The changing of the guard

This was our Mazda 3.  It was JT's first car purchase and the car of his bachelor years. He was very proud of it and by some stroke of luck decided to leave it with me while he was deployed in 2007 (hence the pre-baby-skinny-me). This car has served its purpose well and has been very loved. It's made countless trips between California and Utah. That's also why it's a 2004 model purchased in 2006 and already has 140,000 miles on it. Yikes! 

 

A month or so ago we found out that this sweet little car's engine was on its last leg. We were already well aware that it was time for a change, but the engine was now our ticking time bomb. BOOM. We combed through every single option we could think of but nothing seemed to work out for us. After a TON of research and PRAYER, we came to the conclusion that our only option was to buy a new engine and hope we could get a second car sometime in the future. The twins take up every inch of space in that car and we knew it was only a matter of time before it would no longer work for our family.

Then came the answer to our prayers! Our local Mazda dealership had a Mazda 5 that had JUST been traded in (quite literally) that fit EVERY requirement we had specified. It only had 56,000 miles and the BEST part was that they accepted our Mazda 3 as a trade in!!!!!! They took the car with all its problems and miles and gave us THIS:

Hallelujah! We know that this was a direct answer to our prayers. What a blessing this is for our family. This suv/minivan seats 6 without being overwhelmingly large. I guess it's time for me to learn how to drive a stick shift! EEK! Can't wait!