Wilcox Family Fun

Summer is almost gone

2011-08-30T18:14:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that the summer months are almost gone and that the kids are going back to school. The only good news about this time of year is that Football season is just beginning and boy am I excited about that, go UTES. It continues to be a fast paced race in good old happy valley USA with all of the babies being born in Provo Utah. My NICU is still over max capacity with an average census of about 52 patients. Even though the unit was built for 39 we have not seen that few patients for almost 2 years. It is a good thing that we are in the process of expanding our unit to 60 patients but I just afraid that if we built it they will come.
I learned a very important lesson last night with regards to me being a bee keeper and that is "DO NOT CHECK ON YOUR BEES AT NIGHT OR AFTER DARK" Bees have a natural instinct to protect their hive at night due to all of the predators that attack the hives at night like raccoons, skunks, bears, unsuspecting bee keepers. I lifted off the top of the hive to see how they were doing and they immediately attacked me and swarmed me. After I escaped and ran away into my garage where about 10 to 20 of them follow me in and continued to attack me. After being stung about 9 times and my dog getting stung once we were able to get away and let them calm down. I grabbed my smoker and was able to put the hive back together and left them alone for another day. My hives are getting pretty full of wonderful honey that is going to taste pretty good after being stung. Next time I will make sure that I wear a little more protection and keep them calm during the harvesting process.
Take a look at my little grandson who is also a UTES fan, I a trying to bring in up the right way.

SUMMER IS FINALLY HERE

2011-06-15T16:41:00.000-07:00

Well I think that summer has arrived to Utah with the temperature going from the 60's to the 80's overnight. It is a time to get the BBQ cleaned and ready for our new patio so that we can enjoy the evenings after work outside. We bought two big tables and umbrellas along with 16 chairs so all of our friends can have a place to sit. Now I am not saying that I only have 16 friends but at least 16 of them can come over at the same time. This week is a very busy one for me due to all of the training will be coming to a head in 36 hours with the race RAGNAR or Wasatch back relay race. Our team "McDreamy and the preemie's" (I'm McDreamy) because I am the only guy on the team. The team is coming over to dinner before our race tomorrow for some pasta and then we head up to Logan because our start time is 5:00AM. Hope my legs don't fall off from this old body of mine. My bees are doing great and flying around the yard pollinating the neighbors flowers and gardens. They are really fun to watch as they go in and out of the hive with their tiny bodies covered with pollen. Let's just hope that they make me tons of honey to share with anyone who loves fresh honey.
Work is STILL busy, and I can't believe it. Where are these babies coming from down in Utah County? I am in the process of hiring 14 to 17 nurses just to keep up with the demand and to prevent my staff from burning out from being over worked. You would think that their is something in the water in Provo that makes Utah County the birthing capitol of the world. Let's just hope that after I get them hired our census doesn't drop.
The grandson (Mason)is doing great and is growing up very fast. Having cared for babies my entire life at the hospital I never usually get to see them grow up after they leave so this is a great experience to watch him grow up.

Life is just way to busy sometimes

2011-05-27T08:10:00.001-07:00

Well I can't believe that it has been over a year since I last wrote on this blog thing so I thought that I would give it a go. Life in our household has been kind of crazy with work, family, yard work and life in general. Over the past 22 months my NICU has had some really severe growing pains and I do not see it changing anytime soon. The unit has built to hold a 39 bed capacity and our average these past months has been 55. Double bunking the twins and triplets has helped reduce space as well as putting babies between bed spaces. We are getting a pediatric surgeon this fall and that will increase our admissions a bit more. I am told that we are growing into the largest NICU's for the corporation with the amount of babies we are having. It has been quite the challenge to staff the unit and manage that many women. Trust me when I say that it is not an easy task to do.
I am hoping that summer will finally show up so I can work in my yard and garden and enjoy the warmer weather. I just became a beekeeper this spring and they are tired of hanging out in their hive and want to fly the neighborhood and make me some honey. I have two hives with about 15,000 bees per hive and they are as gentle as can be. I also became a grandpa this past Winter and that is the best feeling to see the rewards of your children. His name is Mason and he is the son of my daughter Sarah along with her husband Kerry Croff, the proud parents. He smile a lot and spits up a lot but I love holding him and making him smile.

Keeping busy

2010-04-28T00:58:00.000-07:00

Well it has been a very busy past couple of months down in happy valley USA. I think that BYU and the phrase "Multiply and replenish the earth" go hand and hand down in Provo. During the middle of March my unit hit 68 babies in a unit that was built for 38 babies. Since then my average census has been between 50 to 56 babies everyday, using about 24 to 25 nurses a shift. Now as the manager when I could be making some serious cash by working 60 hours a week I get to be salaried and work 60 hours a week any way. Some of my staff that are picking up extra shifts are making a ton more than me without all the worry of trying to find staff to work in the unit. I still love my job though and I am learning just what it takes to be successful and productive. Learning how to budget a 30 plus million dollar unit is very interesting and spending money that does not belong to me personally is kind of different. I'm mister tight wad and very conservative when it comes to spending money, especially when it is my companies money.
Life at the Wilcox household is slowly starting to settle down, Kathryn is slowing recovering from her hysterectomy and her ruptured appendix. She is feeling much better now that her staples are out since they forgot to get them all before she left the hospital. She said that I was fired for not making sure they got them all out. It was tucked inside her belly button and she made me take her back to the hospital at midnight when she noticed it after her first shower in 10 days.
The wind is blowing so hard right now that I believe that our house might blow away. Our neighbor just call and told us that our cover over our boat just blew over the fence so I guess I need to go. See ya soon. Jerold

2010-02-14T14:41:00.000-08:00

It has been a really long time since I have updated this blog, so here we go. Life in the Wilcox family household has been really busy these past few months. Since I last wrote on this blog I have retired from Delta Airlines, graduated with my BSNA, quit a job that I have loved for 24 years, and started as the new nurse manager of the NICU at UVRMC in Provo. I have had a daughter get married, we became "Empty Nester's", got released from my long time church calling, and have been to Maui for a vacation. Other than that life is just fantastic and I am keeping busy doing the things that I love. My job as the nurse manager in Provo has been a great challenge and a wonderful learning experience. I manage a level 3 NICU with about 144 staff members and a totally awesome unit. Learning to be a manager for Intermountain Healthcare is a very difficult undertaking if you had no previous experience. These past few months I feel that I have grown personally in my knowledge and understanding of a manager. I do have to say that I do miss being at the bedside of these tiny and sick infants. But, on the other hand I love what I am doing to help this unit grow and become an even better place to care for the newborn.

Since I no longer work 1000 hours a week, home life has changed as well. My wife Kathryn gets to have me home every night and my "Honey Do" list keeps growing. We are in the process of redoing our master bathroom with a new tile floor, sinks and vanity, fixtures, toilet, and possibly a new jetted tub if I can talk my wife into it.
We just got back from a quick annual trip to the beautiful island of Maui. We like to go every January and see the whales and get out of the cold and take a break from the winter blues. It makes the spring come faster and helps us to endure the rest of the cold weather. I also started to train for the upcoming Ragnar relay race held on June 18-19, 2010 where my team will be running from Logan to Park City in a 188 miles race.

Well that is a small taste of what we are up to and let's you know that we are still alive in the Wilcox household. Looking forward to the warmer temperatures and getting outside to enjoy the spring flowers.

I'M DONE WORKING FOR DELTA

2009-04-02T09:29:00.000-07:00

Well everything good must come to an end every now and then. I officially retired from Delta airlines as of April 1, 2009 and finished school on March 27, 2009. So that means that I am going to have lots of free time to work on my house, yard, family activities, and of course travel around the world because I still get to have my travel benefits for the rest of my life. My "honey do" list is a few years long and I am going to start a few hobbies to keep me busy. Since I love to fly in airplanes I have decided to get my private pilots license so if you see a small plane buzz your house don't worry it is only me. I am also getting back into photography and have a brand new professional digital SLR camera so I will be wanting to take your pictures so I can learn how to use it and you can post them on your blogs.

Here are a few pictures of me out on the ramp at the airport on my last day getting to do a few of the things that I am going to miss a lot. One of my favorite things that I got to do out at Delta was driving the planes that were parked away from the gates and driving them back to the gates. The picture of me in the Boeing 757 was the last time I will get to drive one of these babies. Talk about a rush I wish that I could have taken one of them for a little spin around the Salt Lake valley and if I would have buzzed your house then you would have lost your roof. But all good things must come to an end and so I will have to close the book and now open another.

Hanging in Hawaii

2009-03-10T12:13:00.000-07:00

Well it has been a while since I last updated my blog so I thought that I would say a few words about our last trip to the beautiful island of Maui, Hawaii. Maui No ka oi which means Maui is the best. Our trip was to get away from the winter blues and enjoy the beautiful environment and warm sun of Maui. If you have never been then you need to plan a trip and go to Maui and taste the sweet pineapple and fabulous sunsets in a wonderful tropical location. Both Kathryn and I along with some really great friends "the Saunders" spent a week on the island of Maui basking in the warm sun and enjoying the weather of about 74 degrees average. It rained only one day and the rest of the week was absolutly beautiful. We went scuba diving during the day and at night and saw all kinds of interesting sea creatures. We went on a whale watching/snorkleing trip for about 5 hours and saw all kinds of whales and other kinds of wildlife and even swam about 20 feet above a reef shark.

One of the highlights of the trip was swimming in the 7 pools by Hana at the state park. the waterfalls were fantastic and the ocean is so pretty in the background.

Last one before the cold

2008-12-11T22:54:00.000-08:00

This was our last boating trip before old man winter showed up. I will count the days before we can do in all over again next year. I just hope that fuel prices will stay the same as they are right now just before Christmas. I got a new wake board and water ski at the end of season prices and I am excited to try them out next spring. Putting away the boat was such a pain that I wish we lived in a warmer climate so I did not have to winterize the boat. Next year our boat will be getting a home away from the sun and elements with a new garage to the side of our house. Now we are getting ready to play with our winter toys, it is great that we never have to grow up.

Paris, France

2008-11-02T12:08:00.000-08:00

We just returned from Paris France for a family vacation and had a wonderful time. This city is fantastic and beautiful and everyone should plan sometime in thier lifetime to visit. We spent about one week in this wonderful city with my wife Kathryn and two of our daughters Sarah and Anna. We also took my in-laws Frank and Shirley Russell along with us for this spur of the moment trip. We got Business class going over to Paris but got stuck in coach coming back. Boy the benefits of working for an airline are great.

Winter has arrived

2008-10-13T20:32:00.000-07:00

Well, Fall is gone away and old man winter has arrived in SLC. We began our first day at deicing at the SLC airport for most of the flights on Sunday morning. This is part of the job that I get to get into a warm truck/or enclosed bucket and spray de-icing fluid all over the wings and tails of outgoing aircraft. It is getting into a small cage or box on a lift truck and using the lift to get above the planes to spray off snow,ice, frost so the airplane can fly. The lift goes about 75 to 80 feet in the air to get above our bigger aircraft. It is like playing a video game shooting de-icing fluid out of a very powerful canon. It is almost as much fun as driving the planes on the ramp.

Go UTES !!!

2008-10-04T21:40:00.000-07:00

We went to the Utes game on Thursday night and now I do not have a voice due to yelling at the Utes for the first 3 quarters and with them on the last 3 minutes of the game. What a game that was for them to stay undefeated at 6-0. This little boy was in front of us also cheering for the Utes. Maybe I should ask them what kind of shampoo they use on him so I can use it to grow some hair. My wife was mad at me for getting to the game an hour before it started (I thought it started at 6:00pm instead of when it did at 7:00pm) at least we got there without a large crowd because the stadium was empty. The game was awesome and exciting to the very last second of the game. Go Utes.

Having fun on the water

2008-09-28T17:27:00.000-07:00

Enjoying the water of Bear lake and having fun on almost glass type water. What a blast!!!

2008-09-28T02:24:00.000-07:00

It has been way to long since I last posted a comment so I decided to update my blog and be better at this blogging stuff. It has been a fun filled summer with our family and getting ready to go into winter is going to be tough. We spent a week in August going boating at Deer Creek and Utah lake(you should not go boating on Utah lake in August if you don't want to get eaten by bugs and covered by green moss). I am still working full time at our new hospital IMC in Murrary Utah and part time for Delta Airlines doing all kinds of customer service. school is going fine with only 6 more months left before I will graduate with my BSNA. Then on to finish my MBA in health care administration from the U of U. My lovely wife is keeping busy working at Kencraft and looking forward to staying home to be a stay at home wife. Our kids are all doing great with our youngest just getting married(she alloped) and we just found out, what a surprise!!
Iwill try to keep this blog better updated in the future.

2008-05-25T23:27:00.000-07:00

It has been awhile since I last posted to this blog so I thought I would give it a another try. Life at our house has been really busy with life and work and a little play. Our daughter Sarah graduated from the U of U and is now looking for something to keep her busy. Josh got a new job at South valley Motor Sports (a motorcycle shop in Draper) and is enjoying working there. Anna is now back in school at the U of U and working to pay all of her bills and of course playing a lot. Amanda moved back from Roosevelt UT. to Bountiful UT and is looking for work and trying to deal with life's challenges. Kathryn and I are celebrating our 14 year wedding anniversary and are looking forward to another 14 years together. I started back in school and Kathryn just finished her one class that she took for her job at SLCC. Other than that life keeps moving on in the Wilcox household and we are looking forward to all of the summer activities.

Josh and I playing on our new toys

2008-03-20T23:18:00.000-07:00

Part of the family down in Cabo San Lucas

2008-03-20T23:13:00.000-07:00

Getting started

2008-03-02T02:30:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone, This is my first attempt at blogging and trying to learn how to do all of this blogging stuff. As you can see I'm a rookie but it looks like this might be fun so I am going to give it a try. Let me tell you a little bit about myself first. I'm married to a beautiful woman whom I adore and we have 4 wonderful children and a very active dog named Roxy. I have worked for Intermountain Health Care for the past 25 years as a nurse at both LDS Hospital and now at the new IMC hospital in Murray. I take care of babies in the NICU and love my job.

I also work for Delta Airlines as a customer service agent working out on the ramp doing all kinds of stuff. I have been doing that since 1999 and love every minute of it and getting to be around airplanes is the best part. Our family loves to travel and we indeed travel around the world as often as possible.