Best. Day. Ever.

At least according to Kate it was. And Mark said that after marrying me and the birth of our kids, this day definitely ranked up there with the best day ever. It was because he finally, after many years of dreaming, got to get his new-to-us truck.

See he's been driving a '92 maroon Honda Civic for the past 5 years or so. It's an awesome car and has been a huge blessing for us for a long time (amazing gas mileage). But recently things started falling apart. Not to the extent that it wasn't drivable but that it made driving not so comfortable. The heater wouldn't kick in till he was almost at work (a 25 minute drive!) and if you turned the windshield wipers on you weren't sure when they'd actually start working. It could be 5 minutes later or 20 minutes later. Not so great when you really need them. The "purple sock" (as our friend Mark calls it) was in need of repairs. So we either put more money into this car that we don't want to drive forever or find another one.

Mark has been looking for a new vehicle for over a year. He finally settled on a Toyota Tacoma and began really looking for a good deal. Once our financing went through on the house we were able to get going on the truck. Mark found a good deal on Thursday (online), got a plane ticket to Denver on Saturday (from a friend who works with the airlines - amazing deal! and blessing), got picked up by his dad and together they drove to Colorado Springs to pick up his new toy truck. He grinned for the entire trip home. He is beyond thrilled! And the rest of us think it's pretty awesome too. Mark's waited a long time for this. He deserves a reliable, warm car :)

Here it is. An '09 Tacoma.

We met him in the driveway as he pulled in from his trip and begged for a ride. We all hopped in and drove to get the purple sock at the airport. Then we drove together to town and went to celebrate with dinner at Denny's. {On a side note I think Denny's is highly underrated. We all ate huge meals for just $20. Can't do that at McDonalds! Plus you get breakfast for dinner! Love it!!!!}

We got seated and probably 5 minutes later we got the best view of the Snowdown fireworks! We were right across the way from where they were shooting them. We sat in a warm, comfortable booth and enjoyed fireworks while we waited for our food. We didn't even know Snowdown had fireworks!

And here is Jack's plate of chocolate chip pancakes. Let's just say this gave him the "jolt" he needed to begin hopping on the seat and trying to climb over the back. Thankfully we were in a corner booth so we didn't physically disturb any other customers.

Kate proclaimed on our drive home that this was the best day ever. A new truck, fireworks and dinner out. And I'd agree that it was a pretty awesome day.