We have a name!

After careful thought and extensive research, we settled on a name for the newest member of our family! The final deliberations came down to two contenders, Ingaborg and Solveig, but in the end Solveig (pronounced: sole – vig) prevailed. We like the name’s meanings of strength and house, because our hope is that this girl’s destiny will include both fortitude, protection, and comfort. We also focused in on a Swedish name with the desire to honor her ethnic heritage.

The newest member of our family also happens to be the largest, and you can see her pictured below!

We flew to Phoenix to formally adopt (aka purchase) her on Saturday and then drove her home that evening. Luke’s adoration of Solveig began the moment that Elmo appeared on screen in the headrest in front of him, and I was enraptured by her luxurious seats and backup warning system (because I have a parking paranoia). Erik loves how easy it is to slide under her for repairs, and was also pretty impressed with her fuel economy and handling on curvy roads. We’re all excited to have a vehicle that will seat our family of four plus visiting grandparents or other guests. Plus she’s safer than Elsa (our ‘95 Volvo wagon) and having two cars will give us a little more flexibility. Solveig’s previous family must have also loved her very much – though she has traveled 94K miles she seems to still be in great condition.

All in all, we very much enjoyed our little jaunt and to the left you can see Luke and me walking back to Solveig after stopping for dinner in Sedona, AZ. Despite the red rocks beauty and the thrill of the Phoenix Ikea (where we also stopped), we were glad to be driving home to a cooler climate. The high in Phoenix was 108 degrees, and Solveig’s thermometer read 112!! We had expected it to be warmer there, but their late September heat felt unbearably intense. Don’t worry, Solveig, you won’t ever have to live anywhere so hot again if we can help it!