If you’ve ever heard a baby laugh, you’ll know it’s one of the most incredible sounds you’ll ever hear. Take that sound and magnify it by four!

Steve and Allison Mathias of North Carolina created one of the most popular viral videos of the digital age in 2001. The couple had recently welcomed four beautiful baby daughters into their lives, and they were hugging when Steve started shooting the babies’ infectious smiles.

Steve was making ridiculous expressions and noises behind the camera, forcing each of the girls to burst out laughing at their father’s antics. Something about the way all four babies continue to burst out laughing makes everyone who hears it smile from ear to ear.

Since YouTube hadn’t been founded yet, Steve did what everyone else did at the turn of the century with a particularly humorous video: he put it into “America’s Funniest Home Videos.”

The Mathias quads were a huge hit on the show, and the family ended up $395,000 richer after all was said and done! Not only that but once the video was uploaded to the internet, it continued to make others around the world smile.

Oprah Winfrey spoke with the Mathias family via Skype. The sisters were sixteen at the time, and while their fashions and interests have evolved (no more matching outfits! ), they still enjoy viewing the video that has helped their family achieve so much throughout their lives.

Steve told Oprah, “We won three times on ‘America’s Funniest Home Videos,’ and that came with prize money that, you know, just changed a lot of things in our lives.”

«I believe it’s one of those videos that you can’t laugh at.» Something like the syncopation of them stopping and starting to laugh. «It’s just a contagious laugh,» Steve explained.

Mary Claire, Emily, Grace, and Anna are now beautiful young women whose lives are just beginning. We hope they continue to uncover things that make them laugh as they grow older!

Watch the original clip below, and don’t forget to share!