2013 Another Iacolucci Family reunion

This year we were at cousin Rosemary's house who lives on Lake Tapps in Washington...actually her address is Bonnie Lake, so I always thought it was Bonnie Lake that was the body of water at her back door!  but it isn't, there really is a Bonnie Lake, but it is very small...

It was a smaller gathering than normal for our reunion picnic, but it was so nice to see everyone and to spend time talking to them one on one.  Most do live in the Seattle area, we come from Oregon and actually it was just my older brother, Bernie, his wife and my dad and I that went up this summer.  A cousin came from Idaho but the rest live in the area.  And the picnic is catered by a cousin who has his own catering business...and you can guess what was served!  Pasta...the best ever, with meatballs, and short ribs, raviolis, salad, bread...and then everyone contributes to dessert!

The best part of the day was seeing my Dad's two sisters...and they both came to the reunion.  One is 94, my dad will be 92 in October and his younger sister will be 90 in October!  I love them so much, they are just sweet sweet ladies!

I stayed with Linda for 5 days and one day we took her dad (93) out to breakfast and then on a drive down memory lane.  We went to our old neighborhood (that is where Linda and I became fast friends at the age of 7!)  she lived at the top of 33rd and Graham, I lived at the bottom of 33rd.  We drove to Lake Washington where as young girls we would walk every day during the summer to swim in the lake...well, I swam, Linda didn't so much like the water, so she laid in the sun! I thought it was a looong way to walk, so we clocked it and was surprised to find out it was about 2.4 miles to our homes...seemed a lot further back then, but it was all hill!!  Up and down both ways...
 

Lin and I at Seward Park on Lake Washington

My Grandma and Grandpa Iacolucci's house (they came from Italy)...we lived there for a few years when I was about 5.

The house I lived at until I was 16, my bedroom was the one close to the front door...now it has a fence all around the whole house.

This is the side yard I played flag football with my brothers and in the back is a patio where my BFF (Linda) and I would roller skate for hours.  My mother always had flowers in the center part, here it was just weeds.

Well, that is it for another Iacolucci Family Reunion Picnic.  We have one every year, and maybe not everyone can come every year, but it is so important to keep in touch with family and to stay connected.  That is the best part.  I grew up with my cousins, and remember staying with them for long periods of time in the summer time and it is so nice to stay connected even if it is just once a year.

We all did go see my Mom's sister, Auntie Lorraine while we were up in that area...and she will be 91 in December.  Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera out of my purse and get a picture of all of us together.  But she looks fabulous also, lives alone in her house and takes care of the yard and flowers and garden all herself...I hope I can do half of what she does when I am her age!

Iacolucci Picnic

August 11, 2012  Another fabulous family reunion...smaller turnout this year, but nice to have more time to visit with everyone...we celebrated a cousins 80th birthday and soon her 60th wedding anniversary...my sweet aunt is 93 and it was so nice to see and talk to her.  This year my dad didn't go up with us...he just was not feeling like he could handle a 6 hour car drive (3 + hours each way).  I rode up with my brother Marty, his wife, Kim and  daughter Teale...so I was a back seat rider this time around and it was lovely to let someone else do the driving!!  My friend of 55 years, Linda came and joined us at cousin Tony Pinto's house.

Auntie Elvera, 93

Hank and daughter Melinda

Janet and Linda

Laurie, Sal, Auntie Elvera

My friend Linda, me, Carole, Bonnie and the star, Auntie Elvera

Rosie and Linda...who put the show on!  Wouldn't happen without them

Cousin Vin with the "dummy"  (his words!!)

      

Emerald Cove Catering brought the food and it was absolutely FABULOUSLY DELISH!  Two kinds of ravioli, penne, sausage with veggies and of course the Meataballsa...!!  (that's Italian speak!), garlic bread and a salad...what could be better?  Is your mouth watering???  Oh Man, it was sooo good!  And my cousin is the head chef and owner of this catering company...well, it is my cousins, son to be specific, Fred Jr. Detore...Auntie Elvera's grandson!

Our Annual Family Reunion

Our annual Iacolucci reunion was held this year on August 13 at Tony and Janet Pinto's house in Maple Valley, Wa.  We had nearly 90 family members gathered including my husband who has not been for many many years.  We had a birthday celebration with cake for our two older members of the family...my Dad who will be 90 in October and his cousin, Fred, who will be 80 this year.  My cousins son has a catering business in Seattle...called Emerald City Catering...and I think he specializes in Italian food...but I could be wrong about that, I do know that he brings everything Italian to our picnic and let me tell you, the food was delicious!!  Spaghetti, meatballs, two kinds of raviolis with a pink sauce, short ribs...oh my, it was fabulous...we had salads and garlic bread and then lots of desserts made by family members, including the TWO Costco cakes for the the birthday boys!  We had biscotti's...Melinda's famous recipe...so good.!  We had pitzels, and then of course several kinds of chocolate brownies and I brought the Mirabel Magic Cookie...everything was so good and it was so nice to see the cousins and aunts...The Matriarch of the Iacolucci Family is my dad's sister, Elvera who was 92 in July!  And she was there --- here she is in all her glory...such a sweetie...

Does she look 92?  And does she look Italian?  She borrowed the hat to keep the sun out of her eyes while pictures were being taken...

Fred (80), My dad, Ben (90), Elvera (92)

Carol, Nancy, Dad

Jamie, Dina, Teale

Kids playing bocce

Michael, brother Marty, Melinda, Teale (Marty's daughter), Ellie

This is the Iacolucci/Pinto family...just a small part of this whole clan
 We are blessed to have such loving and kind people in this family...ones who really treasure keeping the connection between all of us.  My Grandfather, Giuseppe (Joe) had three brothers and two sisters...they all married and had children.  My Dad, Ben was one of six children...they each married and has a family...so you can see how this can grow into a really large group.  And truth be told...we were missing a LOT of people just from my father's siblings children...my first cousins.  And we keep growing!  My father has another sister still living, Carm, and she was not at the reunion as her husband Fred is not in good health and she cannot leave him alone.  So we miss all  those who could not make it this year.


Family is and should be very important...to learn your roots and to see where you came from is so important, it helps define who you are...my Grandpa Joe died when he was about 75...I was maybe 5 years old.  He left Italy when he was 12 years old...coming for the American Dream...he lived in Philadelphia with an aunt and uncle on his mother's side.  He worked at a grocery store to pay for room and board. When he was a teenager he  moved to Seattle, he bought a house and after the house was paid for, he took a trip back to Italy and married my Grandmother, Rosa.  He returned to Seattle and worked for 5 years to save enough money to pay for my grandmothers voyage.
They had 6 children...and of those six, three are still living...one being my dad and this year on October 18, he will turn 90 years old.  He was so sure he would not live long after my  mom died, but he is going strong!  Yes, he tires easily.  Yes, he cannot do all that he used to do.  Yes, he does his own cooking.  Yes, he does his own gardening, keeping the orchard, pruning, harvesting, canning, and freezing.
It is what keeps him going...he loves it.  Without the garden he would be lost...it is what motivates him to get up and get out!!  Growing up in the depression years also helped to define him...he works hard to put food on his table...he harvests so that he will be sure to have healthy home grown food - and he boasts that he saved $30 at the end of a month because he was able to use all the vegetables from his garden.


I was very happy that nearly all of my family was able to make it to this reunion...especially since we were honoring my dad.  Unfortunately, because of the motorcycle accident with Aaron, Lacey's family was not able to make the trip up north.  We missed her and I missed sharing her family with all the others...so they would have an idea about the "connection"...the Iacolucci Family Connection!