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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 26 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/9, ISO 1100 — full exif
Four Generations
95-year-old Misao with her son (and his wife), granddaughter, and great grandson

I discovered a great way to get a fun group portrait this morning: carefully set up camera on tripod, turn on a self timer set to take a picture every second, make final delicate focus adjustments, announce you're ready to run and join the picture, than loudly bump the whole setup as you clumsily move away. Feign look of shocked “oops”. Everyone laughs. Interval timer takes picture. Hope the bump didn't ruin the shot.

I did that for this shot this morning, except for the whole “on purpose” and “feign” thing. I like the result.

Anthony's mom's dad's 95-year-old mom made a visit for the New Year. She arrived last night in time for a traditional osechi New Year's dinner.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 55 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1800 — full exif
Anthony Receives Otoshidama
a traditional New Year's gift to kids
(five bucks... he was in heaven)

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 66 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — full exif
Simple Decoration
cover of one of the food boxes

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1250 — full exif
Lots To Chose From

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/2.8, ISO 800 — full exif
Dig In!

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/6.3, ISO 560 — full exif
Variety

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/6.3, ISO 4000 — full exif
Mmmmm....

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/2.8, ISO 640 — full exif
Trying Some Still-Steaming Bread
baked by yours truly
( in a bread machine... makes me feel so “bakey” )

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 50 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/5, ISO 2200 — full exif
With a Studied Eye

We broke out a gift of private-label sake we'd received from a professional-chef friend. He deals only in the very finest things... previous gifts have included both the priceless (matsutake mushrooms) and the pricey (melons). Fumie's grandmother ran a liquor shop in Osaka for 50+ years, so this caught her eye.

She's 95 years old and physically frail, but can still navigate the stairs in her two-story house. Mentally, she seems pretty darn sharp. Here's an example...

Fumie's dad grew up thinking his birthday was Oct 30th, until when he was a teenager filing some kind of paperwork with city hall, he found out that his birthday was recorded as Oct 31st. Returning home to report this to his folks, she said at the time “oh, I probably just forgot the date”. Doh! Anyway, fast forward 45 or so years to last night, and Fumie's dad was sort of ribbing her about the Oct 31st mistake, which she deflected with a dry “that year didn't have that date”. I guess you had to be there, but the delivery was hilarious.. sort of a dismissive but loving “child, you don't know what you're talking about” deadpan that caused everyone else to erupt in laughter while she returned to her food.

It may have been mis-recorded by the government, but it's equally likely that she indeed just didn't remember back then. Japan immediately after the war was not a place of ease or plenty. “Maternity leave” started when labor started, and indeed, Fumie's grandmother was working the fields when labor started on or around Oct 30th. Maternity leave ended not long after labor ended, so I'm sure she had to defer work on the baby scrapbook to concentrate on little things like feeding the family. It was a time of pain, suffering, and sacrifice — that's part of all motherhood — during an era of pain, suffering, and sacrifice. I live in a time of easy and plenty, but I can't remember what year it is without checking the computer, so I don't begrudge her a day or two back then.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 52 mm — ¹/80 sec, f/5.6, ISO 6400 — full exif
More Otoshidama!
from Fumie's folks, along with a big coin-shaped disk of chocolate

From the “and now something completely different” department, we pulled out a gag gift from Mommy...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 35 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/3.2, ISO 800 — full exif
Milk Glasses

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/5.6, ISO 4000 — full exif
Cold, But Fun

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 58 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/2.8, ISO 900 — full exif
Here's Looking at You, Kid

She's Anthony's last surviving great grandparent, though he did get to meet Fumie's mom's mom before she passed, as can be seen in this other “Four Generations” shot.