Becoming a citizen

In the United States, becoming a citizen is a BIG DEAL! My good friend immigrated from Mexico, and after a long time here, a U.S.-born husband and two kids, she was FINALLY able to become a citizen! She went to Boise with her family for her final test, and found out that she PASSED and that the next ceremony was in exactly a week! Unfortunately, her husband could not take the trip to Boise with her again so soon. At first, she thought that she would just go up by herself and was trying to figure out who would watch her kids. I told her that she needed me to come so I could take her picture and give her hugs (and watch her kids). So, Marcela and I packed up four kids in my van and drove to Boise! When we got there, we checked into our hotel, and went foraging for food. Originally, we were going to take the kids to a movie, but they were having way to much fun at Chick-fil-a, as you can tell by the socks strewn all over. So, no movie. Ah, well.

That night was an adventure. Our boys slept together in Davis's sleeping bag. The girls wanted to sleep together (mostly Bri. Reagan had no idea what was going on) but that didn't work out. Reagan ended up switching between her sleeping bag and bed with me a bunch of times before finally falling asleep, and then throughout the night as well.

The next morning was the big ceremony. We got there, and there was no sitting room available any more. Fortunately, we were told that there were toys at the back of the room, so we basically hung out there during the ceremony.

It was a very cool experience. There were 34 people from 15 different countries, and the whole room said the Pledge of Allegiance together, which was fairly moving regarding the circumstances. A role call of countries was called out, and there were people from Egypt, Iraq, New Zealand, Argentina Brazil, the UK, and many other countries as well. Then all of the new citizens stood and repeated the oath of allegiance together.

After the oath was repeated, everyone received documentation that they were now citizens of the United States. Then, a video was played with the president welcoming everyone into the country, and then another video with a moving rendition of "America the Beautiful." After that, many pictures and hugs were taken and given.

This one is a representation of our craziness:

Anyway, it was an awesome experience and I'm so glad that I was able to go with Marcela. Afterwards, we celebrated the experience and her birthday at Tucano's. I have to admit that my eyes did leak a little bit. Somehow, I did not expect to get emotional about it, but it was a really cool experience that I will never forget!

Independence Day 2016

Independence Day was a fabulous weekend! My brother, Casey, and his girlfriend, Hilary came home, and we ran and ran and ran until they left! It was super fun!

First of all, I painted Reagan's toenails and fingernails. It's so fun to have a girl!

When Casey and Hilary got to town, we went to the BFG movie. Our kids spent most of the time on Grandma and Grandpa's laps, which was great for everyone involved!

We did fireworks dinner and fireworks Saturday night, then dinner together on Sunday, then rode our bikes to the parade on Monday morning. Reagan switched between Grandma, Casey, and Hilary. Davis spent the whole time with Grandpa.

We went to a barbecue at my grandparents' house, where Davis ate about a ton of pasta and covered his face in ketchup.

We went home for naps, then rode our bikes to the fireworks. We found that our table was a little too close to the river, which I think shaved years off of my life. But the kids had fun looking at the river, along with Casey and Hilary.

We rode our bikes home, and two kids fell asleep in the bike trailer. It was an exhausting but fun weekend!

We are so grateful that we live in America, and grateful for our independence as a nation!

Charleston

OK, so I am a little late! But we went to Charleston at the beginning of the month for Chris's family reunion. It was a WONDERFUL trip! It was HOT, and HUMID! But we still had a lot of fun. Right before the trip, Emily was diagnosed with cancer, so it was a much-needed reprieve for that Rusch family too!
As is typical with us (SIGH), getting to where we needed to be was, in fact, eventful! We got to the airport too late, and had to fly into Atlanta instead of Charleston. This was (kind of . . . ok, major) a pain, and ended up costing us a TON in a car rental! Dang! Fortunately, we do have somewhere to stay in Atlanta. On top of all the fun, Davis got carsick and puked three times from Atlanta to Charleston, which also was not fun.

So, here are our Fourth of July pictures:

 Davis throwing rocks in a puddle after his third puking incident. Poor kid!

Reagan's cute Fourth of July outfit!
OK, so we were finally there. :) Emily found this nice little spot for us, which was super close to the beach, and just awesome all around!
We went to church and hung out on Sunday. On Monday, we went to the Charleston Museum, and the Visitor's Center.

 Playing with stickers that were in his "pack-pack-pack"

 Kids at the museum

The museum had some fun games for the kids!
We did some shopping on Tuesday

 This is one of my favorite pictures ever!

 There was a rainstorm on our way home. Davis loved it!

As you can tell, there were some pretty fun toys at the mall!
We went to the slave market the next morning

 They don't sell slaves there any more, thankfully!

This is Davis's attempt at staying cool. The only coolish place he could find was the ground, so he laid on it!
Jon and Emily arrived, and we had some pool time!

 Matt got candy cigarettes at the slave market

Davis would not get all the way in the pool! Silly boy!

Then we went to Patriot's Point to see the ships and submarines.

Not sure where Reagan is in this picture. Hmmm. . . .

Can I mention that from here on out, it was UNBELIEVABLY HOT? I wanted to die!!
The next day, we went to Fort Sumter. As someone who has visited quite a few Civil War battle sites, I have usually been overwhelmed by the size on most of the battle sites. However, for this one, I was underwhelmed. It is really just a small fort that is built on a sandbar, not even an island, in the ocean.
Oh, and it was still unbelievably hot!

That night, we went to Rainbow Road and saw the beautiful houses in the Charleston area. Davis felt the need to sit on most of the steps of the homes.

The next day, we played in the ocean in the morning.

 Look! Reagan sitting up!

And when it went from hot to unbearably hot, we went to the aquarium

And on our way home, we got to sit in first class. This is a good way for airlines to advertise paying more for first class. It. Was. Awesome!

Overall, a wonderful trip! Great to be with family! Great to see Charleston! Davis and George were little buddies, which was awesome! We loved it!