Obtaining an American Visa

As most of you know I am pregnant. We are very exicted as we wait for the arrival of our little Evie. We have done preperation after preperation and there is still more that needs to be done. It's a joyous time. Each day I feel the kicks in my stomach and everyday I get bigger and bigger. There is one thing though that isn't right. Enzo's family is not legally allowed to come visit.
Yes, you heard what I said...VISIT. Most Americans have no idea what is going on in the world of immigration. Most Americans don't care. If you do care, you can keep reading...
When Enzo entered the country, all he could obtain was a fiance visa. We knew we wanted to get married so we knew this is what had to be done. We dated long distance for 3 years and finally we felt that enough was enough. So you might be asking, why could he not obtain a tourist visa??? There is simple answer to this question...he didn't have money while living in Brazil. The US government refers to this as proving that he has "ties back to Brazil." What exactly are "ties back to Brazil?" It is simply showing that if he is given a tourist visa he will return back to his native country of Brazil. A "tie" could be money in bank account, owning land, job, real estate, cars, etc... Of course being a college student at the time, living with his mom in a rented house, and other things led him down the path of visa denials. It is fair to say that some people that are in the same conditions that Enzo was in get student visas, work visas, etc. without being questioned and without having their papers looked at during the 30-second interview... the law is relative...We could have used this as Enzo's excuse to enter the country but this would have been a lie. All we wanted was for him to enter the country and see American life before we committed our lives to each other (trying to be responsible). We had no intentions on getting married while he was here on a tourist visa.
He tried twice and both times the US consulates wouldn't even let him speak during the interview besides answering 2 or 3 canned questions that were already answered on the form he turned in... They just stamped in the passport "DENIED" and turned their backs on him.
Once he finally went in for his Fiance visa interview the US consulate accused him of lying. Yes I said it: LYING. He said that when he went in for the tourist interview he never told the truth about having an American girlfriend. Well first off, they don't even let him speak during the interview and second of all we had no intentions of getting married while he was here on a tourist visa. We planned to obey the law. Our plan was for Enzo to enter the country and stay during his allowed time, get to know my family and some parts of the country (doing tourism!?) and then return to his country of Brazil. He had other American friends too besides me as well.
We are done with this phase in our life...thank God. It was a terrible time and no one deserves to go through what we did (unfortunately others have had to). We strive not to be bitter because in the end that would ruin us. It is just a reminder to me of all we went through whenever Enzo's family attempts to get a visa and is denied because they have no worldly wealth. However, they are wealthy in another area: they have the gift of integrity. No one has the ability to take this away. No one can deny them of this.

I live in an area where illegals are building houses, working in restaurants, attending public schools, so on and so forth. I will admit; it is frustrating to know we had to do it legally while they are rewarded for doing it illegally. Crazy as it may sound, some are from Enzo's old neighborhood. They were never struggling for survival and they never had to jump the fence at the mexican border. In fact, they had enough wealth to be granted tourist visas but decided to overstay. I am sure there are those that have though. When will this country wake up to the devastaing effects of its messed up immigration system? When will the undocumented immigrants wake up and realize they are just as much to blame as the American government? In a nutshell: The more the US government tightens it's immigration laws, the more illegal immigrants will enter BUT the more illegal immigrants that enter America, the more the US government has to tighten it's laws. It is a never ending effect.

All we want is a chance for Enzo's family, especially his mom who's in old age, to come see us and the baby and get to know Paige's family, where Enzo now lives...Is this really too much to ask for? For a country that claims "FAMILY FIRST" shouldn't this be priority?

Seriously, let Sean be with his REAL dad!!!

http://bringseanhome.org/piaui.html
This story may take a little while to read but it will help you understand what the status is on bringing Sean home. Please read.

I guess this story is really disturbing me because I know the pains of dealing with immigration. I also undestand what it is like to be separated from someone because of ridiculous government standards or illegal activity that has not been committed by the one getting punished.

15 more weeks:)

This Thursday I turned a whopping 25 weeks pregnant. It's going to by really fast. I still forget that I am pregnant all the time. I wonder when that will end. Wednesday I went to the doctor. I had the yummy glucose test...seriously it wasn't that bad. I had fruit punch:) Now let's pray I don't have gestational diabetes.
The doc said everything looked great. My appointments are now 2 weeks apart instead of 4 weeks. I heard her heartbeat and it was at a beautiful rate of 140.

Enzo has been out of town (again in California). I am so glad he doesn't travel as much as he used to. It's not right to be apart from your husband. I don't think God created us to do that.

One more week till Thanksgiving break! I need it more than ever. I have a lot planned during this time..for example...I plan on sleeping late, drinking coffee (decaf of course), sitting on facebook, making hot chocolate for Enzo as he works from home, and again sleep some more. It is going to be a grand week.

Baby Eliot

This story was on Oprah and Celine Dion presented it with The Miracle Children. Grab a box of tissues. You may never look at the world the same.
It's funny because God normally only gets glory when things go right. If something good happens it easy to say all glory goes to God. But what do you do when something bad happens? Baby Eliot and his parents have been through a difficult time but still manage to give God all the glory. I don't know many people who would have this kind of attitude. I really wish I was friends with them. They look like amazing people.

Lins E Silva kidnapping Sean..when is Oprah going to get on this?

Here is a link to a news article on the newest happenings regarding Bring Sean Home. It's completely wrong what is happening with this child. Please contact anyone you know that can help.
http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008810300533