The conclusion..... It has been a great ride. An unforgettable experience that will fill our minds with great memories and our hearts with new friends. We have been inspired by wonderful places filled with nature and cities filled with art and history and culture.We have grown closer as a family. The boys have learned so many new things. They have opened a door for learning. They now all have the desire to learn foreign languages and I think history will be more interesting to them from now on. They learned about people, and how to respect different cultures. They have seen firsthand the safety, love and warmth we can have with Jehovahs people anywhere on earth. They have made friends young and old and cherish them equally. They have learned how to travel and be street smart avoiding thieves but not letting them stop us from coming. Cole has been released from a genetic disposition of fear of trains, boats and planes. I hope that he will never let fear of some imagined danger stop him from enjoying life to the fullest. We have all learned how to save money both before and during a trip. How to spend it in all the right places and have no regrets. Many valuable lessons I hope to take home with me. Yarmo who I love to sit and listen to his kind words of wisdom told me " sometimes when you travel you see that there is the way of thinking that you have thought to be right and sometimes you see that there is also a different way and sometimes that way is better" This is so wise and so true, and some people get so stuck in there way of seeing things and doing things that they really believe its the only way. Even worse they may look down on someone who thinks or does different. What a shame. Life can open so many doors to new and better thinking. A few habits I hope to adopt. Clothes dryers are wasteful when the weather is good especially. We survived two months without using one. It was actually relaxing to hang the clothes and collect them after the sun had dried them without charge. europeans if they have a dryer ,refrain from using it because its expensive. It is for us too. propane is a huge expense. Americans have just become to lazy to use a clothes line. Food habits are different also. I admit I am a bit of a food hoarder. I have often bought things just because they are on sale and they sit in my cabinet and collect dust. It was so rewarding to buy enough food for a day or so, eat every last bit, then buy more. No more fake food either, we ate liberally of bread and cheese and natural meats and felt very healthy and good. For two months I never once thought about what I was eating and what effect it would have on my waste. It was liberating. The result is that iether I have not grown in size or I have had to much fun to care.( although I have to admit I have been concerned about the health of my liver a time or two) It makes me wonder what all this unnecessary worrying does to your metabolism. This may be the hardest thing to adopt but I will try. I vow to live simply and am looking forward to another purge of unnecessary clutter. I really suck at painting but I found time for it while traveling and loved it and I want to keep making time for creative relaxing parts of my life. I mostly learned from watching other people. We had the great privilege of being invited into the lives of really amazing families, and I loved seeing how kind and soft they spoke to each other. Never let the reserved nature of a swedish person fool you. I think they are some of the most fun loving people on earth. I theorize that because of such long and dark winters that they have it in their blood to seize the best moments of every day, and when the sun comes up they relish every second of it ,living life to the fullest extent possible. So much I want to bring home. So as we end this journey, I am thankful. Very, very thankful. I have to give all the credit to jimmie who accomplishes every thing he sets out to do. I would have never thought we could do this, but he never lets my skepticism dull his ambitions. I have had an amazing time and am ready to come home and suck the joy out of every day the way a bee gets every last drop of nectar. It may have been obvious to stop and smell all the flowers and notice every sunset and stay up late every night when your traveling because that is what you expect to do. But why stop now? It takes six weeks to create a new habit and we have had more than that. So if I can bring home this zest for life I am bringing home the most valuable souvenir ever.