Fair warning… if you get annoyed by tunes that get stuck in your head all day long, you may not want participate in this birthday celebration. However, it’s in honor of Ellen Marpe (my mother-in-law), it’s all done in love, it is very funny, and you get to see a nice photo collection of the birthday girl and her family.

Happy Birthday Ellen!  You’re awesome and we love you.

My (Ellen’s) Favorite Things…
Wildflowers and winter and sewing and Scrabble,
Cribbage and hiking and hugging the grandkids,
Quilting and picnics and hot sourdough,
These are a few of my favorite things.

Yesterday Mona sent me an email message about Julie Andrews turning 69, and it said that to commemorate her birthday, actress/vocalist, Julie Andrews made a special appearance at Manhattan’s Radio City Music Hall for the benefit of the AARP. One of the musical numbers she performed was “My Favorite Things” from the legendary movie “Sound Of Music”.

As it turns out, the story is made up, but the creative lyrics that accompanied the story are very funny and appropriate for today’s big celebration.

So, here’s how this works…

1) Click the “Play” button immediately below,

2) When the song gets to the part where the words come in (you’ll recognize it), that’s your cue to sing along. Here are the lyrics:

Botox and nose drops and needles for knitting,
Walkers and handrails and new dental fittings,
Bundles of magazines tied up in string,
These are a few of my favorite things.

Cadillacs and cataracts, hearing aids and glasses,
Polident and Fixodent and false teeth in glasses,
Pacemakers, golf carts and porches with swings,
These are a few of my favorite things.

When the pipes leak, When the bones creak,
When the knees go bad,
I simply remember my favorite things,
And then I don’t feel so bad.

Hot tea and crumpets and corn pads for bunions,
No spicy hot food or food cooked with onions,
Bathrobes and heating pads and hot meals they bring,
These are a few of my favorite things.

Back pain, confused brains and no need for sinnin’,
Thin bones and fractures and hair that is thinnin’,
And we won’t mention our short shrunken frames,
When we remember our favorite things.

When the joints ache, When the hips break,
When the eyes grow dim,
Then I remember the great life I’ve had,
And then I don’t feel so bad.

Wasn’t that fun?

CLICK HERE to see Ellen’s Birthday Photo Gallery.

Again, happy birthday Ellen. We love you.

I hope this message finds you well.  Birthdays and holidays sometimes get crowded together, but we do our best to appreciate both.

Bette Davis once said, “Old age is no place for sissies”, and there are two relatives that should take courage in this.  Let me introduce you to each…

Diane Marpe is my sister-in-law on Mona’s side of the family.  Today she is celebrating her __th birthday.  Only Diane can fill in the __ blanks.  She’s a native Minnesotan who’s defected to the land of Clinton.  Diane has tried to distance herself from Bill-ville, so she picked the furthest point from Little Rock she could find.  It was either Bentonville or Piggott, and Bentonville just sounded better.  Diane and her husband, Joel, have two beautiful girls, Leslie and Stephanie.  I’ll pick on them when their birthdays come around.

Diane, happy birthday.  We miss seeing you.  I have one more quote for you…

“Old age is like a plane flying through a storm. Once you’re aboard there’s nothing you can do.”
Golda Meir

The next birthday wish goes out all the way to Naples, Italy, to my newphew, Christopher Hutton.  Chris is Rod’s eldest son, a very special guy, and tomorrow Chris turns 16.  Chris has many talents and is developing his web design skills.  You can see his work at http://www.huttonhomeschool.com. 

Happy birthday to you, Chris.  If you haven’t already, feel free to remind your dad that you are now of legal age to drive.  You might also remind him that driving is undoubtedly one of the best – and most adventurous – ways of discovering Italy.  Your quote of the day is…

“In youth we learn; in age we understand.”
Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach (1830-1916, Austrian Novelist)

To everyone else… Happy Thanksgiving.

Heaven is richer today…

There’s more laughter.

There’s more smiling.

There are more hugs.

I can only imagine what a glorious reception was prepared for Dick Hutton.

I can only imagine what it felt like for Dick to stand before the Lord God Almighty with the arms of his Saviour, Jesus Christ, wrapped around him.  To hear the words “Well done, my son.  My good and faithful servant.”

Heaven is richer today.

I can only imagine what joy he felt when, once again, he was reunited with his mom and dad.  Oh, how long they must have embraced.

It’s said there are no tears in heaven, but how could Dick not cry tears of incredible joy and thanks for all God has done?

Our tears will one day soon turn to smiles as the pain of our loss fades and the most fond memories of an amazing man take their rightful and permanent place in our hearts.  God doesn’t want us to cry.  Dick would not want us to cry.  But for now it seems utterly impossible not to.  We miss Dick.  His love for others knew no limits, and heaven is richer today.

For a photo & musical tribute to Dick, go here…

Mother Teresa said…

“Smile at each other, smile at your wife, smile at your husband, smile at your children, smile at each other – it doesn’t matter who it is – and that will help you to grow up in greater love for each other.”

Yesterday was a very special day for someone who makes me smile everytime I’m with her.  She’s such a delight.  Just thinking of Emily makes me smile.  Her positive effect on me and everyone around her is infectuous.  Stunning beautiful blue eyes… Caring for others… Energy that adds life to those she touches…

Emily turned 13 years old yesterday, and you’re invited to go have a look at some photos from her birthday celebration.

The day started out much like any other day. Up before the sun rises, coercing children out of bed and off to school.

This is when Mona’s hearing problem started. She’d dropped Emily off at her school bus stop, and the Holy Spirit whispered in her ear, “Mona, you should go to the YMCA this morning. It’s safe there.” “What?”, Mona said, “I didn’t quite catch what you said.”

A few minutes passed and, after having been ignored the first time, the Holy Spirit tried a new approach… “Mona, if you’re going for a run, you should go down this nice smooth paved sidewalk.” “What?”, Mona said, “huh? what?” Mona paid no heed.

So, off Mona goes. Back home. Change into exercise clothes and out the door with the iPod and some favorite tunes.

I don’t know if it was on the outbound trip or the return trip, but there most definitely was a trip. A trip that Mona won’t soon forget. You don’t want to know the details. Not from me.

My phone rang this morning at about 9:30AM and a guy said, “here’s your wife”. Mona said, “I was running and fell on the bridge. Now I have a sliver and I need you to come get me.”

If you’ve had a sliver before, you know how much that can hurt. While the words out of Mona’s mouth said it was a “sliver”, the tone of her voice said it was a S-L-I-V-E-R. After 20 years of being married, one word was all I needed to hear to know that this was no ordinary, run-of-the-mill, “we’ll get the tweezers” sliver.

I dropped everything, jumped in my car and hurried off to help my love. When I pulled up and Mona showed me “the sliver”… oogy. We spent the next 2 hours at the urgent care center.

Mona is home now and recovering nicely. She’s such a trooper.

So, Mona, if you’re reading this, I recruited some friends to put together a “back to the basics” training video for you. Please, please watch this… and take notes.

You’ve seen our kids, right?  Anna, Ben and Emily?  Well, I found this picture of three manatees swimming together, and tell me if you don’t think there’s a resemblance…

Wierd, huh?

Happy 18th birthday to Mike and Nick!  I’m not sure who’s older but I think they’re pretty close in age, separated only by minutes.  In case you haven’t been able to follow the lives of these two guys, they’re in college now and both involved in collegiate athletics.  No surprise there, since Mike and Nick both earned numerous city, regional and state-level awards throughout their high school careers in soccer, track and cross country.

Happy 23rd Anniversary to Dave and Dawn!  Actually, their anniversary is tomorrow.  So, this is a day early, but I have a policy of no blogging on Sundays.  Dave and Dawn are “empty nesters” now.  Wow.  With all that free space in the house, they’ll need to get a few more dogs.  My advice would be to get big slobbery ones that knock stuff over, leave their toys laying around and stay out late.  It’ll make the empty nest an easier adjustment.  We love you guys and hope to see you in MN sometime soon.

I didn’t have any good pictures of Dave and Dawn, but I found a handful of pics from one of Mike and Nick’s soccer games.  They’re here…

20 years ago today in Michigan’s UP, a young couple very much in love got married.  That couple was Mona and I.  September 3, 1988 was the day that began a journey of partnership and friendship that has grown into a life relationship that simply couldn’t be any better.

9 months and 5 days after being wed, Anna Hutton was born.  I’ll never forget sitting in our bedroom on the bed matress, which was on the floor because we had no real bedroom furniture at the time, and contemplating the reality of parenthood within our first year of marriage.  I thought Mona must surely be better prepared for being a mother than I was for being a father.  I hoped she was, because I was clueless.  We were thrilled and scared at the same time.  Fortunately for me and our kids, Mona quickly proved that she got it.

Over the course of the next 20 years, God revealed His plan day-by-day.  The condensed version of the story looks something like this…

1988 Get married.
1988 Move to Brainerd, MN and rent an apartment
1989 Buy a house in Brainerd, MN
1989 Have a baby girl (Anna)
1990 Ron changes job and we move to Port Orange, FL
1991 Ron changes job and we move to McHenry, IL
1992 Move from McHenry to Crystal Lake, IL
1992 Have a baby boy (Ben)
1993 Ron changes job and we move to Ormond Beach, FL
1995 Have a baby girl (Emily)
1999 Ron changes job and we move to Farmington, MN
2001 Ron changes job and we move to Ormond Beach, FL
2007 Anna graduates from high school and moves to Tallahassee, FL to attend FSU
(next?)

20 years condensed into 13 lines?  That’s not right.  Why’d I do that?  The gaps in between the lines span month and years.  It’s the everyday things that make up life and form bonds that no man can break.  It’s knowing that your mate knows you better than any other human on earth, and yet would do anything for you.  While only God’s love is perfect and unconditional, I don’t think there’s anything closer here on earth than what Mona and I have together.  I adore her, and she likes me pretty good too.

Mona… thank you.  I can’t wait to see what the next 20 years hold in store for us.

Or in Italian, “Felice Diciannovesimo Annivsary”.  We love you guys and we miss you.  I’ve included a special anniversary message for you.  Just click the Play button to listen…

I’d like to introduce you to the new teen Hutton webmaster, Chris Hutton.  Chris has taken an interest in learning how to build websites, and he’s doing wonderfully.  Chris’ first website, http://www.huttonhomeschool.com, was built in the beginning of 2007; and since then Chris has expanded his knowledge by working with a blog platform called WordPress to create http://www.teenmilitarynetwork.com.

The image below is also a creation of Chris’.  Keep up the great work, Chris, you’ve got a bright future.