John and Ida Come to Town and.....Graduation!!

Haha, before I start I have to say I think it's funny how typical it is right now: I'm on the couch with the laptop blogging and reading blogs and Christian is next to me watching basketball - classic :)

SO, John (Christian's twin brother) and his wife Ida came to visit last weekend from West Virginia! Yay! Not only them, but mother Bennion and Christian's little bro's were there too. It was such a great weekend. One of the best parts - throwing a surprise baby shower for Ida and John. And they were totally surprised - it was great.

Now a week later Christian has graduated BYU! Yay!! A new chapter in our lives is beginning. What's in our future?? Well, we really don't know, but it may include moving to a new apartment by the end of the summer (if you know a good place that's opening up in the Orem/Provo/Springville area, let us know), re-applying and crossing our fingers for dental schools (did you know that the first dental school in Utah is opening up in South Jordan?? Exciting!), and working/volunteering. On another exciting note, Christian got interviewed and selected to be a runner in the O.R. at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center (UVRMC) - a coveted volunteer position, or so they say.

Life changes all the time and it's exciting ride. What makes it even better is taking it with your best friend!

Isn't he handsome?! I'm so proud of all his hard work :)

John and Ida - some of our favorite people. We miss them a LOT being so far away, but at least we have Google video chat - that gets us through.

Okay, I gotta explain this one. One of John and Ida's favorite games (and ours too) is the Dice Game. It involves dice, cups, and a dare. Dares in the past have included running over icy snow, getting fake tattoos drawn on your arms with permanent markers, drinking A LOT of water, sticking your hand in the toilet and flushing it, and asking a neighbor for a cup of sugar...because we needed to make pizza. So, at the shower we played on teams and guess who lost? This was the punishment.

Sarah and her boyfriend Christian! No joke. My dad's name is Christian too in case you didn't know.

Christian's little brothers: Porter and Samuel. They're real troopers and very good boys.

Philly - cheesesteaks and all

Well, I didn't actually get a good picture of an authentic Philly "steak" as they call it - but I did get a sandwich from DiNic's Beef and Pork at Reading Terminal Market...just as authentic I've heard.

The trip was beautiful!! Blossoming trees, warm weather - couldn't be better. And what got me to Philly you ask? An awesome trip for work. I attended the Lifesavers Conference which focused on national highway safety priorities - very informative and got lots of good information, but you'll notice most of my pictures are from the beauty of the city and its history.

Enjoy the pictures below!

THE Independence Hall. George Washington sat in that chair in the middle. That very chair.

Outside of Independence Hall

City Hall with William Penn on top. My hotel room at the Marriott Downtown looked out to City Hall.

Masonic Temple

Philadelphia Hospital - oldest hospital in the U.S. and SO gorgeous. I was there all by myself and it was peaceful, walled off from the rest of the city. One of my favorite places I found as I explored the city by myself.

The pork sandwich from DiNic's at Reading (pronounced Redding) Terminal Market. This indoor market is one of the most famous places to eat in the city. The sandwich has a favorite local topping: spinach and broccoli. I had to try it and it was delish. DiNic's and Bassetts Ice Cream (which I also tried) have been featured on the some of Christian and my favorite shows on the Travel Channel.

The giant poster I created and presented at the conference

China Town

Watchin' the crepe-makers make my Nutella/banana/strawberry crepe at Reading. Heavenly.

The inside of the market.

Fruits of my labors

In the last month two successful events have brought great satisfaction to my life. First one: Walk a Mile in Her Shoes last Saturday. Two hundred people attended and $1000 was raised for the Center for Women and Children!! Such a success and it will only get better in the future - a LOT of credit goes to my intern Lindsee and Erik Westesen for so much hard work, planning, and promotion. :)

Secondly, a couple weeks ago we were able to announce the winners of our Hispanic Highway Safety YouTube Video contest. We presented at the Latinos in Action Regional Conference - over 700 teens and 800 people in total were in attendance! The representative from the Mexican Consulate as well as a number of other partners were able to connect with us afterwards - hopefully contributing to the success of this outreach in the future.

Yay for public health!

Walk a Mile in Her Shoes...high heel shoes, that is!

Last summer, I had the opportunity to help write a grant that would allow the Utah County Health Department to carry out a rape prevention campaign. During the research process, here are some of the shocking stats that I learned:

Rape is the only violent crime in Utah which is above the national average.

College women are more at-risk for sexual assault than their non-college bound peers.

In three quarters of all rapes and sexual assaults, the perpetrator and victim know each other.

Sexual assault is the most underreported violent crime in America

^{In the college environment, less than five percent of attempted rapes reported}

^{Sexual assault impacts everyone – regardless of age, race and socioeconomic status.}

After learning these stats and realizing how much it affects our community (and how much people don't want to talk about it) I gained some passion and motivation for the cause. Our team made a plan, got a coalition together, and realized we had a lot of positive energy for the project. So much energy and support, in fact, that when we didn't get the grant, we decided to go ahead anyway. I hired an intern and we started plannin' away last November. Now, this Saturday our planning and efforts will come to fruition with "Walk a Mile in Her Shoes". It's exciting what motivation, collaboration, volunteer effort (and a little help from a grant from UVU) can do!

If you're in Utah, come be a part of this too!! Come make a difference this Saturday, April 10th at University Mall in Orem. There will be a band, tons of sweet prizes, and some local mascots will make an appearance.

Or check it out in the news! We're already had some newspaper articles and the media will be there Saturday morning. I actually won't be there (I'll be in Philly at the National Lifesavers Conference for work) but I'd love it if you're able to check it out!!!

http://walkamileinhershoes.pbworks.com/

http://girlinthebubble.wordpress.com/

Daily Universe Article

Deseret News Article

24 hours in California

This last weekend was a crazy one. Memorable, but crazy! We flew out of Utah Saturday morning to be with Christian's youngest brother Porter for his baptism. He called Christian and asked him to speak and Mother Bennion was able to use her flight benefits to get us down there. We spent the afternoon enjoying the beautiful weather, green rolling hills, flowers, and fragrant clean air (very different from Provo right now).

That night was the baptism. Christian and Richard's talks were awesome and the meeting was simple and sweet. There was a wonderful spirit there and we could tell Porter was very excited and happy in his own quiet way :) It also worked out for their grandma, aunt, and some cousins to be there as well. They even wrapped the meeting up after the closing prayer with the family singing Love Makes the World Go Round, a Marilyn (Grandy) and Harden Bennion family tradition (Christian's grandparents). I kept thinking, what a great family - and I made sure I told Grandy that by the end of the night. She and her late husband have left a great Bennion legacy and I'm so lucky to now be a part of it!

Sunday morning we left the house at 3:30 AM to be dropped off two hours away at the San Fran airport and arrived in Provo at 9 AM.

I love the Bennions so much and I'm so happy we were able to be a part a special family event. We love you Porter!!

Oops, sorry about your head Christian. Samuel's still refining his photography skills

Blooming trees and flowers!! I can't wait for Spring to hit Provo

The green rolling hills of the Monterey/Salinas area. This is literally in the Bennion's neighborhood.

Hittin' up the scooters.

The exciting traveling's not over.....April 10-13 Philadelphia for the national Lifesavers Conference (work trip) Also June 4-11 Laie, Hawaii. North shore baby!!! We are very excited :)

Beautiful video - poignant reminder

Every time you get in the car, remember to wear your seatbelt, ¡use el cinturón!

This video is a beautiful demonstration and reminder