The Wilhelmsens

Saturday, September 17, 2011

In Loving Memory of Jack W. Alexander: July 3, 1922-September 16, 2011

My paternal grandfather, Jack Alexander, passed away yesterday at the age of 89. He had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease for several years, after also suffering some heart problems. As I was going through the photos I have of him, I noted that he almost always had such a pleasant, happy look on his face. The one above is especially random, but I love it, because that is exactly how I remember him--work gloves on and a smile on his face! I know no one is perfect, but I only have happy memories of my granddad. He always seemed to wear a smile. Pa was always excited to show you what he was growing in his garden or what projects he was working on. He kept his yard immaculate and the house, trees, grass, fence, and cars always looked like something out of Better Homes and Gardens magazine.

He took great pride in his work, and it showed.

Even though he had terrible allergies that plagued his health and comfort, he chose to put on his work gloves and be outdoors doing the things he loved--fishing, golfing, and working in his yard. I honestly don't remember hearing him complain, even though most people with allergies like his would choose to remain inside. We always loved when he would irrigate the lawn. It was like a water park in the yard! It was a lot of work and took great attention, but he and Grammy always made sure it got done and their emerald green lawn was a testament of the work they put in.

Pa always had an ear-to-ear grin and hug and kiss for each of his grandchildren. He always made each of us feel special, and we loved to spend afternoons swinging on the big wooden swing in the backyard, under the cool shade of his prized apple trees. Every autumn, every family felt like they had won the lottery as we took home boxes of the golden yellow apples that came from Pa and Grammy's trees. I cannot imagine the hours of labor that went into those trees over the years, watering, spraying, pruning, and picking the delectable fruit. The best apple pies I have ever made have been by the fruit of those trees!

When it came time to leave after a wonderful visit to his home, Pa would always smile and wave and say, "Enjoy!" He endured a great deal of suffering in the last few years as his mind and body were ravaged by the terrible disease. Still, I feel he did his best to maintain a positive attitude and endure to the end. I wish my children would have been able to know him better. In the end, it always seems that the visits were too few and far between. But the times I spent with my sweet grandpa will always be a cherished memory, and it is comforting to have faith that as his mortal body is laid to rest, his spirit and legacy of hard work and love will live on. I believe his spirit is free from the many trials his body suffered, and he is in an infinitely better place.

Grammy and Pa in the nursing home within the last couple years

Mike, Pa, and my dad

My dad, his brother, Jackie, and Grandpa at Missy's wedding reception in October, 2005

Pa and Grammy

My dad with his parents

Pa and Grammy at her 80th birthday celebration in 2005

In his rocking chair

With Zachary in May of 2009

Zach with his great grandparents in January 2009

Missy working her massage magic

Grandma Malan, me, Grammy, Missy, Susan, Pa's only daughter,

my mom, and my Aunt Valerie, wife of his son Jackie.

I had to include this photo because I do not have any pictures of my dad's

whole family together. What a pity.

The handsome Alexander men

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Wilhelmsen Family Reunion

We flew from Dallas to SLC, then made the veeerrrrrrry long 8ish-hour drive north to the booming metropolis of Blanchard to our Wilhelmsen Family Reunion in mid-August. Zoey cried more on that long car ride than she has over her entire 6 month existence, poor darling! But it was worth it to see how excited Zach was to see his cousins. Within minutes, he was holding hands and jumping for joy!

with Papa

with Nana

"Daddy's Girl"

Most definitely! Looks just like her Daddy-at least from this side!;)

I am already longing for those beautiful pine-covered peaks!

Zoey got some serious girl time with her doting cousins.

And this year, it was hot enough in Northern Idaho that we ate popsicles and didn't need all the warm clothes I brought!

All the single ladies

We got to play a little golf at Stoneridge

Corey got to play a lot of golf--more than he's played since last year's Wilhelmsen Golf Tournament that the brothers and Dad play. He actually did well enough to take home the coveted green jacket and trophy club!

Last year's champ wasn't too eager to hand them over--especially since an injury prevented him from defending his title! Maybe next year he'll steal it back!

We ladies treated ourselves to a pedicure in "town" for all our hard work taking care of the homefront while the men were golfing away. Yep- Zoey also came. I would've let her get a pedi too, if she wasn't so fond of sucking her toes--I'm afraid the polish may not be healthy for her diet!

On second thought, maybe we should've let the men get some help for their white-from-the-ankle-down feet!

All the young-uns!

Corey was kind enough to delegate the reunion games to Cherlyn, So Cherlyn and Rachelle definitely win for organizing the best reunion games ever! We played "Minute to Win It" contests that were super hard and hilarious! I'm sure there are more clever titles, but there was War with splashing water, gumball spinning, knocking over water bottles with a nylon on your head, and others.

The always-photogenic Nana and Papa

Can you see who was the first to knock over the bottles with the panty-hose-head?!

Where did she learn to eat Oreos like a pro? :)

OK, I cheated and soaked Corey even though he won and I lost. But the look of surprise on his face was sooo worth it!

The most special part for me was our fireside the very last night we were together. While Corey and I were in the temple the previous week, I felt a prompting that we should have each family share a faith-promoting experience with the rest of the family. I especially wanted the children to know some of the amazing things that have happened in our family as an answer to prayers. It was an awesome experience to hear each family (why am I mostly remembering the wives relating the stories?!) share a spiritual experience and testify of our Father in Heaven answering prayers. Knowing that we are part of a great legacy of faith is priceless.

This was my view for over 16 hours of the trip, only Zoey was usually crying. Unfortunately, the kids didn't sleep much-in the car or in their beds!! It was really tough to travel with two little ones for the first time. On the plane ride home, I swore it would be a long, long time until we did this again! It was fabulous to visit with our loved ones, but it has taken days to recover from all the fun! We are all exhausted and coming down with colds now. :( It's hard to live so far away from family- we miss them all so much. It'd be great to be able to afford a non-stop flight next time!! We'll see... :)

Friday, August 12, 2011

A Dozen Years of Wedded Bliss- The Long Version

August 1999- Look how LITTLE we were!!!

While I can't believe it has been twelve years since we were married in the Salt Lake Temple, it does feel like it was awhile ago. I remember thinking, "I wonder how this will be." I was not terribly optimistic about marriage for a number of reasons. In the first few months, I remember thinking, "This is a lot better than I though it would be!" We had our little basement apartment in Idaho Falls. I was teaching Anatomy at a massage therapy school and Corey worked in the electronics department at ZCMI while we decided where to pursue his degree. We watched reruns of Beverly Hills 90210 and never missed ER. Lame, I know! We took naps on Sundays after church. That is the last time I remember Corey ever taking naps. Our first disagreements were over him watching football on Sundays and having a "bedtime." You don't just fall asleep in front of the TV at night while your bride is alone in the bedroom!!

In late December, we still didn't know where we wanted to move for school--we narrowed it down to UVSC in Provo, U of U in SLC, or Dixie in St. George. We took a road trip over Christmas and looked at the schools and housing in each. We were really digging St. George, but a 2 year school wasn't very helpful to our plans. We decided last-minute on UVSC, put all our things in 2 small cars, and headed out. We lived in Orem for a year, then moved into Grandma Malan's apartments near BYU for another year before heading out to Columbus, Ohio, for dental school.

Those four years were pretty grueling in many ways-especially on our marriage. Late nights studying and working, along with intense stress from school and being far from family were intensely difficult for us both. Some plans had to be changed. One saving grace was our OSU student ward. We gained many friendships there that have endured over a decade now. And of course, there was Buckeye football to cheer for! Corey and I were also able to take several great road trips to Palmyra, Kirtland, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Niagara Falls, New York City, Washington DC, and Chicago while living there.However, we flew home every chance we got during the school breaks. Looking back, I mark a lot of our marital milestones by our travels. Of all the money we've spent during our years together, I've rarely regretted anything spent on travel. (We travel pretty frugally--nothing too fancy, though we once splurged on a convertible Jeep. Totally worth it!!!)

When I graduated in 2005, we found a place in Provo to live and I got a full time job at Mountainlands Community Health Center while Corey finished his Biology degree at UVSC. We were blessed to be able to take a vacation every year. In 2006, we went to Maui for the first time to visit my sister and attended a dental conference. We ADORED it and started looking for jobs and a home. Unfortunately, there are no real educational opportunities on the island, so that plan was dashed. It's still a pipe dream of ours though. :) Another fun vacation was a quick trip to NYC with my mom for DECA followed by a Caribbean cruise where we visited a lot of the smaller islands like Tortola and Dominica. It was beautiful, but we learned that NYC is NOT the port you want to leave from. It made for a very long time on the water with a lot of obnoxious people. No offense, New Yorkers/Jersiers, but we grew tired of the loud and whiny personas of a lot of our fellow cruisers.

We tried to make Maui a yearly habit as much as possible. We would often go for a dental conference and stay to play with Natalie and Ryan. We also visited Kauai and adored it equally. Some of our greatest adventures occurred on the islands, such as our 23 mile hike to Kalalau on the Na Pali Coast of Kauai. The area beckoned again a few years later and we traversed the Na Pali by sea on a 17 mile kayak trip. Both were exhausting, exhilarating, and completely awe-inspiring. On our hike, I fell and hit my head hard at mile 6. I was seriously turning back. I'd had it. I was sore, scared, and satisfied with what I'd already seen. Corey cleaned my wound, carried my pack for a short time, and convinced me to go on. I don't know how he did it, because I was set on going back RIGHT THEN! I am so grateful he did, because the reaching our destination together was everything. I have looked back on that experience many times as Corey has carried me though other struggles, and has urged me to push forward when I haven't had the strength or desire to move ahead. I love him for that. He is stalwart and strong. A true gentle giant. Again on our kayak trip, I was so grateful to have his strong arms propelling us forward as we traversed the rough waves of the early season. There is a rhythm in paddling that allows you to be lifted up and pushed forward by the waves when you hit them right. When we were both in sync with this rhythm, the voyage was much easier and even more invigorating. Again, I parallel this to our marriage: when we are both in tune with each other and faithfully following God's plan for our family, married life is blissful.

After a year of searching, and home prices rising 20% in Utah Valley, we finally found a home to purchase that fit most of our specifications: my main desire was for it to have an unobstructed westward facing view of Utah Valley and Utah Lake. It was a bonus that it was on a large, private lot bordering an orchard that was home to deer, pheasants, and other beautiful wildlife. I gardened my way through depressing days with each new blossom healing my heart. Again, Corey was by my side through some hard days. We loved living by family and having loved ones come stay with us as often as possible. We adored having our nieces and nephews in our home especially. It was to this home we brought our firstborn son, Zachary. His arrival was an absolute delight, and changed our marriage and each of us for the better.

Corey knew he wanted to go to grad school in the medical sciences, but it took a few years of working retail at Cabela's and lots of pondering to finally decide on chiropractics. I was surprised and elated at the announcement, and we quickly proceeded through the application process. We decided on Parker College in Dallas, Texas, for a variety of reason, namely NOT the summer saunas or stunning scenery! But the past 20 months has sailed by, and Corey is officially halfway through his program! And he is seriously showing me up in the academic department! He's been on the Dean's List almost every semester, and was recently awarded a scholarship for his achievements. He never ceases to amaze me! We added a daughter, Zoey Ella, to our family this February, and every day, I seriously marvel at how lucky and blessed we are. I love our little family. I feel like I live a fairy tale life. I adore being a wife and a mother. I only work 1-2 days a week and can provide for our needs. We have a humble home, running cars, running water, and Cheerios in the cupboard--what else can a girl ask for?

The first dozen years have given us tests and trials, along with amazing triumphs. I do not know what the next several dozen will bring, but I pray we will both stay true to our covenants and rely on each other and the Lord, and I know we can make it through anything.

Love, love, love you, Husband.

As some of the following photos will attest, we've been through--well, maybe not all of it--but a lot:

thick and thin- literally,

bad haircuts and bad highlights,

bangs, beards, braces (and a little balding :)),

mortar boards and National Boards,

student loans, home loans, glasses, tonsils, kidney stones

(and all accompanying moans and groans),

sleepless nights, blissful days, stressing out to get a raise,

broken cars, healing scars, summer evenings counting stars,

Baby One, Baby Two, falling more in love with you,

highs and lows, fasts and slows, wondering where the money goes,