Gana's Big Day!

So, last Tuesday evening Sarah-Kate, Jael, and I made the trek down to Pasadena for a momentous occasion that was happening early Wednesday morning. What was this momentous occasion?



My son-in-law, Gana, was becoming an American citizen!

Gana taking his seat with the other 1,955 soon-to-be new citizens.


Waiting and waiting for the ceremony to begin.

The judge.

"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 the 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."

I was quite impressed that there were several new citizens

who were already a part of the Armed Forces.

They were introduced individually.

It was a very memorable and significant morning. We were all so proud of Gana. I think he was feeling the same.

I know Daja was!

WooHoo!

After the ceremony, Sarah-Kate and Jael had to leave for home. But, they passed Gabe coming down. He had just flown in from meetings in Indiana, but was trying his best to make it down for the celebration party that evening!

I forgot and left my camera in the sleeping baby's room, so I didn't take any pictures until after we had dinner.

Dinner was delicious and beautifully presented. Daja did a wonderful job! (Of course!) Here you can see some of what it looked like after we had attacked it!

Gorgeous Russian desserts.

One of Papa's funny "jokes":

How much do you love Papa?How much do you love Nana?

Lots of guests brought gifts, which embarrassed Gana a bit, but none of us seemed to care!

Sarah-Kate's red, white, and blue gift basket.

Gabe and I figured since Gana was now an American citizen, it was a good time to also be a property owner. So, we bought him one of these:

In his name, of course! He now has bragging rights that he owns property in every one of the 50 states!

Well, it's only one square inch in each of the fifty states, but he does own it, and he can pass it down to his children!

Congratulations, Gana! We love you!

(Daja also blogged about this here.)