He's here! He's here!!

Mike, our 21 year-old youngest son, arrived "home" on Wednesday night, after completing his two-year mission in the England London South Mission.  No one in the family is in Raleigh, so the Church returned him to us... in Bogotá!

It was pretty cool, having all three of us with name tags!

Upon returning home, missionaries are interviewed by the local Church leader over the area, and "released" from being a full-time missionary.  Since we're about 6,000 miles from North Carolina, this was accomplished thanks to Skype, a new method for a release.

So, what do you do when you get home from your mission?  You buy banana leaves and make tamales.  Duh!

 So, anything else?  Well, you can take the cable tram up to the top of Montserrate, to the old cathedral, which has been updated with great lights, as all old cathedral should be.

 The view from the top is spectacular.

And, you don't have to go very far, like a couple of streets from the apartment, to find some mountains to ascend,

also with a great view of the city.

You've got to catch up with friends online!

And play guitars with the Bishop and his family!

Yesterday morning, we packed up and taxied to the rental car place, only to find that they weren't open because someone had wrecked one of their cars, and we'd have to go to another rental place, and...

Anyway, we finally got out of Bogotá and headed south, descending through the mountains to warmer environs.

 Today we're in Ibagué, a beautiful city in the foothills of the big Andes, with what can only be described as a perfect climate. 

 Mike got to swim for the first time in two years! 

 And loved it!

Hot-tubbing is also on the "thou shalt not" list for missionaries.  But not when they get "home!"

Those smiles are not faked.

After another swim this morning, we're heading up over "La Linea," the route for most commerce heading from the Pacific port of Buenaventura to the interior, and which tops out at about 10,000 feet crossing a branch of the Andes.
We hope your "home" is as interesting as ours for the next while, and that your kids are also doing well.
Dave & Paula