Get Into the Big Van Business

In 2004, we lived in Oklahoma. In our ward, we had a family (Walt and Greta Hobbs) with eight kids. The youngest two kids in their family were the ages of Tanner and Allyn. Walt Hobbs stopped me after church one day to tell me that his family had outgrown their 15 passenger van and wanted to "get out of the big van business." He asked if we would be interested in purchasing their 2001 Ford E-350 15 passenger van. I told him I would talk to Annette. 

At the time, we had a green 1996 Dodge Grand Caravan (see picture below). We purchased this van shortly after we moved to Oklahoma in 1998. It had accommodated our family well as we grew from three children to five children. Because this van had bucket seats in the middle row, we only had room in the van for five children. 

After we found out we were expecting Ashton (child #6 in the family), we arranged with Rachel (Annette's sister) and Robert Hokanson to borrow their middle row bench seat. This would allow us to have six children in the van instead of five. 

me in 1996 Dodge Grand Caravan
parked in front of our house in Oklahoma

The Hobbs' van was all white. The picture below looks almost like the van the Hobbs owned. This picture has a short running board under the driver side door that the Hobbs van did not have. 

photo of Ford E-350 I found on the internet

When I asked Annette about the Hobbs' van, she was hesitant. She had resisted our purchase of the green van in 1998 because she did not want to become a "minivan mom." Now, we were considering the "big van business!" Further, she said the Hobbs' van looked like a van that the preschool used to carry kids around town. She did not want to drive a "daycare van" around town. 

However, with a growing family that would soon have six kids, it made sense to have a larger vehicle. So, we decided to purchase the van from the Hobbs family. We agreed to $11,000 as the price and arranged for a loan from the OU Credit Union. 

After we bought the van, we took it to a car detailing business in Norman. We purchased fiberglass running boards (painted gray) and a pinstripe decoration to install on the van (see photo below). This helped make the van less like a "daycare van."

We sold the green van to another family in our ward who had been having extensive car troubles with their older model Ford Aerostar van (the Ledesmas) for $1. 

And that is how we got into the "big van business."

Annette driving the white van
for sister's weekend in Texas (2006)