Home at last!

Hi all!

We finally made it home on Thursday night!

Our week in Bogota was busy but good. We went to the embassy Monday morning and applied for Gabriela's visa. We were told to pick it up Tuesday afternoon at 3:30. We were on the other side of Bogota on Tuesday afternoon having lunch with an aunt and uncle and left at 2:30 so we'd have "plenty of time." We should have known better! First, we got stuck in a traffic jam that didn't move for almost 30 minutes, which we found out on the evening news was caused by a bus that was hanging half-suspended over a canal. Then, just as we turned off to take a detour, we were informed by a passerby that we had a flat tire. Miraculously, we were literally feet from the entrance to a car repair shop, and they happened to have an empty bay, and they had us in and out of there in 15 minutes. While we were having the tire changed I called the embassy and was told that we had until 4:00 and then the gates would be closed. At a couple of minutes to 4:00 we were just a few blocks out so I called again and was told to hurry up and they would let me in. I literally had to sprint up to the embassy gate - it was just like the scene in the movie "The Saint." Except nobody was chasing me. And I wasn't screaming "I'm an American!" But otherwise, it was just like that scene! Anyway, when I got to the gate the guard initially refused to let me in because it was 4:02. I had to explain in broken spanish that I had just talked to Marcela and she said I could come in! He finally let me in and I left with Gabriela's visa in hand.

The trip home was long but Gabriela was a trooper. On the first leg of the trip (Bogota to Miami) she hammed it up for most of the trip and then slept for about an hour. We had grand plans to feed her, change her diaper, re-stock the diaper bag, eat lunch, and relax a bit during our layover of three hours. Instead, we spent most of it in a Homeland Security "inspection room." Daniel always raises flags when we travel, but this was absurd. When we asked them when we'd be able to leave we were told "not until we get the call back from Washington." No kidding! When they finally "released" him, we had less than an hour to make our connection and we still had to get our bags, go through customs, re-check our bags, go through security, and get to our gate. We were running through the airport with four large suitcases, four carry-ons, and one 9-month-old child. Gabby was literally tucked under my arm at one point as we RAN through the terminal to our gate. We made it just in time. When we explained to the gentleman seated in our row what had happened, and that Gabby hadn't eaten or had her diaper changed for several hours, he wisely chose to relocate to an empty seat in another row. Surprisingly, though, she settled right down, ate a bottle, and slept on me for almost the entire 4 hour flight.

Ah, home sweet home! We arrived home to balloons, a big "Welcome Home Rojas Family" sign, a stocked fridge, a frame of some of our favorite pictures of Gabby, and, best of all, my sister and her husband had hand-painted the walls of Gabby's room to match her bedding. I will post pictures of that soon - it looks awesome! Thanks to everyone!

And now, a few photos!

Love,
Leslie, Daniel, and Gabriela