What do I do for a living?

I called home from work today and my son answered the phone. He asked me how I was doing, and if I was "making good milk today." For the last few months he has asked me lots of questions about how I make milk, so today I decided to break the news to him that I actually do not make the milk. I told him that I manage people who make milk, drive it to people's homes, etc. He then asked "what does manage mean?" By this point my wife was on the phone and she tried to bring the conversation to my son's level, and told him that I was the boss. My son's reply was classic -- "Oh...so you don't do anything!" :-)

The Magic of Disney

This month we took our kids to Disneyland to celebrate their birthday. We spent two nights at the Disneyland Hotel and visited both parks. So why blog about Disneyland? Because their attention to detail and quality customer service is magic. Consider:


- Upon arriving at the hotel, the valet attendant noticed we were from Utah (becuase of our license plate -- attention to detail). He happened to be from Orem, and comp'd our parking.
- The Disneyland Hotel learned that it was our kids' birthday and gave each a special pin to wear inside the park. Throughout the day the Disney "cast members" noticed the pin and stopped to wish the kids a happy birthday. Even during the evening parade the Princesses stopped their march to talk to my daughter.
- My parents were with us and my father is in a wheelchair, which makes it difficult for him to navigate through restaurants, rides, etc. The cast members were very helpful and accomodating. There were a few times where the situation was not to our liking (i.e. table assignments), and at the first sign of frustration from us adjustments were made. Simply incredible customer service.
- We took the train that encircles the park, which at times passes through backlot areas -- parts of the park that are not part of the "stage. Even these areas felt like Disney -- clean, painted, fun. Thoughout the park, in the restaurants, in our hotel room, etc. etc. every detail was attended to. From the Mickey ear-shapped soap, pancakes, crown molding, wallpaper, faucet handles -- Disney is in a class by itself when it comes to living the brand. I need to find a way to re-create this type of environment at Winder.

So we had a great trip. On a side note, a friend told me about the pin trading that has taken off at the parks. The net net is you buy some pins and trade with Disney cast members and other park guests. He also told me that I could buy pins cheaply on eBay -- about $2 a piece vs. the $10 in the park. So we bough a set of pins on eBay and my kids had a blast trading in the park. You can see some of thier pins in the photo with Mary Poppins above.

Kids turn 5

The kids turned 5 today. They were sooooo excited. We had a mini party with the Clarks -- the big party will be this week at Disneyland!!

Christmas Pictures

We were too lazy this year to get Christmas pictures. I also have a chuckle each year when I get the pictures of families all dressed in matching clothes with the accompaning letter that brags about children and provides a travel log.

So we are rebelling this year -- no picture where we match like the Smurfs and no chest-thumping letter. Just a simple Merry Christmas card and this picture. This picture summarizes our activites in 2005 and was built using the collage feature in Picassa.

The kids

I am told a blog must have pictures. Here's a recent one of the kids. They are very excited about their birthday trip next week to Disneyland.

Welcome to my blog

Well -- it's time for the Dutton family to join the blogging craze. I am not really sure what we will write here, but I thought it would be fun to give blogging a try. I think the motivation is coming from a desire to keep a journal/family history (which I've been preaching to the 14 year olds that I teach in Sunday School), keep family updated in faraway places, and to find out more what blogging is all about.

Anyway, we'll see how this goes.