The last few days in California

We spent the last three days of our trip to the States with Takumi and Julieta.  Some of our plans didn't work out but we enjoyed seeing how Takumi and Julieta live in their new home and meeting their doggies.

Tetsu and I had tentatively planned to rent a car and travel to the San Diego to visit a friend of my mother's who is in her 90's and has been like an aunt to me.  Ann also speaks Japanese and Tetsu felt very welcomed to her and her husband's home the many years that we have visited in the past.  Though Leiya had managed to make contact with Ann in March, unfortunately she never answered her phone when I called, nor did she respond to e-mails which included my telephone number.  Well, Ann is in her 90's and maybe not that connected with the digital world.  We sadly missed seeing Ann this trip.  

I had also thought we might swing by and visit one of my high school friends whom I stay with each summer when visiting California.  Again, our timing didn't work out because she was in Minnesota for a family funeral...  In the end, we didn't really have a reason to rent a car so Tetsu and I stayed at Takumi's while Julieta went to work each morning and Takumi hunkered down in his room to work remotely.  I read my Kindle and Tetsu took pictures around the house and organized his photos on his computer.  We played around in the evenings when both Julieta and Takumi were finished with work for the day.

We went out for a Mexican breakfast one morning!

We stopped in to visit Julieta's grandmother and aunt's family and they invited us back for dinner that night.  Real Mexican food!

Tetsu loved the uncle's garden and how he'd decorated it all.

Because of our big breakfast that morning, we went back up to Idyllwild just to walk the dogs and get some exercise ourselves.  

I love that Takumi and Julieta can just zoom up the mountain for an hour to walk around and enjoy nature.

Julieta's very warm family.  Oh, the food was delicious and we brought home lots for the next day's lunch!

One day Julieta took Tetsu and me to get our PCR tests to return to Japan...  The process was easy, the receiving of notification that Japan would accept was a major hassle!  We made a trip to See's Candies and Hobby Lobby.

The front entrance to Takumi and Julieta's house.  That's a quilt I made Takumi long before he met Julieta.

Another one that I expermented with and tried to be "arty".  There are quite a few of my quilts on their walls and I am flattered that Julieta will display them as I'm not really sure if she is a "quilty" person.  I left more with her telling her to give them away if she wants.

There are Hazy and Pollo running around the very nice backyard and there are the Idyllwild mountains right behind their house.

Hazy checks out everything and Pollo is her little shadow.

Those bottom teeth of Pollo's really give him personality!

Tetsu relaxing with the doggies.

Takumi's office with four computers going at once.

One of our final meals at home.

But we actually did see Leiya and Tony and Luka for 20 minutes on this final day when they stopped in on their way to the airport to drop off some In-n-Out hamburgers and pick up the stroller they'd left in Takumi's garage.  A final photo of Luka and "Ji-ji"!  (Grandpa in Japanese baby language!)

Wineries!

On Saturday, the day after my niece's wedding, Takumi and Julieta had the day off and we arranged to meet them at one of their favorite wineries in Temecula.  Tetsu wasn't too excited about this plan because he (we) is not a drinker and he wasn't particularly interested in sipping wine.  Nevertheless, Takumi said that in their part of California, one of the main attractions of the area was the opportunity to visit wineries and so that was where we were headed!

I am so glad we did!!!

Oh my!  The scenery was just beautiful!

We ordered a bottle of wine...

 and some munchies and Takumi and Julieta told us about why they liked this winery.  

It seems that they've visited quite a few and this one they especially liked for the scenery.  

We wandered around the vineyard.

And just enjoyed the warm sun.

Luka played around on a photogenic tractor.

We took pictures for this year's Christmas card!

And then we moved on to the next winery!

Julieta said that of the many wineries they'd visited, this one had the best chaucherie board (which was a word I didn't even know.)

I think Luka didn't like an olive on the chaucherie board.

We ordered so much food to go along with another bottle of wine!

And the scenery was again beautiful!  I could get used to this lifestyle!

After lunch we headed to ANOTHER winery!  

This time to try wine tasting!

This was an eye opening experience with the sommelier talking to us about what wines we liked (for Tetsu and me, none as we'd never had any) and the young man who was assisting us chose wines that he thought we might like.  And Tetsu found out he likes sparkling wine and sweet wine!

This winery had a great lawn area where we all relaxed for an hour or so talking to each other and anyone else who happened to sit down.  

Luka and I rolled around on the grass.

We went in and out to the wine tasting room to try a new wine.

And pretty soon it was time to say good-bye to Leiya, Tony and Luka who were headed to San Diego for a few days while Tetsu and I went back home with Takumi and Julieta.

A few tears in the parking lot (from Tetsu and Leiya and me), and we waved good-bye with lots of photos and memories!

Wedding photo overload!!!

And finally the wedding!

We made a error however, by leaving some of our suitcases at Takumi's house (because the rental car wouldn't hold everything) and realized that our wedding finery was an hour and a half away from us.  No way to go back and get it, and no way (the roads were so bad) for Takumi to come to our AirBnb and deliver it and no place for us to change at the venue (which Leiya had scoped out for us at the rehearsal the day before.)  We ended up meeting Takumi and Julieta and our suitcase at a Target parking lot and Tetsu changed in the car and I changed in a Target bathroom!  

But we made it... though I'm afraid I don't remember the name of the venue.  

Outdoors, grassy lawns above us, chairs laid out under big trees.  

Leiya was in the wedding party but she had set out dress clothes for Luka and Tony had found a nearly matching hat and bow tie so that he and Luka could be look-alikes.

Takumi played "doorman".

Julieta and I sat and enjoyed ourselves...  and for the next few hours Tetsu played photographer as he couldn't talk with anyone anyway and he found lots to photograph.  (More than 800 photographs!)

No photos allowed during the actual ceremony but the pastor (whom I later discovered I'd known when Takumi and Leiya had gone to vacation Bible school in California when they were in grade school!) waited for the wedding party under a huge oak tree.

A nice touch was that Justin (the groom) came down the long walkway with both his mother and father and Kiana also was escorted by both my brother and Marcy.

And here we are after the ceremony.

Colin, my nephew, and Leiya were paired.

My brother and Marcy.

I was so happy to see my brother looking so good as he has had health problems.

Greeting everyone on the patio right after the wedding.  You will notice my brother is smiling throughout most of this day!  He is known for his grumpy look but his happiness overflowed.  I was told that he and I are more and more looking like each other in our old age!

Luka made a splash in his dandy outfit.

The wedding party.   Kiana has always been a sort of goth gal and she wanted her wedding in black and dark purple.  (And I'd made her a black quilt which was a good choice.)

With the parents.  Three years ago when Leiya got married, Justin traveled back to Michigan with my brother's family for Leiya's wedding and he did most of the driving when we went to Indiana and Niagra Falls so Tetsu and I felt like we'd really gotten to know him.  I'm so glad that he has joined our family and I let his parents know it!

My children all together.

There were so many people to meet and talk to.  I was happy to find old friends and make new ones, but it was just nice to spend time with family too.

It got cold as the evening progressed so us gals all put on coats that (except for Julieta) didn't do much for style.

I so love this photo of Takumi and Julieta!

The reception buffet was held on another tier of the patio.

Look at that dessert table!!

There was dancing.

My brother was still smiling!

A bonfire.

Some wild Latin dancing.  I didn't know Takumi could dance!

A crazy photo booth.

Finally a photo with the bride.

Father and son.

And a last photo that we actually got to this wedding!