The Birthday Boy

Once upon a time there was a boy
Who’s surfboard was his favorite toy.
He loved the ocean and swam with the fish,
The girls all liked him cuz he was a dish.
He grew up tall and quite the winner,
Despite eating a dozen Krispy Kremes for dinner.



He went to college a snowboarding bum,
Looking for powder, sweet jumps and runs.
Instead he found a single, Smart girl,
About to leave for Paris and travel the world.
The boy was a catch, this the girl the knew,
But Paris was her dream, what should she do?



Fast forward three years and it all worked out.
Married, expecting, and in love no doubt.
The skinny surfer boy is now twenty-five,
About to become the best daddy alive.



The Smart girl turned wife knows she’s got it all,
A kind, studly hubby starting law school in the fall.
Not only is he genius, hard-working, and buff,
But ridiculously handsome and super tough.
To his wife, this boy makes the stars look dimmer,
Which is pretty impressive cuz his name’s not Jimmer.



Everyday’s an adventure with this outdoor guy,
He never quits, gives it all, hoping to touch the sky.
Whether cycling or hiking, climbing or flying,
The staff at REI, knows he’ll be buying.
Despite his love for expensive toys,
He deserves a shout out – lets make some noise!



So Happy Birthday, to the world’s coolest guy,
Who’s skinny and white, but still pretty fly.

Why I Love My Husband #78,645 and Why I love Cole Burnett #49,531

Valentine's Day is the best holiday. You get to wear a cute red shirt (if you're not pregnant), eat delicious dessert (only if you're pregnant), and watch the Bachelor. Plus I've got the hottest piece of eye candy the Palm Springs of Washington has ever seen.
Exhibit A below
So Mysterious

Which brings me to the title of this post. This Valentine's Day was very different from past Valentine's and I have my sweet husband to thank for that. My parents are still in Portland spending time with sweet Keith and the rest of the Burnett Zoo.

Here's a picture to make your heart melt from pure cuteness:

So its just Snick and Lil' D at the Smart house at the moment. We decided the best third wheel to have on V-day is that of a love sick little sister who can't be with her boyfriend. Justin Bieber is currently in Asia starting his World Tour, so he and Lil' D had to make the most of their love while separated. (Darel watched about 600 youtube videos to rekindle their undying flame) Snick felt that letting Darel suffer alone was just cruel. Although in reality, it's probably more cruel that JB had to be without her - I mean, lets be honest, Lil' D is definitely the better half in her bieberlicious relationship.
So anyway, Snick + Lil' D = A Lil' SnickerD V-day. We planned this great homemade dinner and after church on Sunday Darel and I were busy working on the menu for the following night.
However, when Nick got home he made a very big announcement.
Nick: "Hey is it okay if we have the missionaries over for dinner tomorrow?"
Females: Long pause followed by "Suuuuuuuuuure?"
Nick: "Ok, great. It was so weird because they were passing around the calendar in Priesthood and tomorrow is the only day they don't have dinner. It's weird because the calendar went around like five times and no one signed up, so I figured we might as well have them over. It just strange no one wanted to sign up for tomorrow."

**disclaimer** I must reiterate that this is #78,645 reason why I desperately love my husband.

So the night went passed happily and on Monday Nick came home for lunch looking rather sheepish. We had already discussed keeping V-day low key months prior to this day, so I wasn't sure why he looked so embarrassed. Apparently he realized at work that he invited the missionaries to be the 4th and 5th wheels to our already awesome 3rd wheel SnickerD V-Day and he felt bad. However, I tried to reassure him that all of his worrying was unnecessary.

#78,645 Reason Why I love my Husband: Everyday feels like Valentine's day. I'm dead serious. Who cares if my husband is the ONLY MAN IN THE WORLD who would sign up on the missionary calendar for February 14th after EVERY OTHER MAN passed it up? Nick is so kind that he couldn't let the missionaries not feel loved on such a special day. If you know Nick, you know that he treats everyone like that and that is why my husband gave me the best Valentine's ever. He is truly full of love EVERYDAY and not just towards me, but for everyone, which is why he's such a stud. And while watching two 19 year-old boys stare at my gorgeous sister from across the table is slightly awkward, I was mostly proud, and I must say this was one of the best Valentine's Nick and I have had together. I could never have married someone who did the same thing every year or every day for that matter. Nick keeps me on my toes and he makes me laugh every single day. I never know what to expect from Mr. Jordan and that is #78,645 reason why I love him. In fact, on Valentine's day he actually brought me home flowers which is very untraditional for him. He normally brings them home the day AFTER Valentine's because I hate thinking about him spending triple the price for flowers and like I said, he likes to keep me on toes. What a hunk.

Speaking of missionaries, I'd like to add an addendum to #78,645 reason why I love my husband.
The world's greatest missionary also happens to be my favorite missionary. When we were feeding the missionaries on V-day I couldn't help but think Elder Slim Shady. I hope that someone in North Carolina thought twice and invited Shea and his companion over on Valentine's so they could feel loved too.

THE WORLD'S BEST MISSIONARY (with his favorite sister)


I know things have been hard for Shea and Chelsea since they are so far away from us. We are anxiously counting down the days until we can see Shea in June aaaaaaannnnnddddd our favorite non-caucasian/international sister arrives in Portland on SATURDAY.
Exhibit C (C stands for Chelsea, but I guess it could also stand for Can't touch this!)

Cole, Keith and Ally LOVE their Aunt Chels. I know they are just as excited as the rest of us to see her. (We secretly wish that Chels would pack pseudo-sister Melissa in her suitcase for the trip too)
This weekend will be especially awesome because Chels will be there, but Snick and Lil' D can't wait to kiss and snuggle with Keith, Cole and baby girl Ally.
This post is becoming increasingly longer, but I have to share this story.

#53,881 Reason why the Smarts are the most non-dramatic family in the world.

Two weeks ago when we were in Portland, Darel and I were at Darcee's watching Cole and Ally while Nick and my mom ran errands. It was dinner time and we were having tomato soup. Darel and I were crunching tortilla chips on top of our soup and Cole asked it he could have some. Darel gave Cole a chip and he proceeded to eat it. Mere seconds later we had this conversation:
Cole: "Deewul! I'm choking on my chip! It's pokey! I'm choking Deerul!"
Darel (trying not to laugh because Cole is obviously not choking): "You're not choking Cole, you just have a piece of chip stuck in there. Drink some water."
Cole (eagerly drinking some water): "It's choking me Sinny."
Me: "You are okay, just drink some more water."
Cole: "It hurts! I'm choking!"
Darel: "It's okay Cole, it's going to be okay once it goes down your throat."
Cole: "I'm not going to make it through this!"
Darel: "You're not going to make it?"
Cole: "No! I'm not going to make it through this!"
Silence because Darel and I are laughing too hard to respond.
More silence because Cole has obviously resolved the chip problem. Several more seconds pass.
Cole: "Sinny can I have another chip?"
Me: "Sure."
Cole (picking up the chip and dipping it in his soup): "This chip is going to make me choke."

Some people say that Cole's personality reminds them of several of his aunts. While this may be true, we all know that the Smart sisters get their non-drama from their Dad. Cole is so much like his Grandpa Smart! Non-drama has always been an important factor of the Smart family dynamic. Cole was obviously stating the complete truth when he was choking on his chip but still able to have a complete conversation with his aunts. He is definitely NOT dramatic. He must get it from the Burnett side. We all know how dramatic those Burnetts are.
I hope that someday if Cole ever reads this he will be proud of his non-dramatic personality. I'm certainly proud to love him in 49,531 ways and I would tell him that the best thing I ever did was embrace that aspect of my personality. Some people just can't exaggerate, and that's okay.

Keith the Mighty

Some of you know that Snick recently went on a Caribbean cruise to celebrate graduation/get a chance to spend time together before the baby/to enjoy a vacation before law school puts us into major debt. I'm planning on sharing the wonderful details of our trip soon, but as a lot of people have probably already heard, there are more important things going on in our family.
On the last day of our cruise, they lowered the price for internet. Nick needed to check some law school applications and paid to check his email. We had both received a rather frightening email from my Dad explaining that our nephew Keith was not doing well. Keith had been sick for a week or two with what we all thought was some stomache problems. Dad informed us in the email that Keith had been diagnosed with a very agressive and malignant brain tumor called medulloblastoma.


After checking Darcee's blog, we realized that Keith had already undergone two brain surgeries while we had been on vacation and was currently undergoing a third. We had no phone service and no way to know what was going on except for the several blog posts that Darcee had done about Keith's situation.



Hearing this news made us sick. Not knowing the full extent of the situation and not being there to see Keith and spend time with the Smarts/Burnetts was extremely difficult. The next day we got off the boat as soon as possible and made our trip home. They lost our luggage and we had to wait for them to send it on a later plane, but after our luggage came and we did a load of laundry, we slept for a few hours and got in the car to drive down to Portland.
It is difficult to not let your mind run away with itself during times like these and before we saw our family I think both Nick and I feared the worst. However, despite the severity of the situation, I think everyone remains hopeful. Not only have people been so supportive and prayerful for our family, but everyone has really remained optimistic. Which brings me to Keith.
I was so nervous to see him. He is in so much pain and this whole experience has been beyond traumatic for a three year-old. But the moment we walked into his room at the hospital I was overwhelmed by Keith's strength. He looked so tiny and sick, and it was obvious that his pain was monumental. Despite the way Keith looked, the feeling in the room was one of strength and determination. Keith has always been a tough, little guy and now is no exception. We've prayed so hard as a family that Keith will be able to continue to improve and I really felt like seeing Keith was an answer to my prayers. The sense of strength that I felt when I was near him confirmed that for me. I know the road is long and steep for his recovery, but I have complete confidence in Keith's strength as a tiny person. I have never been so overwhelmed by the presence of one person in my entire life and I know Keith can face his cancer with strength beyond what anyone else could muster.
I cannot even describe what an emotional time its been for our whole family. Keith is 1/3 of the three greatest blessings the Smart/Burnett family could have. Cole and Ally obviously making up the other 2/3. Darcee and Brent's kids have brought so much joy to all of us and I just feel blessed to be their aunt and I know Darel, Chelsea, Shea, and Nick feel the same way.


This whole experience has really made me reflect upon our family. The mighty, mighty Smarts. On camping trips when we were young my Dad would lead our family in silly chants basically proclaiming our superior familial composition for the world to hear. I loved following my Dad's lead and always felt such pride in our family when we sang about the mighty, mighty Smarts. Keith's cancer has made me feel that way all over again. When Darcee married Brent, we knew they would produce tough, hard-working offspring. Both Darcee and Brent are such strong people and little Keith is just as mighty. I have such confidence in our family. We've always been unified and strong and I know that this trial will bring out those qualities in the Smarts/Burnetts. Sitting in Keith's room with our family, I couldn't help but feel pride in the people surrounding me. All such sturdy individuals. I have been comforted by the strength my family has displayed during all of this, especially Darcee and Brent. I have complete faith in the Lord's plan for Keith and for our family and I know that the strength of our prayers and the prayers of everyone who has been so kind to our family will increase that faith everyday. If anyone can do this its the mighty, mighty Smarts/Burnetts - I know that for sure.



I'm just so grateful that so many people have prayed for Keith. I know he has been strengthed by everyone's concern for him. The concept of eternal families has always been an important part of my testimony. I have always felt a deep connection to the structure of our family and I know we are all together for a reason. Family is everything, it is essential in everything we do and I am so thankful for that knowledge and for the opportunity to be uplifted by my own family everyday. I am so proud to be a mighty, mighty Smart and I'm so proud of brave little Keith.

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