Goodbye and Hello

I'm not sure if it is a standard American practice, but for our family, we seem to have made a large purchase with each child that we had:  When Anna was born, we bought a house.  When Ryan was born, we bought a bigger car, and when Sara was born we bought a SUV.

We ended up selling our house and moving to California when Anna was two.  But we still had our car.  Our car.  I was 9 months pregnant (and so huge) with Ryan when we bought our car.  We travelled everywhere in that car.  She moved us to California. We pulled her behind the RV for five years.  During our adventurous trips to the Northwest and to the Central Coast, she was there.  When are RV broke down (see Central Coast Adventure), she was there to bring us home.  She drove us on our first and subsequent trips to Mammoth with the kids.  So many memories with the car.  She was a good car.  But, finally, after 11 years, it was time say good-bye.  She wouldn't pass smog and her engine (and  most other parts) were too badly damaged to practically fix.  So we let her go.

The day she was towed away

Welcome to family, new car.  We look forward to many new memories!  (P.S.  You might be Anna's first car!)