St. Patrick's Day 2007

Until I met Damien, St. Patrick's Day never really held any meaning to me. Truthfully, I always found it an annoying holiday because truthfully, finding something green to wear was next to impossible for me. I never really gravitated to the color green and the thought that someone would pinch me for not wearing it, seemed . . . . well, silly. But all of this changed after meeting Damien (who is obviously Irish), after realizing that his Mom's birthday is on St. Patrick's Day, and considering that Michael is a red head who I've been told, 'Wears the map of Ireland on his face'. So, chalk on up for good St. Patrick- for he now has a small place in my heart.


We ventured up to Damien's parents house this past weekend where all of the siblings gathered to celebrate his Mom's birthday. It was a lot of fun to see everyone and also spend the night away from our house for the first time in 8 months. We haven't left home since August because of the pregnancy and it was a welcome change to get away for a while. It was also nice to introduce Matthew to Damien's siblings and his grandparents.


On St. Patrick's Day, we all went to a lovely restaurant where we had a private room to celebrate Marlene's birthday. Lani and Heather did a lot of work to make sure the day was memorable and we could tell his Mom had a great time. All but one of her children was there and the room was filled with such life as six of her grandchildren ran circles around the beautifully decorated tables.


In true Swendsen fashion, there was quite the fanfare and Damien even took part in the action dressing as a very lively and masculine (ha!) leprechaun. Lani bought the costume and Damien agreed to wear it at the party, sight unseen, and he got quite the surprise when he realized the costume was a bit 'tighter' than he had first imagined. Nonetheless, he played the part to the fullest degree and Marlene and all the kids loved it. I have to admit that I was laughing at him so much that tears were running down my face. Maybe it wasn't the manliest of costumes, but I loved Damien's fearlessness and dedication to take one for the team and play the part 100%. Heavenly whipped out her Irish dancing costume from years ago and did an Irish Dance for her Mom and brought the party to a close. It was a great time and fun was had by all, even by Matthew who slept and ate throughout the whole party. (See evidence of this where Matthew's legs are sticking out from under the blanket.) Oh, the difficult life of a baby.