Oh Yeah!

Memorial Day Weekend + auto dealerships who really need to sell cars + knowing prices are going to go sky high after recession is over = one satisfied buyer.

Decided to go to Ryan Ford Mercury in Sealy to check things out this afternoon. I sat down with the salesman, and we began taking about what I wanted. Supercrew with those automatic pedals, color doesn't matter. He kept trying to pin me down on whether or not I would buy. Wouldn't commit.

We eventually went out into the yard and came across this one. It had all the features I wanted plus quite a few extras. We went back inside and started talking. He pulled up all the rebates ($4,000) and went to talk to his boss about how much the dealership would discount.

They took off roughly $2,500 more off the MSRP. At this point, they were $150 above invoice. I didn't think that was too bad, but at this point, I told them I'd hedge my bets and wait for year end rebates.

Well, the dealership wanted to sell at least one car today, so they asked me what more they could do. I said that they could look at my trade and see if they could give me enough for it. Well, they started looking at my 06 Saturn Vue (5 speed manual transmission). The salesman and I went for a drive in the new truck, and when I came back, they offered me 8k for my Vue AND took off another $600.

That was too good to walk away from. My Vue, according to KBB and NADA was roughly 7K, and we were now well below invoice. I shook hands and went to the financing. We have to make four payments to Ford Motor Credit before we refinance, but all in all, I think everything came together very nicely for this vehicle where the entire family fits including three car seats abreast in the back!

I've already got a few uses for the truck as well including hauling some very natural, very good fertilizer for my gardens!!!

Belated Easter, Kaylee's Birthday, and Trip to Moody Gardens

Just thought I'd show a few pics from Easter. The kids had fun decorating eggs.

Kevin, Jr. even got into the act...sort of.

We actually got a decent pic of the kids at church on Easter morning.

Of course, a few weeks later, we celebrated Kaylee's birthday.

Kaylee's enjoyed her new bike as well as all the other gifts she got; although I think the best gift she received was having her Nona, Grumpy, Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Bubba, and Uncle Gardy at her party.

Our house is currently undergoing renovations. The congregation decided their parsonage was too small to accomodate our family, so they are adding another bedroom, bathroom, and storage room to the house. It will be quite nice. Yesterday, they moved the power box, so we were without power much of the day. We conveniently slipped away for a family day out. We headed to Moody Gardens to visit the acquarium. It was worth the long drive and the price of admission to see the kids enjoy everything. The girls took to it, well, like a fish to water, and after a few minutes, Kevin had a blast too. We look forward to several return trips.