really listens and does it immediately. Pretty funny. Maybe that’s when he knows he’s really in trouble.

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Tommy

Miko & Ben
Miko & Ben

So, I guess the point is that it’s great to see all of Dallas’ family, but just like at my family’s Christmas, the kids are what make it great.

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Mission Impossible! Mitch, Kate, Ben, Tommy, Chris, Derek

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Josh & Brad napping

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Christmas Dinner at Auntie Gail’s

December 27th, 2005 · 1 Comment

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Top to Bottom:
Jeff, Heather, Mitch, Chris, Miko, Kyle, Derek, Winnie, Ben, Ali, Danny, Cory, Rachelle, Lori, Dallas, Doug, Naoko

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Uncle B.B., Ali, Aunt Glenna, Josh :: Mt. Prospect, IL

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Danny & Lori :: Mt. Prospect, IL

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Uncle B.B., Dallas, Rachelle, Aunt Glenna :: Mt. Prospect, IL

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Back: Jeff, Aunt Gail, Naoko, Doug
Front: Chris, Heather, Mitch

On Christmast evening we went to Dallas’ Auntie Gail’s house in Mt. Prospect for dinner and a gift exchange. She made beef tenderloin that had to be some of the best I’ve ever eaten. I even took seconds, and I rarely even eat steak.

Later on the $10 grab bag/gift exchange got pretty crazy but Dallas and I were able to team up to get the gift we wanted. It was a set of Japanese bowls that we suspected that Doug & Naoko brought. Luckily we were right. I think next year there’s going to be a rule in place because our strategy was copied by others and then the game got repetitive and, I guess, unfair.

Oh, and there was a little football game on. The Packers lost, but I’m glad it wasn’t a total blow out. I was afraid of what was going to happen to me in a house full of Bears fans. Luckily, they were pretty merciful. Except for Chris, who is like 9 years old and full of all kinds of trash talk.

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