So close, I can taste it

Well, as I posted earlier, L's visa was approved this morning and we are coming home Friday.

This morning we had to arise fairly early to get to the US EMbassy by 7:15. Mind you, our hotel is one block away. So it wasn't so bad.

Last night we hit a rough patch when L awoke around 11 p.m. I tried to get her back to sleep for about and hour, and then Glenn took over with her bottle. I think she fell asleep about 12:30 a.m.

It was SO NICE to have Glenn take over. I fell asleep and actually slept soundly straight until a little after 5 a.m. Not a ton of sleep, but the most restful I've had in a long time.

We got ourselves out the door and to the Embassy. There were only three other adoptive families there. (Yesterday, there were about five).

The entire process at the Embassy took about 2 hours, most of it just waiting. The two interviews we went through -- on with Homeland Security, the other with the State Department -- were brief.

L did great. There were a lot of Guatemalan citizens there getting their visas to come to the US. It was crowded, but she did really well with the waiting. There was a lot of walking around in a big circle and playing at the windows with a little boy.

Once we heard the words "your visa has been approved," said by the foreign service officer, my heart leapt! It's really happening folks.

We pick up the visa tomorrow at 3:30 p.m.

After leaving the Embassy, we ate breakfast and then decided we better book our flight for Friday instead of Saturday. Why wait one more day to come home?

Well, after about an hour on the phone with Continental (and being cut off twice), we finally made Glenn and L's plane reservations online (mine had actually been completed on the phone).

By then, we were all ready for a nap. L went down very quickly & Glenn and I got to doze a bit too.

We decided to lunch at our fave restaurant, La Boqueria. The chef/owner, Cristina, was there and she congratulated us on finally being able to take L home.

We had a big, wonderful lunch and then I had to take Glenn to Fontabella Plaza since about half my time here has been spent there ;)

L, of course, ran between the two fountains. We then hit the Gallo boutique, so Glenn could get a Gallo t-shirt.

Then I took him to Sophos for a cortado (espresso with a bit of milk). We bought a couple more books for L.

Then it was back to the hotel for some pool time, play time, and bath time. Dinner wasn't as good as last night - although the corn soup was yummo!

L was getting really drowsy at the dinner table so it wasn't long after we came back from dinner that she was asleep.

Things are just really great right now. We'll see how it all goes on the flights home, and once we are home.

Will try to post tomorrow but may not be able to post again until Sunday or Monday as I expect the transition home will be an adventure! We hope to start introducing L to the family next week.

Thanks to all for the well wishes! We could never have done this without everyone's constant support and love.