Yesterday Sentayehu became a US citizen. It was adotion finalization day for her in Suffolk County Family Court. For those who do not know I will explain. Although the adoption in Ethiopia was full and final, the visa that she came into the US with did not make her a US citizen. It made her a resident. In order to become a citizen she needed to have paperwork filed with the courts here so we did that yesterday. I was a bit (to say the least) stressed because there is a tax credit for adoptions that is due to expire in 2009. There is a possibility that it will be renewed for 2o10, but not a guarantee so I was very pleased when I found out on Wednesday evening that it was a go for Friday the 18th of December. The court clerk said that it was the only date possible before the New Year. I was having camera issues so I had to use my cell phone to take the picture. I hope you like it. The stuffed snowman was a gift from the court!
I dressed Taye up with her PJ's as the first layer, fleece lined nylon sweats as second bottom layer, a thermal shirt, hoodie sweatshirt, winter coat, mittens carefully placed between layers so they coudl not be yanked off, three pairs of socks pulled up over PJ's and a pair of shoes 1 1/2 sizes too big + one hat with velcro. 
