We are happy to announce that the newest addition to the Mills family is scheduled to arrive around October 14! We are very excited and know that Libby will make a super big sister!

At daycare 2 weeks ago they had "baby week". The kids learned about and found pictures of babies. There are pictures of babies from magazines hanging up in the classroom. Every morning when I drop Libby off there...she runs from picture to picture and says "baby". She definetly knows what they are! We were recently on a plane where there was a mom holding a baby sitting behind and across the aisle from us. Libby was SO fascinated with everything this baby was doing. She kept repeating and pointing, baby...baby...baby. I'm sure the 2 men sitting behind us were not to pleased as Libby was standing up in her seat and squealing with excitement!!

April 7-12 we flew down to Texas to visit Grandma and Grandpa Danielson for a few days.

It was so nice to get away and relax! Troy got to do alot of golfing, we went swimming, visited the beaches on South Padre Island, played shuffleboard, sat around and visited, and ate, ate, ate!! Libby got to spend some quality time with Grandma and Grandpa, which was great!

Libby also spent the week with her favorite animal...puppy (aka Teddy). Actually, she calls everything a puppy right now! She also learned how to yell at Teddy like grandma does.....TED-DEE, TED-DEE!!

We are looking forward to summer, although we have alot of things we want to get done...new floor on back deck and put railings up, build a firepit out of landscape block, build Libby a swingset and sandbox, and poor a concrete driveway. Summer will be over before we know it and then it will be time for baby to arrive!!

Hope everyone is doing well. We'll update as we know more!

Libby LOVED going for rides in the golf cart around the park!!

Chillin' in the hammock swing that Grandma put up

Future WPGA'r????? Daddy hopes so!

First beach experience on South Padre Island

Sportin' a bikini and splashing in the pool

Big Sister!

Yep, thats right!!! We found out yesterday that Libby is going to be a big sister! Not sure on the due date yet, but Denise does have an ultrasound scheduled March 3rd, so we will know more than.

We are excited! Let the planning begin!

February 2010 Already???

Hello family and friends! Sorry it has been so long........

Here it is, 2010, and we are already a month and a half into it. Yikes! Happy belated New Year!!!



Libby continues to keep us busy and it is difficult to get any computer work done while she is awake. She likes to look at the pictures of herself on the "wallpaper" and hit the keys. If you ignore her, well, it doesn't always go over to well. Since today we are snowed in and didn't make it into work, Libby is napping, so I thought I would throw a quick update for all of you.

Libby in now 17 months and has moved from the infant room at daycare to the toddler room. We switched daycare providers as the one we are now with has the daycare contract with the new YMCA being built here in Alexandria, and we really wanted to get Libby in there. We loved the gals at the old daycare infant room, and felt bad changing, but we have been very happy with the toddler staff at the new place. Libby has become much more vocal now that she is around older kids, and will repeat words that she hears. Ball, car, night night, nana, no, good, hi and bye are used quite a bit right now, and she has said please along with several other words occasionally. She LOVES to dance right now, any type of music and any place, she will dance. It is so cute!!! We took her crib down a couple of weeks ago and put the toddler bed in her room. She loves the new bed and like being a "big girl". We have put the "potty chair" in the bathroom, and she like sitting on it, but that is with a diaper on. If we sit her on it before her bath, she is not too sure of her bare bottom falling down through the hole. I guess she is growing up fast....



December 2009 came and went very fast. It started out on a sad note as Troy's grandma on his dad's side (Rosa) passed away at the age of 92. It was a blessing though as she was not living the life she was used to. We miss her but know she is better off. But the month didn't slow down at all. On the weekend before Christmas, Troy's family decided to rent a few rooms at the Holiday Inn here in Alexandria and celebrate Christmas. It worked out very well at Abby and Maddy (Stacy and Dave's twins) and Libby got to swim and run around and play together. The adults even had a great time. Christmas Eve was spent with Denise's parents and Christmas Day with Denise's parents and sister and brother and law (Lisa and Eric) and their two girls, Emily and Anna. Libby, Emily and Anna had a blast together as they were chasing each other and hugging and wrestling in grandma and grandpa's living room.



2010 came in and we made the trip to Browerville to celebrate Christmas with Troy's mom's side of the family. Again, Libby, Abby and Maddy had a blast, along with Mason and Ayden.



Outside of that, it has basically been work that has consumed a lot of our time. Troy's job with PrimeWest continues to be busy and does not look to be slowing down anytime soon. Denise's job with Verizon has gotten busy as well as they are in the middle of a bunch of upgrades right now. This requires her to work several nights over a four week span, but at least she can do it from home. This week is the last week of it, hopefully for a while.........



We have been making it up to Bemidji for Bemidji State Hockey. We thought last year was a wild ride, but this year has been even better. With a 18-6-2 record, they are ranked #5 in the nation right now. It is also the last year for the John Glas Fieldhouse, the home of the Beavers for 43 years. Next year they will be moving into the Bemidji Regional Events Center, a 4500 seat arena, that will have individual seats instead of benches. I KNOW Denise is looking forward to that! We have our "seating assignment" time next Tuesday, and we have a good idea where we would like to sit. Hopefully it all works out.



That is about all from here, I guess. I will leave you with what you want to see anyway, pictures of Libby!!!!

Libby's newest favorite spot, under the chairs in the kitchen!

Libby opening up her CD Player at Christmas.

Libby opening up her Little People Amusement Park

Libby in her Christmas Dress

The great grandkids on Troy's mom's side.

Maddy, Abby and Libby hiding at Christmas in Browerville

Libby and dad checking out the pregame warmups for BSU Hockey.

Yogert is both a food and a hair product!

Libby and dad on Martin Luther King Day 2010 (we took a picture in 2009 as well).

Libby wanted to go snow blow the driveway for dad.

Libby showing dad something under the couch.

One weekend bathroom reno. A new vanity top, a new faucet, along with a mirror and light.

Troy, Denise and Libby!

ummm....latest fashion trend??

Libby cant decide if she wants to go swimming or sledding?

This is where we found her playing...in the cupboard!

She fits perfectly!

It Has Been Awhile....

Hello Friends and family, it has been awhile. I guess I can blame it on being busy, but that isn't the greatest excuse. We have to update more often or else we will forget what has happened!

Since our last post, Libby has continued to grow. Now at almost 14 months, she has gotten this walking thing down pat. She even has figured out how to almost run (I wouldn't call it running yet, but a VERY fast walk). One of the more fun things she likes to do is dance. It started out as bopping to music, but now has moved onto stomping her foot and now this weekend, spinning around and moving her arms. It is really fun to watch and hard not to laugh, even though mom and dad try to join her. She probably thinks we are nuts!

The other thing she has started doing is bringing us a diaper when the one she has on needs to be changed. Is it too early to start potty training????

Denise and I were able to get away for a week. The week of our anniversary, we took a cruise in the Eastern Caribbean. Leaving from Port Canaveral, Florida, we made stops at Cocoa Cay (Bahamas), St. Thomas and St. Maartin on Royal Caribbeans Freedom of the Seas. Let me tell you, I was one that didn't think I would enjoy a cruise, being stuck on a boat and all the other arguments you hear against them. But Denise talked me into it and I LOVED IT! There is just so much to do on the ship that you can do as much or as little as you like. We are already talking about doing it again in a year.

Here are two pictures of our ship, the Freedom of the Seas. Right now, the Freedom class for Royal Caribbean is the largest cruise ship sailing, but in December, Royal Caribbean will break out the Oasis of the Seas. We did have some people tell us that we were starting out our cruising experiences right by going with the biggest and the best right out of port.

Here is the sign to Coco Cay, Royal Caribbeans private stop in the Bahamas. We decided to just rent some beach mats and lounge around on the beach an in the water. Unfortunately, I forgot to upload a picture of the actual island......

After a day at sea, our next stop was St. Thomas, where we decided to take an island tour with one of the local guides. We got to see the WHOLE island, the rich and high points along with the poor and low points. It is kind of amazing that there can be such a huge disparity on such a small piece of land. In the picture below, we are at an overlook that has Magen's Bay behind us (one of the top 10 beaches in the world).

The next day was a stop at St. Maartin, where we decided to take part in the America's Cup sailing regatta. There were 30 of us from the ship that were divided up into two team and we raced actual multi-million dollar boats that have participated in the America's Cup races. Our team ended up on True North from Canada, while the other team was on Stars and Stripes from the US. After a quick tutorial by our captain and his two helpers, we raced, and the Great White North prevailed! I was a grinder on the boat, while Denise was a relief grinder, and it was a workout. My shoulders were a little stiff the next day.

After two days at sea to get back to Port Canaveral, it was back to Minnesota and to Libby, who spent the week with Grandpa and Grandma Danielson.

So, enough about us, back to Libby. Below are some pictures of her in her Halloween Costume. We decided to take her outside and put her with one of the leaf piles and a pumpkin!

A couple of weekends ago, we made a quick little trip up to Fargo and on the way home, we decided to stop at a farm with a corn maze, pumpkin patch and petting zoo. Well, we pick a horrible day to stop as it was cold and rainy. And since it had been raining off and on for a couple of weeks now, that Red River Valley soil was very soupy. We did get a few pictures though.

Libby on a hay bale.

Libby petting "Baby Davy" the cow.

Libby looking at the goat, who looks like she wants Libby's stroller. Libby loved petting the goat and having her nibble at her hand.

And here is proof that Libby is not always the little angel that we like to make her out to be! One day at daycare, they decided to put her hair in "pig tails". Not only do we have the three that you can see, but there was one in the back also.

Both our jobs continue to go very well. Last week Denise had to spend three days in Denver doing some hardware upgrades to the network out there. This week, she will spend three day in Golden Valley, MN, doing the same upgrades as those two sites are paired together. Even though she is gone for a few days, it bodes very well for her future as this part of the network will be hers to watch over once she is fully trained. Her mentor keeps giving her more and more responsibility and she is loving it, finally having something to do again. And Libby survives very well, taking care of dad while mom is gone!

Well, that is about all from here for now. We will try to update a little more frequently here in the future. Until next time......

Troy, Denise and Elizabeth

We Have a Walker!

Wow, two posts in one week.....

Just a quick update for all the Libby fans out there that Libby took her first unassisted steps today. It was kind of humorous as I don't think she realized what she was doing. Some of the Sunday newspaper was on the floor and she figured out that she could make noise by stomping on it. Well, a stomp with one foot lead to a stomp with the other foot and so on until she had taken six to eight steps. It was once mom and dad reacted that she fell to the floor on her bottom. Denise and I then sat on the floor about ten feet apart and she proceeded to walk unassisted between us. One year and four days old!

Up next, serious baby proofing to do.......

We Have A One Year Old

Hello again everyone! It has been awhile and it has been a whirlwind since July 4th. We were expecting our weekends to kind of slow down, but that has not been the case.

Libby continues to grow and change every day. We now hear her say "ma ma" and "da da" and she babbles a lot. She loves music and "bops" to music, any music. Every time the Empire Carpet commercial comes on, she stops what she is doing and just watches the TV. When I pick her up from daycare after work, I have the 80's Hair Band station on my XM Radio and she will bop in her car seat on the way home. She is so close to walking and has tried to take a few steps unassisted, but ends up on her bottom. Good thing those diapers serve as some padding. She had her one year checkup today and came in at 22 1/2 pounds and just under 30" tall.



Over the past six weeks, Libby has gotten her first taste of a parade (and lollipop), firemen water fights and of the beach. She really seemed to enjoy both of them (slept through the water fights) and we hope to get to the beach again this weekend if it warms up enough. Weekends this summer have either been rainy or unseasonably cool, but this Labor Day weekend is suppose to get up into the 80s, so we will see.

Denise and I left Libby with a baby sitter from outside the family for the first time when we were visiting my sister Stacy, her husband Dave and their twins Abby and Maddy. Stacy and Dave had a neighbor girl and her friend watch Libby , Abby and Maddy one Friday night so we could head out on a St. Croix River Cruise. Denise and I were a little worried, but Libby was none the worse for wear and we are very glad we did it.

Finally, with Libby turning one, we had to have a birthday party for her. We got some decorations on the new deck and in the house, a DQ Ice Cream cake and had a small group of friends and family over. It was a fun time, but it is still hard to believe it has been a year ago that Elizabeth Rose joined our lives. We wouldn't trade it for anything, and yes, I mean that even at 4:00 in the morning when she refuses to go back to sleep.......




Now that summer is over, it doesn't look like our fall is going to slow down. Denise has gotten much more involved with Verizon operations. Her days have gotten much busier and she has been involved with upgrades at night. She will be going to Denver for a couple of days of upgrades and then will be in Minneapolis the next week for a couple of days to complete the upgrades. She is assigned to a network that has "hubs" in Minneapolis and Denver, so when hardware upgrades happen, she will more than likely have to travel.

My job continues to be busy. With the economy the way it is, we see our enrollment increasing for Medicaid and Medicare benefits. But the positive is that PrimeWest has been in the forefront of the "Public Health care Option" debate as an example of how things could be handled.

Denise and I also have a little fun planned as we will be taking a cruise this fall to the Eastern Caribbean. It will be a week away from Libby, but we are confident that she will have a load of fun with Grandpa and Grandma Danielson.

Also with fall comes the start of the college hockey season, and yes, we did renew our season tickets to Bemdiji State hockey. Next year, they will be members of the WCHA and they will have a brand new arena to play in, so the excitement is building (okay, for me at least it is).

Well, that is about all from here. I am going to leave you with some pictures from Libby's photoshoot celebrating her one year birthday (and a picture of her on Grandpa Danielson's bike). Have a great Labor Day Weekend!

Troy, Denise and Libby