Need input

I am looking into putting together a 5k race for my cousin Sean who has been diagnosed with testicular cancer. All proceeds would go toward his medical bills and treatment. Does anyone know how to go about this? He and his wife of only one month were both University of Utah students so I am wondering if maybe the school could get involved somehow. Winter is approaching quickly so we need to act fast on this. If you have any contacts or know how this can be organized, please respond!

Andrea's Shower

I love my family! Yesterday we had a shower for my cousin Andrea who got married in July back East. Her and her new hubby are living in Provo going to school so we wanted to get her anything else she needed for their new life together. She is the nicest girl ever and didn't like to be in the spotlight, but handled it really well! We got to hear how they met, how he proposed,(I love hearing those stories!) and their future plans. We also got to meet my cousin Julie's new boyfriend which was fun. He was pretty brave to come into a room full of women! He seems great, and I am really glad that he makes her so happy. Love was in the air!

The Stephenson girls
Jason and Andrea-aren't they so cute? I miss the newlywed days...doesn't he look like Chris O' Donnell? I kept telling him that, but he doesn't know who that is. I must be getting old.

Gratitude

A few things I am grateful for this week--

*Redbox movies-can't beat a dollar/free with code!

*Discovery Park

*my new job starting Monday

*My sister-in-law Bethany for watching my kids while I work

*Valley Center Playhouse-(please read singletonliving.blogspot.com for further details)

*more zucchini than I know what to do with

*Good books including Stargirl and Tuesdays with Morrie

*diapers

*the weather-it stills deserves a shout out

*old friends

*people I can be real with

*snuggling with Carter

*cafe rio

*reading books with Preston today

*fresh fruit

*my hard working husband
*50 cent cans of cream of chicken soup(go to Albertsons)

*a nice 3 mile run outside this morning

Today was a good day. Nothing exciting happened, just got to be with my family. Life is good.

chef James is back

After a long absence chefjamescookingpot.blogspot.com is back up and running. I have been busy in the kitchen trying new things and concocting some great dishes which have been tested on friends and family. Check it out I will have a lot to share in the next little while.

James

Blog Love

I got tagged by Adhis because she loves to read my blog (I love to read her's too, it is so funny and well written). Thanks Adhis! I am so flattered. The rules are that I have to tag 7 other people and tell them how much I love to read their blogs. I have so many that I love, but I can only choose 7. Sorry! So if you are one of those 7 , feel free to post this on your blog and give some other bloggers some love.

1. My cute sister Melanie- carlmelwhiting.blogspot.com

2. My hilarious single friend Katie-really people, if you haven't read her blog you need to, it will make you laugh for days! -singletonliving.blogspot.com

3. The girliest blog on the net- cupcakechowder.blogspot.com

4. The biggest twilight lover I know- annban10.blogspot.com

5. My neighbor with great stories of junior high- werewinginit.blogspot.com

6. A funny mom and great chef trying to survive in Australia- benatriley.blogspot.com

7. Adventures of a single mom while her husband is in Iraq-gardnerhawaii.blogspot.com

Girls Trip 2008

It was that time again for our annual Stephenson family girls trip (My mom's side of the family.) Although we were smaller in numbers this year since my cousin Jacque's father-in-law passed away suddenly so her family attended funeral services, we still had such a great time (but missed them too!) We went Thurs.-Sat. up to Park City and stayed in a nice condo right in Red Stone Plaza right next to a lot of shopping and restaurants, it was awesome. Here are the girls minus Aunt Sharon and Bethany:

Back: Mom, Melanie, Aunt Mary, Shauna

Front: Me, Shannon, Sarah

So the first night we looked through the dining books and decided on this place called "Good Thymes since it had a variety of food that hopefully everyone would like. Wrong. It was disgusting! I ordered a Philly Cheesesteak and got it with American cheese. Does anyone else think that is just wrong! Provolone people, hello! Shannon and Melanie ordered a quarter chicken and got a huge piece of a bloody chicken leg served to them, nasty. And the most annoying thing was the lady wouldn't split our checks up! Needless to say, they got the thumbs down from me. Of course I was the only one brave/stupid enough to get up on the wall in front of the restaurant and make such an ugly face! The next night we ended up going to Red Rock and it was amazing!! Chicken Parmesan to die for. I was bummed I forgot to take a picture with a thumbs up in front of it. Oh well ,there's always next year.

We stayed up talking until about 2 am and it was so nice to wake up at 10 and not even feel bad about it! We got ready and hit the outlets. Here are the Tenney girls ready for a good day of shopping.
And shop we did! I got a lot of fun things for me like 2 hats, earrings, and a new purse. Here we are with all of our bags (well almost we still had some in the car from before.) Bethany met us up there and we talked her into spending way more money than she wanted! Everything she tried on just looked so cute on her she had to buy all of it! That is the fun in shopping together, you get everyone's opinion.
My mom got a purse last year and I took a picture of it, so in keeping with tradition, since I got a purse this year too, we took one together. After shopping is the funnest part because we do "Show and Tell" and show everything that we bought and lay it all out. We also add up all of our receipts and see who spent the most. This year since Jacque was not here (she always wins!) Melanie took top prize for most money spent. Although I do have to say most of it was for her kids' school clothes, so that doesn't really count right? :)
My mom is also a personal stylist for my aunt Mary and dyes and cuts her hair. She has actually been stopped by people and asked who does her hair because it is so cute. The funniest part is that my mom doesn't have a license but she still does a great job! I kept telling my aunt she looked like she had white dreadlocks. I am sure she will love me for putting this picture on here!
I love being with my family and I think this getaway is so necessary to keep connected and for my sanity!! I had a ton of junk food, no sleep, a hurt stomach from laughing so hard, and memories that will last a lifetime. Thanks for the fun girls!

Perfect Weather

Since I am one of the biggest complainers about the weather, I decided to do a post about how wonderful the weather has been in Utah the past few days. I have turned off the air conditioning and just had my windows open all day, it's the best! Being in the high 70's and soon to be low 80's is the greatest. Thank you Mother Nature for being kind to me. You deserved a shout out.

First Day of Preschool

It finally arrived! Carter has been talking about this for a long time and was so excited to go. I take him to a girl that lives in my sister Melanie's neighborhood. She was a kindergarten teacher for about 10 years and just had her 4th baby and decided to stay home with her, so she started a preschool. She seems great and I know Carter needs the structure of school, and to mix things up twice a week! He mostly was excited about his new spiderman backpack which is about as big as he is, and to wear his orange helicopter shirt which he picked out himself. When we got there I said bye and he didn't even acknowledge that I was there. He went right in and did his thing. That is definitely his personality! He has never been afraid of anything new, he just dives right in. When I picked him up after it was over he told me that he played with dinosaurs, described each of them, and that was about all the details I got. He pretty much just said yes or no to everything else. Kids are so funny. I just need to figure out what I am going to do for the 2 hours that he is gone. It is not exactly close to my house so I don't want to go all the way home and come right back. Today me and Preston went to my brothers pizza place and chatted with him for awhile and then went to Ross and looked around. I may start going to the gym and putting Preston in the daycare there so it will force me to work out. Any other suggestions? All in all, it turned out to be a good day.