Celebrating St. Urho!

My Grandma Karen and Grandpa Richie's families are Finnish, so all of the grandchildren have received a great deal of Finnish "instruction" thoughout the years! Liam has even learned to count to five in Finnish and can sing Finnish songs with Grandpa! I really like learning more about this part of our heritage, and whenever my grandparents do something with their Finnish-American club they invite us along.

St. Urho's Day is celebrated on March 16, the day before St. Patrick's Day. He is a mythical figure who supposedly chased all of the grasshoppers out of Finland. We celebrated the heroism of St. Urho this weekend with a dinner/dance with the club. We wore our green and royal purple while enjoying a wonderful dinner and fine entertainment.

Someone dresses up as St. Urho every year, and guess who was given the honor this time?

Why, Aaron of course!

He was a great sport and wore his costume with pride.

St. Urho, legend has it, was a very tall man...and since Aaron stands 6'5", he was a great candidate! (His actual height is best illustrated when standing next to my grandma...)

St. Urho and his queen, Carol, led a spirited procession around the ballroom!

We followed their lead!

St. Urho graciously posed for many pictures...this one is my favorite!

Our patron saint...Urho.

We had a great night!