My Heart Has Come Alive Because of You

Today I am supposed to thank someone who has made my heart come alive ... well, I'm not sure if I can limit that to just one person, but I will try ... here goes.

First of all, I would like to thank my very best friend.  Katie Marie Prentice Thomas.  When I first met her over 5 years ago, I had a friend-crush on her.  There was just something about her that made me want to know her better and become friends with her.  Lucky for me, this wish came true and we started becoming friends towards the end of my first semester at Spring Arbor.

Over the years of living together, drinking tea and eating chocolate, watching Friends, and dancing crazily in our room, we became best friends.  The thing I always loved (and still love) about Katie is that I can tell her absolutely anything.  I can be 100% real with her.  I love that she has like 50 quirks and acquires like 5 new ones every week.  I love that she made up a dance to the song "Had a Bad Day" one day when I was ... well, having a bad day.  Her dance is so cute and her angry face so adorable, that it has never failed to cheer me up.

I love that we can go months without seeing each other and pick up right where we left off.  I love that I can call her with a problem and that she will promptly send me a package and an encouraging note in the mail :O)

So thank you Katie, for making my world brighter 

Who else has made my heart come alive?  Well, many people (my husband, several other friends, my sisters/brother, my parents...), but for the remainder of this blog, I would just like to focus on four of the cutest ones ...

Here are two of them:  Gweneth Paige and Sophia Grace.  These two little darlings graced my world about 6 and 7 years ago, respectively.  I absolutely love being an aunt and these two have made that job enjoyable, to say the least.  Nothing can describe the feeling of meeting a niece/nephew for the first time and watching him/her grow from a precious little baby into a small person :O)

I love spending time with these two and playing with them.  They are so silly, so adorable, and so full of life, that I can't help but smile every time I see them.  They give the best hugs in the world and my life would be rather dull without them.  They have brought me so much joy that I would be remiss to not thank them (and ... well, their parents) for making my heart come alive.

Last but not least, how can I talk about being an aunt without also mentioning these two?  Eleanor Zaojean  has been one of the sweetest tempered babies I have ever known.  I'll never forget when she was just a tiny little thing and her mother would bring her into the house and set her down, car seat and all.  Most babies would at this point start fussing.  Not Eleanor.  She would just lay there with a smile on her face, looking around, until someone came to get her.  She is absolutely precious, a joy to babysit, and I'm so happy that I get to be her aunt.  

Next is Isaiah Michael.  Born very prematurely (1, maybe 2 months early?), he has grown from a tiny little thing into an adorable 3-year old.  He is very energetic, and I have noticed, whilst babysitting, that he has a great sense of humor.  I remember once, about a year ago, I was babysitting him and Ellie.  I playfully threw a blanket over his head and he lifted his hands up and started making ghost noises.  I'd pull the blanket off and he'd die laughing.  

Few things are more precious than the laughter of children.  All of my nieces and nephews are healthy, happy kids who love to laugh.  A lot.  They never fail to make my heart come alive.