and getting blog buzz....here!
and apparently she has a new site she hasn't been telling us about.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
The Newest American!
For those of you curious as to exactly what Mom swore to yesterday...
“I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God."
Woah.
Other thoughts I had during the ceremony...
“I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God."
Woah.
Other thoughts I had during the ceremony...
- They said it would start at 9:00am, but it didn't actually start until 10:00am...
- There was a woman from the local chapter of the DAR, who said that english was the offical language of the US...the US doesn't have an official language. I thought that was annoying.
- The presiding district judge was, himself, a naturalized citizen (originally from Mexico). Cool.
- There were 199 people who were naturalized that day, and apparently it happens monthly.
- The two countries that had the most people present: Mexico and Bosnia.
- There were 2 women (they were wearing hajibs's so I assume they were muslim) from Iraq.
- There was one man, originally from Uganda, who was already in the military, and was leaving in 4 months to serve in Iraq.
It was a really interesting experience. And we had a BBQ that night at my house with all kinds of american foods (ie. hamburgers, chips, and potato salad) and american flag cake (complete with sparklers) for desert. Nancy has all the pictures, so she'll have to post them.
They lived in the basement...
A couple of you were wanting to know what Amanda's Blog was, so I thought I'd post a link here. And for those of you who don't know Amanda, feel free to go to her site anyway, because she's a funny writer.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Belated Happy Birthdays Part 2, The Pictures
These are the pictures of Austin, Angela, and Aaron that were supposed to be on last weeks' blog, but which I had to wait for Angela to come and put them on because after trying to load them myself, it said I had made error 400 or somesuch. Anyways, I thought they were all cute pictures and so wanted to share them with you. Pam
Oath of Citizenship
For those of you who were unable to make it today, we are here in the Rose Wagner Theater in Salt Lake City, awaiting the induction of Pamela R. Craig, i.e. Mom, into U.S. Citizenship. I don't know how often they do this kind of thing, but they've filled the theater. There is a video called "Faces of America" they keep playing, with pictures of Ellis Island, American Flags, and various patriotic quotes from naturalized citizens, all accompanied by some rousing John Phillips Souza marching music.
They are sure taking their time. We've been waiting for the ceremony to start for almost an hour. They brought the flags out in a very nonchallant manner. Shouldn't they have had some Boy Scouts plant those flags in some orderly fashion? They were just brought out by some guy with a headset and keys jangling from his hip.
I guess there are some people missing, that's why they're taking so long.
Oh, they just took the flags back, I guess they will make that part of the ceremony.
This must be what parents feel like when their kids graduate. You almost want to point out you soon-to-be American to the people next to you. "Yup, that's her, right on the second row, on the far left. Yes, we are very proud." Hopefully nobody will blare an air horn like people did at my graduation.
There are some U.S. Marshalls standing in the wings. I don't think anything is going to happen where we would need their services. These people like America.
We were talking about what to do afterwards. We figured some kind of meal was in order. Maybe McDonalds (can't get much more American than that). But strangely I think we're more likely to end up at the International House of Pancakes.
I'll give a full rundown after the ceremony. Till then, for the Craig Family News Network, this is Austin Craig, reporting.
They are sure taking their time. We've been waiting for the ceremony to start for almost an hour. They brought the flags out in a very nonchallant manner. Shouldn't they have had some Boy Scouts plant those flags in some orderly fashion? They were just brought out by some guy with a headset and keys jangling from his hip.
I guess there are some people missing, that's why they're taking so long.
Oh, they just took the flags back, I guess they will make that part of the ceremony.
This must be what parents feel like when their kids graduate. You almost want to point out you soon-to-be American to the people next to you. "Yup, that's her, right on the second row, on the far left. Yes, we are very proud." Hopefully nobody will blare an air horn like people did at my graduation.
There are some U.S. Marshalls standing in the wings. I don't think anything is going to happen where we would need their services. These people like America.
We were talking about what to do afterwards. We figured some kind of meal was in order. Maybe McDonalds (can't get much more American than that). But strangely I think we're more likely to end up at the International House of Pancakes.
I'll give a full rundown after the ceremony. Till then, for the Craig Family News Network, this is Austin Craig, reporting.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Sweet land of liberty
Pam, congratulations on your impending U.S. citizenship! We think it is pretty cool that after all these years, you will be a Yankee! We expect you to vote, and get our government whipped into shape! Watch your mailbox for a little token from the Arizona Craigs. Hopefully, you will be able to put it to good use and feel patriotic doing so. We love you!
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Belated Happy Birthdays
Belated Happy Birthday to Austin, Angela, and Aaron
I really do have some great, cute pictures of Austin and Angela when they were little. And I have a couple of great pictures of Aaron from when he came to visit us in the Canary Islands. But as all of you know, I am electronically challenged. I did manage to scan the pictures, but when I tried to load them, the little loader image flashed around for a long time and then it said I had made error number 400 or something like that so I gave up and waited for somebody to help me. But Nancy was in a hurry to fly off to Florida and I didn't think it would be fair to make Austin do his own birthday greeting so consequently it didn't get done. So please forgive me and know that we were thinking about you and wanted to post the cute pictures for all to see. We had a fun dinner and celebration here with Austin and Angela and know that Aaron had a fun time for his birthday at home. Maybe his parents took him to the Police concert. Wouldn't that have been a blast. Anyways, Happy Birthday to all of you. Love, Mom and Dad/ Grandma and Grandpa.
I really do have some great, cute pictures of Austin and Angela when they were little. And I have a couple of great pictures of Aaron from when he came to visit us in the Canary Islands. But as all of you know, I am electronically challenged. I did manage to scan the pictures, but when I tried to load them, the little loader image flashed around for a long time and then it said I had made error number 400 or something like that so I gave up and waited for somebody to help me. But Nancy was in a hurry to fly off to Florida and I didn't think it would be fair to make Austin do his own birthday greeting so consequently it didn't get done. So please forgive me and know that we were thinking about you and wanted to post the cute pictures for all to see. We had a fun dinner and celebration here with Austin and Angela and know that Aaron had a fun time for his birthday at home. Maybe his parents took him to the Police concert. Wouldn't that have been a blast. Anyways, Happy Birthday to all of you. Love, Mom and Dad/ Grandma and Grandpa.
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