Missionary #2

Our family has just sent off our second missionary in the past four months. My nephew Erik will be serving in Indonesia....wow! I think about 80% of the country is Muslim, I'm sure it will be fascinating to learn about the culture. The average height of Indonesians is 5'3", so Erik's 6'5" frame won't stand out or anything!! Erik with my 2 beautiful nieces, Katherine and Elizabeth.

Erik has 4 younger brothers, so he's always been really good with Alex.

Steph and Erik are pretty good buds, so she's going to miss him a lot. We went to Erik's farewell at church and it was amazing, the spirit was so strong. I'm so grateful Steph has cousins who are such a great example to her.

The same day as his farewell, Erik's new nephew Abram (the first great-grandchild of the Eide family) decided to make his entrance in the world. Lots of exciting things in our family this past year.

And yes, being a "Great Aunt Lana" makes me sound so very old, but little Abram is so cute that I don't mind a bit!

Alex is a Sunbeam!

This is my handsome little ham modeling his new church outfit that he wore for his first day of Primary. Can't believe my baby is now a "Sunbeam". Apparently he was ready to move on from the nursery, as he has been refusing to go for the past couple months.

And who is the poor sap, er... I mean the blessed person who gets to be Alex's Sunbeam teacher? Why, that would be Yours Truly! I started teaching Sunbeams a few months ago and loved it, I had some of the cutest little ones in my class. But, I was hoping to be moved to another class in January because I did not want to be Alex's teacher, I just imagine having a tough time with him. We'll see how it goes... last Sunday he did ok, but it's still all new to him.
Wish us luck!

I'm Fa-La-La-lala-lala-Late

Christmas seems so long ago, but I figured I still need to post about it. For Christmas Eve, we went to my sister's house for dinner and got to participate in their annual nativity re-enactment. Poor Mary must have had a rough labor, as she is looking rather haggard and old for her age, don't you think?

The cutest shepherds.

This was a fun year with Alex, he's old enough to "get it", yet still young enough that he is so believing, with no doubts at all.

What would Christmas with a 3 year old boy be without lots of noisy toys? Steph got "Just Dance 2" for the Wii which has been a ton of fun. I've been playing it a lot as part of my resolution to start exercising again. Let's hope 2011 finds me a few pounds lighter by summer!