Millie's Princess Foundation Run For Taleah Stevenson

It all started with Miss Millie. We just wanted her family to focus on their fight with childhood cancer… not the financial fall-out from medical and peripheral expenses.
Therefore our sole purpose is to raise millions of dollars to help families who have children just like Millie… royal children who need to know that the fairytale is still alive.  Millie battled leukemia for half of her life and during that time she made every effort to make sure those around her knew that she loved them. At 7 yrs old sweet Millie took her last breath and we promised that we would always look to her as our example of service, and bringing hope to her cancer fighting friends. In Millie's honor we present to you the First St. George Millie's Princess Run. You can read more about Millie and the foundation here

Millie's Princess Foundation would like to introduce the star of this years St. George run, Princess Taleah Stevenson.

Taleah was diagnosed with ALL Leukemia at the age of 2.  She underwent chemo, and many other treatments at Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City. After two years of treatment she celebrated and looked forward to the life of being cancer free. Being only four years old she was excited to become a little girl again and do all the things little girls do that she had been missing out on. After only five short months of her body being free of chemo she was told the cancer was back. Telling a five year old they had cancer usually wouldn't crush them because they have no idea what cancer is and no idea what is coming. Taleah knows!!! She been there done that. Now, not only does she have to do all the chemo again, but this time around it's a lot more aggressive. She will not be spending much time at home. She is confined to the small little hospital room at Primary Children's for 28 days at a time with small week or so breaks in between. She also has to undergo radiation and have a bone marrow transplant. Both of which are very hard on her little body. Knowing all this, she was devastated when driving in the car to Salt Lake her parents broke the news to her. A little girl shouldn't have to have cancer once, let alone twice. She was silent the rest of the 5 hour drive.

Taleah has finished her first round of chemo and is gearing up for the next step in her treatment. She has had good days and bad days. She is still one amazing little princess and she will beat this cancer again. She is a fighter with one spunky little personality.

 Taleah's family is right there with her fighting.  This may be Taleah's physical battle but cancer affects everyone around Taleah.  Her family is absolutely amazing!  Taleah has a little brother who is 3 yrs old and full of energy.  She also has 5 month old twin brother and sister (little sister is Taleah's bone marrow match).  So you can imagine what a strain this has put on their little family.  Once Taleah has her bone marrow transplant she will recover in the hospital for a bit, but then they will release her with the instructions that she is not to leave Salt Lake for 100 days.  And the quality of housing she has to find has to be up to par with a bone marrow patient. (super clean)  Again, another situation that will take lots of adjustment.  If you know of anywhere for this family to stay let me know.  You can read more about Taleah on her blog Together for Taleah

We want the Stevenson's, like Millie's family, to focus on their fight with childhood cancer… not the
financial fall-out from medical and peripheral expenses.  In doing this Millie's Princess Foundation will be hosting their first St. George run at Desert Hills High School on June 7th starting at 8:00 am.  You can register here.

Dress up in your princess/prince attire and come show your support by running/walking in a 5K event.  There will be activities for the whole family, food, prizes, and lots of fun.  There are also shorter distances for the kids races which will be held after the 5K. 

If you can not come, spread the word!  If you still want to help you can donate to the family by linking to their blog and clicking on the donation button.  You can like the facebook page, and share the event on your facebook page.  So there are lots of ways to help if you are not local or can not make it to the run. There is an offer from now until Friday, May 2 at midnight for $5 off your registration if you will share the info about the run with all your friends.  Just enter "share" at checkout.  So jump in and help anyway you can.  Taleah needs your help, but most of all keep her and her family  in your prayers!!!  

It's that time again. We NEED some good renters in our Las Vegas home. If you know anyone that needs a cute little home please send them our way. It is 1600 sq ft with 3 bed 2.5 bath, 2 car attached garage, fenced back yard and a gated community with a pool. I really don't want to list it with a rental agency so if we find someone from a good source we can drop the price too. Check out all the details with pictures at

Two more days until our walk.  If you wanted to donate now would be the time.  You will be helping out so many little kids like chase that face a lot of scarey things each day.  Chase has had a very good treatment.  Many are far worse than what he has gone through.  I am reposting the video I made when Chase hit his one year mark in treatment.  We are two years into treatment now so the stats on the video have change, but his past and future have not.  He still went through all this and and still has more to bear.  Help out CureSearch and find a cure for these little kids.  They deserve to grow up and be big kids.......
Links for donations can be found at www.togetherforacure2012.blogspot.com

I have been terrible and keeping my blog up to date.  I feel so much guilt but at the same time I don't.  I have been using the time to spend with my family, but really I should be staying up at night and instead of crawling in bed to watch TV I should update, but I am so behind now that it is just overwhelming.  I will get to it soon I hope.

Anyway, This weekend Sept 29th is our CureSearch walk up in Salt Lake City.  We will be headed up for Chase's treatments at PCMC and then staying for the walk on Saturday.  We are getting really excited.  So this is your last chance.  September is childhood cancer awareness month and what better way to show your support than to donate to an AMAZING  organization like CureSearch.  They fund many children's hospitals and their cancer research all over the country.  Primary Children's is one of these hospitals.  If it weren't for organizations like CureSearch there would be no progression toward a cure for these cute little kids.

Our team this year is so much fun.  We have teamed up with cute little Taleah and her family.  If you don't know Taleah, she was diagnosed a little over a year after Chase was.  She also has ALL and Chase and Taleah are scheduled to finish treatment together in October of 2013.  I think we will celebrate the whole month.  But for now we are going to go to Salt Lake to walk and celebrate all them milestones and huge steps they have made so far.  They are both still fighting this long hard battle and we know how tough they both are.  They are both going to get through this together.  But without the donations and help from CureSearch they wouldn't have even had the chance they both have.  They would have been diagnosed and sent home with some pain medicine to keep them out of pain.  I am soooo thankful for how far the research has brought the current treatment, but it can get better.  It has TONS of room to improve.  We still lose 22% of those diagnosed.  So we still have 22% more to go.  We can do it, with your help.  Every little bit helps.  Head on over to our website even if it is just to see more of these cute pictures of Chase and Taleah.  There is a little video of them over there and it just melts my heart to watch it.  They are so cute!!!

Donate, join our team, become a virtual walker or just look at the cute pictures at www.togetherforacure2012.blogspot.com.  It is a happy video and you will be sorry if you miss out on seeing it!!!

Little Red Century Bike Ride

So last year I found out about the Wish 100.  It was a bike ride to raise money for the Make A Wish foundation which we obviously have dear feeling for and absolutely love.  I didn't own a bike but knew that I really wanted to ride in it so I did the 60 mile ride on a borrowed bike (I was only planning on doing 30 and last minute did 60 instead).  After the wish 100 I decided that I really wanted a bike of my own.  This is not something you can just go out and buy.  They are not so cheap.  So we canceled our gym membership and I started going to biolife and trying to save money where we could.  This was a goal for me not only to do something I enjoyed, but it seemed to be a sort of therapy for me.  It got me up out of bed in the mornings and I had a good hour or more of relaxation to myself.  The mornings were so peaceful to ride and it was nice to have some "me time."  After many months of saving I was outside talking to a neighbor when Ashton came home from work and what was on the back of his car?  A BIKE!!!  I was sooo excited!  One of my friends who had helped me get ready for the Wish 100 asked me if I wanted to go with her and a bunch of girls to ride at the Little Red Riding Hood in Cache Valley.  I was so excited and it gave me something to work towards as I was learning how to ride and training my very untrained body.  Even the training for the ride was a lot of fun.  I am actually sad that it is over.  It is fun to have something to look forward to.  So I told Ashton that he WILL be riding his bike with me around Bear Lake when we go up there in July.  So now he has to get on his bike (and wipe of the dust). 

So the Little Red was a blast.  It was Natalie's birthday so we just celebrated all weekend.  Long drive in the car, dinner at Maddox with the best rolls ever, and then stayed at my parents house for then night.  The next morning was the ride.  The sky was overcast and looked like it was going to rain, but with only a light sprinkle and the sun not coming through the clouds until about 11 am it was the best day for a ride.  We started in Lewiston and circled around the whole valley from Trenton, Amalga, Logan, Mendon, Newton, Trenton, Cornish, then up into Idaho to Weston, and circled around Dayton, and back to Cornish then over to Lewiston.  We ended our 100 miles at 5 hours 9 minutes.  That put us at an average speed of just under 19 miles per hour pretty much the whole ride.  For the first 30 miles we were 20 and above, but we decided if we kept that pace we may not make it to the finish line so we backed of a little.  The ride was absolutely perfect all except that the roads in cache valley don't really have a shoulder.  So we were pretty much on the road the whole time.  This made the drivers pretty angry at times.  There were still a few courteous ones, but the not so nice ones always seem to stand out like a sore thumb.  One of the girls that was riding with us got a head a little with a lady we had just met at the ride.  They took a wrong turn and we could not get them to answer their phone.  So when we finally got a hold of her she told us to keep riding and she would meet us at the lunch stop.  As we were eating lunch, waiting for her to come, we got a phone call from the lady she was riding with.  They were following a girl they didn't know and a car came from the opposite direction.  This car was being very rude, honking, hanging out the window and pointing and yelling at the riders to get of the road (again, there is no possible way because there is no shoulder on the road from mendon to newton.  It is a very small two lane highway).  The girl in the front of the line that they did not know paniced and hit her brakes.  This a is big no no when you are leading a pace line.  As you can imagine the domino effect then takes place.  The first lady we had just met slid, scraping up her whole body and ripping up the whole side of her jersey.  Then Steph, the girl that came with us, then hit heidi (the girl we just met) and flipped head over heals with her foot still stuck in her one pedal.  She gashed up her knee and the back of her head had big cut in it as well.  She had a concussion but still could remember all that had went on.  One of the girls from our little group waited for the emergency vehicles to bring her to the lunch stop to the first aid station.  They were transported back to the finish line and our other friend drove steph in her car back to her family in Eden.  You can replace most broken parts on a bike.  First and for most is the bikers health and safety, but after they find out they are going to be fine they want to know about their not so cheap bike.  Poor steph looked at her bike and was in tears.  Her seat was all bent up and would have to be replaced, but after looking at it further she found her frame was cracked.  A cracked frame it pretty much the end of a bike.  There is no repairing it!!!  Stephs bike was only a few months old.  She had signed up for the summer games, and now because of her injuries, and not having a bike to ride she will instead be saving money and healing her body all because of a car that thought they were soooo much more important that the life of another person.  It is hard to share the road when you are not use to it.  There aren't many events like this in Logan.  Living in St. George I have gotten used to the fact that almost every weekend their is a run, or a bike, or a triathalon, or an art festival.  Something that either takes up the road space or even closes down roads.  But this bring in so much money to our community.  It supports our local businesses and it bring entertainment to us.  I love to watch the athletes run across the finish line of the marathon or the Iron Man just knowing how hard that is and how much they have worked to get there.  Everyone isn't a biker, and they just don't get it.  I will say that until I started riding my bike I didn't fully get it.  I was still nice to the bikers, but now I have even more respect for them knowing how scary it is to be on your bike and have a big truck that flies by at high speeds and doesn't even spare and inch of space.  Just the wind from the truck almost blows you over and it is super scarey.  Anyway, I wasn't going to go off so much on that, but I just feel so bad for Steph and her injuries and her very expensive now damaged bike.  Come on people these are real living people on their bikes. 

Now off my soapbox, the weekend was so much fun.  I had a blast with all the girls.  I tried sushi for the first time and actually liked it....weird!!!  I learned a lot more about girls that I have been riding with and what amazing people they are.  I accomplished a goal that I set out to do and it was a lot of fun and feels very good to know that I can do anything that I set my mind to.  My next goal.....to get my husband to make it at least 50 miles.  This might be harder than riding the 100 miles on my own:)

Mile 30ish!

About mile 95 in front of my cousin's house.  Family was there cheering us on to the finish line.  This was the point that my butt was screaming to be done:)

Finish Line.  We actually did it!!!  I am no longer a 100 mile virgin:)!!!

Home for Rent in Las Vegas

Our first home that we lived in through dental school is available for rent the end of May.  We are trying desperately to find someone by word of mouth so that it is well taken care of.  It is a great safe location with lots of parks and young families near by.  It has only been lived in by myself (absolute germ freak....yes I admit it) and the current tenant who are also dental students and have taken amazing care of it.  It looks better than when we moved out.  She has got it painted all cute and just taken really good care of it.  If we can find someone that will also take good care of it we are flexible on price.  We just don't want it to get trashed.  If you know of anyone please give them the link to the blog with all the details.  www.highnoon4rent.blogspot.com
Thanks for your help.  You can email me [email protected] with any questions or if you are interested.

view from master bed balcony

living area downstairs.  Separate laundry room is just inside the door to the attached 2 car garage

fenced in backyard

master bed with balcony large bathroom and walk in closet

bedroom #2

bedroom #3

CureSearch 2012

I will give more details later, but I am too tired and want to go to bed.  I have created a blog for our CureSearch team this year.  We are currently doing a fun fundraiser with Miche convertable bags.  It goes from April 16-22.  All the details are on the blog I set up so just make sure you check it out.  You have to go to the blog just to see the cute pictures that were taken of Chase and our little friend Taleah.  They are to die for and you have to see them!!!  www.togetherforacure2012.blogspot.com

Bone Marrow Drive For Millie in St. George

Remember when I posted about Millie.  Well if not you can read about it here.  A little update on her.  They tested her brother for a bone marrow match and he was not.  So now they have to rely on the bone marrow registry.  She has to have this transplant to recover from her cancer.  It is her best option right now and she needs a match.  That is where you come in.  We will be having a bone marrow drive for her MONDAY, MARCH 12 FROM 10-6 AT DIXIE REGIONAL HOSPITAL.  Jimmy John's will be providing sandwiches and Albertson's donated all the drinks.  I am still working on getting cookies/donuts, but I promise I will find someone to donate these also.  So come out for the yummy food and swab your cheek!!!

Just so you know becoming a member of the registry is sooooo easy.  You fill out a medical history and then swab your cheek with a cu-tip.  If you are chosen, again it is so easy and not painful.  80% of the time it is similar to donating plasma.  The other 20% is a procedure that Chase has had done multiple times in his treatment.  So if he can do it, you can do it. Please come to this and if you can't please tell everyone you know in the St. George area.  They will also be doing it in Cedar on Tuesday.  So if you are closer to Cedar then head up there to Valley View Hospital from 10-6.  You can view the even on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/events/188414144601688/

Info on becoming part of the registry can be found here

I hope to see many of you there.  This one simple thing could save Millie's and many other lives!