Necessary evil

With the upcoming addition of another member to our family we had to get a new vechicle as the Toyota only held 8.  We spent months looking for a 12-15 passenger van-- something that had lower miles, fit in our budget as we were only wanting to pay cash, and something that would fit our family.  We finally found a van here in Burley at a car lot that we decided to test drive.  We were impressed with the condition it was in and the way it drove.  We went home that day to discuss and research the value of the van as well as the value of our Toyota.  Matt went in the next day to talk things over with the dealer. They discussed what they both felt was fair and then the next day we went in and traded our car in for the van and then got $1850 back in cash.  While I was sad to say goodbye to the Toyota I know that we got a good deal and it is perfect for our family.  The van has many nice features such as individual captain chairs (similar to airplanes) that recline, reading lights over each seat, a step that comes out when the side door is opened, and my favorite of all (note the sarchasm) the back up beeping sound!  The boys all think the van is SO cool.  I have to say that traveling is much more peaceful now than it was when the boys were all squished together in the Toyota.  Each of the 3 older boys got their own benches on our two first trips....they loved it!

We had also decided that we would need a small run around car for quick trips to town, date night,  dad's business trips, etc so that we wouldn't use up so much gas with the big van.  So the day after purchasing the van we went into Twin Falls and hit almost every used car lot there.  It was a HOT day and not much fun at all.  The cars that were in our budget didn't have what we were looking for or were in ill-repair and not worth any where near the prices being asked.  After a very long day we stopped at one last car lot and test drove a Ford Focus.  We liked the way it handled and after talking with Doug on the phone found that it got good gas mileage and was priced alright although a little high.  We decided to make an offer--$700 less than the listed price.  No go!  So Matt went up $200, still NO!  Matt went up to $200 below the listed price and the dealer still said NO! (this was $500 over our max that we wanted to spend) So we walked away....Matt was pretty frustrated that the dealer was not at all interested in making a deal with a customer that had cash in hand.  After we got home Matt decided to get on craigslist and found a Ford Focus for sale by owner here in Burley of all places.  So we immediately went over to test drive it.  After driving it we bought it....and paid $1475 less than we would have at the dealership.....and it was in our budget.  So we now have to new to us cars and NO money owed to the bank for them!!  The little car has already made a trip down to SLC and did great!  It sounds silly but I know that the Lord was helping us in this process as we have said many prayers asking for help to find vehicles that will run well, fit our family, and allow us to stay in our budget and not take out a loan.