Yesterday we celebrated Asher & Levi’s 13th birthday! I still remember EVERYTHING about that pregnancy & their first year of life. If you followed my blog back in 2009, you TOO know all about my 92 days in the hospital & constant medical drama!
The week after they were born, we had to trade in our mini-van for a 12-passenger vehicle! Simply put – we NO LONGER fit in one car together! We had 4 girls still in car seats, Gabriel in a car seat, & now twin babies. Yeah, you heard me… it’s 7 kids in car seats! It took us 30-minutes just to buckle every kid in before leaving the drive-way! Not to mention, only 2 of the 7 were potty-trained!
Here’s a post I made on Facebook when we finally purchased the van! It was 8 years old but had very limited mileage on it! It’s a 2001 Dodge Springer Van!
The van is now 21 years old, fully paid for, has only 86,000 miles on it, and is STILL running! Since we don’t live in the states and drive it every day, it was pretty easy to keep the mileage down. We have learned that some vehicles don’t need to be driven a lot for them to constantly breakdown. Apparently parts can go bad after 21 years even if you treat your car well!
ANYWAYS…. Back to Malaya
IT’S OFFICIAL! In August, Malaya will be moving in with Marla Crisman – and spending her senior year at NORTH Liberty High School! WAHOO!!
We are SO THANKFUL for the school superintendent, who helped arrange all the legal documents required for Malaya to attend – (even though we aren’t residents but live in Haiti).
Now that we are taking all the necessary steps for her year in the states, we have come into a little problem. Actually…it’s really Malaya’s dilemma more than mine! LOL!
For some reason – Malaya thinks that our “personal” family vehicle would be embarrassing to drive to school. It’s literally a party on wheels… especially if she lets me add custom LED lights & a disco ball! 🪩
ANYHOW… though we are more than happy to share our Family Bus… we thought we might put a filler out to see if anyone has a vehicle they were thinking of trading in? Or maybe one they wouldn’t need for this upcoming year.
IF you live in KY or in MO and you have a vehicle that our girl could use to drive around next year – please send us a message! Otherwise…I believe I have come up with MULTIPLE reasons why this VAN could be the best thing that ever happened to her!
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✔️ LIST OF REASONS THIS VAN WILL BE A HUGE HIT✔️
IT’S A CONVERSATION STARTER
Malaya is a shy girl around kids her OWN age. HOWEVER – when she pulls into the school parking lot with this beauty…. she’ll immediately be noticed and become the talk of the school! It will just happen organically!
Me pretending to be a student: Wow! I wonder if she’s famous and that’s the tour bus!?! I’ve got to meet this person 🙂
Malaya pretending to be a student: Wow! I think I saw that van on Dateline. That’s the creepy girl who lures little kids with candy!
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HER FAMILY WILL ALWAYS BE WITH HER
We have a huge vinyl sticker of our entire family – perfectly placed on the back windshield….a constant reminder of our love! 💕
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CARPOOL KAROKE & ULTIMATE UBER EXPERIENCE
She knows she needs to get a job and gas is SO expensive! What better way to make money than to become an UBER driver and chauffeur all her fellow students around! She will know where ALL the cool kids hang out! 🎶🚐
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HUGE TIME SAVER & DOUBLES AS A DORM
TIME SAVER: The van is 10 feet tall, higher than most bedroom ceilings! If you forget where you parked, just scan the lot and look for the tallest vehicle there! It’s not like it can fit in a parking garage! So you’re gonna remember where it is!
STRESS SAVER: If there’s bad weather OR you’ve got a big test the next morning…. just sleep in the school parking lot! There’s an outlet to charge your phone & the porta-potty folds nicely under the seat!
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ENCOURAGES CLUB/SPORTS PARTICIPATION & LEADERSHIP
She has never been a-part of a school club or sports team before. She’s easily the most organized and responsible 17 year-old you’ll ever meet. I imagine that MANY groups would need her to help transport them and their equipment to local games/competitions! Once Malaya has a leadership role – she’ll immediately feel less guarded & become a social butterfly!
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FITNESS-FOCUSED & SPEED SAFETY
FITNESS: Don’t want to eat at home, but also don’t feel like going out? Well, this van won’t fit inside most of the Fast-Food Drive-Thru Lanes. Do you really want Taco Bell at 1am – if you have to go INSIDE to get it?
SPEED SAFETY: It takes at least a minute to go from 0-to-60! AND you can push the petal to the floor and it will NEVER EVER go more than 65mph!
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INDOOR WATER PARK DURING BAD WEATHER
Since heavy rain causes leaking through the AC on top, driving in bad weather is like playing in a water park – fully clothed! When pools are closed due to lightening, you can all pile into the van!
Poor Malaya. Jody you are just wrong. 😂. Somebody please help this girl.
Colleen
Love it……. And Malaya
I can’t imagine why she doesn’t take you up on such a great offer! 🤣
Currently Malaya has decided to walk everywhere she needs to go!! Bwhaha!
She’ll get her 10k steps in before 1st period! Again – this van continues to encourage fitness! I’m just blown away by how God uses this vehicle for His Glory! 😉😏