Simple Little Pleasures

When I was 10 years old, my Grandma Perkins gave me a set of 6 books for Christmas. The series was titled "Anne of Green Gables". The books had small print, and lots of pages, so I didn't read them right away, but over the course of the next several years, I did.  My favorite in the series was the first book, which I read a few times. 

My first love of Anne came the previous year when our family got cable TV. I was in the 4th grade, and my favorite cable channel became the Disney channel. There were a lot of shows I loved to watch on Disney, but one of my favorite TV series was Anne of Green Gables. Then the TV movies Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea came out, starring the same girl who played the part of Anne. I grew up loving the independent, adventurous, red-headed Anne Shirley,  her sweet bosom friend Diana Barry, her caretakers: the stubborn Marilla and soft-hearted Matthew, and her romantic enemy-turned-beau Gilbert Blythe.

Jonathon Crombie, who played Gilbert Blythe in the Anne of Green Gables movies, passed away this year in April. It was all over facebook, and seeing him reminded me of my youthful days, reading about the adventures of Anne, dreaming about having my own dresses with puffy sleeves when I got older, watching Anne and Gilbert fall in love on TV, and wishing and hoping about someday meeting and marrying my own "Gilbert". 

There are so many fabulous quotes from the books in that series that my grandma gave me, but today I will share with you one: “After all," Anne had said to Marilla once, "I believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens but just those that bring simple little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string.” --L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Avonlea 

I have experienced those kind of wonderful days in which I appreciate the simple little pleasures of life, and in April, just days after the death of the actor who portrayed Gilbert Blythe, I had one of those days. It was a Sunday afternoon, the weather was just beautiful, and we were all outside doing our own thing. I felt immense joy at seeing my family appreciate the simpler things of life. I grabbed my camera and snapped a few pics because I didn't want to forget the sweet, simple moment. 

Boys happily playing together in the ditch full of water

Ammon reading a book while soaking in the sun's rays

Josh taking a nap in the hammock under the shade of the trees