A New Car!

We FINALLY got a new car...or should I say a third car.  The Yukon is such a gas hog and is so big to drive around.  Many times it's just me in the car.  Joel is always needing a ride to and from the airport and with all of Caden's things...who wants to drive him around? 
Our vehicle story started back in 1991 when we got married.  Joel had this little beauty. A 1989 Dodge  Colt.

It was the best car.  I remember thinking how could it get any better than this!  Then Coelton came along...2 doors was very hard to get the car seat in and out of the back. It also had no AC.  And then there was the" one car issue".  I was often carless wtih a baby.  So we solved both problems and bought this family car with a student loan in 1992.  A 1991 Ford Tempo

 

 

This car had AC and 4 doors, which seemed to solve all our problems.  The interior was RED.  It was a good car that got us to Oregon.  We drove it until we had baby number 3.  Going back and forth to Idaho was a 14 hour drive.  It was brutal with two babies and the car didn't do very well going so far especially on the snow.  We used to rent cars to make our trips.  We got this family wagon just before Hailey was born in 1998.  A 1995 Dodge Caravan.

 

 

It was now official- a family wagon to transport us all.  We were in heaven.  This beauty even had a tape deck.  We never have owned a brand new car.  We have alsways bought them around 2 years old.  This car got us back to Idaho when we moved and got us around Boise for several years.  We even pulled our boat with it!!

 

Joel needed a car that had AC and looked nice when he would take clients out.  He had to pick up some clients at the airport and getting into the Dodge Colt on a hot summer day wasn't very impressive.  We also wanted a pickup to haul things and help with yard work etc.  We decided to buy this in 2000.  We still own it. The boys drive it.  1998 Ford Ranger.

 

 

 

  When the van turned over 100,000 miles we knew we needed to do something.  It was on it's last legs, so we traded it for this.  Soemthing that could pull our boat and this one even had a CD player.  We bought it in 2004.  It was a  2000 GMC Suburban

 

 

We loved this car!  It was big and beautiful!  Lots of room and tork!  What more could a family want or need.  This car drove us to Pocatello when we moved there.  We only had it about 2 years.

It started to have some mechanical problems, and Joel was going to be working at a business that paid for one vehicle up to $500 a month.  So we decided to trade it for this.

A 2003 YUKON XL

 





 

We were in love! a 2003 Yukon XL.   This car has a Bose sound system, CD player and are you ready...DVD PLAYER with TV and leather intererior.  We were on top of the world.  This car has been my favorite.  We have had no problems with it and haven't had to put any money into it other than new tires and maintanence.  We have put 100,000 miles on this. 

 

Having teen drivers and teens period is difficult to do with 2 cars.  Joel does not work in town and rarely needs a car except when he needs to see a client in Boise or needs a ride to the airport.  Caden would have to wake up at 5am to drive his Dad to the airport.  I did it for years, and we decided that if Caden wanted to drive the truck he could do this.  There have been a few days where we all were double booked and someone had to either walk, find a ride or go without.  Not good.

 

We've talked about buying a 3rd car for about a year now.  We've searched high and low and talked about what we wanted.  A sedan that gets good gas mileage.  Gas is $3.50 or more a gallon.  We wanted something either brand new or with low miles that will last us a good 10 years.  I wanted either the Kia Optima or the Camry.  But once Joel saw a car that got 50-57 mpg, he couldn't think of much else. 

 

The problem with this car is it's gay.   I saw that I couldn't persuade him in this so we compromised.  I wanted a loaded car.  Leather, back camera, navigational system, ipod player USV, CD, bluetooth, tinted windows.  Shoot, it even sounds like a golf cart when you start it and drive off. 

We found a 2010 with low miles and all the above so Joel went in for the kill and brought it home.  It seats 5 quite comfortably.  I was surprised at all the room in the back seat.  

This car will get driven to the ground.  The Yukon will stay parked and driven very little.

 

2010 Toyota Prius

 

   

 

 



 

 

 

Donnely and McCall

We had planned to go to a cabin in Donnely with our friends that Bells and Eastman's.  We were going to bring the boat.  The cabin has it's own boatslip right on Lake Cascade.  We were looking forward to it for a long time! 
The Bell's decided that they couldn't go and with Coelton home- he couldn't get in the boat or the water since he was still a missionary. 
We decided to cancel- but we still wanted to "get out of town" really bad.  So we found another cabin that was cheaper in price and smaller.  We went to Donnely and enjoyed spending some time together and just being in the mountains. 
We brought our bikes and went on a bike ride.  Coelton's neck hurt, so we couldn't do too much.  We went on a hike to a lake.  That was really beautiful and a lot of fun. 
We played games and watched TV.  Since we don't have cable TV , getting to watch cool shows is a treat.  We kind of got addicted to SHARK WEEK. 
We went to church in McCall.  Coelton saw one of his mission companion's (Elder Welch) his twin brother.  He is serving in the Boise Idaho mission and was in McCall serving.    That was really cool.
We made some good food and just enjoyed hunckering down and vegging.  We had just found out that coelton did not have cancer- so we were ready to just unwind. 

 

We went camping in the trailer with Jason and Stephanie's family along with Julie and Hunter and Hannah and Gma and Gpa Hammer! 

We enjoyed one night together as we had just found out Coelton would be coming home and we were very sad- and didn't know exactly what was wrong with him.  So we agreed to go up for a night and try to take our minds off of things for a few hours before we had to pick him up at the airport. 

We went to our traditional place - the McCall RV Resort.

 

 

 

Elder Hammer home again?

The end of July coelton wrote in his weekly letter that he was having pain in his neck, shoulders and was having terrible headaches.  He said he told Sister Alvarado and the nurse Sister Visker.  They set up an appointment for him to see the the orthopedic surgeon that operated on his arm. 
His appointment was next week.  We all assumed his trouble was coming from over compensation for his arm.  We all thought he just needed some physical therapy to work out the kinks.
During the week he developed a lump in his neck.  His shoulders were very slanted - the right much higher than the left. 
He met with the doctor and he was amazed at how well his arm was doing.  However the lump in his neck was not related to his arm. 
Coelton went back the next day for a CT scan.  The next day after that we got the results. It listed 3 posiblilities.  1 was a deep seeded infection.  and the other 2 were cancer. 
We were devistated.  Sister Alvarado was working to find answers and was trying to find a doctor that could shed some light on the situation.  They couldnt get in to see an ENT until next year. 
Meanwhile, President Alvarado called the doctors in SLC.  They reviewed his case and said that Coelton needed to come home.  President called us and very tearfully told us what the decision was.  We all but dropped to our knees.  We couldn't believe this was happening.  Not again!
Coelton would be returning on the moring flight and would get into Boise at 11pm.  It was August 11-Coelton's hump day...one year as a missionary.
We were just getting ready to go camping to McCall with Jason and Stephanie, Gary, LaRee and Julie and her kids.  We postponed our departure to see what the results were from the CT scan.  It was now 4pm.  It had been since 10am that we found out about the CT results. 
We decided to go to McCall for the night and return the next night.  I am glad we made this decision.  We were all crying and feeling so terrible.  It was nice to be near people and participate in fun acttivities that took our mind off things.  Plus just being in the mountains always brightens your mood. 
We arrived back home at around 8pm.  We put everything away and was getting ready to shower when Sister Alvarado called and said that Coelton's flight to SLC was delayed and he would miss his Boise connection.  We called DaNae and asked her to go to SLC and find Elder Hammer.  She did and brought him to her house for the night.  We finally picked up Coelton the next day at 9am. 
He was very somber and quiet, he didn't shed one tear. 
The next 47 days would be full of patience and refining.  Coelton never said "why me, why me."  He didn't get angry and he didn't want to quit.  He just would tell us that the Lord is in charge and he would do what He wanted him to.  He was so humble and so patient. 
He was immiediately taken to an expert ENT- Dr. Schwarz.  He did 2 biopsies of his lump that was so large.  The size of a golf ball.  He was started on an antibiotic.  A few days later we were told the lump was not malignant.  What a relief.  2 weeks later after the antibiotics could calm the swelling- Coelton had a surgery to remove the lump.  We never really found out what it was.  Dr. Schwarz said it was an enfection.  It was a virus that got bacteria in it.  Joel and I feel that it was either related to his arm.  An infection that showed up all these months later in his lymphs.  Or he had the dengue fever and this was how his body reacted to it. 
Coelton returned to his mission on Sept. 27.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let's go Boating!

We had high hopes this year with the boating season.  Since last year was such a bummer.  We took the boat in to have a tune up and were excited to get it out this year!  Last year we only had it out 4 times. 
We went to Lake Lowell a couple of times.  The kids enjoyed inviting friends along.  The boat ran excellent and the speedometer actually worked!! 
We went to Lucky peak with the Hawkins family.  They bought our boat outing at a RS serivce auction. 
We even drove to Owyhee!!  This is my FAVORITE place.  It's about a 2 hour drive but well worth it.  The reservoir is warm and clear!  you can see your entire body in the water!  Its super hot and never windy.  The water is glass.  The kids invited friends along on this outing too.  We spent the entire day.  We swam around alot, did some rock jumping and skied and wakeboarded too.  Oh and the tube...can't forget that. 
We were excited to take the boat to Lake Cascade mid August!  We had rented a cabin with friends.  We had planned to take it back to Lucky Peak a few times before school started.