Here Comes The Sun

Tuesday we saw the sun for the first time in ages! Let's just say that
I love the sun. It was still quite cold but the sun made all the
difference. In the morning, Elsie took our paperwork to the US
Consulate and we had to stay in our room so she could call us and tell
us if everything went well or if there was a problem. Thankfully,
there were no issues with our paperwork! She also told us that our
Oath Ceremony had been moved up. It was supposed to be on Wednesday
but it would be Tuesday afternoon.

After our phone call we went to the park since the sun was out (I
might mention the sun a lot, just warning you). :) There weren't many
families there but we did meet one family from North Dakota. They are
adopting their second boy which will make three boys for them ages 2,
4 and 6. They had all their boys with them too which was neat to see.
We played at the park awhile and then had lunch with this family.
After lunch it was up to the room for a short nap for Nathan before
our appointment at the US Consulate. Oh, at the park there was this
elderly woman running laps around the park (there's a small running
track) and I thought it was so cool that I snagged a couple pictures
of her. Then there was this guy who was doing gymnastics on a high bar
and I got a couple pictures of him too. :) The older generation here
is so active. I hope I am as active when I am their age!

Around 2:30PM we met Elsie and the other family in our group and
headed to the US Consulate which is about 30 minutes or so away. Oh,
and it was sunny! :) When we got there, we went into a large room with
about 20 adopting families. One-by-one we were called up to a window
and we had to sign some papers. Afterward, a lady came out and talked
to us as a group and then we all had to stand up, raise our hand and
take the Immigrant Oath on behalf of our children since their first
port of entry into the United States will immediately make them a US
citizen. This was quite an emotional time actually. I got teary-eyed
and one family in front of us was warned by the lady to not start
crying because then she would start! And, just like that our whole
adoption is complete! We just need to get Nathan's US visa so he can
enter the US. Wow, what a long road our journey has been.

After the US Consulate, Elsie took us to a very large park and one
section had some rides for kids. There was no one there but Elsie
found a lady who had someone activate a few rides for us. First, there
was the bumper cars and then there was a roller coaster and finally a
"hunting" ride. Nathan was two small for these rides but Isabel and
Richard went on the bumper cars along with the two boys and the dad of
the other family we're with. She didn't ride the roller coaster but
she and Richard went on the hunting ride where you move around a
little park and shoot at some fake animals. It was cold so we didn't
want to stay long but it was also quite strange to be the only ones at
the park and the only ones on the rides. Afterward we went back to our
hotel. It was kind of late so we ordered pizza and then ate in our
room. Just a few more days and we'll be on our way home as a family of
4!

Oh, I think Nathan is starting to call me mommy. It's interesting
because he follows what Isabel does quite often and I think that is
why he's picking it up. He pronounces it like, "Ah Mee." He won't say
it if you ask him to and oftentimes if you ask him to say mommy or
daddy, he will shake his head no. We actually get a kick out of it
because he looks funny doing it. Richard wants to video-tape him doing
that. Maybe one day he will get a kick out of it too.