Sad Day in Tennessee

For a long time we knew this was coming, but today it really happened. We traded off our van. I loved that van and truly felt like it was a part of our family. We purchased it in Massachusetts before Jenna was born. It is the van that brought Jenna and Andrew home from the hospital.

Shortly after we purchased it, there were some engine problems and then about two years later, the cylinoids (sp?) had to be replaced in the transmission. It seemed to run well for a while, but then when we moved out the Tennessee, the transmission started jumping once again. We could not figure out if it was actually the transmission or possibly the electrical system, because it seemed as if once the van was shut off, it would reset itself and run well again. After a while of this, when the van shut off, it stopped resetting itself and the jump was pretty constant. We decided after much thought and consultation to do nothing, but to let it run its course. That was 3 1/2 years ago, and after getting us to Utah and North Carolina and back home safely, we named the van "Old Faithful." The power window was broken, the air conditioning died, the belts squealed, the transmission jumped, and often when turning it off, the whole thing would start to convulse -- and I often wondered if it would explode! After going down a ditch this past fall, I scraped the bottom so badly I thought it may have to retire, but it started up with no problems and kept running like a champ.

With our move coming up shortly, we felt like our van had given all it could give, or should be expected to ever give. It was a trooper ... we will miss Old Faithful. We hope our new (well, new to us) van can someday prove itself worthy of these same feelings in our heart. So what did we purchase, you may ask, another Pontaic Montana ... because I did not want a truck but I love my 8 seats, and I did not want to purchase a new Honda or Toyota simply for the fact that I didn't want the payment. I really want to get a BIG house in Washington -- as in the bigger the better! The kids are getting big and we all are feeling the need (especially me) for much more space!
We'll miss you, girl!