Citizenship

D is now officially a US citizen! It was an amazingly fast and efficient process, all things considered. He thought he was just going in to take the test this morning, but after he passed, they said he'd have his naturalization ceremony this afternoon. So, at 2:10 PM today, he became an American. We also stopped and got passport photos taken so he can apply for a US passport shortly. They conveniently provide a voter registration card when you become a citizen, so all he has to do is send that in and everything will be in order.

The ceremony was interesting. There were 11 total people from 8 different countries being naturalized with him. The countries of origin were Ecuador, Laos, Vietnam, Russia, China, Mexico, UK, and Guatemala. In addition to a rather dry speech by a Congressional liaison (I think that's what she called herself), they showed three videos. The first was a pictorial of new immigrants throughout our country's history; the second was a welcome to America given by Bush; the third was a video with pictures of the country played to the song "Proud to be an American" by Lee Greenwood. Overall, it was a nice ceremony. Only slightly cheesy, but also a little touching to watch everyone become a citizen.

Unfortunately, the camera didn't focus too well for many of the pictures, but here are a couple of the more clear pictures.

D taking the oath

D waving his American flag