The Wilhelmsen Botanical Blog

Well Happy New Year to everyone!  This time last year I was very uncomfortable as the last few weeks of my pregnancy were winding down.  It is crazy to think that my first born is nearly one year old.  Anyway, that is a whole other entry to be written about in a few weeks. 

So Monday we flew home from Arizona in the evening.  On our way to the airport we stopped at a place called Bass Pro Shop because Brandon’s mom wanted Aiden to see the fish.  He enjoyed it as is evident in the pictures below.  There was also a GIANT Christmas tree which can be viewed below as well.  We spent two hours in the airport which was ok because Aiden needed a nap and if we had arrived later Aiden wouldn’t have gotten as long of a nap.  As a result of said nap Aiden was awake the whole flight.  Luckily we got a complimentary infant seat again and so he had an entire seat to himself.  Look at how well he entertained himself. 😉

Tuesday was a day of many loads of laundry and unpacking.  Wednesday Aiden and I took Brandon to work and then ran a few errands on the way to our home for the night.  We decided to start our family New Year’s tradition this year and it went fairly well.  Our plan is to reserve the number of hotel rooms to fit the need of our family for the night of New Years Eve.  We will bring along our crock pots of meatballs, little smokies, dipping chocolate and various other finger foods as well as our dvd players, movies, and jammies and thenwe will spend the night in the hotel watching movies.  I will always make sure the hotel offers continental breakfast and has a year round indoor pool (so that we can burn those munchies calories).  It went well but every time we tried to put Aiden to sleep in his pack and play he thought it was a funny game.  He would stand up and giggle and be silly.  At night I finally had to throw a blanket over top and down the sides of the pack and play so he would sleep.  It took him an hour to calm down and finally fall asleep.  The turkey. ;p We watched Horton Hears a Who (we both liked it a lot, it was very clever) and enjoyed our treats, I barely made it to midnight. 

Thursday morning we ate our continental breakfast of waffles, cereal, juice, and other yummy things then we went swimming in the pool.  The water was as warm as bath water which was super nice on such a cold day.  I also enjoyed the hot tub a bit.  After swimming we packed up and headed home.  We had reserved 3 redbox movies and the one redbox was down so we couldn’t pick up our movie.  We tried three times and were not successful.  They haven’t gotten back to us and have charged us for a movie we did not get to watch!  Grr.  We did watch The Incredible Hulk Thursday evening before it had to be returned though.  Thank goodness.

Friday was more organizing, unpacking, and otherwise settling back into being home.  I had an upset stomach all night Thursday and half of the day Friday.  I was worried that I was getting the flu.  Thankfully everything has evened itself out and I am feeling back to normal.  I did make a grocery list and Aiden and I went grocery shopping with my dad. 

Saturday I went to a bridal show to help my mom run a booth.  She was showcasing her artists to book out as entertainment for weddings.  There were a lot of interested brides.  I had never been to a bridal show so I took a minute to walk around and see what it is all about.  It was a fun atmosphere to be in, as it well should be, a bunch of excited newly engaged girls and their friends/family making wedding plans.  It is one of the happiest times of life.  Anyway, I saw one of my longest known friends while I was there.  Her little sister is getting married.  We exchanged contact info. and hopefully I will see her again soon.   In the evening Brandon, Aiden, and I went to visit my grandma.  We had a lot of fun and Brandon and my grandpa had a lot to talk about. 

Today we attended church at our new time.  It will take a little bit of adjusting (mostly because Aiden has graduated to his new car seat and so we won’t be toting him around in a car seat anymore, thus naps will be a little more difficult).  The rest of today we have done housekeeping type things and have worked on cooking dinner.  We hope everyone has a good week.  Thanks for reading!

Well, I hope that everyone had a good Christmas.  This year we decided to start a few of our own traditions a little bit and sort of worked them around being out of town.  Next year we plan to go all out and do the Christmas at home, ham dinner Christmas day thing.  Good thing I have a year to be prepared. 😉

So, last Monday we flew to Arizona.  We had been listed on the 12:40 flight but the 11:10 flight was running late so the customer service agent at the gate stuck us on the earlier flight.  This enabled Aiden to have his own seat!  🙂  That was nice and he slept on the flight.  The only trouble was that our luggage was on the later flight and would not arrive until about 2:30.  It worked out though because Brandon’s grandma came later and they picked up our luggage when they picked her up.  We ended up eating at a chicken place called Church’s for lunch and man was it GOOD!! Better then KFC!  The chicken was moist and tender, the crunchy covering wasn’t greasy and the fries were salted the way I like them!  My tummy was HAPPY!  We also went to the hangar where Brandon’s dad works and got to see the outside of an airplane up close and personal.  He also gave us a tour of the facility. 

Tuesday the whole family went to the Mesa temple in the evening to see the lights.  After that we ate at Cici’s (an all you can eat pizza and pasta place.)  It has delicious garlic cheese bread and cinnamon pull aparts.  OH BABY!  Why can’t Utah open a branch? 

Wednesday was Christmas Eve.  That evening we ate hors d’oeuvres for dinner.  Veggies, fruit, mini quiche, little smokies in bbq sauce, little smokies pigs in a blanket, and mini pastry cups.  One of Brandon’s sisters and her family joined us.  I LOVE Little Smokies in BBQ sauce!  Oh we also had meatballs in raspberry chipotle sauce which was just a little too spicy for me.  This was also an exciting day for Aiden because his top two middle teeth finally broke through his gums!  My baby now has 4 teeth! 

Thursday morning we woke up and ate Christmas morning casserole.  It was delicious.  We also opened gifts.  Which happened gradually through out the day.  This was new for me because I am used to getting everything passed out and then taking turns unwrapping until they are all open.  After which everyone disperses to play with/enjoy their gifts.  We had a late lunch of ham, turkey, orange rolls, green bean casserole (which I have begun to really like), funeral potatoes, and yams with apples.  Dessert was cranberry apple dessert with a slice of chocolate pie.  😀  Christmas day we spent with all of Brandon’s siblings and their families and it was a lot of fun. 

Friday morning after we woke up we walked to Walmart with Brandon’s brother Torren.  We all had cash/gift cards to spend.  I got a couple of pairs of shoes and we bought some food for Aiden.  He really liked the mashed sweet potatoes with glazed carrots.  We ended up eating at Del Taco/KFC for lunch.  In the evening Brandon made a dinner of cornmeal waffles and homemade chili which turned out pretty good. 

Saturday the whole family got together again for family photos.  We went to the ward house and used the foyer.  We got a lot of shots with several cameras and so there are some good ones and some funny ones.  Then everyone came back to “Grandma and Grandpa’s” for a lunch of homemade tacos and our niece and nephew decorated a gingerbread house.  Which we took pictures of and then people started to eat.  This is new to me!  You are actually supposed to EAT your gingerbread house?  I guess I could if it was a graham cracker house (which is what I usually make) because I don’t like gingerbread.  But usually Erica (my sister) and I would make them,  keep them until after Christmas for decoration and then my mom would throw them away!  I guess it’s cool with me if my family wants to eat their gingerbread house after Christmas. In the afternoon some of us went bowling and then to get ice cream.   I got frozen yogurt because it is SO expensive in Utah.  It was fun to go bowling but I didn’t break 100 either game.  Boo.

Yesterday we went to church.  Torren actually was speaking in sacrament and that was neat.  Aiden was sort of on one yesterday and a bit ornery so he was kind of difficult in sacrament.  He slept through most of Sunday school and then was in a good mood and played in relief society.  I don’t know what was going on but he seems in better spirits today.  Yesterday for dinner we had enchiliken.  If you want to know what that is then ask.  It was tasty.  I also miraculously got Aiden to walk while holding only one of my hands.  He has done it a few time since.  I will tell you one thing about my little guy though and that is that he likes to do things his own way and only if he feels like it.  He could easily be walking, his stomach muscles are strong, he has good balance (this I know from his various feats on tippy toe to reach the unreachable) and we have been practicing how to walk with him for at least 6 months.  He just doesn’t feel like it quite yet.  😉

Today we are just kind of hanging around and we fly home this evening.  I will write about any activities we do between now and our flight in our next blog entry.  I hope everyone has a Happy New Years Eve.  Thanks for reading…

Well, hello everyone.  This past week has been super busy with all of the last minute preparations before leaving today for Arizona.  There will not be pictures posted until we return home from our trip because internet access is somewhat limited but I thought that I would at least try and write before we left.  I will also try and write again next Sunday.

So, the earlier part of the week consisted of laundry.  I wanted to have everything washed so that we would have plenty of options when we were packing.  Funny how big trips always seem to begin and end with a ton of laundry. 😉

Tuesday evening I went and helped my dad to do some Christmas shopping for his family and friends.  We were surprisingly successful and I think we picked some good choices.

Wednesday morning we took Aiden for his 10 month photos at Target.  They turned out cute.  It is always hard to choose photos and sometimes we go a tiny bit overboard but this time we stuck to our budget.  That evening Aiden was baby sat while Brandon, my dad, and I all went to see Glenn Beck’s Christmas show.  They were showing it live at the movie theatre.  It was a good message and not at all what I had been envisioning and rolling my eyes about.  🙂 Glenn Beck is a good man.

Thursday I spent part of the day buying my mom Christmas gifts with her money.  She didn’t want to know all of the things that she would be getting and wanted stuff to open on Christmas day.  She told me that if she were to use the money she would probably just use it for things that she needs.  So, I happily took on that opportunity to give my mom Christmas.  You see, I enjoy shopping and if I could get paid to do it I would.

Friday evening we went to an open house at the home of the bishop from our old ward and then to a wedding reception.  It was a terribly stormy night and the roads were not in the best driving condition but we drove slowly and made it just fine and without any mishaps.  Friday was also Brandon’s last “final” (it was actually a presentation of a paper he did earlier in the semester.) and now my hubby can take it easy a little bit.  This week he had to finish two websites, write two one page papers, fill out a questionaire, and finish up a paper.  He also had one final and one presentation up at the U of U.  On top of this he had some t-shirt designs to do and he finished one but will be using my lap top on our trip to finish others.

Saturday Brandon stayed home with Aiden while my dad and I went out to get a few more gifts.  One of the gifts took stopping by two stores before finally finding it at a third store.  Oi!  In the evening we went to visit my grandma and she let us open our gifts.  She also enjoyed watching Aiden crawl around and around again.  He is quite the silly little boy.

Yesterday we attended church, finished packing for our trip to Arizona, made yummy food for lunch and dinner, watched Fred Claus (which I REALLY enjoyed), and then in the evening my mom came over so that we could celebrate “Christmas”.  Basically Brandon and I exchanged gifts and then let Aiden open most of his gifts.  I forgot to give him his stocking though.  I guess I better do that before we leave this morning.  It was funny watching him open his toys because he couldn’t decide what to play with.

Well everyone, have a Merry Christmas and be safe in the snow.  We love you and thanks for reading!

Hello again!  I have been over stressed for some reason even though I have felt like I have been managing the millions of things I need to do better then before.  This stress has led to me getting frustrated and overwhelmed more easily which have leaked into my mothering.  Of course, anytime time I have felt even the least bit frustrated with Aiden in all of his short 10 months I have thought that I must be the worst mother ever to be frustrated by something as young, innocent, and unintentionally difficult as my Aiden.  This in turn makes me feel even worse.  Such a vicious cycle. 

So, last Sunday and Monday Aiden started to blow raspberries with his tongue.  He hasn’t done as much as the week has progressed but it still made me laugh.  Especially since on Saturday evening my mom had said, “Just wait until he is blowing raspberries and spitting his food everywhere.”  A very interesting coincidence I might say.  Monday Aiden managed to reach the open tub of Eucerine lotion off of my night stand and had a thick coating of it on his left foot and a slightly lighter coating on his right hand.  Sorry for the lack of pictures of it, I didn’t get to the camera quick enough.

Tuesday, I was looking at everything Brandon has left to do to finish out the semester and noticed a big project for geology that he hadn’t mentioned was due that same day.  I helped him with it and we got it turned in on time.  Phew!  It could have meant the difference between passing and not passing.  We are still crossing our fingers about that one class but he feels like he did well on his final.

Wednesday was Aiden’s first real big bonk.  He was standing up holding onto a rubbermaid tote and slipped and bonked his head on the corner of the wall by our closet.  It swelled up and was really red for awhile but it healed quickly and there is only a faint purple bruise in a vertical line on his forehead left.

Thursday I made yummy oatmeal raisin cookies and then Aiden and I went over to my grandma’s.  I ended up leaving my inhaler at home so unfortunately I didn’t help much but we did have a lot of fun with Aiden.  We gave him a bath in grandma’s tub, covered him with stuffed animals, and watched in amazement as he crawled around and around and around.  He is a busy body and curious about EVERYTHING!  I like to call him a whirling dervish.  In the evening my aunt’s came over and a couple of my cousin-in-laws to help decorate grandma’s tree.  They were just getting going when I went home with my hubby. 

Friday, Aiden and I spent some brief time with Brandon and then he dropped me off at my hair appointment and Aiden off at Grandma’s to be baby sat.  I decided that I wanted a perm and so I got one.  It is still taking a little bit of getting used to but I think it is fun and that I will definitely like it even better after I get to wash it tomorrow! 

Saturday was Brandon’s company party at the E-center.  We had my aunt babysit Aiden while we attended.  The food was good, ham, potatoes, rolls, salad, and juice and the entertainment was even better!  Who doesn’t LOVE a good game of ice hockey?  It is my favorite sport!  We left early so that we could get Aiden home to bed but after checking online today I found out the the Grizzlies won!  (It wasn’t looking so hot when we left it was 3-0 with the Grizz down).  The end score was Grizzlies 5, Thunder 3!  GO GRIZZLIES!!!  If you check out our other blog in a day or two you can check out the video we caught of a fist fight on the ice.  (This was the first time I had seen a fist fight during a game.)  SO EXCITING!!!  Oh, and earlier in the day we watched Speed Racer.  There were a few cheesy parts but I have decided that I did like the movie. 

Today we went to church as usual and I found out that last week when we went to a blessing that our ward had only had sacrament because a water main broke and was gushing into the building near the bishops office.  Apparently it had also broken some windows.  As a result they canceled classes.  I am glad that I didn’t try and go to relief society like I was thinking because the building would have been locked and empty.  Church was good though and I really liked the lesson that we had in relief society.  Oh, one other thing.  I keep Eucerine in Aiden’s room for his dry skin and I had it on the diaper changing table because I usually put it on in the morning when I change Aiden from jammies to clothes (his dry patches are on his back).  Well Brandon moved it to the shelf below and later this afternoon I went in to check on Aiden and lo and behold he had found the lotion and gotten it on his face.  Who knows if he ate some or just got it near his mouth.  Twice in one week?!?!?  Goodness.

A few other things to note.  As of Thursday Aiden has now been standing for anywhere from 5-15 seconds on his own once or twice a day.  Sometimes he will let go of whatever he is holding onto and sometimes Brandon or I will stand him up, let go and move away quickly.  Crazy to think that soon he will be walking!  On top of this his top two middle teeth are getting ready to break through the skin anytime.  His top left tooth is super close to the surface and looks ready to burst!  The last fun thing is that Aiden has started to mimic us and the first thing he has learned is how to clap.  Check our other blog in a day or two to see video of Aiden clapping.  Well, have a good week and good luck with all of your last minute Christmas preparations.  Thanks for reading…

Why hello everyone, and happy december!  It seems like things have suddenly kicked into high gear around here.  This week we have had several events to go to, not to mention shopping to be done, projects to finish, and an attempt to get our Christmas cards out.  (Still working on that.)  Luckily I finished the project that I was helping my grandma with, bought most of our last minute items (we just have to get something for the cousin Brandon drew, my sis and bro-in-law, and pick up something for B’s parents that has to wait until we are in AZ), worked on a few projects, kept the house picked up after Aiden, and attended the events I had planned on.  Phew.  Even though my agenda looks pretty clear for next week we will see how long that lasts. 

So, on Monday I just did some housekeeping items and then watched the two new episodes of Samantha Who.  Tuesday, Aiden and I went to the Ward Relief Society Party.  It was pretty fun, they fed us a yummy dinner of chicken cordon bleu and had the Woodscross Madrigals sing for us.  It made me miss colleg, high school, and institute choir.  Aiden also started having very wet bowel movements this day so I changed a LOT of dirty diapers and worked hard to keep the diaper rash down.

Wednesday I took my dad to the airport and then went to Wimpole Street for their open house with Aiden.  There were some fun things to look at but purchasing something from there was not in our budget.  After that Aiden and I went to my grandma’s to visit with my aunt and grandma for a bit and then swung by the grocery store on the way home for Aiden’s nap.  In the evening Aiden and I met Brandon at the Anniversary Inn for their open house and to have Aiden sit on santa’s lap.  It was fun to see all of the rooms in person and to eat some of their yummy, YUMMY, fresh out of the oven, chocolate chip cookies.  Aiden was kind of unsure about Santa but we did get a good smile out of him…as well as some crying. 

Thursday I ran errands getting the things I needed to finish up Christmas projects.  Which I am in the process of now.  I will start wrapping things next week.  In the evening Aiden and I went to the ward party and Brandon met up with us later.  They were doing Christmas around the World and there was a lot of good food such as shepherd’s pie and swedish meatballs.  Aiden sat on Santa’s lap there as well.  He wasn’t as distracted from crying this time…

Friday Aiden and I went to help my grandma wrap presents.  Her craft room is getting to be too full to work in because of all of the presents! 

Saturday we had tithing settlement.  Before tithing settlement Aiden and I helped Brandon take some photos for a class project he is working on.  We also bought a few ingredients for the yummy breakfast that we ate this morning.  Around 3:30 I went to pick up my dad from the airport and then in the evening we went to see the Christmas lights on temple square with my mom (driving and parking was a nightmare!  If you want to see the lights RIDE TRAX!!!) and to get hot chocolate and dessert at The Garden restaurant afterwards.  We had a good visit and Aiden liked the lights.

This morning brandon made a yummy skillet for breakfast.  It consisted of ham, potatoes, green bell pepper, onion, eggs, and a little bit of olive oil.  Yummy!  We then attended the baby blessing of my cousin’s daughter Angela.  They had an open house afterwards with yummy mini sandwiches, salads galore, and dessert of course.  This afternoon we have just been working to get various things done and wishing our computers would cooperate.  We hope that everyone has a good week, thanks for reading…

Well hello once again.  I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving.  It already feels like it has been ages since Thursday.  So, I must say that now that the leaves are almost gone from our tree in the front yard it really is time for some snow.  I will be spending Christmas in sunny Phoenix, AZ and I won’t have the opportunity for a white Christmas.  As such I would really like to get a good dose of white “Christmas” in before we go to AZ.  Besides the tree without leaves is telling me that it is time for the snow to come blowing in.  So where is it? 

Anyway, so Monday this week I went and helped my grandma to wrap a few gifts as well as her frozen fruit salad.  It is always fun to visit with her and while making the salad we used practically every mixing bowl and colander in the house.  Not to mention having jello and whipping cream on the counters.  I had a lot of fun though and Aiden enjoyed crawling around and getting into the garbage.  😉

Tuesday was a regular ol’ day with nothing significant to mention.  Wednesday was a busy day.  In the afternoon my dad and I went shopping.  We got Brandon’s Christmas gift, Aiden’s car seat (which was my dad’s Christmas gift to him), stopped at the bank, went to Joann Fabrics so that I could get ribbon for a project that I am helping my grandma with, and then we ate at Salt Lake Pizza and Pasta.  I got a “create your own 9″ pizza” and holy toledo it was GOOD!  Definitely one of the best pizzas I have ever had.  Yum!  In the morning I made Jello salad for Thanksgiving and then in the evening after all of our shopping I made the apple pie that I was assigned to bring.  It didn’t get pulled out of the oven until 10:30.  Oi!  Needless to say I didn’t make the glaze until Thursday.

Which brings us to Thanksgiving!  We mostly took it easy all morning.  I did make glaze for the pie and then I held Aiden while he napped because he would NOT take a nap and I didn’t want him to be ornery at Thanksgiving or tired and sleeping.  I knew he would enjoy the festivities and so I wanted him to nap.  Around 12:45 we headed over to my aunt’s ward house where we gathered with most of the extended family.  The was a large feast of food.  Complete with green bean casserole, creamed corn, turducken, turkey, yams, rolls, mashed potatoes, ham, banana cream pie, pumkin pie, apple pie, and strawberry rhubarb pie.  Oh let’s not forget my favorite part the STUFFING!  OOOOOOOHHHHHHHH so good!  In the evening we watched Hancock.  The story line was good but the language was not.  😐 

Friday morning we went and took Aiden to have his 9 month pictures taken at Target.  While we waited we went back to look at the toys and it was still a bit crazy (it was 10:00 in the morning).  Later on Aiden and I took Brandon to work.  On the way home we stopped by the home of an old University Village buddy and picked up some hand me downs for Aiden.  We visited a little bit and it was fun to see them.  We also stopped at walmart so that I could get a few thingsfor Christmas.  After Aiden had a nap and food we went back out and stopped at Seagull Book and Tape (I LOVE that store) as well as Joann Fabrics.  By that time we needed to pick Brandon back up.  It was a busy day but I got a lot done.

Yesterday I finally went to see Twilight.  Three of my friends went with me, two of whom had already seen the movie, one who had not.  I literally smiled the WHOLE movie.  I did realize that I read the books way too fast because I had trouble keeping the supporting characters straight.  I just thought that the movie was well done and it reminded me of how much I enjoyed the books.  Before the movie I stopped by another friends who also had hand me downs for me to borrow.  Now Aiden will be a well dressed kid!  I will forever appreciate those who helped me out.

Tonight we will be having a tasty dinner of taco salad with homemade creamy tomatillo sauce and then decorating the christmas tree!  YIPPEE!!!!!!!!!!!  Have a great week, thanks for reading…

So, since I have been up since six with my mind a whirring (I don’t usually get up until 7:30 and today I was going to try and sleep in) I thought that I would write about the things I am most grateful for.  This is not a “top five” or “top ten” and they are in no particular order but here goes…

1. A place to live/a roof over the heads of my husband, son, and I. (Thanks dad!)

2. Food to eat.  Seriously, I like food alot (and so does my son).

3. Being a mom.  I waited 17 long months for a successful pregnancy and let me tell you, it makes the rest that much more sweet.

4. My eccentric, silly, loving mom.  She adds a certain richness and spice to life that is unique only to her.

5. My generous, intelligent, loving father.  I know that if my family is ever in a bind he is there for us.  He is also good for some stimulating conversation as well, this is nice after you have been talking to a babbling baby all day.  😉

6. Family in general, I have been blessed with having a very close extended family who all live within 45 mins. of me and with whom I have shared many memories with at various family functions.

7. I better mention my sister.  :p  She is a strong, beautiful woman (yes woman, she is all grown up, married, and living in Florida with her hubby, sometimes I forget she isn’t little anymore) who knows her mind and isn’t afraid to speak it.  She is also brave and willing to take risks that I talk myself out of.  You rock little sis!

8.  I am grateful for all the people whose paths I’ve crossed in my life who have taught me a little bit more about myself and the world around me.  This includes friends, teachers, church leaders, colleagues at work, and the random people I have passed on the U of U campus, at the grocery store, or walking down the street just to name a few.

9. I am grateful for my education.  I am so lucky to have been able to go through all of the public education system K-12 and then go on to earn a college degree.   Only a precious few (what like 25%) of high school graduates even get that priviledge.

10. I am grateful for my religion.  I don’t know how many times I can say this.  The church of Jesus Christ brings an added measure of peace, love, joy, security, and strength into my life.  It also binds me to me family eternally.  Which means that neither on earth nor in Heaven will I be apart from them.  Considering how much I love my family this is a truly marvelous blessing.

11. My health.  Sure I have asthma, allergies, and a slightly curved spine, but those have been the extent of my ailments despite my lack of excercise until now and indulging in too many tasty sweets.  I am grateful to have been so lucky.

12. My talents.  Sure my whole life I have thought that I didn’t excel at any one thing (I still don’t think I do), but I have been able to use my talents to help others or to bring joy to their lives and that is pretty cool.  My talents also provide me with joy, and a sense of accomplishment.

Well, I am sure that the more I “count my blessings” the more I could think of to write but in order to not ramble on and on I will stop here.  I have a friend blogging 5 things she is grateful for every day.  Maybe I will do that…I will think on it.  Have a happy Thanksgiving and don’t stuff yourselves to the point of belly ache!!  There are always leftovers for later…  🙂

Why hello again!  Can you believe that next week is Thanksgiving?  I wanted to make mention once again about Christmas music before Thanksgiving.  This year I came to learn something about myself.  To me Christmas is Love, Peace, Gratitude, and Family.  So despite the fact that at least half of the Christmas songs on the radio could be construed as “commercialistic” these songs have come to bring to me those 4 things which embody the “spirit” of the season.  To me feeling the spirit of the season (being Nov. 1-Jan. 2) does not take away from Thanksgiving but adds to it.  If we are feeling love and gratitude throughout the month of November it enhances the actual day of Thanksgiving.  Then as after we enjoy our family and share what we are greatful for we can look forward to the upcoming holiday of Christmas and the wonder and blessing of Christs birth.  I now understand why people so look forward to the Christmas music.  It is because of the spiritual side of Christmas, not the commercialistic side.  This too is the reason they want it to last all year long.  It is not because they are trying to skip over Thanksgiving but because they are all wrapped together in one loving, grateful package of time spent with family and loved ones…

So, Monday and Tuesday we uneventful as usual.  (I don’t know that they are truly uneventful, I think I just don’t ever remember what we do because they are at the beginning of the week.  For those truly curious I do know that mondays are the night we watch Samantha Who and tuesdays are Eli Stone nights.)  Anyway…

Wednesday was a crazy day for Brandon.  I had an appointment for 3:15 to pick up some free clothes for Aiden from the Pregnancy Resource Center and I needed the car.  So…he planned to ride the bus to school and work, looked up the routes and looked like he would make it with time to spare.  He got to school successfully but on the way to work Trax came late and so he ended up missing his connecting bus.  Instead of being 20 mins. early he ended up being 45 mins. late.  He was a bit frustrated.  Aiden also had a really difficult time going down for his mid-morning nap and that had me a bit stressed.  After picking up clothes I went to visit grandma Carolyn which was fun as always.  I have such great extended family!  Wednesday I also let Aiden feed his oatmeal to himself (you can watch the movie here when it is uploaded) it was toooooo funny.  I giggled and thought he was so clever. 

Thursday I let Aiden play the piano and he got upset when I put him back down on the ground.  He wanted to play some more. 

Friday evening Brandon and I watched “Water Horse” while Aiden crawled around getting into things.

Yesterday was fun, my mom baby sat Aiden while Brandon and I went to Desert Star.  We saw “Miracle on 42nd Street.”   An old peer of mine from college was in it.  She had taken a bit of a leave of absence and it was fun to see her on stage again.  After Desert Star we picked up Aiden and went to visit my aunt briefly.  We ended our outing by stopping at Memory Grove to take pictures for our family Christmas card.  We got a bunch of blurry ones but managed to have at least one decent one.  We made homemade burgers for dinner and then went to Winegars so that I could pick up WIC stuff and Brandon could take pictures of meat for a class project.  When we got back I watched “The Prince and Me, Royal Honeymoon.”

This morning we ate muffins, sausage, potato cakes, and scrambled eggs (Aiden did too!).  It was a pretty yummy breakfast.  We really like the Jiffy Muffin Mix from the store.  This evening my mom is coming over for dinner and then we are going to watch the 24 two hour special “Redemption” tonight on fox 13 at 7:00.  We hope that everyone has a good week and oh yea, GO UTES!  Final BYU vs. UTAH score was 48-24 Utes!  I sure do love my alma mater.  😉  Happy Thanksgiving everyone, thanks for reading…

Where do I begin?  This week has been fairly good.  I have been very diligent about excercising on Wii fit every day (I plan to take Sundays off), I have taken Aiden out for a 15-30 min. walk in the mornings since Thurs. and feel that I am learning how to better carry my body by improving my posture and strengthening my muscles.  I have also been a bit confused by the whole propostion 8 thing and all of the media attention that it is getting (hence my previous article), I have been researching it and trying to understand why the leaders of the church got so involved, when in the previous Traditional marriage vote they made a statement and let individual members make a decision.  In talking with my husband I came to this realization, in 2004 there was the additional addendum to the Traditional Marriage proposition.  This addendum clearly states that… “No other domestic union, however denominated, may be recognized as a marriage or given the same or substantially equivalent legal effect.”  This most recent election was simply a vote to define marriage as being between a man and a woman.  It was the possible implications of this definition ie. less rights for those choosing to commit to a union of same gender that have been the problem for me.  In this years statement from the church they mention, “The Church’s opposition to same-sex marriage neither constitutes nor condones any kind of hostility toward gays and lesbians. Even more, the Church does not object to rights for same-sex couples regarding hospitalization and medical care, fair housing and employment rights, or probate rights, so long as these do not infringe on the integrity of the traditional family or the constitutional rights of churches.”  In other words, those choosing to enter into a same gender union ought to have rights equivilant to those who are in a traditional (man and woman) marriage.  The church was simply standing up for marriage as God intended it to be, not agreeing with changing the rights of those who choose a different union.  Both Brandon and I agree that those choosing to enter into what should henceforth be defined as a “domestic union” (marriage being reserved specifically for a man and a woman who marry) ought to have equivilant rights to those of us who have chosen to marry someone of the opposite gender.  The persecution that was brought upon the church because of this proposition has been hard for me to swallow but when I realized that this proposition was slightly different then the other and that it was not President Monson but God who directed the leaders of the church to do what they did, then I am able to understand that the things that happened were foreordained to happen.  Persecution is only going to get worse, black and white will only become more and more gray, good will be called bad and bad will be called good (even more so then what is already happening).  Our trials will become more frequent.  These are the things that we have been brought forth at this time to endure and if we keep our eye towards our loving Father in Heaven, he will give us (and our children) the strength to overcome them.  Phew!

Anyway, so the happenings of the week.  Monday I spent a lot of the afternoon working on what will be the 3rd amendment to our 2007 taxes.  You see, Brandon has done some freelance design work for a company in Idaho.  As a result he didn’t have a W-2 for the 2007 tax year and although I reported the income with our other W-2 income I was unaware that I needed to send a schedule C with our tax form as a “W-2” for that freelance income.  Well, of course the U of U decided to do one of their random audits this year on Brandon and I ended up having to fill out a schedule C and an amended tax return along with the $105.00 we owed to the IRS.  Last week we received a notice saying that we owed another $250?!?!?!?  I was shocked but planning to pay it.  Luckily I found a paper that showed that the IRS had amended our tax return a 2nd time because of the schedule C and I found that they thought we had made and additional $1400 then what we originally reported instead of using the schedule C as an explanation for the wages that we had already reported but had no W-2 for.  I also found that they thought they had overpaid us $600 more then the actual total because of some telephone excise tax thing from 2006.  We did not receive payment for any telephone excise tax!  Good news is that they now owe us $9.50 because when I sent them a check for the first amendment I overpaid a little bit.  I just hope that I don’t confuse things more and that they get the same numbers I did (some of which I got from the IRS over the phone).  Anyway…Do you taxes correctly the first time and if you don’t know something ASK!!!!!

Tuesday was Veteren’s day and as such Brandon did not have to go to work (he did have school though, lame!).  It was good to have him at home but he had already planned to do some “other” work during the time that he would have normally been at work.  He has a book that he wants to write and so he was going to work on that as well as his portfolio website for class.  He also had a bit of homework I believe.  Anyway, so I planned to use the car since it would be home for me to use and went to run some Christmas errands.  It was fun even though it took a bit longer then usual due to having to get Aiden in and out of the car, shopping carts, and baby carrier.  I even went to pick up some books at the library and it was closed due to the holiday.  Doh. 

Thursday was a momentous day!  Aiden started to “cruise” meaning that his cheerio’s were on the other end of the coffee table and he side stepped over to them while holding on to the table.  You can see the video on the family adventure blog within a few days.  I also won a gift for Aiden on e-bay!  It is some fisher price peek-a-blocks and roll-a-rounds, I sure hope Santa did buy him the same thing.  I believe this is also the day he kind of face planted trying to crawl over my knees.  Lucky he was so low to the ground or he would have bruised.  I really believe Heavenly Father is watching out for him because while he does get a few red spots from the normal bumps and bruises of a baby learning to walk, they fade by the end of the day or the next morning. 

Friday I went and got a trim and when I got home we went on a walk as a family.  During the day I worked on another Christmas gift and also tried to sign up for a yahoo group both things had me frustrated by the end.  In the evening we watched Super Nanny and Super Manny.  I just hope that we can remember all of the awesome tricks and techniques used in those shows when we run into things in the future. 

Yesterday Brandon, Aiden, my dad, and I all went to Ikea so that my dad could go for his first time.  We were able to find a couple of things we had been needing, including a t.v. stand for the living room!  Hooray!  It was fun to go there again, Aiden was enjoying having a lot to see and he did not nap from when he woke up at 8:00 until 3:00 that afternoon.  He started to get a bit crazy and I am going to do my best to avoid that again.  Oi!  While we were there we also got to eat the yummy meatballs and we picked up some cinnamon rolls to go which we enjoyed for breakfast this morning along with some scrambled eggs.  That night (Sat.) Brandon and I watched Journey to the Center of the Earth which we really enjoyed.  We also intend to watch Water Horse sometime soon.  Oh then when I was feeding Aiden his bedtime bottle he threw up twice and I was scared because I had no idea what was going on.  I called Brandon up to give Aiden a blessing and noticed Aiden was chewing on something.  It turns out he had a fiber of the carpet in his mouth (it was the thickness of yarn and two of them stuck together about 1/2″ long) and was gagging on it because it was tickling his throat as he drank.  This caused the throwing up.

This brings us to today.  This morning we were cleaning and things because they were in need of happening.  I ran downstairs to check something and bring the iron up when I heard Aiden crying.  I rounded the corner to see that careless mom had left the door at the top of the stairs open and he had tried to come down them.  He was spread eagle on the top two stairs before the landing, head toward the bottom of the stairs.  Thank goodness he had not tumbled all the way to the bottom and there were no injuries.  I feel very blessed and will NEVER leave the door open again.  As you can see Aiden has had kind of an eventful week.  This afternoon we went to church and now we are working on our “shake and bake” dinner.  We are having chicken coated in french fried onions and potatoes coated in onion soup mix and oil.  It will be mmm, mmm good and there was very little preparation.  Gotta love that!  Well, have a good week everyone!  Thanks for reading…

So, I guess that I have been wanting to say a few things about this ever since I started getting e-mails to “Support Amendment 8.”  First of all, we Utahns voted on that particular “Marriage Amendment” in 2004 and so these e-mails were annoying because they no longer applied to me. 

As Election Day drew nearer I started to hear about the leg work that the members of the church were doing in California to encourage getting the amendment passed.  This unnerved me a little bit because in 2004 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS church), though not officially endorsing the amendment, publicized a statement in July endorsing constitutional amendments that define marriage. On October 18 they issued a revised statement with the added text, “any other sexual relations, including between persons of the same gender, undermine the divinely created institution of family.”  This neither endorses nor opposes the amendment.  They stated their opinion and then allowed us as voters to interpret it as we would.  I feel that the large mass of Latter Day Saints that made calls and went door to door was not a separation between church and state and has brought harsher negative consequences to Latter Saints all over the United States.  (I will admit that there was going to some backlash no matter what.)

This is not to say that I don’t feel like marriage ought to be between a man and a woman because it should be.  That is what God intended for his children.  But do I think that we should take away the rights of those who have already chosen differently?  No.  I feel that their unions ought to be recognized as a union (not a marriage) and that they should get the rights and priviledges that come with being a domestic union (or couple or whatever other word you would like to use to label their status of being joined together). 

I do not remember what I voted when the amendment passed in Utah.  But the amendment reads as follows:

1. Marriage consists only of the legal union between a man and a woman.
2. No other domestic union, however denominated, may be recognized as a marriage or given the same or substantially equivalent legal effect.

I wholeheartedly agree with point number 1.  I do not agree with last part (or given the same or substantially equivalent legal effect) of point number 2 and as such I think I probably voted no on the amendment. 

So I guess what I am saying is that a lot of time our government creates a blanket statement like Marriage Amendment and then hides things like part two of Utah Amendment three.  Because they know it would not pass on it’s own.  READ THE AMENDMENTS!!!  Don’t just vote based on their title.  One other example of this is, “No Child Left Behind.”  It sounds great doesn’t it.  What parent would want their child left behind in schooling?  What they didn’t tell you is that the expectations of the testing are unrealistic and that it basically ties the hands of many teachers to be able to do much of what they had been able to do before.  In essence, it HAS left our children behind because all of our schools will be “failing” and the teachers will be unable to be as creative in their teaching because they are too busy ensuring that their classes will pass the tests.  Anyway, if you want to read about Utah constitutional amendment 3 then go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_Constitutional_Amendment_3  and for Propostion 8 in California http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_8_(2008).  For information on No Child Left Behind you can look here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Child_Left_Behind_Act_of_2001 and here for more info. on how Utah interpreted that bill http://www.schools.utah.gov/nclb/guidance_regulations.htm.  Getting off my soap box now.  🙂