Love Jones

August 31st was a very important day in the lives of Ryan Jones and LaTavia Gutierrez, as they became husband and wife in front of their family and friends under a beautiful Oregon sky.  It was also a landmark day for reuniting the extended Castro family after years of living in separate states with sparing visits over the years.  Thank you Ryan and LaTavia for finding each other and giving the rest of us an opportunity for a family reunion!

The event was so big it even got my parents on a train along with Aunt Marina, Aunt Barbara, and Uncle Richard!  They all piled on the "party train" to make the long trip to attend Ryan's wedding, and to also see their beloved sister Eleanor.  It sure was neat to see them all together again!  I bet Grandma Lucy would have enjoyed it!  I had to get in on the action too, and hopped on a plane to a state I've never been to.  Boy am I glad I did!

Even though I hadn't seen the children since they were babies, and Laura since she moved to Oregon, I still felt the love as we made up for lost time.  Laura never ages, and the kids have all grown up to be the most beautiful men and young lady. 

 

The wedding was a sight to behold and a wonderfully warm memory I will treasure forever.  I took many pictures and a few videos, as I always like to document such lovely occasions.  I am going to share a few of those videos with you now.

 

 

A grand entrance for the bride....

 

 The vows...

 

 

Live music during the Sand Covenant and Communion.

 

 

The now married couple celebrates down the aisle!

 

 

 

 

Ryan shares his happiness by "busting a move!"

 

 

 

Congratulations!

 

 

 

 

BDay GDay

It's kind of weird to be blogging my own birthday but I wanted to share the big news of the newest member of Samour Sounds.  It's not a person, but her name is Taylor!

 

I mentioned to Rob that I was thinking it was time for me to upgrade my guitar and off to the races we went.  We spent almost an hour in Guitar Center and two whole hours in Sam Ash and finally decided on this one, bag included.  It is a Taylor guitar, one of the best acoustic brands.

 

 

 

Here she is at home.  I call her "she" because her name is Taylor, but actually that's a misnomer since the creator of the company is a man.  But of course I'll refer to it as a "she" since it's a pretty guitar that has the name Taylor on it, and let's face it, it's hard not to picture Taylor Swift with all those signs!

 

 

A little bit closer.

 



 

So Taylor came a week premature to my birthday - she just couldn't resist - and neither could Rob!  I couldn't resist posing with it either!

 

Guitar-me!

 



 

Do you want to hear what she sounds like?

 

 

That is "Easy" by Sheryl Crow, a song Rob, Spenser, and I have been working on.

 

 

Today, on the actual birthday, I took Sienna to practice at 6:45 a.m. and then had a nice breakfast at Mimi's Café. 

 

 

For dinner, we all went to Chili's and then it was time for cake!

 

 

If you're not sure how old I am just check out the numbers I'm holding up!

 

 

I'd say that was a great birthday! 



 

17

Seventeen years ago today Rob and I were saying our "I do's" amongst our family and friends.  What great recollections we have of that day.

 

To celebrate we enjoyed dinner at Logan's Roadhouse.

Sienna joined us too and played photographer.

 



 

After dinner it was time for presents and cake!  Check out the pretty roses, and can you find Sienna?

 



 Vanilla cake left over from Sienna's birthday, with an added touch of raspberries!

 

 

Anniversary amazingness!

 



15!

Our little Sienna turned 15 today!  Remember this day?

 

 

Here she is 15 years later!

 

The cake is homemade and in the shape of the Angelic Rune from the Mortal Instruments Book Series, her current book/character/movie obsession.  I'm happily reading the series as well!

 

 

Birthday decorations!

 

Happy Birthday Miss Sienna Rose!

 

 

 



First Day - Check!

First day jitters are over and everyone is home from new classrooms, classmates, and teachers.

Here is Sienna, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for a 6:15 a.m. drop-off!  She's wearing a new dress we got in a downtown SLO boutique. Cuteness!

 

Spenser may not have a new outfit, but he is sporting a shockingly awesome haircut! 

 



 

Watch out 10th and 8th grades because here they come!

 



Back to School - Back to Short

School starts Monday and truth be told, the kids have had enough time off.  I think their computers deserve a break now!  Spenser is all day and all night computer gaming, and Sienna is all day Tumblr-ing and Fangirling.  New backpacks and school supplies have been purchased and all systems are go for the first day - even SPENSER'S HAIR!

I love his long hair look, but not as much as I love his short hair look.  Here he is getting the ponytail cut off. 

 

And voila!  Pony gone, and now it looks like a bob.  After trimming and shaping -

 

 

here is the new and improved Spenser Allan Samour!

 

 

I love seeing that face out from under all that hair!  Yes, he has ears too!

 

After the cut it was time to celebrate with a shopping spree at Target.

 



 

Of course a new computer game card is not the real pay-off for the haircut.  The pay-off is a relief from the heat and sweat, a release from the burden of painful hair-brushing sessions, and an easy get-up and go style for school mornings.

 

Another added benefit - it will be easier to see him in his 3 musical groups:  Jazz Band, Drumline, and Samour Sounds.

 

 



 

 

Tree Gone Wild

In preparation for monsoon season, our tree was trimmed today.  From this picture you can see how the branches of the tree are impeding on the house.  Even the neighbor's tree was touching the house.  So another visit from Tree Pros was in order.

 

Here is what the tree looks like now.  You can see the branches hitting the house have been removed.

 

 

 

And the tree also got a hair-cut.  Ready for monsoon season!