Mini-van Mom? Really??

We flew to Texas this year because our car is so old and almost dead that we didn't want to risk driving it across the country with a baby! That would have accounted for 2 very worried grandma's and an anxious me. So we decided that it would be better to buy a car when we got here to Texas because we needed one anyway. They are cheaper here than in Utah and you don't have to worry about all the salt corrosion. Kelvin was laughing and teasing me about us getting a van. I told him there was no way we would get a minivan! He kept laughing and trying to convince me otherwise but I refused to budge! That is until a few very good points were brought up. I then started to change my mind about having a minivan.

1. It is great for road trips. Having a baby and doing a long road trip would get quite frustrating if I ended up spending the entire trip in the back seat keeping her company, feeding her, etc. But with a minivan, I can climb in the back seat and take care of her needs and then when she is ok, move back up to the front seat with Kelvin. This will be really nice as there are a lot of road trips coming up with family both in Utah and Texas and plane tickets getting more and more expensive.

2. It can move a lot of stuff. As you probably know, we are pretty transient and will be until Kelvin graduates from school. With all the moving, it would be nice to be able to move a lot more than one small car load.

3. It carries 7 people. We went on a double date with a friend and borrowed my mom's minivan because we thought it might be a little awkward for them to ride in the car with Lydia in between them. This still allows us to have a social life with our friends while still being comfortable in the vehicle.

4. They get better gas mileage than SUV's

5. It is a good step when thinking about the long run. Our family will probably continue to grow and we thought it would be a good idea to buy something that will allow our family to grow into. We plan on keeping the car for about 5 years at least so when we look ahead, this is a smart move.

If you haven't guessed by now, we bought a minivan! We actually got a really good deal on it. It is a 2001 Chrysler Town and Country and has been upgraded in almost every way! We pulled a car fax on it and found out that we are the 2nd owners of the vehicle which say's a lot and also that the warranty just ran out which also says that they took care of the car if they had as good of a warranty they put on it. We looked at a lot of vans and even thought a lot about a Toyota Sienna. But when we prayed about it, we didn't feel totally comfortable with the Sienna and felt good about this van. It does have more miles on it than the Sienna, but like I said, after we prayed about it, we knew this was the best car for us. It has leather seats, automatic door openers, 4 disc CD changer, all the bells and whistles! I wasn't too impressed with all that, I just wanted to make sure it was well maintained. We had Kelvin's dad check it out and he thought it looked and ran really good. All the fluids were clean and the entire inside of the car is in excellent condition. So while I know we will be made fun of for owning a van, we are very happy with our purchase and still feel like we made the right decision. Plus, if we want to, we can use it all summer and then sell it in Utah for the same money we paid.