The Countdown Begins

Today is July 17.  If all goes as planned, we will all be on a plane to Belgium one month from today.

We are in the process of selling our blue minivan.  Buster is having a hard time letting it go.  We've had that car his whole life.  I hope he gets better at coping with change.

I tried to get him to smile for one last picture

with the blue van.  He wouldn't.  Abel did!

Yesterday Ben scheduled our appointment with the Belgian Consulate in Los Angeles for us to apply for our visas.  Today I booked flights and a rental car for our whirlwind trip there and back in one day.

We got almost all the clothes clean yesterday, so today the kids separated their clothes.  We put them in either their suitcase or a box to store.  Next they'll pick a few select toys and books, so we can pack everything else.  Yikes!  This is getting all the more real every day.

New Van!

We did it! We found a new vehicle for our family.
Short story:
It's a 1996 Ford E-350 12-passenger with just a few miles on it. A little more than we need, but lots of people and/or cargo space. Well maintained, and in great shape for its age.

Long story:
We had decided that if we had to get a new vehicle anyway, it would be nice if it would hold our whole family (7 as of this coming November) plus at least one more in case we needed to take a friend with us. It's amazing how many 8 passenger vehicles there are not. Lots of them are Toyotas and Hondas, which, while wonderfully reliable, are out of our price range--way out! (Sorry, Cripple Chicken.) Anyway, after lots of looking, we realized we were to big vans or SUVs. Ben has very fond memories of the Ford van they had growing up. We also realized that most Ford vans available are conversion vans--with the oh-so-coveted captains chairs that reduce seating from 8 to 7! I'd rather have another Dodge Caravan. We also found a lot of 15-passenger vans, which would be just a little much. We found an awesome Diesel 15-passenger Ford van for only $4,000--not including the minimum $1,000 required to bring the interior to a state in which we would feel like we could put our children in it. We decided 12-passenger would be ideal--plenty of room for people, and we could even remove the back seat for tons of cargo space if necessary and still have room for our family. They also tow just about anything.

We found this van a week ago, and after much contemplating and prayer decided it was right for us. It's not new--it's 1996! The interior, exterior, and working parts are all in fabulous condition for its age and mileage. Is it perfect? No. Would I rather have a newer car? Sure--but I don't want the payments. We plan to fix up (if we can cheap) the Chrysler and the Vanagon. We will save up, and hopefully by the time the Green Beast dies, we will be able to afford something a little newer and nicer the next time around.

I love the power the engine has, and the kids love the space. They can practically each have their own bench at this point! I also love the color. So, thanks to the great family who sold it to us (my dad has heard stories about piling everyone into this thing for football games--he went to high school with the original owner). Here's hoping we get a lot more miles out of this baby!

Smith Reunion

We left last Wednesday morning for the Smith Family Reunion in Oregon and Washington. We had a lot of fun!

We spent 2 nights at cabins at Emigrant Springs in Oregon. They were very basic, but they were clean and comfortable. The cousins had a lovely time running around in the woods and picking as many huckleberries as they could eat!

Buster "playing tennis" with his uncles

On Friday, we drove a little more to stay 2 nights at my brother's house in Kennewick, Washington. We spent one afternoon at an aquatic center and the next at a small lake/pond that's part of the Columbia River.

Ben and Buster at the Hermiston Aquatic Center

Kandy and Buster at the pond

Missy

Sunny found tons of tiny shells!

Because of our car troubles, we rented a minivan for the trip. It was nice to have automatic sliding doors and stowing space! I'm amazed how much stuff we fit into that van. Upon arriving home, we unloaded the van as fast as possible to return it to the rental location. Ben turned on our blue van to follow me there. The starter did start, but it kept going! It burned up (the motor--not the van). We were planning on getting rid of it anyway. It was kind of annoying, but more of an "oh, well" experience. The most annoying part is that rather than having a less-than-perfect car for a couple of weeks while finding a new car, we have no family car while looking.