Meet the Wilsons

Sure you've heard the name. Your interest has been peaked. But who are the Wilsons anyway? Here's a brief intro...

"The Wilson family is the product of middle-class, grassroots, hard-working America; a group of ordinary people united under extraordinary circumstances and proving- both to themselves and the world- that the American dream is alive and well." -Brian Williams, NBC Nightly News*

Let's start at the top. Ben Wilson is the charismatic father and husband of the family. A PhD candidate in the Department of Electrical Engineering at UW, Ben researches things like the "Opto-Plasmonic Tweezer", and "Avalanche Concentration Annealing and Deposition" in the photonics lab. Ben was raised on the barren steppes of Eastern Washington and served a mission in Lisbon, Portugal.

Next comes Bri, that sweet hometown girl from Snoqualmie (and Portland), the beloved wife, mother, and social coordinator of the Wilson family. But there is much more to this lady then those croucheted hats, home sewn outfits, chocolate desserts, and other impeccable crafts. Bri graduated from UW with a BA in English Creative Writing in winter 2005. Her focus was poetry and short story composition.

Ben and Bri met at the Seattle Institute of Religion. They were engaged three months after they started dating and were married within eleven months of the first time their eyes met. This marriage ultimately gave rise to the next Wilson on our list, that lovable toddler Virginia.

Ginny, as she is commonly known, is almost two. She spends most of her day talking about frogs, giraffes, other animals, coloring, food, whatever is going on, or just repeating whatever you're saying. She likes drawing, dancing, singing, reading, arranging, cleaning, dressing up, talking on the phone, and taking her shoes and socks off in the car. Ginny is currently looking forward to getting off whole milk, learning calculus, and someday potty training.

Finally there is the keystone of the Wilson family: Baby-Sister. Baby-Sister is a lovable child who spends most of her time sleeping, hogging lap space, and kicking Mom. We're all looking forward to meeting her when she makes her grand debut sometime in mid-March.

We hope you'll enjoy our periodic updates on how life is going. Coming soon: the Wilsons do Boston, Brazilian style.

*This was not actually said on the Nightly News, nor did Brian Williams say it.