The Lord works in mysterious ways...

Life is a funny thing, you know? One day you're headed in one direction, and then the next you're looking at completely different options and facing some big decisions that you didn't think you'd be facing for several years yet. What's going on, you ask? Well, to put it short: our little car has died, and we are looking for a replacement. The story is what's the best, though, so here you go:

On Saturday, we decided it was about time to get an oil change for our car. It had been four months and almost 5,000 miles since the last one, so it was definitely time. We decided we'd head out to the local Jiffy Lube, get the oil changed, and then swing by Walmart on the way home to pick up diapers (we only had one left in the house) and a few other things. The "oil change" (reason for quotation marks to be explained shortly) took about half an hour, so by 1:30pm we were heading down 800 North in Orem. We had only traveled about two and a half blocks from the Jiffy Lube when Cody noticed the car wasn't accelerating anymore, and then, all of a sudden, it died. We coasted to a stop on the side of the road, and immediately the thought came: Oh, no. Any attempts to start it back up again were futile. Cody popped the hood and started checking things, but couldn't really tell what happened.

So, we called Jiffy Lube and told them we had just left their facility and our car wouldn't start. They said they'd send someone to check it out. This started about two hours worth of us waiting for personnel from Jiffy Lube and trying to figure out what happened and what we should do with our car. One of the workers that came to inspect it said he couldn't be sure, but that it looked like the engine had seized up. Ouch. But how could that happen, we wondered? They just put oil in the car! And that's when we thought...wouldn't it be funny if they had flushed the oil tank but failed to put more in? The JL manager eventually came and started taking pictures to "document the situation." It was then that we realized that this was probably not going to end up being our expense. Unfortunately, no car repair shops were open on a Saturday, so we had the car towed to a shop that promised to look at it first thing Monday morning. Luckily, we had Joshua's stroller in the trunk, so we walked home (stopping by Macey's to get diapers) and got there just in time to watch the horrible BYU-Utah game. Cody's grandparents were kind enough to bring their spare car to us, so we were not left without means of transportation.

Monday morning came, and the mechanic gave us the official report: the engine had seized, and it was next to impossible that it would have happened if there had been sufficient oil in the car. A manager from JL was talking to the mechanic, and while they didn't come right out and say it, we knew that it was their fault for failing to replace the oil. It took all day for them to finally propose a solution: they'd either pay for the expense of fixing the car, or give us $2000 and we could do what we wanted with the car. We took the second option, since we didn't feel like anyone should pour even more money into that piece of junk. So, we will soon have $2000 and will be in the market for a new car, and our little Kia will sit out in front of our house for the time being. Like I said initially, the Lord works in mysterious ways! This car has caused us so much grief in the past couple of years, and we had already decided it probably wouldn't make another trip from Utah to California. We just put almost $1000 into it when it broke down in Vegas in August, and we had bought four new tires in the past three months. It's time for it to rest. And now we get to car shop! I've never done this before...the Kia is the only car I've ever owned, and I bought it from my brother just after I got home from my mission. This will definitely be an interesting experience.

Oh, and some pictures for your viewing pleasure. The first is Cody and Joshua in front of our broken-down car, around 570 West and 800 North in Orem, Utah. We sat out here for about 2 and a half hours. What a fun afternoon!This next picture is of Joshua sitting in the driver's seat. He was actually pretty happy until right before I took this picture, when it became evident that he had had enough of "driving." I doubt he'll be so upset to be behind the wheel in about 15 years...Anyway, that's what's been going on with the Allemans. We are so grateful to Cody's grandparents for having an extra car that we can borrow while we shop for a car! We're hosting Thanksgiving at our house this year, so it would have been really hard to get all the necessary dinner items if we didn't have a car. And hopefully some sales are going on right now. Rumor has it that with the economy the way it is, cars aren't selling so well, so maybe they'll be more than willing to let us qualify for a loan on a nice car =) We'll post pictures of our new car as soon as we can find one!