The Newest Citizen of the United States

On August 16, 2011 David, Jane and I went to the Emigrations Office in Salt Lake City for me to take the citizenship test in order for me to become a US citizen. I became a US resident on March 3, 2008 and earlier this year we decided that becoming a citizen is the next logical step. Here is what happened at the interview. I must say that I was pretty nervous that I might have the interview with some mean officer but I'm pretty sure that I got the nicest officer they got. He smiled and helped me feel at ease and he even made fun of me when he jokingly scolded me for not changing my address before I came to the interview (we recently moved from Springville to Midway).
Reading question: How many US Senators are there?
Writing question: There are 100 (one hundred) Senators.
Civics questions - you have to answer 6 questions out of 10. Since I answered the first 6 correctly I didn't have to answer all 10 :)
What is the rule of law?
How old do citizens have to be to vote for President?
What major event happened on September 11, 2001 in the United States?
What ocean is on the West coast of the United States?
Why does the flag have 13 stripes?
What is the name of the national anthem?
All the questions and their answers are provided to you in a booklet but I mostly studied them off an app we installed on my iPad.
After passing this portion of the interview, we went through most of the questions in form N - 400 that I previously filled out and submitted and the officer went sure that everything looked good there. We then went over the name that I'd like to have when I become a citizen and I signed some papers saying that the reason why I want to change my name is not because I want to escape some felony or other legal issue. My official name is going to be Dahlee Anna Johansen. I love to be called Dahlee which sounds like "Dali". My family's always called me that, even when I was in trouble :) and ever since I came to the US I told everyone that my name is Dahlee.
After we went over the section asking if I'm a terrorist or if I've ever been in jail, which I passed :) the officer signed and approved my application and then congratulated me for doing such a good job and passing the interview. In a month or two I will be sworn in during an Oath ceremony in Salt Lake and then I will officially be a citizen of the United States of America. I'm proud and excited to become a US citizen and I hope I will always represent my new country with pride and honor.

9 Months update

Jane eating her puffs

Jane, you're 9 months old. You've grown so much and are really cute. You weigh 17 lbs and are 28.5in long. What a big girl!
These last couple of months you started doing a lot of big girl things. You can say 'mama' and 'dada' or 'tata', you love to crawl everywhere, you even stand up while holding unto couches and other furniture! We think you might start walking soon. You also understand more of what your mommy and daddy tell you. You smile when mommy asks you if you're hungry. You also like to clap your hands when mommy says 'bravo' and you wave hello and bye-bye even to strangers. You do have a bit of stranger anxiety. That's when you cry if someone you don't know comes too close to you or wants to hold you. It's really cute when you turn towards mommy or daddy and hug us tight.
You still sleep in the big bed with mommy and daddy and you love it. You go to bed late, around 11pm but sleep until 9 or 10 in the morning. You still ask for a bottle around 2am and then again around 6 or 7am but you're a good girl and fall back asleep before you even finish the bottle. You take a long 2 to 3 hour nap with mommy every afternoon (mommy loves that!) and sometimes even a short one when you get too tired after crawling and being very active during the day. You still love your Similac sensitive formula but now you like to try a little bit of everything mommy and daddy eat. You also love fruits and veggies purees, especially those colored orange or yellow. Your favorite fruit is banana. Speaking of bananas, we went to Jason's Deli, a nice restaurant in Orem with your grandparents and you loved eating all of mommy's banana pudding! Grandma and grandpa thought it was so cute how you would try to reach the spoon and jump in the high chair for more that they nick-named you 'banana puddin' It was so fun to see you so excited and to see grandma and grandpa Jo love you and enjoy being with us.
Jane, we love you so much and are so excited to see you grow. You'll soon have another baby brother or sister to play with and will become a big sister. We know that you'll be a very good big sister and will help mommy and daddy take care of your little sibling.