Reasons I Smile

 I have a lot of reasons to be happy.  My life is good.  I have a lot of wonderful people in it.  I laugh a lot.  It certainly comes with it's fair share of stress, but then I'm reminded that I've come so far, love so much, and am loved so much.  And that is enough for me. 

I smiled a lot this weekend.  The first time is when I was reminded just how well my Jeff knows me.  I must say he's trained well, ha!  When I came over to his house, the first thing he did was to take me outside to show me the palm tree by the pool that was blooming (a date nut palm).   I believe his exact words were "I just knew you would love this for practicing on with your camera."

 And as always, he was right.  :)  For no less that twenty minutes, he held the palm leaves away from my head so I could get up close to the beautiful blooms like I knew what I was doing.  He tells me if he had any idea a Christmas gift (my camera) would be used as often as it has....  I like to remind him my Yurman bracelet is used just as often....hint, hint... ;)

 As the afternoon progressed, I got a whole heckuva lot more reasons to smile.  Jeff's baby girl, Emmy and her cousin Amy let me "practice" on them too as they showed me their moves in the pool.

 It wasn't long before Kyle joined in and showed off as well.  But of course his moves always seemed a little more painful....and resulted in a red belly and back by the end!

 Emmy felt it was only right she score her brother after each jump.  And I must say, she's a tough critic!

 After a little more swimming, I kept on smilin.'  The girls came in to help me with a little project.  I have a Make-A-Wish party I needed cupcakes for, and I happen to know a little blonde who loves to bake (and lick icing).  So when I asked, there was exactly ZERO hestitation in helping me bake cupcakes!

 Amy and Emmy mixed up all kinds of colored icing, and frosted cupcakes til they could frost no more.  Then they sprinkled the mess out of them!  They are just perfectly bright and cheerful to celebrate Joshua's trip to Hawaii!

 Kyle even got into the next part.  We all made special cards for Joshua to let him know how excited we are for his trip.  I explained to the clowns what a special difference they were helping to make a sick child happy on the day his wish would come true, and they seemed genuinely happy to be a part of it.  It makes me proud to know how big their hearts are.  Kyle drew this awesome palm tree on my sign!

 
And how could I not smile with a rediculously unhealthy, but delicious!, dinner of fried fish, hushpuppies, and homemade fries that Jeffrey was working on in the background while we were doing our project!  Man please!

Yep, I'd say it was a good day.  The kind with lots of smiles.  The cheek-hurting kind.  Someone pinch me please.  I love my life.