Loved and Lost

You all know Sienna had an awesome marching band season and she is currently in the middle of her winter guard season.  She wowed us with her marching and clarinet playing, and now she is wowing us with her beauty, grace, movement, and elegance in winter guard.

She's very keen on her parents coming to every event, but not so keen on pictures.  I was able to snap this one, begrudgingly on her part, after her performance at the Casa Grande Invitational.  Make-up, hair done, and a red dress!

 

 

 

One of the most annoying things about the winter guard competitions - they allow ZERO videoing.  So I definitely did not use my camera or video camera, but I did capture some of the show from my phone.  I was trying to not get arrested (or risk disqualification) so I didn't record the entire show.  But at least you can get a sense of the tone of it, and see Sienna in her scarlet glory.

 

 

I had to steal it, but it was worth it.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grizzlies Go Samour

I remember the days when we couldn't get people to come to a party to save our life.  Now it seems we've gone to the other extreme with party attendees in the 50's!  Bash on Bartlett was about 65 and on Saturday we hosted the Greenfield Jr. High Staff Party with 42 guests.  

I moved the dining room chairs into the garage and covered the tables with black tablecloths and created a buffet area.  

It worked great!  Italian meatballs, eggplant rolatini, baked ziti, salad, and rolls were on the menu.  Here are the girls who arrived early to help set up!

Rob was keeping everyone happy with his margaritas.  Good thing racing was cancelled!

A teacher baby photo contest was displayed and fun to look at.

The PA was set up in the front room and yes - dancing did commence.  No party is complete without some Gangnam Style!  

There was even fun to be had in the backyard with badminton!  Thanks Grandpa!

Keener Can!

January brought cold temperatures and the arrival of Grandma, Grandpa, Tara and Lauren from New Jersey.  It's always great when family comes to see you but the real motivation for their visit was Tara's participation in the P.F. Chang's Rock and Roll Marathon.  Lauren's love for long distance running has rubbed off on Tara and she did her first 5 mile run while Lauren had to cheer her on from the sidelines due to injury.

Here she is at the start - looking happy and ready to rock it!

She crafted her own shirt to run in - quite creative and Sun Devil appropriate!

The starting line was right downtown Mill Avenue, the heart of Tempe and ASU.

Here she is after the race, still happy!

What an appropriate sign because YES sometimes starting is the hardest part!

Here are some goodies from the race, a bag and a medal, with her name and time engraved.

Definitely something to be proud of!

Other than the excitement of the race itself, the other time was spent hanging out at the house, enjoying the badminton temps outside.

Spenser was in seventh heaven with so many badminton players in town!  I don't think he even got on his computer the whole time his cousins and grandparents were here.  That is something let me tell you!

Thanks for the visit and hope to see you in April for Samour Sounds next show!

 

Christmas in Arizona

As the family anticipated the arrival of Santa Claus, we dined on green chicken enchiladas, rice, beans, and margaritas.  It was yummy!

After dinner we each opened one gift and then decided to watch a movie in Spenser's room.  We've never done that before but he does have a 32 inch tv and a PS3 that plays blu-ray's - which is what we needed.  So we watched "This Christmas" cuddled up on his bed.  Then we all had to go to our beds so Santa could come.

On Christmas morning, Spenser came in to wake us up about 8 am, and then it was downstairs for gift opening.  Here is Buddy with some of his gifts - 

and Sienna with some of hers.

The boys display their traditional gifts from Grandpa.

Perhaps Rob's favorite gift - his family accompanying him to church!  Here's the proof!

Actually, Rob's favorite gift was probably the one he got on Christmas Eve - 

How awesome is that - a KISS flash drive!

After church we snapped a picture before the monkey suits came off and the turkey preparation began.

Getting ready to say grace and then eat!

After eating and cleaning up, it was time to prepare the cake.  Yes we actually baked a cake, and frosted and decorated it!  Here is that process.

Sienna was chief decorator.  She has been to Cake Boss after all!

It was a great day!  Hope you had a great one too!

Merry Christmas!

Turkey, Stuffing, and Cornbread

It may be December 13th, but I am just getting around to the Thanksgiving post! Oops!

Three staples of our Thanksgiving meal are turkey (of course), stuffing, and surprisingly - cornbread.  All were present at the feast we shared this thanksgiving, along with the presence of Grandma and Grandpa - all the way from sandy strewn New Jersey! Not only did they enjoy those foods plus green beans, mashed potatoes, cranberry, and rolls, but in Arizona we also have  e - l - e - c - t - r - i - c - i - t - y !  In addition to electricity, we also have temperatures worthy of sitting outside on the patio to have morning coffee and read the newspaper.  That must be what got Grandma and Grandpa on the plane!  I guess seeing us may have played a small role!  And we can't forget their first Samour Sounds Bash!  So there's lots of reasons to be here I would say!

Thanksgiving morning looked like this - Grandpa working on a project, Rob starting the meal, and Grandma drinking her morning coffee.

The kids got in on the action, preparing celery for the stuffing.

I stayed out of the kitchen entirely, and tackled the turkey day crossword - check it out!  It's huge!  Sienna helped.  No we did not finish, but we had fun in the attempt.

When it was time to eat the turkey, stuffing, cornbread, and trimmings, all were happy.  Grandma led grace and then the grubbing commenced!

What a treat it was to have family with us on Thanksgiving!

Grandpa bought and installed a badminton set for the kids.  He and Spenser went right to playing once it was up.  Check out Grandpa's skill!

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

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!