Something Cute and Colorful to Brighten Your Day

I'm getting a bit of a late start today, because I've been in bed ever since we got home from our trip out west. It was wonderful, but exhausting!

For anyone out there who woke up this morning and felt a tad blah, I thought I'd post this image chock-full of cuteness and color to brighten up your day. We received this recently-snapped photo from our daughter-in-law via e-mail while we were on the road. I don't think you can look at this picture of my precious twin granddaughters (Bonny Babe on the left, and Cutie Pie on the right) in their matching outfits without smiling. And as if the colorful flowered sunsuits weren't cute enough, they're modeling brightly-hued hand-knitted caps that were a gift from my husband's sister and her fiance. My sister-in-law commissioned her fiance's talented daughter to make these little fashion gems for the babies. Aren't they absolutely adorable? The caps already fit them at six-and-a-half weeks; but the very soft, fine yarn out of which they're made has a lot of stretch to it, so the girls ought to be able to wear them for a long time to come.

We made it back from our trip to Arizona safe and sound this morning, thanks be to God! I couldn't help but think of my oldest son as we were flying home, though; because as we were in the air heading back to New England in the wee hours today, he, too, was on a plane, just beginning the long journey back to his post in Afghanistan. When we spoke to him last night to say good-bye before he left, he sounded like his old self: cheerful and positive, and seeing the bright side, which is that he has only two months to go out of a twelve-month tour. But it had to be hard, after two weeks of spending time getting to know his new baby daughters, to board that plane and leave his wife and those two little cherubs behind. I struggled to keep from choking up on the phone, because if he can be brave, I want to be brave, too. I am determined to stay as positive as he is, and to think only of how fast the time will fly now that he's almost done. At least he'll be able to see his daughters on Skype, in real time--something that would have been impossible for separated Army families not that long ago. And before he knows it, he'll be back home for good.

And if he ever needs a pick-me-up to brighten up his day while he's over there, all he has to do is look at this picture!