Elder Janis

Well it has finally happened. The long-awaited event that we have been preparing for for the past nineteen years, and more intensely for the past few months...Damon's mission. There were many goodbyes he said for several days up until the last moment before heading into the doors of the MTC.

Bye Emily!

Bye Dad!

Bye Taylor!

Spencer had work very early and that goodbye was faster than a speeding mother to her camera!

Damon and I flew to Utah on Monday, July 20, and stayed in Provo at Grandma and Grandpa Janis' (who were still in Katy). We spent time with Heather and saw Jacob and Whitney, a friend, Justin, Aubriana and her friends, and a bit with Grandma and Grandpa before he went in.

We also went shopping at Mr. Mac. Damon loved it and highly recommends that place! They outfitted him in 2 suits, 5 ties, 8 shirts, 2 pairs of shoes, and a few other basics in one hour and 15 minutes! He loves all of his clothes and told me he just wanted to put them on when he was packing them in his luggage the day before.

Funny story: At Mr. Mac, there was this other father and mother with a son getting ready for a mission and I asked them where he was going. They said Colorado, Denver South. I said so was my son! Their son was not going to speak Spanish, though. Then I asked them where they were from and they said Houston! They are in a neighboring stake. Later, she asked if I know a family she knows and of course I did, they are in my ward and I visit taught with her. Another story to prove the smallness of the world in the church.

An hour before Damon went in the MTC, Heather took about 100 pictures. She has posted some of them on her blog http://heatherlorraine.blogspot.com/2009/07/damon-missionary.html. That was fun!

Then it was time to go. He was anxious to be there right on time. So we loaded up the car...and drove the one mile to the MTC.

There were two missionaries waiting for us when we pulled up to "station #9" at the curb. One took Damon's luggage while the other one took our picture.

Then it was the final goodbyes. Goodbye Grandma and Grandpa!

Goodbye Heather!

Goodbye Mom!

And then he turned, squared his shoulders, and walked to the door to begin his two year dedicated service to the Lord.

I have to say it was not as hard to say goodbye out on the curb in the beautiful sunshine as it would have been inside after a sentimental movie, so I was grateful for that, but the day was harder than I thought, as I teared up many times that afternoon and evening. But I have so much to be grateful for: a son who is willing and excited and ready to serve, a loving Heavenly Father who willingly sent His Son to His mission, Joseph Smith and the other early saints who sacrificed so much to bring the gospel back in its fullness, and my Savior who sacrificed His life that I might have eternal blessings. But I do miss him.

It's been 7 days since he went in and we got his first letter (email)! He started a blog before going in the MTC. We will manage it while he's gone. He will email his "friends and family" letter to us, and we will post it on his blog along with any pictures he sends. So if you want to keep up with his mission, just go to http://damonsmission.blogspot.com/. His first letter is already up! So is his MTC address and his email address. You can email him, but he can't email anyone but immediate family (parents and siblings), so send him your address and he will reply by post. He already said he would LOVE letters!

There is a service that you can sign up for while he's in the MTC, and letters are free and delivered at 12:00 each weekday, so he gets them speedy delivery, not like regular mail or even email, because he only has 30 min. once a week on a computer. The service is called dearelder.com.

Fun With James

James, my baby brother, came to Katy after returning from the Italy, Catania Mission. He smirked at our Italian pronunciations, burned on the boat in the Gulf, played some sweet football and basketball with the boys, got some time in for World of Warcraft, and made a royal lasagna fit for Giorgio Napolitano (President of Italy-I looked it up)!

Sailing, I peppered him with questions about his mission, of the jalapeno variety, that's why he burned. But I was totally hanging on every word. He had a fantastic mission and was a SUPER missionary!

At Kemah, where the boat floats, there is a boardwalk, and the kids wanted some fun on the rides. And being in the spoil-my-kids-rotten-mood, we said OK! I got a picture of Uncle Jeff and Rachel on Pharaoh's Fury. See Jeff wave. (He's on the left) I thought I'd get a closer picture of them and my camera was a little off. Have you ever had that happen? Not quick enough, so I got

a GREAT picture of another couple! Too fantastic to not post.

James enjoyed a foot long coney while Shelby had an interesting discussion with Sr. D.

We found some "stinky cheese," (sharp provolone) for the lasagna and no one but Jared minded.:)

Iron Chefolio watch out!!!

It was so fun to have him here, and it was too short, but as they say in San Antonio, "Remember the Alamo!"

My Little Boy is All Grown Up!

Damon turned 19 on Tuesday and he is all grown up. I feel sad that the times of him being part of my everyday life, watching him

play,

read,

create,

learn,

destroy,

swim,

and grow are over.

But I am so grateful for those times and will cherish them as I watch him leave, well prepared for what lies ahead. He is intelligent, kind, funny, strong, hard working, good looking, talented, ..." thrifty, brave, clean and reverent!" Seriously, he embodies the scout law and I'm so proud of him!

Happy birthday Damon!

A Janis Family Reunion and 50th Wedding Anniversary

Anybody recognize this place? I'll give you a hint: It's in Los Altos, California.

It was a grand reunion, and very fitting for the event celebrated during it: a 50 year anniversary! The forty plus Janis' descended on the lush, quiet city of Los Altos, CA on June 4th and checked into The Residence Inn. I don't think it will ever be the same again!:) The children quickly threw on bathing suits and jumped into the pool. The weather was very mild, but sunny. (If it had been in Houston, ALL Janis' would have jumped into the pool!)

The official start of the reunion was June 5th where we met at McKenzie Park, which was across the street from Grandpa Janis' old dental practice. Heather was the official reunion photographer and she was kept busy at the park with a family picture and smaller group pictures. One of the smaller pictures was Grandma and Grandpa with their grandchildren, which is always a circus act to pull off. (Sr. D took that picture) I had to get a picture of the parents trying to direct their children and help them smile, etc.

It is so fun to have so many children to love and squeeze and hug and kiss and take pictures of! This is Grandma and Nathan.

And it is so fun to have teens that were once the little ones running around, who now are so fun to talk to and listen to and laugh at and with! We took a historical tour of Los Altos, reading memories of Sr. D and his siblings of the different places they knew. (The first picture in this post is of my home on Avalon Dr. where I lived when I met Sr. D)

At the end of the tour we got a treat: an Itzit. It is an ultra deluxe ice cream sandwich with oatmeal cookies and the whole thing dipped in chocolate. I diverged from the nutritious diet to gobble a whole Itzit and it was amazing! Itzits were a favorite treat after a long, hot day of working in the yard in the good ol' days. In the picture: Chad, Spencer, Dover, Taylor.

The next day we spent at the beach, more specifically Pajaro Dunes. It was chilly, but fun. Grandpa's brothers, John and Paul came and his nephew, Jason brought a volleyball net and that was the hit of the day! In this pic, Spencer found some huge piece of seaweed and was playing with it like a bull whip.

Evan is a little warmer under the sand. Sweet dreams!

All of a sudden there were tons of birds attacking the water at once, so we assumed it was a school of fish that had just arrived for dinner!

The other highlights of the reunion were a movie night, a reception in honor of Grandma and Grandpa and a tribute at lunch on Sunday. I didn't get any pictures of it, but Heather did and I can't wait to get our CD!

The movie, which I put together, was a big hit thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for taking such great pictures over the years and also for the videos they both took and had converted to a digital format. They also consented to being interviewed on video by Allaire and gave the family such a treasure. The movie was also a big hit thanks to Allaire for doing the interview. It was such high quality! Thanks also goes to Heather for taking the wonderful picture of Grandma and Grandpa! And finally, Sr. D spend hours technically supporting me in the endeavor. It never would have made it to movie night without him waving his magic wand, or whatever he does to fix all of my mistakes, or the program's problems.

The reception was put on by Uncle Roark and Aunt Rebecca and it was a fabulous affair! Invitations were sent out to long-time-no-see-friends and there was lots of hugs and reacquainting. I even got to see my long lost friends Connie and Laura Moore! Grandma and Grandpa got to cut two cakes and feed them to each other. What a wonderful time!

The tribute was short, but full of love and emotion as each of their children talked about some part of Grandma and Grandpa's legacy that was important to them. Then they were presented with a picture of Christ and the sparrow, as well as two pictures of them that Aunt Rebecca had had framed. The reunion/anniversary was definitely an event to be remembered!!!

Just a couple of videos:

Fun With Grandma and Grandpa in Modesto, California!

On May 30th, we flew out to California and headed to Modesto for nearly a week to be with Grandma and Grandpa Scott. We had fun watching movies, going to the park, and relaxing. (Though I was still finishing up making a movie for Grandma and Grandpa Janis' 50th wedding anniversary, so I wasn't totally relaxed.:))Grandpa took Spencer and Taylor out driving and taught them how to drive a stick shift. They thought that was great! And Grandma took Emily out to one of her favorite haunts: Yesterday's Books, a used book store, to find some old treasures. Emily also got to attend Activity Days with Grandma, who is the Activity Day leader. Plus we got a bonus trip to the chiropractic office for a line up of adjustments from Grandpa! It was so wonderful to be there and just hang out with them!!
Well, DDR is the thing to do at Grandma and Grandpa's house, and that is what Taylor and Emily (and sometimes Spencer) did for hours and hours. They really got a good workout!

There was lots of yummy food, "a veritable smorgasbord, orgasbord, orgasbord" every night! Taylor keeps talking about the best cake he's ever had!!

And a trip to Modesto would not be complete without a picnic dinner at Helen and High Park, which is what I always called it, though it is called the John Muir Park. (I just looked it up on Google Maps.) There was a guy there who had three dogs and he was throwing frisbys and the dogs were running, leaping and catching them. It was amazing to watch the stunts the dogs did. Emily was in awe and eventually was right in the middle of it throwing a frisby too.

We went to a place in Modesto called Boomers for some local entertainment and had a lot of fun. They have a rock wall, indoor video games, laser tag, mini golf, bumper boats, and the favorite attraction: speedway go karts! The kids -especially the boys- spent hours on them. (Sr. D and I had our share of speeding around the track too.) The weather was so gorgeous! Every time we go to California, California puts on its best display of perfect weather, and my children are blown away.