Colleen and Erin

These are my oldest nieces, Colleen and Erin:

Aren't they cuuuuuuute?

Actually, that was a long time ago. Here they are again:

See? Still cute.

'Course, that was a long time ago, too.

These two munchkins have been part of our lives for as long as they've been a part of this world. My new boyfriend Mistah met my sister Julie when she was pregnant with Colleen late in 1989, and Julie asked us to be godparents when Erin was born in 1992.

We used to visit a lot -- whenever we could -- and Mistah caught the girls in a delightful photo shoot one spring day in 1995 or so:

Much as he did just a couple of weeks ago, on a cold Christmas Day in Chicago, 2010:

They really haven't changed all that much.

I mean, look at those faces . . .

. . . they have the same expressions -- and certainly the same personalities -- all these years later . . .

See?

I could not stop staring at those gorgeous faces then . . .

. . . and I certainly cannot stop staring at them now.

My two oldest nieces . . .

. . . all grown up.

Back then, especially with their Uncle Bill, they were just goofballs, but now . . .

. . . oh, well, nevermind.

In the early days of my Auntiehood, 20 and 18 years ago, I thought Colleen and Erin were the two most perfect specimens of girlhood in the world.

And they just keep getting better.