Our New Addition

We bought a new van!! It is very much like the van we purchased in Houston before seminary but about 2 years newer.

Here Tyler and the kids were washing it up and getting ready to wax it up right.

I'm not sure I told you all the stories about our previous van. It was a Chrysler and it served our family beautifully for just under 5 years. Maybe I should caveat that: it served our family for nearly 5 years; it served us beautifully for a little over 4 years.
There was the worn out rear strut that plagued us for a while (finding an appropriately-sized replacement for under $300 proved very difficult). Then there was the wheel that fell off in the middle of our big move to Albert City. And then there was the time I got rear-ended in the middle of a blizzard. That last one was more on me than the van but it did result in the back hatch being bashed in. It still worked (once Tyler drilled a hole which allowed us to unlatch it with screw driver) but since all the weather-proofing and sound-deadening had been compromised, there was a ton of road noise. All-in-all, it wasn't all that comfortable to travel in for the last 9 months of it's time with us.

This van, on the other had, is very, very comfortable. It is super quiet, the kids all have a bit more space, and the seats are right down magical!

Our first ride in the new van! Check out our very happy crew.  Notice how Albert got promoted to a "big boy" seat. Pretty exciting. Here's to many years filled with adventures with our newest addition!!