Spenser Celebrates

Spenser had his second birthday party to commemorate his 12 birthday.  The first was celebrated in New Jersey, and the second with his family in good ol' Arizona.

He got lots of gift cards from Papa and Papa Rose, and a cowbell from his parents for his drum kit!

He got a new fancy keyboard, 

and a headset to talk to his computer buddies.

A colorful birthday cake for the birthday boy.

And the birthday song....

Happy Birthday to our little Bud!

September Sentiments - Video Style

Finally an update for Snippets!  The Samour family celebrated a joyous occasion this weekend with two birthdays marked in New Jersey and the lovely wedding of our nephew and cousin, Kevin Keener.

We all played hooky from work and school and jetted off to the east coast on Friday.  That day happened to be September 21st - the day Dewey entered this world - 44 years ago.  What better way for Rob to celebrate it then being home with his mom and dad! He got his favorite cake - Carvel - so I'd say it was a good birthday.

It wasn't the best birthday song rendition, but somethin' is better than nothin' right? 

The next day was the WEDDING day so we all spent the morning getting ready.  We all got "spiffy" in our "monkey suits" and "headed to the chapel" so Kevin and Danielle could "get married."  (You gotta sing it while you say it!)  Here are the vows....

the rings and the kiss...

There was a break between ceremony and reception where we congregated at the Keener home.  Then it was off to Lucien Manor for the cocktail hour, and then the big reception reveal....

That's pretty darn fancy!

Then it was time for the wedding party introductions.  Check out the first very important couple!

Then the parents of the groom rockin' to AC/DC!

Lauren, Tara, and then Nikki!

And the new Mr. and Mrs.!

The traditional mother and son dance......awww!

Some fun being had at our table!

We danced the night away and didn't get home til almost 1 am! 

We needed some recovery time before the boys headed to Great Adventure and the girls went to Cake Boss.  Both groups were successful and Spenser celebrated his birthday with his Jersey family and a Cake Boss cake!

 I would call that a very successful trip!

HBTM!

We are halfway through our birthday season with my turn occurring yesterday.  Now we wait and prepare for the next two big birthdays in September. 

I started my day with dropping Sienna off to 6 am practice and then to Village Inn for breakfast, splurging on strawberry and whipped cream topped pancakes. YUM! I then went to work where I received many happy birthday wishes from students, staff, and friends.  Ms. Dorf, the Spanish teacher, brought her classes to sing me happy birthday en espanol!  That was cool! We celebrated at lunch with carrot cake cupcakes too, so it was a good workday.

For my birthday dinner I chose Logan's Roadhouse and had garlic butter salmon and broccoli.  Then it was home for cake and presents.

I picked a chocolate mint cake.  Not the family's favorite, but birthday girl gets to choose! (And it was great!)

Presents came next.....

and I got what I love - chocolate, gift cards for clothes, and my FAVORITE show - The Big Bang Theory!

Thanks and much love to all!

Back to School

August is here which signals the start of my school year.  With Sienna and Spenser starting school 2 weeks before me, I found myself a bit bored and thought the best use of my time was to get into my classroom and start setting up.  I'm glad I did! By the time I was required to report, my room was ready.

Here is the front of the room.

Here is the back of the room.

The right side of the room.

The left side of the room.

My "Ode to Twilight" calendar and favorite part of the room!

This is where I spend my weekdays, so I figure I better like my surroundings!

Sweet 16

Today Rob and I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary! I couldn't think of a quaint anecdote to tell so I thought I'd put my thoughts into an acrostic poem -

S - Shell Beach, July 28, 1996

I - I said "I do" he said "Me too"

X - Xerophilously we began our life in Arizona, a

T - Teacher and an

E - Engineer

E - Evolving into a family with Sienna and Spenser

N - Now living happily ever after

To celebrate sixteen years, we headed to Red Lobster for our favorite shrimp extravaganza. 

And we saved room for dessert - chocolate ganache!

14 and First Days

July 25th, a holiday in our house, came and went.  It found Sienna 14 and starting high school!  OMG!  Her birthday always coincides with the start of school so things do get hectic around here between preparing for a party and for school.  She chose to invite her friends over on Saturday and treated them all to The Dark Knight Rises, and then pizza and cake.  Here are the girls in their superhero glory.

Sienna had a tough decision when choosing a cake.  It was either this or an Avengers theme, but obviously the Harry Potter cake won because it was just too awesome to pass up.

And in my eyes, he's a superhero too!

For her actual birthday we went to Johnny Rocket's for dinner, and then home for cake and presents.

She enjoyed her presents, from collectibles to cash, so thank you!

So her birthday was successful, what about the first day of school? Well here is the proverbial first day picture and this was taken at about 5:40 a.m.!  I think she looks bright eyed and bushy-tailed don't you?

And let's not forget Spenser, the new 7th grader.

He came home from his first day excited about all his classes and teachers.  So yay!  That's always good to hear.  And since they are both taking Spanish and speaking some at home, Rob is tickled pink!

Time to SLO down!

Vacationing on the Central Coast finds us enjoying very low temperatures.  We left 110 degrees in Arizona on June 16 to highs of 67 degrees in Arroyo Grande.  That is quite a temperature spread.  Actually a bit cold  for us Arizonites but we make it work because we know what we're escaping at home.  Now that I'm no longer a native of SLO County, when I'm back I find I most enjoy doing what the tourists do.  Check out some of the spots we visited.

The Mission...

Mission creek...

Madonna Inn

Delightful bakery treats in the Madonna Inn

Fish and chips in Morro Bay

Strolling the beach in Pismo

and last but not least....golf

golf

golf

and more golf!

Yeah, I'd call that a vacation!  The only thing it's missing is Rob!