Thankful Thrusday

So, this will be my first post for thankful Thursday....I never seem to remember until Saturday or Sunday! Imagine that....me forgetful! Okay...so here goes

1. A phone message from my neice Ella saying "Happy Birthday" and "I love you". I'm glad her mom was prompting her on what to say otherwise I may not have been able to translate!!! I love it when they first start being interested in talking on the phone! Too cute. Thanks, Ella.

2. My husband's thoughtfulness in cooking me dinner for my B-day and his great taste in gifts...I'll post pics later. Love you, honey.

3. My family and my in-laws. I love that we all keep in such close contact and that I get to talk to each of them often!

4. I'm thankful that Nicole and Jared had a healthy baby boy this week! Congrats guys!

5. I'm thankful it was 35 degrees today...felt like a heat wave!!!

Introducing Bruiser

Well, we finally did it...we broke down and got a dog! Kaleb and I have been talking for a few months about getting a dog. Kaleb really wanted one and I....well, let's just say I had a few stipulations.

My ideal dog would never smell like a dog or make my house smell like dog, yap like a dog, scratch and chew like a dog, or go to the bathroom like a dog! I came to the conclusion that a robotic dog may be the best bet for me!





However, I must say that Bruiser has won my heart! Some friends of ours, Scott and Niki, had three dogs and with the upcoming arrival of their first baby they decided to downsize in the pet department. Bruiser was their 5 1/2 year old Yorkshire Terrier. He is fully house broken and crate trained! For the most part this takes care of a few of my stipulations!






Bruiser has taken very well to his new home and his new owners. He is a fun loving dog and minds very well. I must admit that I have already gone out and bought dog shampoo, toothpaste (yes, they make toothpaste for dogs), and some freshening spray to use on him between baths. I am determined to have the best smelling dog around! So far....so good! Seriously, can you tell I'm not naturally a pet person! Pathetic, I know.





Here is a shot of the Bruise Man with his sweater on. Scott and Niki sent this sweater, along with all of his other accessories! He HATES it! I put it on him this night because it was below zero outside, and I thought it would keep him warm on his nightly walk. He just stood there, froze, and looked at me like I was insane. We took the sweater off....clothes are not for dogs!






You can really see in this picture the notch out of his ear! This battle scar was from his run in with a pit bull. Let's just say Bruiser is fiesty and not afraid of much!

All in all I am really happy that we have a dog in our home ( I never thought I would say that!). He has been a lot of fun and Kaleb and I both enjoy having him around. He has a great personality and we love him already!

Anniversary-Christmas-New Years...Oh My!

This is an incredibly busy time of year for all of us...and Kaleb and I have been celebrating, visiting, and enjoying the month of December away!


On December 18th we celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary! Four years...WOW! Sometimes it seems like we have been together forever...and other times I can't believe we have spent the past four years married. Kaleb is an amazing husband and we love our life together. (Check out the picture from when we were dating! Crazy :) )

We were fortunate to celebrate Christmas in Idaho this year with Kaleb's side of the family. Through all of the snow storms in Wisconsin and Idaho we were blessed with safe travel for the whole family. (Why wasn't one of us from Arizona, Florida, or Hawaii???) The highlights of the trip were seeing family (especially baby Kendon!) and going to the temple with our best friend, Lance. You will have to excuse the pictures in this post! We only had our phone cameras...and I have to say that I need to become better about getting pictures now that I am a blogger!!!

Uncle Kaleb was so excited to meet his new nephew Kendon Meyer Perry(aka "Bubby"...Kaleb always has a nickname for everyone!)
I couldn't get enough of Kendon. He is at an age where he is very interactive. So much fun!


The left shows a rare moment when Aliah actually got to hold her son! Grandpa (Dennis), along with Grandma (Debbie), Kaleb, and I tried to steal Kendon away from Aliah and Will as much as possible!







We had a great time watching Kendon model his new hat and mittens from Uncle Kaleb! Kendon was just hoping that they tasted as good as they looked!







After hopping off of the plane from Boise we jumped right in the car to drive to Northern Wisconsin to see my side of the family for the weekend. It was a rare opportunity to have all seven kids and their families gathered together at my parents house. Even Macie, Vijai, and Meela made it in with new baby Kamryn (only one week old)! The house was FULL with the recent additions of baby Cassidy and baby Kamryn we brought our family total to 23. ( I think I have the count right!) Thanks to Dad and Mom for putting up with a housefull!















Above is a glimse of the chaos! Left: Jack and Brittany digging into a present. Right: Katie explainging a present to Lucy with Jake and Steve in the background.





This is a horrible picture...but one of the highlights was Meela receiving a rocking horse that my parents restored for her! You can see her riding it in her cowgirl hat with a glimpse of Ethan and Marci on the side!









Here is a picture of the newest baby...Kamryn Louise Khan with her proud big sister Meela Mae. We enjoyed having her at our Christmas gathering when she was only 10 days old! She is a beautiful baby! We love her already!!!

(For those of you who know Macie, my sister, these are her beautiful girls!!!)


Well, as I close I just thought I would through in one last picture. This is one of Uncle Kaleb's favorites of "his Lucy" in her CarMax outfit!

As you can tell we love our neices and nephews...all 10 of them! Keep 'em coming!!!

The following is something I shared at our family testimony meeting this year...
I read a quote that said "My greatest blessings call me Mom". Kaleb and I have not had the opportunity to be parents yet...but we cherish the ability to be an aunt and uncle. I truly feel that my greatest blessings call me "Auntie Abby".

Our families are our greatest blessings. There is nothing better than spending time with each of them. This year we were fortunate to spend time with all of our family. (With the exception of Kaleb's brother, Kyall...who was stuck working in California. We love and miss you Kyall!) Thank you to all of our family for making the great sacrifices of time, travel, and money to allow us all to spend time together. We are ever grateful to our Father in Heaven for his great plan that allows us to know that our families can be together forever. There is no better thought than that to begin a new year with! Happy 2009 to all! We love you!