A Forever Family at Last!

What a wonderful day! Our appointment at the US Embassy was this morning and everything went well! Gabriela was approved for a US Visa and will automatically become a US Citizen when we go through customs in Houston on Thursday. The Embassy experience was interesting to say the least. We waited for 4 hours with some other adopting families and Guatemalans awaiting visas as well. They were pretty inefficient, but don't get me started on our government :-) The important thing is that she is well on her way home and her adoption has officially been finalized by the US Government!

We got back to Guatemala City yesterday from Antigua. We went to Gabriela's doctor's appoinement yesterday afternoon. She weighed in at a hefty 18 lbs. 5 oz. We saw the same doctor that diagnosed Gabriela's hip dysplasia when we visited. He said that it felt normal now and that is the news we wanted to hear! Looks like the brace was successful! We will keep her in the brace until we see the pediatric orthopedist in Denver next Wednesday. We hope he has the same opinion and she can ko the brace or only have to wear it at night!

Gabriela is becoming more and more vocal the longer we have her. She is probably making up for her mom and dad being so quiet! She still loves to smile and laugh and makes farting noises with her tounge at the most embarrassing times -- in church, in front of the doctor, and at the Embassy. We think she is becoming quite the ham and will do anything to get people's attention. She also loves to play peek-a-boo as well. Fun stuff!

Here are some more pictures from Antigua. It was such a beautiful city and we really enjoyed the time we spent there and the people we met. We will definitely return in the future -- maybe when we don't have to carry an 18 pounder everywhere we go! ;-)

Arco de Santo Catalina

We will celebrate Gabriela's Adoption Day on March 25th every year. These are some of the gifts we bought at the incredible Artesian's Market in Antigua. Everything was so beautiful and it was fun to practice my Spanish interacting with the shopkeepers.

Ingelsia Nuestro Senora de la Merced

We have another day to relax in Guatemala City and then it is home! We can't wait for Gabriela to meet all of our wonderful friends and family.

Love,
Joe, Tara, & Gabi