Nicole and Warren Smith

Getting to Know Cooper and Allie

2012-02-12T12:22:00.000-08:00

During the deployment i had th
e opportunity to have Cooper and Allie during the times that Warren would have taken the

m. It was a wonderful growing experience for all of us. I was able to see them change in so many ways. They always have so man

y questions. They loved to got to grandma and grandpa Smith's. There was always something to do there. And if it involved bilding a fire and having marshmallows you could always count them in.

They loved to go camping and that was one of the first activities that we were able to do with Stan and Deirda. They loved to play with Bert and carry him around the

campground. I don't know how much Bert enjoyed it but he was a good sport for a little while anyway.

About this time Allie's personality started to shine. She went for the little girl to a big girl over night it seem

ed. Allie went from never wanting to have anything to do with wearing a dress or having her hair done, to now you will never see her in anything but a dress. As for her hair she hates to sit thourgh having it done b

ut loves it when it is done (even t

o the point that sh

e will keep it that way for days, and you better find a way to fix to make it look nice). During this time I was able to spend a little more time with Allie Mae! She made my mondays fun. She wanted to Dance. And she talked about it all the time. Allie danced around everywhere. So Melissa and I decided that we wou

ld put her in dance in malad. So Allie was put the the Extreme Stars dance group and became a Starlet! She was able to Dance wit

h my cousins 2 girls Brooklynn and Kallie. The dance the girls learned was to purple people eater. At all the competitions that the little girls went to they took 1st and even at one the judges choice. The funnest part about watching them is tha Allie stood at least a head taller than the other 4 year old girls, and she took lots of pride in being tall like her daddy. I love her so much and can't wait

to see how she continues to grow.

Cooper has been a blast to get to know. He is such a little helper. I can ask him to do anything and he jumps all over it. It hates to disappoint anyone and wa

nts everyone to be friends. He is so strong. And will finish anything that he starts with the dedication that his dad has. I had a chance to watch him wrestle

one night in malad. The kids he wrestled was the same age and weight as he was but from what was said his opponent came out wrestling. So needless to say Coop did not win his match but learned not to give up even if someone is taunting you from the beginning. Cooper makes me laugh, when he would talk to Warren on the phone (and even now) he would say that he wanted to sit around drinking coffee and eating donuts with his dad while the girls (Allie and I) did the

girly things like face stuff and hair. He has an older step brother that he really looks up to. I think I have learned more about hunt rodents or coyotes than i thought i would have ever kn

own. He cant wait to be old enough to go bird hunting with his dad. Cooper is such a awesome big brother. He reminds me a lot of mine! When his little sister needs help making something work, you can bet that he is there showing her how

It was so much fun to get to see their faces lig

ht up when they were able to talk to DAD! They loved being able to see his face on the computer.

They both always had the same thing to say when the did talk to dad. Coop always asked if he shot any bad guys. And he never wanted to hang up the phone but never had anything to say, even if you asked him questions. And Allie always seemed annoyed that her dad was sitting in the same white office but could not come home. She did not understand the point. I am very grateful for time that i had to spend with these two kids. Life would not be the same without them. The made the year a little brighter. I look forward to getting to know them more. And i can say that the three of us don't want Dad to leave anytime soon.

The Deployment

2012-02-12T11:51:00.000-08:00

September 21 2010 was a very long and sad day. That is the day that Warren left for his year long deployment in Iraq. We were able to spend most of the day together with Cooper and Allie and Stan and Deidra. We were able to get a picture of the the guys that were from Malad. This is a great group of guys!

Before Warren left the country we were able to spend a few days with Alex and Brydie in their new home in Kentucky. And then another few days in Nashville. I have never had the chance to travel much but absolutely loved it out there. All the old farm steads and the and the big trees and rolling hills. That is such a great place to be. Warren came home for his leave in March so That he would be there around our first anniversary !! It was the best two weeks and seemed to be the shortest ever. That was half way through his deployment and so the next few months was torture . But the kids and I are so glad that it is over.

Busy summer

2010-10-14T11:52:00.000-07:00

So we have had a very busy summer. We had tried to do spend as much time together as we could before Warren left for his deployment. So we spent the 4th of July in malad with my family and then went to Oakley to watch Misty barrell-race in the rodeo. Warren was able torun in the fun run with my sister and Marshal ( I wish I could have done it to). So that week Warren decided to take me for a drive through the Unitas. I had never been through that mountian range. I twas beautiful.

The first stop we made was out side Oakely.bert loved it He ran all over the place. While driving through was were able to stop and see the provo river and the 3 water falls. It was so amazing.It was really hard for me to walk first off because i was was wearing sandals and because of my foot, but Warren was a really good sport by helping walk up and down the trials.

This is the second waterfall

Ragnar

2010-10-14T11:28:00.000-07:00

A little over a week after my surgery Warren ran the Ragnar Relay with his older brother Alex and the National Guard unit for Utah. They started really early an friday morning. I had to drive them to the vans that morning (and if anyone knows me,I dont like mornings).

Alex ran the first leg of the race. And warren ran the 6th. There were 12 legs and each runner had to run 3 times. Ever time Warren runs a marathon or a long distance his toes bruse and he loses them. He lost both of them before he went to AT in boise.

With the relay series, if you want to run it you have to sign up for the race the day that race ends. So I next year We will get signed up for the race in 2012.

By the End of the day my foot and leg hurt pretty bad. but was just happy to be with Warren.

Going under the Knife

2010-10-14T11:10:00.000-07:00

I had surgery on June 10 this year. How it all began, I fractured a sesamoid bone in my right foot about a year before the surgery. I called my sister all but in tears (who is a nurse practitioner) and the doctor at first just thought it was bursed but about a month later she had an x-ray done and it showed the fractured. After the MRI's and the many shots it was decdied to take the bone out.

So after 4 months and much swelling and some physical therapy I have started to walk pretty good. The next step is running. I have to get ready to run the Ragnar with my husband when he gets beack from Iraq.

2010-03-11T13:29:00.000-08:00

So my dear husband is not a big fan of pets or having them in the house. Well he knew that i loved them, after going to my dads and seeing the 5 dogs who knows how many cats and the horses. Also at my moms house she has a inside dog. He told me a few months ago that i could have a dog (bad idea for him), because i made him start looking for puppys with me. We were not having any luck foind anything so his friend Dennis told me him to look on KSL. I started looking again the end of January the beginning of february. I saw the cutest puppy on there. Warren joked around and said that i need to find out more about the type of dog, so I did. The more I thought about it i decided with the wedding that was coming up that i should wait so i didnt worry about the dog with everything. When we got home on sunday after a few days away. Warren said something about KSL. So once again I started to look at puppies, but all I really wanted was the little one from Brigham. Suprisingly 3 weeks later the lady still had one. And luck for me it was the dark red and white one that I fell in Love with the first time that i saw him. That night even thought it was kind of late Warren and I drove to go meet Bert. We choose his name because he was born on december 11th 2009, that is Warrens dad Stans's birthday.

This is my little guy the day after Allie Mae and Cooper came to our house for the weekend. He slept most of the day that monday. It was the same the day after we picked him up from Brydie's house. Her three kids loved playing with him. Taking Bert up and down their stairs.

2010-03-11T12:12:00.000-08:00

When I moved to Logan I did not ever think that I would be married a few months later. I meet My wonderful husband when I was working. It all happened one night during the first of october. Warren gave me his number and told me to call him. I wasnt sure what to do but a few days later him and dennis came back in. I jokingly asked if he missed me if that was why he was back in so soon. I waited a few more days then on my way to work sent him a text and told him to come in again to see me.

I was so nervous for our first date. I never called anyone that gave me their number at work before. Well needless to say our first date was a hit. I told my friend heather that i would marry this man. Everyone was excited to meet him. On our second date he asked me to go to the military ball with him that was on Nov. 7th 2009.

Not long after that we were talking about getting married. One night after he got of work he took me out to eat them we went to SE nedhams and starting looking at rings. Warren knows me so well that he told me that we were not going to be getting a ring that night so i would actually look at them and tell him the ones that i liked. He purchased my ring that night. He then wrote a poem to my dad and took him to dinner to ask. My dad told him only on two conditions: 1. thaqt he could not give me back and 2. that he gets the grandkids. I am so happy that my family loves Warren. I am pretty sure that they would trade me for him if it came down to it.

2009-04-26T22:17:00.001-07:00

Well we had quite the day on the Ranch. My dad had his 53rd birthday durng the week and so we celebrated on sunday because thats the day everyone could be there. So when Dad was opening his presents he started to crinkle the tissue paper and Misty told him not to do that because it can be used for another brithday. (wear it out, use it up or do with out is what misty told him). So he opened the present with the with the poka-dotted paper and he didnt want to rip it so it could be used again. We justed didnt think thats how it would be used again :) Dad has some crazy ideas sometimes.

Well on that sunday Brex had is first full day of Church. It was so much fun. He Loved it. When Misty first showed up he had just woke up (and his can be like his aunt Nicole and doesnt like to woke up) but before long he was so happy to be there. He began to tell his stories in relief society and MOM tried to make him be quiet. He fell asleep for a little while but during sacrament he was wide awake and really telling his stories. He was kicking his legs and blowing bubbles. Misty said she was getting looks from one of the couselors because Brex was being loud. It was so funny. By the time that we sat down for Dads birthday dinner Brex was exhausted. He LOVES to cuddle with Grandpa Kelly that when Dad held him, he laid his little head down and was out like a light. Brex is one spoiled little guy. WE all LOVE him so much.

2009-04-18T21:12:00.000-07:00

We took the time to do family pictures before "bad Chad" went on his mission and had a lot of fun. Liberty decided that she wanted to take pictures of the guys. She asked them to look away from her, like they were looking at a bird or something. Well 3 of them got it but Lance likes to be the center of attention sometimes and decided that this would be the best smile that he would give in the whole roll of film. We all got a big laugh out of it.

Jay decided that he didn't want to help carry the

hay so he made every one else even captian

pink (as misty likes to call dad).

Jayson's not big on work he just has to make sure that he is looking ok just in case someone were to see him. But we still love him.

2009-04-15T20:43:00.000-07:00

Brex is so cute with his smile. He is always so happy and is such a trooper. His mom and dad didnt want him to get sick (because mom is a nurse and saw how bad rsv was this year.) When mom had one of her first jackpots a few weeks ago they decided that it would be a good outing for the little guy and so the people that she knows from riding could see this cute guy (needless to say he was a big hit). Our day started around 10 that saturday morning and ended about 5. Well Brex didnt sleep more than an hour that day

because there were so many people and noises. Well After his big day

he was so tired. He didn't want to go to sleep. When he did go to sleep he crashed and I couldn't help but take a picture of him.

2009-04-12T22:16:00.000-07:00

On January 14th my sister had a baby boy. The proud parents decided to name him Brex Kelly Martinsen. When they told the family that they were going to have a baby they did not want to find out what they were having. It was kind of fun waiting to find out what the family would be blessed with but by the end I was dying to know. When he was born he had a full head of red hair. And for the most part has not lost ANY. He was born about 2 weeks early and he was a big boy he weighted 7 lbs 10 oz. Brex has been so much fun. It is crazy how much he has changed in the last few months. He is such a good baby he is always happy. I love Brex. I am grateful that Misty and Marshal always let me sit at their house until all hours just so I can see Brex. Thanks guys.