Thanks George....

(...the top picture is the letter from the White House signed by George W, his hand must get really tired. ;0) ......the last picture is of the pledge said by all new citizens .....the flags the munchkins are holding are given to all new citizens, and their siblings, I guess)

Finally, Allison is a citizen! Me and the kiddoes schlepped into Philadelphia today for Allie's citizenship ceremony. It was miserably hot and parking is horrendous (and that's being kind). I felt like I was Chevy Chase in European Vacation - passing our destination over, and over, and over, and over again. All the while I have back-seat-driver Brent telling me (every time we passed the Immigration office) that I passed it again and could I just hurry up and park. Did I mention that I loathe driving in the city without a co-pilot (and the 7 yr old in the backseat doesn't count)? With a co-pilot to navigate, I still don't like it, but it's bearable. Anyhoo, I digress. Here are a few pics (my camera's smokin').

****BTW, if you're wondering why it has taken us nearly two years from Allison's Gotcha Day to get proof of her citizenship - well, I'd like to understand that too. This is the result of both parents (moi) not traveling. We had to readopt Allie in the States, which was done immediately after her coming home. From there we had to wait for her adoption decree (it took about 8 wks) and submit it, along with other paperwork, to immigration and file for proof of citizenship - at a lovely bargain of over $600. Nope, there's not an extra zero there. More $$ for the government to burn.

Immigration cashed our check almost 18 months ago, but there is a "backlog" (Ya think?). Oops, I'm sounding a little bitter. Wanna know why? Can't get a SS card without her proof of citizenship. Which means, can't claim her on our taxes without her SS#. Yep, that really sucked. Luckily, a few months back Scott and I, frustrated about another tax season passing without being able to file for the adoption credit, hiked to the SS office & low and behold their system was down and the nice man manually applied for her card, bypassing the cross match with Homeland Sec's system, and we got her card. My reason for sharing this lovely loop hole that happens when only one parent travels is for anyone who may be considering this so they know what can happen when they return and its implications.