Aruba pics

As promised from my last post, here are a few Aruba pics. If I get more from Jaimee in the near future, I will post those too. Phillip's Wildlife Preserve. Phillip has taken all the unwanted animals from two Aruba animal based attractions that shut down. He cares for these animals at his preserve and allows visitors to enjoy them. Stop by and make a donation if you are ever in Aruba! Silly animals at the preserve Momma and baby Capuchin Monkeys Hilarious kangaroo!! This is his version of Gangnam Style We stopped at this gorgeous cove to body surf during our 4 wheel adventure excursion. Paradise!! more body surfing in Secret Cove we rented 4 wheelers for most of our 2nd day and drove up along the NW side of Aruba. It was breathtaking!! So many gorgeous forgotten beaches, mountains, interesting greenery, chapels, rock formations and more. There was even an old ruin of a gold refinery built back in the 1800s. Wish Rock Garden was another extra cool spot. Over the decades people have made the trek to this area to build their wish cairns and make wishes that obviously come true. Seriously!! Holy Snikes!! Iguanas were rampant on Aruba!! They were everywhere in all shapes, sizes, and colors. And as you can see, they enjoy being fed. Our first day, we went on a snorkeling excursion on this cool ship called "The Jolly Pirate". I think we enjoyed the sunbathing and company more than the snorkeling. Such a fun day with friends. Ok, this picture is on the Jolly Pirate. There is a rope swing on the boat that allows you to swing out over the water where you can drop in. Super cool, right? Well this crazy deckhand that you see with ME on his back has decided it's a good idea to take unsuspecting woman, get them to climb on his back, swing out over the water, and FLIP IN MID AIR (with said woman still on his back!!!) then drop into the water below. Yikes!! Totally fun BTW(; Sexiest guys on the island, right here folks. The picture of Sam and Jaimee at the bottom was taken at an awesome restaurant called the "Flying Fishbone". You actually eat out on the beach with your feet in the sand. As it gets dark, they turn spotlights on over the water and fish start swimming in so you can watch them as you eat. And the food, wow. Best food I've eaten in a long time. I was really impressed by this place. This picture was taken en route to Houston en route to Aruba. If you have the chance to stop by Buckee's, you better take it!!

We are just going to skip right past summer!!!

Well, we had a great summer. I didn't post anything during the summer months which is unfortunate. Sadly, I am too lazy to go back and add a blog post for the summer. There would be Waaaaaayyyyy too many pictures involved in that undertaking. Maybe someday(: It's fall here in Texas!! Yay! My favorite time of the year!!! Addy is a freshman, Aidyn is a 6th grader in middle school, and Avery is a 3rd grader. So far, school is going well. We just finished Halloween craziness and now we are moving right along into Thanksgiving. Aidyn had a HUGE party, the likes of which will never be seen here at chateau Stevens again. 45 kids equals way too many. But, no casualties or ER visits so all in all, a successful evening that we are all glad is over. ha!! Enjoy the pics!! John and I got back from a fun trip in Aruba a few weeks ago. We went with our close family friends, the Moffits. We had such a blast!! All of Aidyn's Halloweener friends! plus or minus a few The withered corpse game! Love it!! Bag up different foods and label them as different body parts. Have the kids try and guess which food each body part is. Super funny to watch their facial expressions. This fun Halloween party doubled as a bday party for one of Aidyn's best friens. James Boles is pretty much family around here and his bday just happens to be on Halloween. Happy Birthday Jamesey Booboo! Since we didn't have enough seats, we decided an outside picnic dinner was a perfect alternative to eating inside. Lucky for us, it was 80 degrees in TX this Halloween. Party friends Avery was part of the party this year. She just wants to be one of the big kids. She got to trick or treat with her friend Katherine whose brother attended Aidyn's party. Worked out well! This was Addy's group of friends who decided to stop by and enjoy dinner. The more the merrier! Addy trying to decide between costumes. She went with Doctor Who. Just don't ask me the name of the character

More Spring Fun

As promised, I am posting MORE pictures and I am actually going to do it in a reasonable time frame. And by reasonable, I mean the VERY NEXT DAY. I'm feeling good about it! Avery's baptism is first: A few more Avery bday pix next. She had 7 of her friends sleepover and we went to dinner and pedis because, well, that's just what Avery Lou wanted to do. Avery is her mother's daughter Addy went to her first unchaperoned concert in May. Her and her 3 besties got to see Death Cab For Cutie live at the SMU campus auditorium in Dallas. After the concert, Addy, Annie G., Annie T., Kendall, Rhonda (my bud) and myself all stayed the night in a posh hotel just a few minutes off campus so we wouldn't have to drive home super late. What a fun night!!! Addy is still talking about how amazing it was. Addy is also her mother's daughter(; I don't think I enjoyed anything more than a good concert as a teenager and Addy will definitely follow in those footsteps. We celebrated Mother's Day with my parents and with Rhonda and Annie G. Rhonda's husband had to be out of town for work so her and Annie joined our little gathering. We had a very nice dinner, delicious pies for dessert, and great family time. I love having my mom here. Tear! John's mom came to visit for a few days for Avery's baptism and the kids loved that. We took Karen to one of our all time favorite places, Fossil Rim. We love this animal safari and had a particularly great experience this time around. Check it out: Guess who graduated to middle school??? Yep, our very own Hug E. B., Aidyn. Last week we got to watch him walk the halls of Blanton Elementary for the last time. I can't believe how big he's getting!! Pretty soon he will start talking like a man and I'm so not ready for that. Between him going to middle school and Addy going to High school AND Addy just getting back from her first session ever of EFY at BYU UT, I am feeling pretty darn old. Can't believe how time flies. Aidyn had a ragin' Grad Party last Thursday night to celebrate. It was his first boy girl party ever and 26 kids later, I can honestly say I had a blast! What a great group of kids, raised right by their parents with first class manners and appropriate, respectful behavior. 5 hours with that many kids over could have been a disaster but their wasn't one problem. I'm so grateful to live in the community we do. Congrats Blanton 5th graders!! What a great year.

Hello, my name is Amy Stevens, and I'm a Pinterest addict

I have been such a blog slacker!!!! All my extra time has been completely sucked up by the black hole of Pinterest. I totally admit that I have an addiction so at least I can achieve step one of recovery. I've got step two covered.....it's step 3 I'm having trouble with(; I'm not quite ready to turn this one over to God just yet. Anyway, here's some stuff we've been a doin::::::: Easter awesomeness!! Addy helped me create these great tables for both the adults and children. Couldn't have done it without you Addy!! Or you, Pinterest. We enjoyed a wonderful Easter celebration with family and friends. Mom and dad, the Bigelow Family, the Faris Family, the Garland Family, the Moffit Family, and the Talley Family all pitched in to make dinner fantastic and the egg hunt memorable. And last but definitely not least, baby girl Avery Ann turned 8 on April 28th. We partied from after school on April 27th until sundown on April 28th. She was baptized by her daddy on May 19th at the LDS church in Highland Village. So many great people came to support her and show their love. I could not be more blessed with amazing friends and family in my life. What a magical day for the Stevens. In her journal, she wrote about her special day. She ended her entry with the following 2 sentences, "When I got baptized today it was the best day ever. I'm not even joking." Hahahaha! She is the silliest goof ball ever. Pictures in the next post!!! They are not downloaded from my camera yet.

Hunger Games is Here!!!!

We had such a neat opportunity in March!! A couple of weeks before The Hunger Games movie came out, the actors were doing a mall tour to promote the movie (not like it needed much promoting). Peeta, Fox Face, and Clove came to one of our local malls and we were able to take a group of kids to go see the Q & A. We had such a blast!! The crazy Josh Hutcherson madness was very entertaining to watch. We got there early so we had really good positioning and once the actors came out, everyone there went craaaaaaazy. The kids had a blast-aside from the waiting-and were super pumped for the movie after the experience.

The waiting game....for the Hunger Games

The man, the myth, Josh Hutcherson. AAAAaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

Avery had her last competition this March! She did an amazing job in her Charlie Brown dance. Look at that beautiful smile!! This month, she is moving on to cheer team at Excite. She is so excited!!!! Haha(;

Happy Spring!

Things are getting warmer and looking greener. Allergies are here!!! Hurray!!! Not. Well, at least when I'm feeling like crap, I can use my time wisely and update my blog. Recently, in Stevens' news we have Addy's 14th birthday! Avery's first dance competition!!! And a fun Mother/Daughter night out with Craaaaaaaazy Jaimee!!!
Hahaha!! Enjoy ~

Avery dances for the Excite Gym dance team and here are a few pictures of her before her first competition. Their dance routine is called "Shipwrecked" and consists of several different dances choreographed to an oceanic dream theme. Avery is a shark in her dance.

Girls Night Out!! We had a blast updating Jaimee's Facebook page at PF Chang's while she was visiting the ladies room. However, a bizarre twist of fate caused her to get on her facebook page and she totally found us out!!! Can you say DELETE!!! I think we almost gave her Aunt a heart attack. The picture below is actually NOT her reaction to our post. Our friend Rhonda decided to treat us to a little Donny Osmond (her idol since she was 7) in her car on the way home and Jaimee is totally feeling the Donny-osity. Bailee, not so much.

Addy's 14th bday was so fun!! We had a "Psych" party as a tribute to Addy and our favorite television series. Shawn and Gus would have been proud. We took the girls to Babe's for the best fried chicken ever, then came home for cake, ice cream, gifts, pranking fun, and a sleep over. JP and Seth were the 2 boys chosen for pranking honors. What a couple of good sports!!! Addy has such a great group of friends. Hurray for no sleepover drama!!

January Fun

January has seemed so laid back after the holiday craziness! I have actually had time to catch up on my life a little bit. I didn't get this post done quite as soon as I would have liked to, but at least I have a few hours before the end of the month. Blog caught up, check. Christmas put away, check. House cleaned AND organzied, check. And yes, that actually includes all closets, drawers, nooks, crannies, and even the pantry. Hurray for clutterlessness!!! I love making up words. Oh!! Some other big news!! John got me some sugar gliders as an early bday gift. For as much as he hates small animals, he loves to make his wife happy. They are pretty stinkin' adorable and I have named them Clyde and Stella. They love super worms, blueberries, and yogurt drop treats. So cute and fuzzy!! I will take some pictures of them and post them for next month. For a little fun and excitement, my friend Rhonda and I took the kids and crew to the Fort Worth zoo for MLK day. The weather was perfect and all of the animals were out enjoying a mild Monday. Enjoy these pics!! I took tons!!