Introducing..."Big Blue"!

Our new wheels!  The "Big Blue Birschbach Bus" or "Big Blue" for short! :-) Yep, we have joined the elite ranks of the special families with a 11/12 passenger van!

Dealer website photos

Pat had been looking for a 11 or 12 passenger van since before we left on our trip. We thought we found one a couple days ago, but alas, it was sold the night before we called. He found this one on-line a day or two ago, so we drove down to West Bend today to look at it (and possibly drive it home). It's a 12-passenger 2004 w/ 87,000+ miles on it and will replace our mini-van which is a 2004 w/ 96,000+ miles on it. The new one has a bit more power though...

Side by side in the garage - makes our mini-van look small! I had to push the garage door up a bit as Pat drove it in. He'll adjust the door to open just a tad further. Not an inch to spare! :-)

Today it was the first time all 8 of us were in the mini-van together. It took a bit of coordinating to get all the kids in and out...Sarah flip her seat down, let the 3 pile in back, flip her seat back, plop Rachel in (she's still in a bucket since she's so tiny), buckle Elijah in the 5 pt. rear facing seat, keep Elijah's hands off Rachel - all with only trying to have one door open due the seemingly below zero wind chill blowing through with 2 doors open.  Yes, we could have lived with it, but "Big Blue" will give us a lot more room and room for friends - lots of friends - to come along if need be. The kids are VERY excited and 4 oldest will appreciate the extra room. 

I'm thrilled it has doors that open on both sides. That will make getting the "2 littles" buckled in much easier. I'll miss my automatic sliding door though. And, I really need to PRACTICE driving this thing in a parking lot. Yikes! Any volunteers to park next to me??? LOL Didn't think so! I'll post when & where I go grocery shopping so you can all stay home. :-)

But all joking aside, we really praise the Lord for His provision for the van and for providing a "buyer" for our mini-van - very good friends of ours! So, in case I miss the "low rider" mini-van, I may ask to take it for a little spin. :-)

I'll leave you with a little Elijah update, as I know that's the main reason you come here.  He continues to improve, adjust, and bond a little more each day. We praise the Lord for this! He has gotten a little cold again though. :-( Some of the kids still had one when he came home and different ones have a bit of one now. I think they swapped germs. So, we'll see how he's doing for church tomorrow. We may have to stay home again, but we'll see in the morning.

One photo for you - "Brotherly love"...



I think his vocabulary will really take off if he watches "Word Girl" enough times. Do you think so too? :-)