I've been busy and haven't updated the blog in a few weeks... Gotta give an update on our Cleveland trip; it was an amazing weekend.
On Friday, we arrived in Cleveland around 6pm. We went to his parents' house and had a fun night with some of his family members who were already in town. Saturday was non-stop and flew by! We got up and ready, and Patrick's parents, sister Maggie, Maggie's boyfriend Colin, sister Kate, brother-in-law Mike and Patrick/I headed to Kate/Mike's house for lunch and to see their amazing extension of the house. We hopped in a taxi van and went to the Good Time III, a huge ferry-ish boat in downtown Cleveland. There was an air show going on, so the boat circled along the coastline to keep a view of the planes. It's really impressive how the 6 pilots fly so closely together without any issues.
After the boat came back to shore, the van took us on an Irish Pub Crawl that Patrick's dad put together. I loved getting to spend more time with his family and to meet Colin. It's easy to see how much he adores Maggie (and vice versa). We went to 5 (or 6?) Irish pubs - stretching from downtown Cleveland to the Sweeney's house.
On Sunday, we went to his family's church and came back to his parents' house to get ready for the Engagement Party! His parents went ALL OUT. They had 2 tents with tables for the backyard and decorations with our wedding colors. Before long, the house and backyard were filled with Patrick's family and friends.
It was drizzling, so Patrick and I were standing with some friends under a tent, and bagpipes started loudly playing from down the street! Because of what my family did to Patrick for the Polish initiation ceremony (and the fact that the Sweeney's are Irish), my initial reaction was "Oh no... what are the Sweeney's planning?!" ;)
His sisters made a presentation that included giving me an Irish tiara, a few Irish recipes and ingredients for Irish Soda Bread, an "Irish Princess" t-shirt, a necklace made from wine corks and grapes (to represent their family lol) and a gorgeous silver Claddagh ring. A little while later, a family friend of the Sweeneys gave a toast in Polish and then his dad made a very thoughtful speech/toast.
One of the most thoughtful things that happened was that Patrick's Grandma gave us a cut glass bowl that had originally been a wedding present to Patrick's Grandpa's grandparents* (*I hope I got that family history right; she wrote it out in the card to us, but the card is at Patrick's house and I can't double-check right now). That really meant a lot!
I can't tell you how welcomed I felt by his entire family, and it still amazes me. I knew that Patrick was fantastic, but it was kind of scary not knowing how his family (originally his immediate family - then - the extended family) was going to react to me. His extended family was a huge group (his mom has 6 siblings and dad has 3), a lot of fun and I think I definitely hit the in-law family lottery!
- Lisa
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