Today’s Post by Guest Author, Dave Hutton

It was 23 years ago today that Dave & Dawn were blessed by God with their firstborn child, named Knucklehead #1! 

Daniel Jon Hutton arrived early at Naval Hospital Pensacola Florida.  Over the years Dan has grown into a very impressive young man!  Now Ensign Dan is a commissioned officer and is stationed in Atsugi, Japan with the US Navy and VFA-102 (the Diamondbacks).  He is a key player on the maintenance team keeping the birds in the air. 

Between 1986 and today Dan has had lots of interesting life experiences, from beginning his soccer career in Jacksonville, Florida and playing all the way through college and being named a college all-region player.  He grew to be a surfer dude during five years of living on the beach in Hawaii and translated those skills into snowboarding and being a teacher/coach at Buck Hill in Burnsville.  Best of all, he met his future bride all the way back in high school at the Sunshine Christian music festival.  They stayed together and we now have our first daughter-in-law, Alysa, who we are also very proud of. 

Dan is presently deployed with his squadron onboard the aircraft carrier USS GEORGE WASHINGTON and is celebrating his birthday with a port call in Perth, Australia.  We hope he enjoys it and know he looks forward to Alysa joining him in Japan in August.

Happy Birthday Dan!!

Two decades ago in a place far, far nordt of here (FL) in Brainerd, MN, a beautiful little girl became the first born of me and Mona.  This week she celebrated her 20th birthday, and we couldn’t be more proud of her.

Anna just finished her second year at Florida State University and she’s absolutely lovin’ life in Tallahassee.  It really is a very neat city.  The latest news for Anna, aside from the fact that she’s TWENTY BIG-UNs, is that she’s started a new job at Tiajana Flats.  If you like good Mexican food and are in the Tallahassee area, you’ll have to stop for a bite.

This is the first summer that Anna is living away from home, and we miss her terribly.  Whenever she comes home to visit, it’s like a holiday celebration in our home.

Happy birthday, Anna.  We love you!

Now for some pics… CLICK HERE

June 4, 1960 a very young couple from the Grand Forks, ND area got married.  Their names were Earl Hutton and Patricia O’Keefe, and I’m incredibly happy to say that they’re my mom and dad.

49 years ago life was a little different than it is today.  For instance, the average yearly income was $5,199.  The average cost for a new car was $2,275.  A gallon of gas cost $0.25, a gallon of milk cost $1.04, and a loaf of bread cost $0.20. 

I find it very interesting that when we hear numbers like these, we think, “Oh, the good old days.”  But were we really better off in 1960 than we are today?  Check out the little table I put together here…

So, I’m a bit off track from the real significance of today, but I do like putting things into perspective.

I’m of the opinion that we are all far better off today than we were in 1960 because life is really about relationships, not the cost of gas.  In 1960 Pat and Earl’s new family consisted of 2 people.  Today if you count kids, daughters-in-law and grandkids, the family of 2 has grown to a family of 20.  In the Bible that’s the spiritual principle of reaping what you sow.

I just noticed that the 49 year multiplier in the “cost of living” table above is roughly 10x, and the family of Pat and Early Hutton has also multiplied by 10x.  Wow.  Wierd, huh?

I wish I had some photos from 1960, but I don’t.  However, I do have a photo with mom and dad from a recent Tallahassee trip.

Lastly, I found one of the top music hits from 1960, “Save The Last Dance For Me” by The Drifters, and have included it here for your listening pleasure.

Mom and Dad, we love you very much.  Thank you for everything you’ve done for all of us over the last 49 years.

The funny thing about birthdays is they give you an excuse to share information that might not otherwise become available to the public at large.

Dave and Rod both celebrate May birthdays, and since I missed my opportunity to roast Rod on May 11, I thought perhaps Dave wouldn’t mind sharing some of the glory on his birthday, which is today.

Both Dave and Rod have had highly successful Navy careers.  Dave retired a few years ago and Rod is still “active.”  Well, active doesn’t necessarily mean you know what you’re doing or where you’re going next.  Sure, Italy is beautiful; but the Navy told Rod he couldn’t stay there forever.  When he inquired as to his next duty, they said “We’d like you to try on the last suit you’ll ever wear.”  Rod is now exploring his other options.

Happy belated 43rd, Rod.

When Dave retired from the Navy, he knew he had to acquire some new skills and hobbies.  All while we were growing up, Dave had heard that fishing was for old people, and now he qualified.  How this photo leaked at a major sporting event, no one knows.

Happy (on time) 48th, Dave.

From Mona…

With Karen’s birthday fast approaching and Kathy’s quickly having left, we wish them a very, very Happy Birthday!!  This photo captures Kathy’s amazing dance talent, although she’s usually doing the “swirl with the hips as fast as you can” motion.  Karen must have won out by suggesting, “let’s just kick”.   Cousin Scott was just fortunate to have witnessed this moment.  We love you guys!

Happy 48th Birthday Joel! We love you and hope to see more of you guys in ’09. We can all gather up our plaids (I know the kids have their share) and reunite with many laughs. Ron, Mona, Anna Ben & Emily

Joel Cruisin’ Chicks…

Found Chick… 

Congratulations to Rod and Kathy for the birth of their beautiful daughter, Josie.

All the vitals are included in the birth announcement below, so I’ll just let the pictures do the talking.

I’m so happy for you guys.  Love, Ron.

Today is my dad’s birthday; and if you ask him how old he is, he’ll simply tell you that he’s a day younger than he will be tomorrow.  So, let me clarify that for you a bit.  He’s 24,837 days old.  Or is he 596,088 hours old?  Hang on.  I’m getting a bead on it… he’s 35,765,280 minutes old.  Somehow 68 years sounds better.

Happy birthday Dad! 

A pretty good birthday joke…

Old Guys’ Noggins
 
Three old guys are sitting in a diner, chatting about various things. One guy says, “You know, I’m getting really forgetful. This morning, I was standing at the top of the stairs, and I couldn’t remember whether I had just come up or was about to go down.”

The second guy says, “You think that’s bad? The other day, I was sitting on the edge of my bed and I couldn’t remember whether I was going to sleep or had just woken up!

The third guy smiles smugly, “Well, my memory is just as good as it’s always been, knock on wood,” he says as he raps on the table. Then with a startled look on his face, he asks, “Who’s there?”

Today is Mona’s birthday!  Woohoo!

If you’ve followed my blog posts and saw our “Anniversary Post”, you know that I got kind of gooshy mooshy.  Well, not today.  Time for some fun.

So, there’s these two blondes waiting at a bus stop.

When a bus pulls up and opens the door, one of the blondes leans inside and asks the bus driver: “Will this bus take me to 5th Avenue?”

The bus driver shakes his head and says,”No, I’m sorry.”

At this the other blonde leans inside, smiles, and twitters: “Will it take ME?”

See Mona’s Birthday Photo Tribute (oh crap, I could be in big trouble for this)

Yesterday Ben celebrated his 16th birthday, and we all celebrated with him.  The day was a blast.

I considered an orchestrated rite of passage into manhood.  One particular ritual that I thought Ben would be good at is cow jumping.  It’s fairly popular in Hamar, Ethiopia, and it looks like it would be a lot of fun.  However, after Ben recently demonstrated his grace on an inanimate object with four little wheels (a skateboard), I thought better of asking him to scurry along the hairy backs of large mooooing creatures.  He’s good, but…

So, we all agreed that bowling would be more fun.  And it was.  Have a look at Ben’s birthday photo slide show here.

Ben, I’m extremely proud of you and I love you very much.  Don’t ever change your fun-loving heart.  God has blessed you with a contagious sense of humor and a heart of gold.  Share it whenever and wherever you have the chance.

Love, Dad