Tiny Dancer!

Milly was a beautiful and graceful, yet shy ballerina during her first dance recital with her Kindertots Dance class. We were entertained to the tunes of Itsy Bitsy Spider, Patty Cake and a few others. The class demonstrated their twirls, leg lifts and butterfly-like moves. It was very cute and humorous. At the end of the class everyone took pictures and gave flowers to their favorite dancer.

Andrew's Graduation - May 7 - 8, 2008

Congratulations Andrew! We were very fortunate to be with Andrew in Boulder, CO for his gradutation from the University of Colorado - Boulder. Milly loved her second flight to Denver and delighted the entire flight crew with her smile and good spirits. She was very proud of her own seat and explain to everyone that she was going to Denver to see "Andrew Dave Melissa too" (that's Milly talk for Uncle Andrew, Uncle Dave and Melissa).

Andrew "walked the plank" with his engineering colleagues on Thursday evening and then stood with his entire graduating class on Friday morning. Given the early morning ceremony on Friday, we weren't able to stay out too late for a celebration on Thursday although we did raise a glass or two at the Attic before sending Andrew out to party with friends.

We had a great trip and did some fun exploring in Boulder and Nederland where we stayed in a great rental house we found on vrbo.com. We even survived the frigid temperatures and 2" snow we received on Saturday morning.

Dave and Melissa are doing great and we had a wake-up call to what real exercise and dedication is after thoroughly prodding Melissa about the training she's doing for her upcoming Ironman race in September. While we were in CO, Melissa biked 60 miles, ran 15 and swam 2 miles - she not only looks great, but her upbeat attitude and determination has inspired us to get movin' and kick start some form of exercise habits.

Mom and Dad drove us to the airport on Sunday night before spending some additional time with a former neighbor of Dads. They drove home with Andrew this past Friday and are slowly getting into the swing of MN life again.

Winter Strikes Again

A sad reminder of what Spring is really like in Minnesota. Or, what happens everytime Justin leaves the sate to play golf. It's just not fair!!

Check out "Mommy Milly"....

Milly Style

Milly fully enjoyed "Children Appreciation Week" at school a couple of weeks ago. She goes to Kinderberry Hill on Mondays and Tuesdays and each day that week was a different theme. Here she's posing her duds from P.J. and favorite sports team day.

Today we had her 2-year doctor appointment AND her school conferences. She did exceptionally well at each and received lots of praise for her 30+ month level of accomplishments. Apparently, making the #2 sign with her fingers is a big deal and a sign of intellence at this age (we'll see how long that lasts--remember who her parents are). She weighed in just under 21 lbs and she's a towering 32 inches - about 5th percentile against National averages. She's a smart little peanut!

Milly's 2nd Birthday

Milly turned two on Saturday, April 19 and we had fun celebrating all weekend long. The weather was a bright and sunny 70 degrees on Sunday and we had a BBQ with Justin's family.

Weekend highlights included multiple calls from friends and family singing Happy Birthday to Milly, Milly's second haircut, Milly sneaking and opening a present when no one was looking, watching Milly finally figure out how to hold up 2 fingers,and actually squeezing 8 people and 3 dogs onto our new screen porch!

Justin is traveling this week for his National sales meeting in Marco Island, FL. He left this morning wearing shorts so I gave him a hard time. He's playing a lot of golf so he brought his clubs. Watch out dad!

We're definitely looking forward to visiting Colorado and watching A graduate. I can't believe it. Andrew sent Milly another 365 folded paper cranes last week so we think she's close to the good luck of having 1000. Thanks Godfather.

Russell is 60 and Sexy!

Happy Birthday Grandpa Russ! We look forward to celebrating Russell's 60th birthday at Red Stag Supper Club on his birthday, Saturday, April 12. Russ is now the proud (100%) owner of 4640 London Road in chilly Duluth, MN. We look forward to cheering on the runners at Grandma's Marathon on Saturday, June 21st. Save the date now and get your cow bells ready!!

It's Milly Time!

Cheese! I had such a fun weekend.


Mommy and I played all day on Friday--she hardly worked at all and I loved it! Daddy worked from home, but he was locked in the office so I couldn't bother him. We went and looked at a new house in the afternoon, but both Mommy and Daddy said it was best to wait before making any purchase decisions. I picked out my room--it had blue shag carpet and there was a copy of Goodnight Moon on the bedside table. It was a very old copy and Mommy said I couldn't touch it, but I did anyways. After that we went to PetSmart and picked up some Pro Plan for Marge. I got to look at all of the fish and the parrots were whistling at me. I couldn't whistle back, but I tried. We dropped Daddy off at home and Mommy took me to my favorite place--The Mall!

See my new shoes? I got them at The Mall. I tried on lots of shoes because my feet have grown. The lady said I needed a size 51/2 wide. I said I wanted the pink and purple ones. Mommy didn't agree, but I got cool tennies and Tevas that both have pink on them. I guess I still need white sandals, but this store didn't have any that we liked.

On Saturday Nana and Grandpa Frys took me to the zoo. It was super busy and the lines were long. I was a good girl and stayed in my stroller. I saw huge fish, camels, birds, tigers and baby farm animals. It was very sunny and warm outside. I wore my sun glasses. I fell asleep on the car ride home. Nana fixed my hair after my nap and we went out to dinner. Mommy and Daddy came to dinner too.

On Sunday we went to Grandma and Grandpa Grant's house. It was cold, but I ran around and made sure there weren't any gobblins. Elmo came too. We went to Lowes and made a new key for their house. After ensuring the key worked, we went to Barkers for lunch and I had my own rootbeer!! Daddy said I almost ruined my appetite, but I ate my entire hotdog and Oreo cookie. I fell asleep on the ride home.

Such a busy weekend. I have school tomorrow, so I hope Mommy lets me write more later. Bye!

-Milly

Finally in Las Vegas!

I finally made it to Sin City and had a great time with my Purina clients this week. The weather was a sunny 80 degrees and felt amazing compared to the 30 degree weather I left back home. I saw the Bellaggio fountain while Candy and I sipped champagne across the street, watched Elton John perform on his 61st birthday and won $150 while playing b-i-n-g-o! Oh, and my presentation on the switching behavior and nutritional beliefs of breeders was well received too. (If you look closely in the pic, you'll see my newly pierced ears! I now know that anything can happen in Vegas.)

Easter 2008

We hope everyone had a happy Easter! The Easter Bunny almost didn't make it to 100 Jersey for the first annual basket and jelly bean nest hunt, but after a panicked start at 6:15 a.m. she rallied and came back for a strong showing. The basket, tracks and nests were strategically placed in the living room (flour was substituted for baby powder as Milly was about to wake-up and risking the noisy linen closet door wasn't worth it). Once everything was done, she made coffee, checked in on Milly and we went upstairs to get Daddy.





Milly's response to, "I think the Easter Bunny was here." was, "Wow! At Milly's house? (HUGE smile!)" Milly got shy during the actual 'hunt', but nerves turned into smiles again once a jelly bean hit her lips. After we went to church (Milly was on her most perfect behavior), we packed the car and headed to Grandpa and Grandma Frys' house. The Easter celebration was spent watching Milly find hidden eggs, Aggie accidentally eating a chocolate egg, Marge and Lilly wrestling, both Angie and Milly opening multiple Easter baskets and eating the most delicious meal. We really out did ourselves. After dinner the adults traded Easter baskets playing the same dice game we played at Christmas. It was a lot of fun. Justin received a basket full of grilling accessories, sauce and candy and Michelle received a Perkins restaurant gift basket with a nice gift card, pancake fruit sauce and candy. We were all winners!

The day came to a close well after dinner time and since both of us were traveling the next day (Justin to Philly, Michelle to Vegas) we had to sadly leave the girls w/ Russ and Janice. It was a great Easter and we're still eating our way through the candy!

Happy Easter

Milly and I made the best of the wintry conditions. We sang Christmas songs and created a masterpiece on the day before Easter. Milly named him Elmo... go figure.

Ready, Set Go!

We're blogging! It's sad when your parents beat you to new technology, but we're off and running now. We received 3 to 4 inches of snow today--Happy Spring! At least the tulips aren't up.

We hope to update our blog every weekend and will do our best to post pictures.

Does everyone have a March Madness bracket? I'm in last place already ; (

Blog soon,
-M