Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig!

And to all of you who don't speak Irish, "Happy St. Patrick's Day!"

To commemorate the day, here's a brief and undoubtedly incomplete summary of some of the more noteworthy events in the extended Mullen Family since last St. Patty's day.

First and foremost (at least from my vantage point), Marilynn and I were extremely fortunate to be able to spend over a week in England last August, allowing us to become better acquainted with the following UK-based relatives:

- Brian Fowler
- Dympna [Messenger] LeRasle
- Peter LeRasle
- Máire Davies
- John Davies
- Huw Davies
- Hannah Davies
- Tom Davies
- Elinore Davies
- Patrick Mills
- Kathleen Duffy
- Susan [Fowler] Harrison
- John Harrison
- Betty Cahalin
- Avril [Gilmartin] Leary
- Tony Leary
- Madge Messenger
- Sheila [Messenger] Dore
- Martin Dore
- Rosalind Dore
- Joseph Dore,
- Imelda Messenger
- Anne [Naughton]Lillis
- Ashling Lillis
- Cliona [Lillis] Beadle

It was a whirlwind vacation, to be sure, but one of our first thoughts upon returning to the U.S. was, "When can we go back??"

Births:

• Herbie Hucklebury Timothy Peter Frankel was born on September 7, 2009 to Madeleine LeRasle and Tim Frankel.
• Edward (Ted) Beadle was born to Cliona [Lillis] Beadle and Mike Beadle.
• Matthew Beeney was born to Grainne [Lillis] Beeney and Rob Beeney.

Deaths:

• Harry Sears (husband of Patricia [Mullen] Sears passed away on February 20, 2010.
• Mary Josephine (Josie) Mullen, mother of Noel Mullen, passed away on January 25, 2010.

Marriages / Engagements:

• Mike McGarvey married Sarah Rector on August 28, 2009
• Avril Gilmartin married Tony Leary on September 26, 2009
  
• Janet Mullen announced the engagement of her daughter, Cara, to Christopher Kirkwood

Miscellaneous:

• John and Máire Davies' celebrated their 40th Wedding Anniversary on October 4, 2009.
• Avril [Gilmartin] Leary and Tony Leary are expecting their first child.
• Katie [McGarvey] Ferguson and Ryan Ferguson are expecting their second child.
• Eli Davies and Rory MacQueen visited the U.S. in late October.
• The Sears family took Harry Sears, a longtime fan of the Fighting Irish, to his first Notre Dame football game on October 31, 2009.
• John and Máire Davies came to the U.S. in December to visit their daughter, Hannah, during the Christmas holidays.
• Sheila and Martin Dore came visited New York City for 5 days to celebrate Sheila's 60th birthday.
  

It's been a busy year .. and the Family Tree continues to grow! I'll be raising a glass of Mullen's Irish Cream to the entire extended family this evening. Best of luck to all of you in the year ahead.

Sláinte!
Paul