I got pulled over while driving the van one morning :(
The policeman told me my tail light was out. Huh. I had no idea. I told him I had an appointment in the next couple of days to get the emission inspections, as it had just expired. I told him everything seemed to be going at once. He stepped back and looked at it and said, "Yeah. I'll just let you go on your way, good luck." Oh dear...
We dropped it at our car repair place and were told there is thousands of dollars of work needed to get it to pass. Whaaa??? The van has been the most trusty car! It always starts right up and has taken our family all over from school, work, errands, young women activities and friends and many family vacations. We bought it used when I was a week away from delivering Paisley. Seventeen years later and it has been such a blessing and the perfect, reliable car while raising our family. Lately there are strange sounds and it has stalled on me once or twice, but starts right back up. I keep wondering when it will die for good??? Will I be on the freeway? At a stop light with everyone honking at me? A drive-through? Will we have to get it towed? When will it fail us? We joke with Adren that we'll be picking him up from the airport in it! Well, after this recent news we decided it has run it's course, we will not be putting money into it. It does seem like this past year especially it is literally falling apart before our eyes. Like the trunk button just detached and went up into the interior roof somewhere, the passenger window stopped rolling down, the reverse beeper stopped sounding, the keys drop out of the ignition while driving - but it doesn't shut off the car, sooo... there's a short in the display panel so it doesn't show the miles (I'm real curious where we're at, though!) and the gas gauge just shows a few lines where the gas level is at etc. etc. etc.... but it keeps starting up and running! Surprisingly, when we went to pick it up after hours at the car place, it wouldn't start. The next day I went with Paisley and had the guys jump it for me, and Paisley drove it home while I followed her. She turned it off on the driveway (oops!) before we could pull it into the garage and it wouldn't start again. Jon figured it was the battery and replaced it, but it still wouldn't start. That night Eli had some friends over so Jon took advantage of the extra muscle and had the boys help push it into the garage.
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| I just had to get a picture because every single one is wearing J'nco jeans. You are looking at $1500+ worth of denim, people. Cute kids! |
The van is officially dead. It died on our driveway. What a good, loyal car. It's like it knew. I am now driving the jeep around, and Jon drives his work truck. Jon loves his jeep so much, I'm betting it won't be long until we purchase a new car for me.
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| Years ago when I realized our Saturn could not fit three car seats in the back seat and close the doors, I spent a lot of time researching and searching minivans. I found this Nissan Quest at a dealership in SLC. It fit our price range and I felt good about it. Little did I know it would serve us for the next seventeen years! |
More cozy Christmas scenes at home:
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| Paisley... |
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| I'm loving the new faux tree. I went overboard with the lights and it is so cheery! Glitter, bows, painted ornaments, all the old standbys plus some new. It is always a different variety each year, isn't it? It is a good assortment this year! |
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| Eli... |
We always do a Christmas gather with the CRU. We swap gifts and bring treats. I usually give everyone a gift on my birthday and skip the Christmas gifts because it is too busy for me to add one more thing during the season. But this year I had the capacity and enjoyed putting my gift together so much. I ordered cute white boxes and poured homemade fudge into them. I found the most gorgeous ribbons in terracotta and dusty rose to tie them up. I added evergreen twigs and a beautiful brass bell. I also tucked in my most favorite tinted lip moisturizer that in my opinion, looks great on everyone. Just a hint of color with one swipe, darker the more you swipe. I also tucked in our family Christmas card.
Here's the lovely spread at Mary's house: Scented homemade rice bags from Kelly, homemade candles from Mindy, ornaments catered to each of our personalities from Diana, spices from Elizabeth, potpourri from Mary, a favorite kitchen spatula from Debra. I sure love these ladies!
December is the busiest season at work. We hosted 12 trips between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Everyone wants to go down with their families and serve in the orphanages during the holidays. With trip prep and donor gifts to mail out on top of everything else, I learned last year to be better prepared. I did a lot better this year- mainly making sure my personal Christmas is taken care of. Like I suspected, a lot of stuff came up last minute. It was a lot, but it all got done and went great. I love Christmas at ACHF!