Sunday, November 15, 2009

Blessing a Day 2009-15

Today on the way to church I commented to the kids that I was so thankful for our van. That it worked. That it kept us cold when we were hot, and warm when we didn't want to be cold.
I remembered that I had written this in July but never posted it.
I am thankful for our van.

Goodbye Van
It seems only fitting to bid farewell to something that we spent so much time in.
We traveled many many many miles in it. At parting there were over 240, ooo miles on the odometer.
It had seen its share of spills-breastmilk, cowmilk, yogurt, many a sonic tipped over cup-
Food had been dropped-french fries, chicken nuggets, hamburgers, pretzels, cheerios, fruit snacks and who knows what else.
Our family went from 2 kids to 4 kids. It held many a baby carrier, car seat and booster seat, stroller, pack-n-play, highchair etc.
We traveled with all kinds of luggage and been on numerous road trips and carried more than we thought possible (besides people and luggage) from:
utah to colorado (countless trips!)
utah to oklahoma
utah to new mexico
utah to california
utah to oregon
oregon to california
oregon to utah to colorado to oklahoma to new mexico, then back
oregon to oklahoma

We say goodbye to the van that when Jack was in his if-there-is-a-hole-something-must-go-in-it phase, he put about 2 dozen pennies in the slot on the dash that housed the stereo speakers. Jay had to pry them out with tweezers oh-so-painstakingly one at a time.

Goodbye to the van who was rear ended by a police officer in Utah who tried to blame it on me, then tried to not cover the costs of repairs and replacing car seats.

Goodbye to the van that has carried us everywhere.

Goodbye to the van that drove us back and forth to Doernbechers Childrens hospital for Luke's care and surgeries.

Goodbye to the van that I spent countless hours pumping breastmilk in.

Goodbye to the van that dropped the oldest 3 kids for their first day of school ever.

Goodbye to the van that has made many a Target, Sams, Walmart run.

Goodbye to the van that has made many an emergency room visit for almost every member of the family.

Goodbye to the van that squealed in the ran, but did not need a part replaced. (we think you just did not like the rain, or maybe you did and we just could not understand your sound)

Goodbye to the van that took us to the beach many a time.

Goodbye to the van that for the longest time I wondered what your blue snowflake button was for.

Goodbye Great White.


Hello shark! We are so glad you joined our home!
You have been well initiated already- by almost every form of bodily fluid. (I can almost promise you that you won't see breastmilk!)
Your windows have been colored on with licorice, which looks so similar to red crayon.
You have already been filled with sand and red dirt from going to the lake.
Popcorn has been ground into your carpet.
The kids have bickered in you, and you have proven you have a good sound system.
The air is as cool up front as it is in the back, if we want it to be.
You have traveled well so far. We hope we take you on many road trips and that you will enjoy us stuffing you with just as much stuff as we did with the previous van. We appreciate your non squeaky belts, and your quick stops and starts.
(and as a token of my appreciation I promise to keep up with washing you and vacuuming you out at least monthly.)

5 comments:

your mom said...

I'm thankful that the van made room for me on many of the trips.

Kristie said...

Ha! One of my favorite scrapbook layouts I ever did is a photo of the inside of my van, on a summer "to the pool" day, showing the towel bag, snack bag, drink bag, pool toy/goggle bag, and noodles. There is hardly any room left for the children, and the photo makes me smile every time I see it. Complete with school stickers and sports magnets, our vans pretty much do become our homes away from home. :)

Lene said...

Great post.

I love my ol' reliable subooboo.

Kim Sue said...

Super cute!

Hillary said...

I miss that guy.