The Wilhelmsen Botanical Blog

Well, I still have not received much feedback on this blog.  Perhaps, less people read our weekly e-mails then I thought?  Who knows…for those of you who do read this, here are the highlights of what we have been up to since I last wrote.  I started to take water aerobics twice a week.  This has been nice because I really hate to excercise but being in the water makes it almost fun…Sadly, because I have such dry skin and the chlorine is so strong and bothersome I will have to re-think going twice a week and will probably only end up going once a week.

I also went and volunteered at Legacy Preparatory Academy last wednesday.  I ended up just sitting in on a class and then attending the assembly with that same class, but it was fun and one of my math students from last year seemed excited to see me.  I will be volunteering at the school approximately once a week through the end of January.

I feel that the highlight of our week last week was seeing one of Brandon’s best friends be sealed in the temple.  He has been searching for the right girl quite long enough and has now found her and snatched her right up.  The spirit of the day was amazing and attending sealings always makes me remember the beauty and joy of my own sealing to Brandon.  I choked up when they talked about eternal families because I was sitting there next to Brandon, with our very own posterity growing in my tummy.  What a wonderful blessing to be together for eternity.

The two of us attended a preparedness fair (it was more like a fireside) on Saturday.  They went over a lot of the basics which Brandon and I already knew, but we got a cool 5 gallon water jug from it and also a yummy refreshment of donuts.  After the fair, because Brandon had been paid for some design work he did, we were able to go and buy our stroller/car seat.  HOORAY!

Brandon has just continued to do what he always does, go to work, come home, do homework or design work, and go to bed.  He has a few big assignments that are due at the end of the month and so we are going to have to give up some of the more fun activities so he can get his work done on time.  I also keep telling him that he needs to write some blog entries too so hopefully he will in the near future.  We love you all.

Hello!  So last week was Halloween.  Tuesday evening we went to our friend Dan’s to watch Transformers and carve pumpkins.  Brandon and I dressed up as an Angel and a Devil and I wore a sign that said, “The Devil made me do it.”  It was pretty fun and I enjoyed Transformers, that was the first time I had seen it.  Wednesday was of course the official holiday and so I dressed up in my costume to hand out the candy.  The trick or treaters started coming at 6:00 and I had run out of candy/otter pops by 7:30.  Of course we didn’t have all that much to begin with so it isn’t saying much.  Luckily here at the apartment complex they give us an orange sign to put up if we accept trick or treaters so I was able to take that down and nobody else rang the doorbell.  Nice! 

Saturday night, we went to Dan’s (grocery store) to pick up some milk and they were doing a cake walk when we got there.  Unfortunately we didn’t get in on the fun, but as we were finishing up they had a trivia question.  It was, “When did the first Thanksgiving take place?” It was multiple choice or I wouldn’t have been able to guess.  They said, “1492, 1621, 17??,” and one other year.  Well, once they had said 1621 I said to Brandon, “I think it is that one.” and the guy stocking milk said, “1621.”  So Brandon and I picked up our milk and started to run to the customer service desk.  We were arriving at the same time as another girl and she was starting to say, “164..” so the guy at the counter pointed to me and I said the correct year.  The prize was a pumpkin pie!  Yay, for Brandon because he gets to eat the WHOLE thing.  (I don’t like pumpkin pie.)

Well, those are the highlights for the week of halloween, I know that they are a bit late.  Love you all!

Hello everyone, I know that it has been awhile since I last wrote. It has been somewhat uneventful around here. I mean aside from me working on making little baby booties and pushing on my stomach to try and feel little Aiden moving. I think that this little guy will have the funnest personality. I mean I don’t really know much yet but I have been giggling a lot and being silly (as I am prone to do) and I just think that he will come out knowing that life is good.

Anyway, today is an eventful day. It is the day that I go with my fairy godfather and get Aiden his crib and mattress. I am very excited because aside from a few clothes that I inherited, a pack-n-play that I inherited, and the things that I have made for Aiden, we still don’t really have anything.

In just two short weeks I will start my third trimester and another exciting thing is that after my prenatal visit on Nov. 29th, I will start having prenatal visits every 2 weeks! There will still be 12 weeks left in my pregnancy but I think going in for prenatal visits more regularly will help the time pass more quickly. 🙂 We will also start birthing classes on Dec. 6th.

Well, that is all for now. I will take pictures of the crib when we get it put together and I will also take pictures of the baby booties I have been working on, as well as any little outfits that I make. I also realize that I have not yet finished and taken a picture of the crib quilt, so I will get around to that as well. Adios!

This morning I was reading through some scholarships that Brandon submitted on fast web.  He would really love people to make comments on them or to vote on them starting Monday.  These are the links… “The Real America Scholarship,” The “To Rise From the Ashes Scholarship,” and “The Modern Ninja Scholarship.”  Anyway, it got me to thinking about a brief essay that I wrote when I applied at Challenger School long ago.  We were asked to write about our view of America and I feel that it is still accurate today and wanted to share it with you.  So here it is…

America 

I am grateful to live in a country where we have freedom; freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of press, and the freedom to assemble peaceably.  I also believe that it is a great privilege to live in a country that is by the people, for the people.  As a U.S. citizen this allows me to have the right to choose the leaders of my country and my state and how I want them to spend my tax money.

Today’s children are the future leaders of America and in order for them to become honest, hard working, and intelligent leaders they need the best education that they can receive.  This means that the schools that they are attending need to have better supplies and text books, better teachers, and the students need to have more hands on experiences within the classroom.  These things are only going to be possible if more of our tax money goes toward educational purposes.

In conclusion, I know that our country has the potential to bring forth the very best political leaders that we have ever had running our country, if we will only tap into our resources to do so.

Lastly, I just want to encourage all of you again to please be sure to go out and vote.  Election day is next Tuesday.  For those of you who have not yet registered to vote, do so now so that you can vote in next year’s presidential election.  Also, I would ask that when voting, do not vote democrat, republican or green party.  Just vote American, by this I mean, study out the candidates for president review their opinions of the issues most important to you, (for me these would be mostly be immigration and education) and vote for the candidate who most closely resembles your opinion.  Love you all!