Truly hard to believe she is legally an adult! It was just the other day that she was a babe in arms… really it was! We are incredibly proud of her. She’s an amazing young woman—full of love and caring for others, spunk and wit. She’s smart and capable and we couldn’t be prouder! Happy birthday, Hadley!
It wasn’t really part of the plan, but it ended up being a great birthday surprise. We’ve been looking for a replacement car for her for a very long time. The jeep has been so much fun but it hasn’t been reliable and she will definitely need something else for college. She set her sights on a Jeep Liberty, so we concentrated our efforts on looking for a good used one. Turns out, they aren’t all that easy to find. (We hope that means people buy them, love them and don’t’ want to sell them!) David and Hadley have spent countless hours on the internet and driving around town trying to find the perfect one—preferably a 2008 or newer so it’s the new body style, silver or white—an easy color to keep clean, and lower miles so it will last a long time. We found a few, but they were typically pretty far away. Houston may be in the same state, but it’s still quite a drive! When you add in the dealer fees and the costs to get it back home, it takes a chunk out of any savings we might find. Fast-forward to Saturday afternoon. They decided to make a round at our local car lots to see if anything was out there. They came across this 2012 with 20,000 miles. The price looked right and she loved it. They brought it home for me to see. David and I agreed that it was a really good deal if it could be bought at what the salesman offered. So, he and Hadley went back to make the deal. Turns out the young salesman spoke without any real knowledge of what he could do and it could not be bought at that price. David talked with them for a while but came home without it. David and I talked about it that evening, figured payments and weighed our options. We decided it really was a pretty good deal, even at the higher price.
First thing Monday morning he went to buy it. The kids had flu shots scheduled for Monday afternoon, which created a good opportunity to present it to her. I dropped David off at the dealership where they detailed it and had it sitting on the showroom floor for him to drive home. He parked it in the garage and put a big red bow on it. I let him know when we were almost home so he’d be ready for us. As we raised the garage door, she saw the dealer tags on the Liberty. She looked at me with complete disbelief and asked if I was kidding her! No dear, we wouldn’t be that cruel!! Watch the video to see. (Lance was in the back seat and couldn’t see. He thought she was reacting to a bodily function from me. Nice one, son. Nice. We all know I never do
that!) She was blown away and is so happy. We feel very blessed to be able to give it to her. Nobody deserves it more! The plan is to sell the red Jeep as soon as possible, which we are all a bit sad about. It’s been in the family a while and was Tyler and Hadley’s first car. It’s a money thing, though. It’s gotta go!
