Look what Daddy brought home!

Meet Marley, the newest member of the Coonradt family! Mae LOVES (and I mean LOVES) dogs, so with her birthday coming up and our fence nearing completion, we have been talking about getting her a dog. We've been looking on KSL, but hadn't found the right dog yet. Until Thursday... I was working upstairs when Coby came up holding Marley. Apparently, he had been driving around town and saw someone selling Boxer puppies outside a store, like people do, stopped and fell in love with this little girl--and who could blame him?

Mae was asleep when he got home, so when she woke up Coby took the puppy with him to go get her out of her bed...

A little dazed, but the excitement is there! (as is Mae's "nap 'do"...and the monkeys)

Kisses...

We asked Mae what she wanted to name the puppy and first she said "Nitro" (my brother Josh's old dog), and then she said "Marley"---after her FAVORITE book "Marley & Me" (she seriously LOVES that book soooooo much, sometimes it accidently gets "lost" just to give us a break)--which seemed to fit her!

We originally had been looking for a grown dog because puppies are well, puppies and while adorable, they can can be wild and hyper, not really what we wanted for Mae. But when Coby went to look at the puppies, this little girl was so calm and loving, that he went for it---and she really is THE BEST DOG I'VE EVER HAD--and that's pretty good coming from me because growing up we had a lot of dogs! She is very mellow and loveable, and we ALL love her, but no one quite as much as Mae-Mae!

I'm not normally one to dress dogs in clothes, but the sweater came with her-- and really, is that not just sooooo cute?
Mae ready Marley a book...

Mae giving Marley kisses...

Mae trying to pick Marley up!

Happy early-Birthday Mae-Mae! We LOVE you and your little Marley!