Can I get a woo hoo? (And that game was pretty great too)

From the day we met her, our son Vinnie’s girlfriend Danni has felt like family.

A jump-right-in-and-help kind of girl, Danni has floated down a river with us, cheered our various and quirky sports affiliations (Go Croatian soccer!), toasted, chuckled, cleaned, celebrated and consoled.

She builds the best camp fires we have ever seen and she gamely helps us sing around them (although she is an actual musician, a classical guitarist who can play almost any genre, and we only sing “Stewball”).

She loves music, nature, family, food and our son. She even, with sincere apologies to her father, a lifelong Vikings fan, has learned to love the Green Bay Packers (Go Pack Go and OMG! What a game!).

This weekend, she and Vinnie invited all of us to their Minneapolis apartment to announce their plans to marry. Can I get a woo hoo?!!!

For those of you keeping score, that’s two engaged sons and one, big very happy family.

What a blessing families are! And, how lucky we all are when our blessed families grow!

Vinnie’s very proud to be Croatian, but he’s Irish too, thanks to both his grandmas. In their honor, here’s a Gaelic blessing for the happy couple:

May your mornings bring joy and your evenings bring peace.
May your troubles grow few as your blessings increase.
May the saddest day of your future
Be no worse than the happiest day of your past.
May your hands be forever clasped in friendship
And your hearts joined forever in love.
Your lives are very special,
God has touched you in many ways.
May his blessings rest upon you
And fill all your coming days.