Another Anderson Vacation

An Anderson family vacation wouldn't be complete if something crazy didn't happen to us. We have been through just about everything while on vacation: ER visits, loosing everything valuable that we brought, and now car issues. I'm surprised we keep wanting to go places, honestly. I think the desire to see family must be greater than our desire to stay out of trouble.

In the end our "quick stop" in Mesquite, NV for one night on our way to Phoenix turned into 2 nights and 1 & 1/2 days due to some major issues with the brakes on our car (which I won't even go into right now) and the fact that parts had to be brought in from Las Vegas. Who knew that Mesquite is a pit with very little resources? Although, being stuck in the middle of a reservation in the desert would have been much worse. We just had to keep thinking that we could have died going through the canyon without brakes, so really it wasn't so bad being stranded for a while. The biggest downer was that we only had 2 days instead of 3 to spend with our family in Arizona that we were actually going to see. 

Although it wasn't ideal, I don't think the kids even knew the difference. Haken was happy as a clam with his cousin Sydney who drove down with us. We drove Shad's brother Brent and his 2 girls down with us, packing our van to the max. We made the most of our stay (or as much as we could around Mesquite without a car) playing at the pool, hanging out in the hotel room, finding a yummy place to have dinner, and doing a LOT of walking (probably close to 10 miles I would say).

Here are a few highlights of our trip. I really wasn't great at taking pictures during this trip but here are a few:

We had to get a picture by this rock because we thought it was funny that it says "...your future is here" right in front of an abandoned hotel/casino. I guess the economy has really hit Mesquite hard.

Swimming at the hotel pool...while it was snowing in Utah

Hanging out in our room. Jack's binki became his best friend on the trip.
We did a LOT of driving and he really was a trooper.

Riding in the stroller with cousin Eve to
the ward pancake breakfast and egg hunt.

Riding bikes with cousin Eli

My brother and sister in law 's family who we came down here to see.
Shad did a mini photo shoot at the Mesa temple for them before the pageant that night.
Aren't they the cutest little family? Baby Lily is only about 3 weeks old. It was fun to hold
a tiny baby again and be reminded of how not ready I am for mine to come.

Waiting for the Mesa temple pageant to start. That was a late night.

Haken with his cousins Eli and Abi. He sure loves his cousins!

We made the most of our time in Arizona. We did some golfing, shopping, watched the temple pageant, had a baby blessing for Lily, ate yummy food, and had an Easter egg hunt (with very melty chocolate). It was nice to see family we hadn't seen in a long time. Looking back I think all the events that happened were still worth the two days that we got to spend with them. Even the 12 hour marathon drive home wasn't so bad. Hopefully next time our vacation won't turn into such an event!

Upgrade

It has finally happened! We have become a minivan family...and couldn't be happier! As we started January we realized that our main vehicle was due to be registered. Since we were already planning on buying a van this year due to the addition to come in July we decided now was as good a time as any to upgrade. So, on January 21st we sold our beloved "silver bullet" (which we purchased 5 years ago from my dad) and went in search for the perfect van.

On the 9th of February we officially became minivan owners and went from this....

To this.....

This car is already very loved due to the amount of sacrifice we went through to get it. We test drove pretty much every mini van under the sun and knew what we liked and didn't like. We got to be pretty picky, but also knew that it would be difficult to get all of the features that we wanted for the low price that we wanted. We decided not to settle and kept looking....in the meantime sharing our 1994 green Ford Taurus. Being a one car family is HARD! I hope we never have to do that again! Or at least if we do, I hope we have a more reliable vehicle that doesn't break down on our way to Logan or in people's driveways. 

Anyway....we decided to talk to a guy in town named Don who bids for cars at auctions and then fixes them up. We decided this was probably the only way we would get exactly what we wanted for the price we wanted. He bid on this 2004 Toyota Sienna XLE Limited and won it for us! We were excited because it didn't need a whole lot of work (just a side impact accident) and would have everything for a super low price. There is no way we would have gotten this deal at a dealership. 

The van was drivable and actually not in bad shape at all. It really just needed a new sliding door, some body work around the fender, and a new axle in the back. We kind of bid on it blindly not really knowing what features it had, but it turned out even better than we thought! It has everything that we wanted including leather, low miles, a DVD player, automatic adjustable cruise control, automatic sliding doors (such a lifesaver as mom!), automatic back-hatch, stow n' go seating, 6 disk CD changer, built in window shades, sun roof, and the list goes on. Shad and I laugh that we are still trying to figure out where all of the buttons are. A new one appears everyday.

It was a leap of faith buying a car at an auction but I was so impressed with Don's work! In just 2 1/2 weeks (some of the longest weeks of my life!) it went from this...

To this...

Totally amazing to me! The door is totally automatic and functional. The paint matches perfectly, it drives smooth as butter and no one can tell the difference. Here are a few more pictures of the inside:

The DVD player has been so nice! The screen is a huge 12" screen. Haken has loved it so much that we have set a rule that we only turn it on when we go at least 30 minutes away from home.

The headrests in the middle were missing. Don is still looking to find replacements. He really has given us the best attention to detail on this van and not cut any corners.

The middle seats fold up for easier entry to the back if needed, but we usually just leave them up. Also, the back seats fold into the floor for flat storage in the back.

This van will be very loved for many years to come. I love it more each day I drive it around. I think I can deal with being a "soccer mom" if I get to drive this around.