Citizenship At Last!

I've only been living here 14 years and one month ... I put it off long enough. I finally applied for citizenship and it only took them one year and eight months to complete my background check.  How suspicious do I look? :P (don't answer that!)

My last hug as a Canadian.

At long last the day finally arrived and I became an American citizen this morning.  I didn't think I would be emotional about it but I found myself tearing up several times.  I was tearing up before I even got into the building in fact!  

The ceremony was held at the Capital Theatre and I was one of 750 fellow candidates for citizenship from 84 different countries.  United States Chief Magistrate Judge Samuel Alba asked for a few individuals from a few of the countries to stand and share their feelings.  When he asked if anyone from Canada wanted to make any comments three people raised their hands (I of course was one) and he chose the other two... rats!!!  Brett couldn't believe I would raise my hand ... does he not know me by now after 13 years of marriage??? help me I'm talking and I can't shut up!!! hahaha!!! 

He of course did not even see me raise my hand because they did not let family and friends sit with candidates for citizenship.  So he and his parents were in the balcony and I was on the first floor close to the back.  I think he had a better view of the stage than I did!!!

But now I am officially a United States Citizen which means I will vote for ..... you'll just have to guess.  :P

Well, all the teasing can stop now about my background check taking so long but I'm sure I'll still be teased the rest of my life about my Canadian origins/accent/lack of armed forces/poor television programming etc.  Thanks to Brett's parents for coming to the event even though they couldn't see me and thanks to Dede for watching my kids so they DIDN'T have to go and not see me. 

I wondered why the need for all the police ... did we really look all that dangerous? until Brett informed that the crying baby in the balcony almost incited a riot.  

 

John can't believe I finally got my citizenship.  I think he was secretly sending information to the government to delay my background check.  That would explain this picture.

Marcus started Headstart today and boy was he excited.  Gage in his typical - whatever anyone else is doing is better than what I am doing - was jealous of Marcus' school and wished he could be 4 and going to Marcus' class.  Gage got to go to Kid's Club this morning though so I'm sure he forgot about it soon enough (my fingers are crossed).  Marcus was giddy with excitement so I'm hoping he has a great day.  He already has a friend from his other school who will be in his class.

I love boys (and Brett for that matter) in white shirts.  It just gives them that all clean look ... until they eat, play, move or use their sleeve to wipe their face/nose and then, well, so much for that.  But... when my boys were wearing all white shirts this Sunday I couldn't resist a picture.  Jaden wanted to wear his white temple tie to church (it is the only tie he has) and I told him we would shop for some colored ones this week.  One more thing to add to my list.  Why didn't I buy some at Swiss days?????

My Boys

I love taking pictures of my boys and I look at their pictures often to remind me that they aren't always being naughty and getting into trouble.  They are so beautiful (I mean handsome) ... but really they are so beautiful and each has a unique personality.  I love the lighting in these pictures.  Thanks to Carin I was able to get them just right.

Today has been a tough day, not because kids have been more difficult than the usual sibling fighting ("you can never play with my toy again" or "ha!ha! you fell down" or "I'm too tired to do jobs") but when you wake up with a migraine and your husband is out of town ... the usual fighting/complaining/whining etc. seems magnified.  My ray of hope was that Brett would be home this evening to hug kids good night and help get them ready for bed.  He called and dashed that hope and will instead be home right before we church starts (if then....we will probably be halfway through sacrament before we see him).  But I would rather he drive home safely in the morning than start driving at 11:00pm tonight from Lake Powell.

Anyways, missing Brett got me to thinking about what we were doing last September.  Brett and I took a weekend to ourselves and went to Park City together.  It was absolutely beautiful with leaves changing colors and a change of pace.  The Olympic Park had me screaming at the top of my lungs with the luge ride (exhilarating!) and other rides were also fun but not as intense after riding the luge.  Brett made me try Tasmanian sushi (yuck!) but at least I can say I tried it right?  All in all Park City is a great close get-a-way with some fun things to do.

Today we went to Temple Square as Marcus has been asking all week to go back to the temple. Although it was a rainy day we decided to go anyways. It was a first for Gage, Marcus and Cody to see the statue of the Christus in the visitor's center. We sat down to look at it and Cody asked Brett "who is that?" Brett said "that's Jesus" to which Cody replied "He loves me" ..."yes He does" Brett said. That made my eyes tear up. I love the confidence of children in the love that their Father in Heaven has for them.

We also took them into the Tabernacle and to the Church Museum. They learned a few new things today about the building of the temple (frankly so did I) and the pioneers. We ended our morning with a lunch at IHOP ... pancakes of course.

the pictures are not the best because I took my old Kodak digital which is horrible when I compare it to my Canon (I'm spoiled now). We had a great morning and I hope we can go back soon and spend more time at the Church Museum. The boys loved the "I am a Child of God" section of the Museum where they could play with blocks, do a driving maze, a wall puzzle and more.