The Story of a Minivan

This is long. LOOOOOONG. 

Earlier in the year, we came up with the crazy plan of driving to Connecticut and New York this summer. One of our main worries was driving in our 2004 Toyota Sienna, which was a good minivan, but very basic and with no air conditioning in the back. The thought of driving for 3 days straight without a DVD player or A/C for the kids was quite daunting. We looked and looked and looked for a newer, nicer van. Particularly a Honda Odyssey, since we love Hondas and have always had good luck with them.

After a few weeks, we found one that had low miles, and was listed well below Blue Book. We looked up the Carfax, which was clean as a whistle, test drove it, and everything seemed to check out. About a week after buying it, it started to shake violently when I drove on the freeway. I figured it was the alignment, so I had that fixed and it seemed to improve, so we assumed it would be fine. We had no idea what we were in for. 

We set out on our road trip, and it started shaking again. It shook and shook and shook. It would get so bad that we would have to pull onto the side of the freeway, put it in park and wait for a couple of minutes, and then it seemed to reset. We did that every couple of hours. By the time we were in Nebraska, we were just praying that we would make it to Connecticut, and then we'd get the problem fixed. We also assumed that it was something minor like the rotors. Near the border of Wyoming and Nebraska, one of the wheel wells was suddenly ripped off, which sounded terrible and scared the bejeebers out of everyone. That also made the bumper come loose, so we were stressed the whole time that the bumper was going to fall off at some point. We eventually made it to CT, but we were hobbling. Nils took it to a couple of mechanics the next day, but they were giving him a major runaround. 

A couple of days after we got there, we had planned to go to NYC for the day. It's only a couple of hours away from where we were staying, so we figured the ol' van could handle a short day trip. In hindsight, this was really stupid, but we underestimated what we were dealing with, and we were determined to have all the fun we had planned on! After a couple of mini breakdowns on the side of the freeway in Queens, (and getting a nice lecture/history lesson on George Washington from a cop, who then escorted us to a safer place to break down), we made it to Manhattan. 

When our visit was done and we were trying to get out of the city, again, on the freeway- at 9:00 at night- in the ghetto, the van stopped accelerating and started to smoke. We just sat there and looked at each other. We said things like, "What are we supposed to do?" and "What are you supposed to do when you break down on the side of the freeway in Manhattan at 9:00 at night in a minivan with your four little kids?" We decided that our only option at that point was to pray. We said a prayer, and not a minute later, this guy came running across the freeway to help us. He led us to a gas station, where he and his buddies got us up and running. I will never forget that experience. It was honestly one of the craziest, most surreal moments of my life. In New York City, in a rough part of the city, to put it nicely. Sitting at a random gas station, having strangers work on my piece of crap minivan, my kids climbing all over stacks of tires, running amok, taking my little girls across the street to use the bathroom in a disgusting deli with a guy at the counter who did not look completely with it or stable. I couldn't believe it was really happening, but I felt like everything was going to be okay and that we were being watched out for. The guys working on the van were a bunch of characters, to say the least. One of them wouldn't tell us his name- he said, "Uh, my name? Well, today you can call me Abracadabra!" They were able to fix the immediate problem of the smoking and all, and assured us we would be okay to drive back to CT. 

We made it back without too much trouble, and the next day found a shop that seemed honest and like they knew what they were doing. I swear, every hour they called Nils to tell him something new they found. The transmission mount was broken, and another motor mount wasn't even screwed into place. Thus the shaking, as the motor was never secured. There was a leak in the steering column, a lug nut that was missing and the post was broken off. It needed two new front tires, and there was the the wheel well and the bumper. All of this was adding up little by little, but none of it was too expensive or difficult to fix, so we weren't too worried.

Then came the kiss of death. They had the van running, and it suddenly stalled. The timing belt had broken, which essentially ruined the engine. As it turns out, the genius we bought the van from decided to change the timing belt himself before selling it. The problem is that he didn't know what he was doing, and did it wrong. He put parts on backwards which shredded the belt. We had to have the engine rebuilt on this minivan we had purchased 5 weeks prior. Our repair costs suddenly went from $900 to $3,700, not to mention the fact that we were across the country and without a vehicle for at least a week. 

We stayed with Nils' sister and her husband, who were beyond amazing. They backtracked in NYC to come find us at that gas station and make sure we were safe. They told us we could stay at their house as long as we needed to. We had planned on going to Rochester, and they let us drive their Highlander there for 3 days. Just unbelievably cool and generous about everything. If it hadn't been for them, this trip would have been such a disaster. 

We made it back to CT from Rochester, and had to wait for 2 more days for the van to be finished. It was so frustrating. We had planned to leave for home on a Wednesday from Rochester, but had to backtrack to CT and wait until Saturday to leave. When we were finally able to head out, the van seemed to be driving a lot better and we didn't really have issues. After three days of driving home, we were in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE in Wyoming- 4 hours from home, when the speedometer started to wig out. The needle was jumping all over the place and again, the van would not accelerate. We pulled off the nearest exit, and saw that transmission fluid had leaked all over the place. It was splattered all along the side of the van, and the wheel was coated with it. I looked under the van, and the fluid was just dripping out. I called roadside assistance, who arranged a tow, but let me know that we would have to take a taxi to the shop, since a tow truck couldn't accommodate six people. This was when I started to cry. Nils called the taxi company, who cheerfully told him that they would be happy to give us a ride, for $8 a person, and $3 per mile, each way. They were 60 miles away. This was when I started to cry harder. I mean, really. How much more ridiculous can this situation get? 

We decided to bag the tow. We drove slowly to the nearest town and found a car dealership that had a shop. They topped off the transmission fluid and told us we'd be lucky to make it 10 miles down the road before the transmission went out. By this time I had stopped crying and was just angry. We called our neighbor and asked him to be on call- we might be needing a ride home from Wyoming. Thank heavens for neighbors who are willing to do that kind of crap, ya know? We were going to drive until the transmission fell out. The kids were praying in the back that we would make it home, and by the faith of our little children and driving annoyingly slow, we did. 

We have been home for a month, now. After much deliberating and praying, we have decided to keep this treasure of a minivan. So far the transmission hasn't gone out, and when it does we will get it fixed. This experience was so horrible and stressful, but there are many silver linings. We were kept safe both going to CT and coming home. We were safe in NYC. The timing belt could have broken anywhere, and we would have been stranded in that spot. It broke in the shop in Connecticut, where we had a place to stay, with family to help us out. We were able to do everything we wanted to and see everything we wanted to see. We went to Rochester and saw the Hill Cumorah Pageant, which my brother and his family were in. We had an awesome time staying with and visiting our friends Larry and Mary Ann. Our trip was a blast! 

While everything was happening, we were very aware of all of our blessings. I admit, I started to despair in Wyoming on the way home, but mama can only take so much! 

And that is the story of how a minivan gave me PTSD.

Sweet back to school story

This school year brings some changes for Addie and Aani. Addie was accepted into the A.L.L. program at the same school that Anders has been attending for the last two years. Addie really didn't seem to care one way or the other, but we've been very happy with our experience with Anders, so we decided she would do it.

We tried unsuccessfully to get Aani into the very popular Spanish Immersion program at our neighborhood school. Not long after we found out she didn't get into that program, the school down the road called me and offered her a spot in their Chinese Immersion program. After giving it some thought for a couple of weeks, we decided to go for it. Why not? Any opportunity for her to learn a new language at such a young age is great, I think. She's been excited all summer.

Last night  when we were tucking everyone in, Addie started bawling. She said she felt scared that she wouldn't have any friends, wouldn't know anything about the school and that she would miss Mommy and Daddy (???), etc. We reassured her that everything was going to be fine and she would love her new class, but she was still upset and crying. I suggested that she pray and ask Heavenly Father to help her to not feel nervous or scared, and that she would have a great first day at her new school.

This morning I took Aani to her new school, and Nils drove Anders and Addie to their school. Before they left, I asked Addie how she was feeling, and she said, "I feel better. I think my prayer helped me." Be still my heart! When they got to the school, there was a red carpet going into the front doors, with the faculty standing on either side of it, cheering and giving the kids high-fives as they walked in. It goes without saying that teachers are grossly underpaid, and Utah gets a bad rap for having under-funded schools. I must say, however, I am constantly in awe of the teachers my kids have had, and what they are able to do with the resources they do have. Teachers are miracle workers and I love them.

Addie had a great first day of school. She said her current 3rd grade teacher is in a tie with the teacher she had for both 1st and 2nd grades. That is really saying something, because she thought the world of her 1st and 2nd grade teacher. I'm so thankful that her prayer was answered and she was able to recognize it.

Aani had a fun first day, too. She has an English teacher and a Chinese teacher, so her day is split between the two. The Chinese teacher only speaks in Chinese. Aani said she was so funny. She said she had a tomato on her head during class. Can you imagine what this teacher has to do to keep the kids' attention while only speaking Chinese? Bless her.

Anders seemed to have a good day as well. His teacher is a man, which is a first for him. Anders seemed pretty impressed with everything he did prior to becoming a teacher. His classmates are mostly the same from the last 2 years, so he feels a little less enthused about starting a new school year, I think. And, since he's getting so old, school is less cool and more drool.

Ava is starting preschool in a couple of weeks. What am I going to do with myself for 4 whole childless hours a week? I'll probably do something really awesome. Like clean.

Halfway to 70

Today is Nils' 35th birthday! The following is an example of why I love him:

On Thursday, I called Nils with a small household concern. This evolved into a small honey-do list involving hanging things on walls, etc., which then evolved into, "While we're at it, why don't we just rip up both bathroom floors, paint the vanities, re-paint the walls, frame the mirrors, get new faucets, tile the floors, and put bead board up?"

So that's what we did this weekend. Friday night after we got the kids to bed, we were both scraping up the old linoleum from the bathroom floor. It was fun. I stayed up until about 3 a.m. painting the vanity out in the garage while Nils worked on tiling the bathroom floor. I had to call it around then, I was pretty delirious. Nils stayed up until 4:40 grouting the floor. We got up at 8:30 and were back at it. We worked all day on painting the vanity, painting the bathroom walls, measuring the bead board and chair rail, feeding the kids, making sure they were alive and accounted for a couple of times, etc. We got the bathroom put back together around 8:00 last night, and it looks awesome. And we did it together! It was fun and exhausting and our house was a total disaster, and the kids were orphan-like, wandering the neighborhood like little scoundrels.

Most things are fun with Nils. I love him. He's my bestie, and I love to be with him. He works hard at making me happy. If things aren't right between us, he's usually the first to acknowledge it to see what needs to change to fix it. Nils is a lot different than me in a lot of ways. He has an inherent need to be productive and creative all the time and always has a project going on. I just need a clean house and a good meal and I'm pretty happy. 

Anyway, I'm really thankful for him and the good man he is. He's so good to me, and I don't think I could have a better match. So thanks for all of that, Nilsy Nils. Happy birthday to you.

P.S. I'm sorry for not getting you a present. Maybe we can eat your cake in our new bathroom!

P.P.S. Aren't you so excited to do the other bathroom next weekend!?