Car for Van

We finally got our van.  It is everything I had hoped and dreamed for :)  I am so glad we held out and waited for what we wanted at the price we wanted it for. 

But before we get to the van, I want to pay tribute to my Accord.  This car did us good.  It was a 1991 Honda Accord (that is 20 years old... seriously).  We bought it for $3,500.00 - 7 years ago!  At the time we said we would be happy if it lasted us just a few years, at least until we graduated.  It did much more than that.  We had some trouble with it the first year.  It seemed something was always breaking, but after that initial first year, we have not had one problem with it since.  It passed safety and emissions every year with out a problem.  We were truly blessed and often talked about how it was our cruse of oil. (1 Kings 17:14-16)

I actually cried a little when we sold it to Carmax yesterday.  I sat in our van and watched the workers take the license plates off and put their stuff on/in it.  I thought about the person who would be buying the car and what they would think of it.  I thought about our years in the car and the evolution we had gone through in it. 

I knew the new owner would never know that this is what the car meant to me...

And how I loved looking in my rear view mirror and seeing these faces back at me.  I am pretty sentimental when it comes to this stuff and I teared up thinking about how the new owner would never fully appreciate all I had been through with this car.

But on to bigger and better... right?  This is our new van!  2008 Toyota Sienna. 

Now, let me show you my happiness.  Why I HAD to have an eight passenger.

For a little bit better view.  I wanted to put the eighth seat in and take the captain seat out.  That way the bigger boys had a pathway that they could get to their back seats with out having to go around Megan or the new baby AND since Noah still needs help buckling in and out, I don't have to go around them either.  Perfect!

Once I am out of the "all my children are in car seats and need help buckling in and out" stage we will take out the middle seat and just have the normal captain seats.  I keep the captain seat in my trunk (along with a double stroller, umbrella stroller, and a pack n' play - I am lovin' this extra space) that way we can pop it in if we want to take some friends somewhere.

I am having a hard time having the kids so far away from me.  We are all having to go through that adjustment.  I am chucking snacks and sippy cups back to the boys, sometimes they catch, sometimes they don't.  I am trying to come up with some sort of pulley system, I am thinking some string, safety pins, and a clothes pin or maybe some small basket.  We will see.