First tournament

The boys are really enjoying playing soccer here; they are both on classic teams now. Melaku played in his first soccer tournament this past weekend, in Fayetteville. The team played well, but didn't make it to the finals -- they lost the first game 3-1, then tied 2-2 and 0-0. Melaku scored both goals in the second game. :)

Z's team was supposed to play at the tournament too, but their fields got rained out. They did get to play in a scrimmage with another rained-out team on Saturday here, and they won that game.

So, we enter the travel soccer world, with a bit of trepidation...

Jammie!

The boys got to meet Darren's mom (Jammie to her grandkids) for the first time last week, and it was a special time. They gave her a little concert too -- Trevor and Alex played some, Z played and sang "You Are My Sunshine," and Melaku sang his favorite song, "Baby Baby" by Justin Bieber, while Alex played and Trevor rapped. :)

Oath of Allegiance

Because he's over 14 (the "age of understanding" according to U.S. Immigration, I guess), Z was required to go to the Immigration office in Charlotte today to swear an oath of allegiance to the United States before he could receive his Certificate of Citizenship. He officially became a citizen when our plane touched down back in July; he just didn't receive the certificate.

This is the oath he had to swear:

I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.

I thought it was interesting that they use such difficult words, when this is an oath that usually non-native English speakers have to say to become a citizen. I asked the officer about it; she said yes, it's hard for most people. She said they had a Chinese guy there today that didn't speak any English, and they had to have him repeat it one word at a time (with no understanding, obviously).

Anyway, yay Z!