Alas, the van is lost!

The dreaded call came today -- the insurance company considers our van a total loss. I guess the damage was too extensive to make it worth repairing. The thing that is really sad to me is that full size vans with a passenger door on the driver's side are just not that easy to find.... and I'm not sure I want another big van without that feature!
On the bright side, we bought a little green truck today. A friend was selling it, the price was right, and we really need a third vehicle at least until the kids go back to college. It isn't much to look at, but it gets good gas mileage, has a nicely lined bed, and it is a manual, so we can teach our kids how to drive with a clutch, an all-important skill in our minds. Besides, now that we're trying to act like farmers, a little truck will come in handy!

Van Tragedy....

Our 12 passenger van was on the receiving end of an accident earlier this week. It was in Springfield, Missouri, with Abby, who was attending a volleyball camp with a group of friends. They were on their way to the mall (VB camp was in the mornings), sitting at a red light minding their own business when a car ran a red light, sideswiped another car and rammed into our van. Unfortunately, it is damaged pretty badly. We don't know yet the extent of the damage; they can't get the driver's door off to see what will need to be done inside, but it is possible they will have to replace part of the floor besides the obvious exterior damage. Fortunately, no one in the van was seriously injured (some minor bruises and cuts, and some soreness). Everyone involved is pretty sure that any other vehicle sitting in that intersection would not have provided any protection, and the driver would certainly be seriously injured. So, while we are unhappy that our van is in the body shop for the next month, most likely, it seems that it may have saved some serious injury. The driver of the other car was injured and was taken to the hospital once she was caught (she fled the scene). She, naturally, was uninsured, and is facing multiple tickets and possibly jail time. Thus far our insurance company is being very gracious and helpful, but that doesn't remove the hassle of having to figure out how to get along with our van :)

College News

I was chagrined to realize that we haven't kept everyone up-do-date on the college plans of our kids... So, here it is, for those of you who haven't heard.

Andy will be going back to Three Rivers Community College for his second year. Move in day is August 11th, and school starts for him August 13th! Yikes.... One of high school baseball teammates will also be going there this year, as well as the catcher from his summer team. They are all hoping for a better season than last year, which was rather disappointing...


Becky has decided to go to Truman State University in Kirksville, MO, which is up near the Iowa border on US 63. It is a lot like Valparaiso University, which was a close second. Both have strong liberal arts programs with good nursing programs. They are roughly the same size, about 5000 students, but the two biggest trump factors were cost and distance from home -- both significantly less for Truman State. Besides, they have way better school colors (purple and gold vs. brown and gold :)) She will still be 3 hours from home, but we know of at least 4 girls from Rolla who are also going there, so I think she'll be able to get rides home pretty easily...no, Becky, you aren't going to have your own car :) She has until August 22nd to move in, and then has 3 days of freshman orientation before classes start the following Thursday, I think...

Happy Birthday to Dan

Working in the garden inspired me -- I remembered that Dan has always wanted a chipper/shredder, and his birthday is July 7th. I thought it was a perfect idea, until I did some research and found out what they cost. Yikes! But then I found one on Rollanet classifieds, which looked brand new. All the details and timing worked out to allow me to purchase it and pick it up in Salem(30 miles away)after I dropped Zeke off at a baseball game in town there, and get it home without Dan even suspecting. We didn't try to save it for his birthday -- he'll enjoy "playing" with it this weekend since the rest of us will be gone to Forrest for the 4th of July...

For those who want to hear the power!

Garden update

After many hours of manual labor by Dawn, helped by Isaac and Zeke, and some assistance from Dan on the tiller (for the large areas where we couldn't find any wanted growth!) we finally have the garden looking like a garden. By Missouri standards, it is pretty paltry, but I am happy to have it "under control". Once we get back from the weekend, we're going to get some mulch spread on it in case we get more rain, to keep that grass from growing up again...