Last day approaching!

This is Aunt Rebecca again, just checking in with a quick update.  The kids continue to be wonderful.  They are already picking up quite a bit of English and teaching us some Amharic.  I'll confess that my brain is on overload and I don't remember many words.  My favorite word so far is cha-cha-ta (no idea how it's really spelled, but that's the pronunciation).  It means loud.  I think it's a very evocative word and have used it quite a bit to describe my lovely sister.

The only logistical things we have left to do are pick up the kids' visas at the German Embassy and get to the airport on time.  I don't foresee any problems with either of those, although the German Embassy has turned out to be quite a nightmare.  If you are in the midst of the adoption process and are planning your travel, be warned:  avoid Lufthansa.  We've had plenty of trouble with them already, and getting German visas for the kids has been icky icing on a soggy cake.  And this is all just to change planes in the Frankfurt airport.  What a pain.  We just talked with a couple who flew in on Ethiopian Air today.  They were quite impressed with them.  They had individual TV monitors, plenty of room to stretch out, and no problems with missed connections (though I'm sure that can happen on any airline).

We've had a wonderful time here.  I think we're all sad to be leaving so soon and happy to be going home.  It's been a wonderful journey, and I'm sure Brooke will tell you more about it as soon as she has a spare moment.  Which should be...  about never, by my calculations.  I told her she should write a book called "Six Kids, One Remote," but she doesn't think she'll have time for that somehow.

Lots of love to everyone from all of us here!