It's official! Ashish is an American!

Two Americans!

Registering to vote!

A patriotic family

Patriotic Priya!

A proud new citizen!

Today was quite a day! We arrived at the Crest Theatre in downtown Sacramento at 7:40am and Ashish's parents, Priya, & I were quickly ushered in and seated in the ornate auditorium. Ashish had to wait outside in line to be processed but soon appeared in the auditorium with a big smile on his face and an American flag in his hand. Those being naturalized were seated in separate sections from guests, so we had to observe his excitement from afar. We sat and patiently waited for the ceremony to begin while being serenaded with LOUD patriotic music. :)

At 9:00am sharp the ceremony began. A judge introduced herself and called the court session to order. It was very official. She gave a brief speech and then invited the naturalization applicants to stand and take the oath. Within about 10 minutes the ceremony ended and was closed with the pledge of allegiance. Guests were then ushered outside to wait while the new citizens received their certificates and finalized other paperwork.

Once outside Ashish had the opportunity to fill out the paperwork to register to vote. He was quite excited and proudly displayed his certificate of citizenship. Once the whole event had come to an end we celebrated - by going back to his Indian roots and visiting a fabulous Indian restaurant. Kinda funny that Ashish's first act as an American citizen was to make a beeline for something familiar from back home. :)

Priya did amazingly well during the entire trip. She slept in my arms through the ceremony but enjoyed herself while we waited for the ceremony to begin and afterwards as well. It was so much fun to have her along and to actually feel like it was ok to be taking her places!!