The Lord continues to amaze us. This has all come about in the past 17 hours - I have not even had time to properly update Joy as she is at Music Camp. I sent her a message this morning but I don't know if she will get it before Saturday.
Gretchen, my lawyer, is even surprised at how fast USCIS has come back with an appointment.
I have to appear at the USCIS office in Seattle this coming Monday morning (29 June.) The oath ceremony is the same afternoon. Lord willing, I will be a naturalized US citizen by Monday supper time.
The very cool thing about this is that Gretchen had pre-scheduled vacation time beginning Tuesday morning!
Okay cool - so, what is next?
Great question! Once I'm a naturalized citizen I can file for my US passport. Gretchen is encouraging me to do this at a passport center in Seattle - just to get it done. If I cannot find it or run out of time I will do that upon my return to Dover. The processing time is, apparently, eight to ten business days. So I should have my passport on or by 10 July - which clears me to return to Guatemala. I'll finalize those arrangements once I have my passport in hand.
We continue to thank all of you for your diligent prayers and ask that you continue praying with us through the weekend and, especially, Monday.
Thanks!!
-knme
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Parallel Parking and the Camp Mascot
Wow, what a month has passed. We had the Spring arts presentation, finished school, moved into a new house, had friends move into that house with us the next day, said goodbye to numerous friends (including those who moved in,) got new bosses at school, sent Kenneth off to the USA, finally gotten a Guatemalan drivers license, and now are hosting a team for Music Camp Guatemala. And that about sums it up.
For those of you who want more details though - read on :-).
New House: We really love it in the new neighborhood. The girls have made new friends, and there have been more lemonade stands than I can count. Our close friends live 2 houses away, and many other missionary families live in the neighborhood as well. This has proven to be a great help with Kenneth being gone, for peace of mind and things like stuck patio doors. Thanks for those of you who prayed us into this neighborhood!
Kenneth: He is in NH staying with my Dad and waiting for his appointment to get his interview. He is studying for the Civics test and passing better than I would I'm sure. We talk daily, numerous times, thanks to the miracle of modern technology. (Normally I say that Satan lives in tech, but this is definitely a God thing.)
License: A ridiculously easy test. Apparently I could have asked the proctors for help and they would have given me the answers. That would have been helpful when I had to answer some questions about the parts of the car. I don't need to know what the "neumaticos" or "suspension" or anything else are - I have a husband and a mechanic. Thankfully the No U Turn sign came up 2 out of 25 questions. I had to drive around this little course which was nothing like the Mario Kart driving that we do every day here. Admittedly I did fail the parallel parking - but all of us drivers know you don't really have to do that, you could just go back to the store another time and find a different parking space. In my defense though I had brought Ken's small car to be able to pass that part and they made me borrow their stick shift pick up truck instead. I have NEVER driven a pick up and it turns out its not really the same as my automatic van. The poor guy had pity on me and didn't make me try to park again after I landed it in the dirt. He did make me drive backwards in a snake pattern through the cones - because that is something I might actually need to do in real life.
Music Camp: I am so proud of my older girls! They have been getting up every morning this week and making breakfast for the small team that is staying with us. I am not a morning person, so this has been beyond helpful to me. The fact that they are doing it together is amazing also, since it seems they spend most of their time bickering these days.
I have been working hard to do the shopping for the team, and prepare my workshops that I am presenting to the staff. Today I am teaching about multiple intelligences and learning styles - sum that up in an hour. Tomorrow I am presenting on how to make music theory fun. Last night I found out that the Guatemalan staffer who was supposed to be preparing the music theory classes wants me to just do it. So, please be praying for all those things. It turns out it is not easy to get work done here while the children are awake, so my presentation that I am giving in six hours still isn't done. (Those of you who knew me in college will not be at all surprised by this fact, but I swear I have changed since then and don't normally wait this long...I swear.)
Next week the older girls will be headed to Camp Guamiski ( an overnight camp for GUAtemalan MISsionary KIds) and Sara and I will most likely be headed to Music Camp to teach theory classes and translate. Well, I'll be doing the work - Sara will most likely turn into the camp mascot and offer to have everyone come to our room for a sleepover.
Will post more after all this craziness is done - just really wanted to let you all know what was going on down here on our "vacation."
For those of you who want more details though - read on :-).
New House: We really love it in the new neighborhood. The girls have made new friends, and there have been more lemonade stands than I can count. Our close friends live 2 houses away, and many other missionary families live in the neighborhood as well. This has proven to be a great help with Kenneth being gone, for peace of mind and things like stuck patio doors. Thanks for those of you who prayed us into this neighborhood!
Kenneth: He is in NH staying with my Dad and waiting for his appointment to get his interview. He is studying for the Civics test and passing better than I would I'm sure. We talk daily, numerous times, thanks to the miracle of modern technology. (Normally I say that Satan lives in tech, but this is definitely a God thing.)
License: A ridiculously easy test. Apparently I could have asked the proctors for help and they would have given me the answers. That would have been helpful when I had to answer some questions about the parts of the car. I don't need to know what the "neumaticos" or "suspension" or anything else are - I have a husband and a mechanic. Thankfully the No U Turn sign came up 2 out of 25 questions. I had to drive around this little course which was nothing like the Mario Kart driving that we do every day here. Admittedly I did fail the parallel parking - but all of us drivers know you don't really have to do that, you could just go back to the store another time and find a different parking space. In my defense though I had brought Ken's small car to be able to pass that part and they made me borrow their stick shift pick up truck instead. I have NEVER driven a pick up and it turns out its not really the same as my automatic van. The poor guy had pity on me and didn't make me try to park again after I landed it in the dirt. He did make me drive backwards in a snake pattern through the cones - because that is something I might actually need to do in real life.
Music Camp: I am so proud of my older girls! They have been getting up every morning this week and making breakfast for the small team that is staying with us. I am not a morning person, so this has been beyond helpful to me. The fact that they are doing it together is amazing also, since it seems they spend most of their time bickering these days.
I have been working hard to do the shopping for the team, and prepare my workshops that I am presenting to the staff. Today I am teaching about multiple intelligences and learning styles - sum that up in an hour. Tomorrow I am presenting on how to make music theory fun. Last night I found out that the Guatemalan staffer who was supposed to be preparing the music theory classes wants me to just do it. So, please be praying for all those things. It turns out it is not easy to get work done here while the children are awake, so my presentation that I am giving in six hours still isn't done. (Those of you who knew me in college will not be at all surprised by this fact, but I swear I have changed since then and don't normally wait this long...I swear.)
Next week the older girls will be headed to Camp Guamiski ( an overnight camp for GUAtemalan MISsionary KIds) and Sara and I will most likely be headed to Music Camp to teach theory classes and translate. Well, I'll be doing the work - Sara will most likely turn into the camp mascot and offer to have everyone come to our room for a sleepover.
Will post more after all this craziness is done - just really wanted to let you all know what was going on down here on our "vacation."
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