Saturday, January 23, 2016

GIVE KIDS A SMILE | Arizona Wedding and Portrait Photographer

So, occasionally......okay, a lot, I get to do some pretty awesome things with my camera. But I have to say, this was one of my favorites. A couple months ago I was given the opportunity to volunteer at Give Kids a Smile. I had no idea what to expect---if I'd be photographing dental work all day or sitting in a booth--but I was excited to be a part of something involving Jake's dental school. I must say, my expectations were blown out of the water. It was like a mini Disney Land for these kids.....and me, haha.

So, a few months ago, (right before Jake's school started) he took me to Disneyland for the first time, and while he wanted to go ride all the rides, all I wanted to do was go meet all the characters. I'd never been before, so when I would see a character at Disneyland walking around it was like seeing a celebrity for me, haha. Well, I'm pretty sure that's how it was for these kids. You could see the excitement on their faces! Underneath the amazing costumes were a bunch of super excited dental students.

Give Kids a Smile is an American Dental Association (ADA) foundation where millions of dollars of dental work is given away for free to underserved children. When the kids hop off the bus, they get put into waiting rooms with games and activities while they wait for their turn in the dental chair. Once the dental work is complete, it's off to the party with all the characters and carnival games! The purpose is to give these children who have little to no experience with dentists,  an amazing experience.

In the clinic area, you could find a few sad kids, but right there next to them was a "character" and dentist giving the kids a pep talk. It was such a neat experience to be a part of! I must've smiled all day!

As for the people behind the costumes, most of them are in Jake's dental school class. It was so fun to meet them and see what an amazing bunch my husband gets to rub shoulder's with every day. Each one took such good care of the kids that came there way. I'm so proud my husband get's to be a part of this great school, A.T. Still University.

(Scroll to the bottom to see some cute pictures of our daughter with the princesses :) )

So, towards the end of the day, I went and got our daughter Colbie to show her all the princesses. It was love at first sight when she saw Cinderella. Now the thing you need to know about Colbie is that she NEVER lets anyone hold her, except for Mom, Dad, Grandma and Grandpa. So when she practically jumped into Cinderella's arms we were so surprised and it was just so cute. (She just happened to be wearing her Cinderella shirt that day and kept pointing to the picture on it.) She wasn't as crazy about the other princesses, but they were so nice to take a picture with her---and Colbie was so happy to be in Cinderella's arms again. :)

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