PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!!!!!!!

Well my husband was sworn in at 11:13 as a citizen of the United STates of America! Of course I cried all the way through the oath and then again when we ALL stood to say the Pledge of Allegiance! What a moving moment! It really makes you appreciate the rights and privileges of being a citizen of this great nation. The judge made the comment that yes, we have our problems right now in this country, but that the strength of our nation is in the hearts of the people and the way we stick together in tough times!
Doug just makes me so proud to be his wife! I love this man who is a wonderful husband to me, and will be the best Daddy to our baby, Rebekah one day! He is so talented, smart, hard-working, humorous, outgoing, and loving! It was a wonderful moment that he will never forget and neither will I. We were so blessed to have a beautiful sunny day for the drive up to Roanoke and then to have family and friends join us (thanks Stacey (my sister), my aunt Micky, my Mom, our friends: Cheryl, Doug, and Jack) made it all the more special. There were LOTS of friends, family and co-workers who sent me emails yesterday to put in a scrapbook for Doug and I just wanted to thank them for that. We got there EARLY and as we sat in the parking lot, I pulled it out and gave it to Doug and said, "These are all the people who think a lot of you honey and wanted to wish you well on this special day!" He was truly touched and read the comments over and over! It will be something that he can keep forever and remember this momentous event in his life (our life!). I have truly been touched by everything today that happened. As we were driving home, I thought about all the heartache we went through after we first got married and he had to stay in Canada for over a year before Immigration would allow him to move down here to live and work. It was HARD.....so terribly hard and not a night went by that I didn't cry because I missed him so much! We had HUGE phone bills and MANY MANY nights chatting online. We contacted our Congressman (Virgil Goode) who tried to move the process along and then once he was down here, we had the mounds of paperwork and forms and fees, and visits to Immigration for interviews and green card renewals and fingerprints...........and all of that was HARD......but without the difficulty of those many trials, we would have NEVER experienced the moments we had today of absolute joy! And that made me think of the adoption......if THIS was such a joyous occasion, how much greater will be the joy of having that baby placed in our arms??????? Oh my gosh, I cannot fathom it! And I think about all of the people who have (bless their hearts) tried to tell us that "the wait will be worth it," and we have HATED hearing them say those words! But they truly KNOW that joy, they have experienced it first hand, and they KNOW! So, with that said, I am ALLOWING myself to get excited again about the adoption. I allowing my heart to open and be vunerable and I just pray that Heavenly Father will bless me and Doug that we WILL experience this joyful event in our life SOON!!!!!!!!! WHEW.....what an emotional day! And to my sweet, wonderful hubby: I love you darling and am so proud of you and the man that you are! Congratulations babe!