GREEN CARD

Finally. After more than a year and a half of stress and uncertainty, Naomi has her green card! What a terrible process. Big relief to have it out of the way. We all went to Amsterdam for her interview at the consulate, which only ended up taking about six minutes. She already got her passport back with a visa in it allowing her to enter the US, and her physical green card will be sent later on. 

While in Amsterdam, we got to visit the Rijksmuseum and saw a collection of old guns. The girls found this much more interesting than the paintings. Susan was able to meet us there and then we all went to have lunch with Ron and Edith for their birthdays. Susan just happened to be meeting someone else at the same cafe. What are the chances? 

Ron and Edith left to pack up for their trip to Israel. Edith couldn't find her passport, but luckily they could arrange for an emergency passport just in time. Susan joined us for a visit to the Stedelijk museum and then we stopped at the French bakery on the way home. After dinner we met with our housing inspector and our realtor to finalize our bid for the house. 

On Thursday night we found out that we didn't get the house. There were six other offers, and the sellers chose a lower cash offer. Very disappointing. I had trouble sleeping. Hopefully the market will pick up as the snow melts, and we can find another option. 

On Friday Claire and Matt arrived! They will stay at the Bosrand for 10 days. Claire picked up a bit of a cold, so hopefully she is feeling better today. On Thursday Amélie gave her first presentation at school. All about plastic - her choice. Abigail's is this coming week. No surprise...she chose seals. Yesterday Abigail played an April Fool's joke on Naomi. I helped her climb up on the roof and she started talking to Mommy through the vent that goes to the kitchen stove. Naomi was confused and Abigail loved it! Amélie also took part in an orchestra concert last night. Jan and Heleen came along with Claire and Matt. It was a late night!

The book of paperwork Naomi had to assemble for her interview.

The consulate! 

We were having more fun than Mommy. Found the smallest and biggest guns.

Museum fun with Susan.

Celebrating the green card.

The passport came back quickly!

An idea to make a boring house more interesting.

Amélie's first concert!