Seller's remorse?

I've had a lot of this lately. Our big, blue, 12 passenger, 1995 beat up old van with 220,000 miles on it...gone. Same with our 2002 Town and Country minivan. And finally...our 1997 Jayco 1207 KB tent trailer. I had to stop myself from waving goodbye as the new owners drove it away last night. I walked into the house with a heaviness in my heart. It seems such a silly thing to get attached to such inanimate objects, but somehow I did. Now I realize that it's not an attachment to objects, but the memories contained in them.

Let's start with the big van. It was a party van whenever we were fully loaded for a youth activity.
It was a bit beat up - inside and out by the time we sold it. But it got us to Nauvoo and back with over 200,000 miles on it. We put a few more scratches on it from the bike rack on the back. A couple of winters ago, Andrew Smith was plowing the sidewalks with his 4 wheeler - doing a good deed. He slid off and bumped into our van. His mom came over with him to point out the damage. I could have found a dozen scratches worse that what he made on that side of the van. Most people want newer vehicles. I'll take an old one any day! You just don't get worked up about a little scratch here and there.

The minivan was only our for a couple of years, but there were a couple of good memories there. I loved the hitch on back. I could load 4 bikes on the back of it and head up the canyon with my kids. And I'll never forget the trip to Mexico. We were left with the only one vehicle at our job site - our minivan was it. The roads in Mexico are terrible. I don't know how we made it out of there with our van intact. It was the eating establishment and the rest stop for all the kids on our site, needing a good sanitizing once we made it back home. Our last day it was the clown car when we piled 16 people into it - to a chorus of "uugghh" when we bottomed out with every bump.

But the trailer tops the list. 6 years of experiences. The time we went to Moab and the roof was crooked. It was interesting trying to figure that one out. The annual meteor shower parties, the sand dunes when I thought I'd never get all the sand out. Nauvoo tops the list - how do you ever forget living in it for 3 weeks in the middle of a Nauvoo summer. 7 of us crammed in: hot, cranky, and needing a little more personal space. And the electrical troubles - finally running extension cords in through the tenting.

I don't like my replacement vehicle...yet. A 1999 Suburban. And I wonder if I'll like a new trailer. But when you fill objects with memories, you're bound to develop attachments. Keep the adventures coming!

Vive Las Vegas!

Well, we made it to Vegas on Saturday and had a nice visit with Jeff, Deanna, Ashley and Allie. Our group (Builders Without Borders of Utah) spent the night at a local Holiday Inn Express with the intent of leaving by 8 a.m. We were to meet the President of the La Gloria, Tijuana Stake at the border crossing into Mexico in hopes of making our entrance a little smoother. (Their government doesn't like us bringing in donations.) Unfortunately, we encountered a few glitches in our plan.

First, Angie and Chris walked out to their car in the morning and found this...

We spent nearly 2 hours trying to report a missing car, fill out a police report, and rearrange transportation. (We found a spot for all 7 passengers that were in their suburban.) The best part of this situation was the amazing way Angie handled it all. She was an example to all of us of maintaining a good sense of humor through it all. The funniest part was when she was on the phone behind the desk at the hotel. She was waiting to talk to her insurance company and a man stepped up to the desk. The receptionist was busy with someone else so Angie smiled at him and said sincerely, "So, how was your stay?"  After his reply she informed him, "I don't work here, but I care." She has such a friendly and fun-loving personality and you can't help but love her.

Next, our trailers were so overloaded that one of them blew a tire and ended up having to totally replace it. But we finally made it to the border around 4 p.m. Checking in with trailers full of stuff is quite a process. We had to open things up and take a few things out. The kids were a little bored but they found a way to entertain themselves until the border patrol asked them to stop. (It was just after one of them climbed on the roof to retrieve the volleyball.

Another ward member met us at the border and after we got through we had to take him home. Unfortunately, we took a wrong turn and got a very long and scenic tour of Tijuana. The worst part was actually seeing in person some of the living conditions of these people. I've seen it in the media, but the reality of it sinks in when you are witnessing it first-hand. We are truly blessed! The best part of this "scenic route" was following behind the van and trailer full of bikes. You should have seen the heads turn! A police car bumped into the back of the car in front of it because they were so busy looking at all the bikes!

Anyway, Here we are settled into La Gloria and ready to work!

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We will begin to highlight our family and some of the exciting things that we do. Stay Tuned.