Crazy Crazy

This last weekend was nuts. We were so crazy busy. Ian had Friday off, but we spent the whole day out and about. We started off in Saratoga Springs where we had lunch with our friends, the Miller's, and got to visit. It was really quite fun. Next we drove to Provo. First we stopped at Wilson's Diamonds to get my ring cleaned, re-sized, rhodiumed (?), and soldered together. Then we went down to the BYU baseball stadium and dropped in on my cousin Blake during his physical therapy session to give him some chocolate bread and say hi. Next stop was the Williamson's house. My cousin Karren had generously volunteered to watch the boys while Ian and I went car shopping.

We had a pretty fun time car shopping. It was nice to feel comfortable and in control. We didn't HAVE to buy a car. We knew what we wanted. We knew how much it should cost. We test drove and narrowed it down to a 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT and a 2008 Toyota Sienna LE. We decided to go home and do a little more research before we decided. We were kind of torn because we liked some of the storage features on the Caravan better than on the Sienna, but we knew the Toyota was a better, more reliable car. The Caravan was a little cheaper, but not much. We called around to other dealerships to see if they could match or beat the prices on either of the cars. It took up pretty much the whole weekend, but it was kind of exciting to do all the research and figure out if we were getting a good deal or not. Anyway, back to Friday night. After our shopping we went back to get the kids. It was nice to visit with my Aunt Pam too.

Saturday we worked on car research and got the house ready for the Bishopric Christmas party. Ian decided to drive back down to Provo so that he could test drive the Sienna on the freeway and let the dealer drive the Altima and decide how much he would give us for the trade-in. The dealer wasn't too jazzed about our 107k mile Altima, but he did offer us a little more than we owed on it. Ian asked if he could try to sell it privately for more and the dealer said sure.

The party that night was a big success. We just had such a nice time visiting, eating yummy soup, bread, and treats, and singing Christmas songs. I'm really glad we decided to put it together. That night Ian listed the Altima on KSL classifieds and Craigslist. We got a call but the guy didn't show up to test drive it. Oh well.

Sunday was a busy, snowy day. I got released from my Young Women's calling. It was a little sad, but mostly just time. I was called to be the Primary pianist. I'm really excited about that. I'm hoping it will make me practice more. :) After church was my setting apart, last YW presidency meeting (we are still putting on the Christmas/planning dinner tomorrow night), and choir practice. Whew. Ian had another call on the Altima, the guy came, and by the time the kids went to bed the Altima was gone and we had cash to pay off our loan and add to our down payment! I baked another batch of chocolate bread before bed and we figured out how to make the next couple of one-car days work.

This morning we all dropped Weston off at school, Ian off at work, then Davin and I went down to Provo again to pay off the Altima loan and pick up the title. We made it back just in time to pick Weston up. Next on my list is getting new insurance for the Sienna, shopping for the YW/YM party, and finalizing the new auto loan. Things have been crazy, but hopefully this time tomorrow I will be picking up my minivan! I can't wait! Keep your fingers crossed for me that everything goes through and on schedule.