Dear Everyone,

Happy birthday Courtney.  Twenty three years old and still just a youngster.  Courtney is at a cabin with friends from Jerusalem for her birthday.  I hope she has a wonderful day.  Thank you Court for bringing so much happiness into my life and mom’s life.  You are a gem.

Mom and I are sitting in the Denver airport waiting for our flight to Salt Lake.  It’s a beautiful morning and we can see the mountains in the distance.  I’m so excited to get back to Idaho and the mountains.  Florida was great and we had a fantastic time with Susan, Fred, and Peggy.  Disney World is a fun place to spend a week.  I especially liked the Epcot Center, but every kingdom had its own charm.  Riding the jungle ride reminded me of all the trips we took to Disneyland when you guys were little.  Fun times!

Last Friday we drove to Salt Lake and stayed in the Holiday Inn at the airport.  Peggy met us there and stayed with us.  Then, we got up early Saturday and flew to Orlando.  We had a stopover in Chicago and were delayed a bit because of snow and ice.  They had to de-ice the plane which was an interesting process to watch.  It was kind of like spraying antifreeze all over the plane.  Anyway, we got out of Chicago and on our way to Florida before they started cancelling flights.  

Once in Orlando, it was everything Disney for six days.  The food, the transportation, the entertainment, the conversation, the sleep . . . you name it . . . it was Disney.  The employees there are really all actors and when they are at work, even if it’s picking up garbage, they are “on stage.”  Every once in a while I had to pause and remember that they all went home at the end of the day to their real lives.  

 We were on the deluxe meal plan which meant we literally ate our way through the park.  We ate at all the finest restaurants and were stuffed to the brim with food I have a hard time pronouncing the entire time.  It was fun.  We also had fast passes reserved every day for the rides we wanted to go on.  We just went at the time we were scheduled for and walked right on.  Very nice.  No waiting in lines.  Once in a while we would go on a ride we didn’t have fast passes for and the lines still were not bad.  Along with the rides, we went to lots of shows.  The Indiana Jones show and the stunt car show were my favorites.  I like the way humor was injected into all the shows.

Then we shopped, and shopped, and shopped, and shopped.  The culture of the place just kind of sucks you in and before you know it you are in fantasy land too.  But it’s all good and fun.  It made me happy to watch mom shopping and spending time with her sisters.  

We were supposed to get home last night, but the plane got a late start in Orlando due to a mechanical problem, so, luckily, by the time we got to Denver things were pretty messed up.  I say luckily because we were tired and really didn’t want to drive home to Rexburg that late in the day after we got to Salt Lake.  Because things were messed up, they asked us if we wanted to stay the night in a hotel in Denver and fly to Salt Lake this morning.  We jumped at the opportunity, and they also gave us a $400 credit to fly somewhere else within the next year.  Hurray!  We’ll use that as we make the “new baby tour” this summer.

So now it’s Sunday morning in the Denver Airport.  We are sitting across form the Dazbog Coffee shop, the Vino Volo store, and the Hudson News stand.  We will be leaving soon from gate C49, so I’ll say goodbye for now.

I hope you are all safe, healthy, and happy.  And, I hope you know how much I love each of you.  Have a great Sunday!

Love,

Dad

(Greg, Grandpa, Papa Hazard, Ampaw)