New car!

So those of you that read my previous blog about our recent challenges remember that I mentioned that our car was having problems. We have had it in the shop at least four times in the last six months with problems that just don't seem to want to be fixed (other people have complained about similar problems with the same model car on the Internet that they have tried fixing in multiple ways). After much debate and discussion, Jason and I finally decided that it was time to get a new car!The 1997 Plymouth Voyager that we sold had been in the family for ten years or so. My parents got it when I was a teenager, slightly used. It had served them well, and we had talked to them a couple years ago about possibly eventually buying it from them. We didn't have the money at the time, but could desperately use a second car because it was around the same time that we were finding out about Gavin's hearing problems and we had lots of doctor, audiology, and therapy visits to go to. So magically (more miraculously), some anonymous benefactor had talked to my parents and bought the car from them to give to me on my 25th birthday! We still don't know to this day who was so extremely generous and could have not only afforded such an extravagant gift, but also wanted to give it to us! But we have been truly grateful ever since!

Unfortunately, right around the time it hit 100,000 miles, it started going downhill--which lead to the need to replace it. It was quite the new experience for us. We have owned three different cars in our marriage (other than this new purchase) and every single one we got through family. Neither of us had ever even gone on a "test drive" before at a car dealers. But we went on MANY this last Labor Day weekend as we visited 5 different dealers to try to find the right car. And here it is: a 2002 Toyota Sienna with only 63,000 miles on it. It has some fun features like an automatic sliding door, CD player, and remote lock (most of those probably sound like standard features, but they are advantages for us!). We could have gotten even more if we had gone with a Honda Odyssey we were looking at, but we decided to be more practical and get the more affordable car. We love it! And if it performs like Consumer Reports says it should, then it could last us another 100,000 miles or more. Hurray!