The Wilhelmsen Botanical Blog

This just keeps coming back to my little brain.  I have spoken to many different people on the subject hearing a wide variety of good opinions and arguments both for and against illegal immigration.  I was encouraged to think about how Heavenly Father or Jesus would handle this particular situation and base my opinion on that and the following thoughts are a result of that.

First of all, I firmly believe that laws are created for the benefit and well being of us as American’s and those who come into America as guest workers, or on visa’s and passports.  They also protect those who have come in the country with the purpose of becoming a citizen of the United States.  When a person of any ethnicity or race, comes into our country from another country without following the proper proceedure they will be subjected to exploitation.  They are not covered by the laws that protect our own citizens from sub par wages, they have to sneak around, they can’t apply for a social security number, and I would imagine they aren’t protected under our laws if they were to become subject to theft, violence, etc. 

I feel that although we are all Heavenly Father’s children and are all equal in his eyes, and even though it seems like a brotherly thing to do to let these immigrants in and work for sub par wages because it is a better life then what they could get back home, if we just shift our view slightly, then we will see it is not.  If you consider that American companies like to hire these workers over American’s because they are willing to work for wages that are below minimum wage and that we do have a law such as having a minimum wage for a reason, then we can liken these employers unto slave owners with the immigrants being their slaves.  These illegal immigrants are being taken advantage of due to the fact that they have snuck into the country, they are willing to work for sub par wages, and because to them it is “better” then back home.  This seems corrupt to me. 

I feel that Christ would encourage those wanting to migrate to America to do so as the laws outline, because that way they will have the same freedoms, rights, and protections as the citizens.  They will be able to have an even better life because they too will be eligible to receive minimum wage and benefit from that law.  He would not have us giving them jobs and paying them poorly just because to them it is a better life.  This argument to me seems to provide an argument for big companies outsourcing and paying pennies on the dollar.  For instance, if we go into madagascar (I just randomly chose a country for example) and after researching that their average pay is $2.50 a week we offer jobs that pay $3.50 a week, because “it is a better life then what their own country can offer” even though here in America we are paying employees who are doing the same job $5.25 an hour, isn’t that exploitation?  Aren’t we taking advantage of them because of their circumstances?  This is not a brotherly thing to do, it is not a Christlike thing to do, it is for the gain of the American company and the United States and not to help better the lives of others.

Oi, I have gone on for quite long enough.  I hope that my points were made clearly.  Ta ta.

We successfully got the nursery painted friday night! Hooray! You can see pictures of the progress in the photo albums. We only painted two walls because we did not want to fuss with the cinderblock. Yesterday I also got his crib quilt mostly finished, made a pair of booties and started on a romper that will have a red shirt on the top half and car print fabric on the bottom. (It is a one piece) I look forward to getting some fleece and other non-fraying fabric so that I can make a myriad more little booties. It is super fun (and easy). Ta ta for now.

Hey everyone!  Here is a little bit of what we have been up to this week…First of all, starting Wednesday November 7th I will be volunteering at Legacy Preparatory Academy once a week to help with testing and substitute for classes.  This will be unpaid as any change in our income could cause us to lose medicaid which is our health insurance for the duration of the pregnancy.  I am excited to be going back, even for just a few hours a week, because it was probably my favorite job thus far in my life.  I know what you are all thinking, Erin, you should become a teacher.  Well, I tell you this, I want to be a full time mom.  Also, I worry too much and get overwhelmed somewhat easily and I think that the stress of being a full time teacher would be too much.  This part time job as an instructor was perfect because I taught 3 classes with only 6-10 kids.  I was able to get to know them more individually and the grades weren’t too much. 

Next, I will probably be helping grandma with projects, gift wrapping, and organizing, once a week through the end of my pregnancy.  I helped her this last week wrapping some dishes and going through a small portion of her Christmas stuff to organize it.  She also had me vacuum.  It went pretty well and grandma is fun company.

Yesterday I worked on Aiden’s baby quilt, started sewing a romper and completed a pair of baby booties.  Last night, Brandon and I finally painted two of the walls in Aiden’s room and it looks pretty good.  (For photos of the progress in the nursery visit Aiden’s site)  We both really love having a splash of color in there. 

Brandon is still just busy with the same old, same old.  Today he is spending a little bit of time creating a hood for his halloween costume.  We also bought a cool trident and some little devil horns.  It is fun when things start to come together.  We love you all!  Take care.

While sad news, it is important to recognize that Aiden’s great grandmother Trudy Cheel passed away last night, she was preceeded in death by her husband Joe Cheel in July, 2000.  She has had several hard months and we are greatful that she has gone to a better place.  Perhaps she will get to spend some time with Aiden with he begins his sojourn here on earth and they can swap stories.

Is anyone reading our blog?  If so please post comments so that we know that our postings aren’t going unread.  We love you all.

Is anyone else as concerned with the status of the world as I am?  It seems more and more that people are saying crazy things and we American’s just take them at face value no matter how insane the idea is.  Also, people are allowed to get away with more and more and more these days because the “rules” our politicians are making tie our hands from solving problems. 

Here are a few examples that I can think of.  A man comes into our country illegally and murders some people (I don’t remember minute details such as his name or what state this occured in) we catch him and proceed to try him for murder.  His country calls us, and says that because we didn’t contact that embassy (per our rule that we made) then we can’t try him and sentance him to death and we need to send him back to his country.  This man has already broken one law by entering our country illegally, he then broke a second very HUGE law by killing american citizens and we are not allowed to try him and punish him for breaking our laws.  How is this reasonable?

Next, there have been several unprovoked acts of violence recently and I imagine these will happen more and more frequently.  One happened while a lady was out walking her dog.  As she did so a man with two knives stabbed her repeatedly for no reason whatsoever after having stolen 4 knives from Texas Smokehouse and stabbing a restaurant worker.  Luckily there was an off duty cop eating at a restaurant nearby who was able to stabilize the situation.  The lady didn’t die and is in serious but stable condition in the hospital.  Another is that a few days ago in Holladay there were about  20 cars whose windows had been smashed in for no apparent reason other then the perpetuators wanting a few kicks.  Luckily the police were able to catch them when they pulled over a car who had run a stop sign.  Inside the car was alcohal, broken glass, and a metal bat.  Two are in the salt lake county jail while the third is in juvenile detention.  It makes me a little nervous to think that I could be the victim of some unprovoked violence.

I can’t think of much else to say except that it is becoming more and more clear to me that humans, even the smartest and most intelligent humans in the world, don’t even know a small part of what our father in Heaven knows.  One day we are told to drink orange juice because it fights cancer and several years later we are told it causes cancer.  Another day we are told not to eat fat and later we are told that our bodies need a little bit of fat.  In the 70’s we are told that we need to prepare for another ice age and here we are 30 year later being told to prepare for intense global warming (while ironically the meteorologists are predicting the coldest winter in Utah that we have had in several years).  Here is what I think about all of that, Heavenly Father commands all things, he regulates the weather and the climate changes, we here just need to go with the flow of the seasons and not predict one extreme or another.  We need to not do silly and extreme things to “balance” out the climate either like dump ash on the north pole or metal shavings into the ocean.  We just need to be smart and use our resources wisely.  Also, where food is concerned if we follow the teachings of the scriptures we can’t go wrong.  Heavenly Father made our bodies, he knows what is best for them, and no well-meaning scientist who sole focus is to study the body will ever know all the things that Heavenly Father knows.  So there you have it, my rant for today.

Hey everybody! I am writing because last night I finally felt what I am 95% sure was the baby moving. I was laying on my back and had my hand on my belly and I felt, well it is hard to describe, but it was like a little bump up and then a slight brush along my hand. This happened twice. It would be similar to taking your knuckle and running it gently along your other hand. How very exciting! I hope that this starts to happen more and more because I would really like Brandon to feel little Aiden moving around. It was pretty exciting!

We also have everything out of the nursery that we can move without a truck (and also Brandon’s drums). I plan to finish taping the walls this week so that the painting can begin!! It is very exciting. On top of that a little birdy told me that when the room is ready (which mostly just means the painted walls are dry) they would be obliged to take me to go get the baby crib and crib mattress. Yippee! I can start to see things coming together a little bit and this is very good. Brandon was given a web design job a few weeks ago that will pay well enough for us to buy the stroller/car seat and the swing/bouncer that we wanted with enough to have a little bit left over. Those are the three major purchases that we had and I am glad that we have a way to get them.

How do I register to vote?

Online Download and print either a Utah Voter Registration Form or a National Voter Registration Form (for individuals who are residents of another state). Once completed, mail the form to your County Clerk’s Office. If possible, include a photocopy of your driver’s license or another form of picture identification with the registration form, otherwise you will be required to present this information at the polls. Must be postmarked 30 days before the election to be registered for the upcoming election.

Phone Book There is also a voter registration form in The White Pages (located at the end of the blue government section). This form can be photocopied. Once completed, it should be mailed to your County Clerk’s Office. If possible, include a photocopy of your driver’s license or another form of picture identification with the registration form, otherwise you will be required to present this information at the polls.

In-Person Registration The 15 day or before an election, a person may register to vote in person at the count clerks office. You will only be eligible to vote on elections. Location listings are available through your County Clerk’s Office.

Drivers License & State Agency Offices Registration forms are also available at State Agency Offices, including the Drivers Licence Division, Division of Workforce Services, Utah State Department of Health, Women, Infant and Children (WIC) Offices, the Division of Services for People with Disabilities, the Department of Rehabilitation, and public colleges and universities.

When to Re-register: Voter registration is valid for life, unless you

• Move
• Change your name, or
• Wish to affiliate with a different party

To change your voter registration status for any of the above reasons, simply fill out a new voter registration form.

What are the requirements?

Age At least 18 years-old on or before the next election.

Citizenship A citizen of the United States.

Residency A resident of Utah for at least 30 days before the election. An applicant is considered a resident of Utah if he or she has his principal place of residence within Utah and intends to continue to reside within Utah indefinitely.

Ok, all you Utah voters. I have a bit of a plea for you. As you know there is an election coming up on Nov. 6th. I don’t know if it is too late to register to vote to be able to in this upcoming election but I very strongly encourage those who are not registered to vote to do so BEFORE the 2008 election when we will be voting for a new president. My motto is, if you didn’t vote then you can’t complain about the choices our leaders make. I will post another blog with voter registration information in it.

Now let me tell you about vouchers. I am strongly against them. Here is a brief and unbiased overview of exactly what they are. Vouchers (this info. is straight from the voter information pamphlet) will provide annual, state-funded scholarships for qualifying children to attend eligible private schools. Scholarships under the program range from $500-$3000 per student, depending on family size and income. Now at first glance this doesn’t seem too bad does it? Well, consider the fact that the money for those scholarships comes from our taxes. Do I want my tax money to send kids to a private school? Umm no. I believe it would be better used updating and improving public schools.

My next point is that the average tuition cost for a private school here in Utah ranges from $2,200 to nearly $15,000 a year. (info. received from http://www.sltrib.com/education/ci_5301412) This means that only those who can afford the cost of tuition above and beyond the voucher money that they receive will be able to take advantage of the voucher program. Which means that a child with a low income family will only be able to go to a private school if they are offered $3,000 in voucher money and only if they go to the lowest-cost parochial schools. It seems to me that the chances of this voucher program helping mid to low income families is very slim. The families most likely to receive “help” from vouchers are those who can already afford to send their kids to a private school and would like a bit of an income return for doing so. This doesn’t seem quite right to me.

My last point falls in what it takes to qualify for a scholarship (again this is taken right out of the voter information pamphlet)

Qualifying for a scholarship

To qualify for a scholarship under the Parent

Choice in Education Program, a student must meet

at least one of the following criteria:

• be born after September 1, 2001;

• be enrolled as a full-time student in a Utah public school on January 1, 2007;

• not be a Utah resident on January 1, 2007; or

• be in a lower income family.

May I draw your attention to the third bullet point. To be eligible they must not be a Utah resident on Jan. 1, 2007? Does this even make sense to you? It certainly doesn’t make sense to me that my tax money would go to pay private school tuition for a non-Utah resident.

Thank you to everyone who has taken time to read my opinion. I just want to mention one last thing. In a lot of the anti-voucher commercials it speaks of the NEA as “a liberal group on the east coast who wants to take away parent choice in Utah.” I would just like to let you know that the NEA is the National Association for Education. They are a union whose sole goal is the betterment of public education for our children. Don’t you think that they, if anyone, would know what is best in educating our children? I certainly do. They are not some evil group trying to de-bunk the voucher referendum. So there you go.