Visiting Heather, My Parents, and the Janis Family Reunion 2021

Our annual Janis Family Reunion was on July 24, 2021. Since Maddy was in Destin, Mitzi stayed home to spend time with her so I headed out to Utah.

I arrived a day early so I could spend some one on one time with Heather and my parents.

My flight went through the Houston airport. There is a Pappadeaux restaurant there with Seafood Gumbo that is especially good.

That night I treated myself to Tadka, an Indian restaurant in Payson. It's across the street from the Payson hospital where Heather and Damon Jr were born. That seems like such a long time ago and another life.

When Heather was born we didn't have a functioning car. Our car was hit in a snowy accident and it wasn't drive-able. I couldn't afford to fix it. The insurance deductible was $500 which I also couldn't afford. We went for about 6 months without a car!

I had to borrow our friends car (Ryan and Mei Li Moore) to take Tiffany to the hospital. And then the next day borrow it again to drive Tiffany and Heather home to our student housing apartment.

Seeing the hospital reminded me of those times. It was a rough start economically but I ended up providing really well for my family as time went on.

The Indian food was excellent. A Mango Lasse and Chicken Tikka Masala with Garlic Rosemary Naan.

The next day I visited my mom. We drove around looking at her rental properties and ended up at Bajio. We shared a chicken salad for lunch. We enjoyed visiting. My mom has always been good to me. I've always felt loved and accepted. She is wonderful and I feel so much gratitude and love for her.

My dad was out with Daron's family and when he got back, we got to spend an hour together. Unhappily I didn't get a picture. We had a very nice visit.

In the early evening I got to spend time with Heather. She is living in her own place in Orem. I'm very proud of her. She has had more than the average difficulty in life and has worked very hard to be where she is. I have tremendous love and respect for her.

We went to Yummy's Korean BBQ near her house. We got to cook our own food at our table. It was a fun experience! We ordered the all-you-can-eat but filled up so fast we never got seconds :)

We were there for 3 hours enjoying connecting and having a conversation about so many interesting things.

The next day was the reunion. We went to South Fork Park in Provo. Blair and Danae put it on this year. We had a pavilion, the weather was perfect. I got some great pictures. Damon Jr and Navy and Cobalt were able to drive up from St George. It's always so fun to see them!

I enjoyed visiting with everyone. I love my family. Relationships are my highest value in life and I'm so grateful to be part of a large and strong family.

Here are the pictures I took in the order taken :)

Yes, I'm very grateful for family!