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!

FOREVER

Last weekend was a great blessing in the lives of my family. Starting with Friday night, when Steve attended the temple for the first time to Saturday afternoon when our family was sealed. This is the Draper Temple, and we had a bit of an "adventure" to put it mildly in our attempt to arrive there at the appointed time.

I came across a quote by Boyd K. Packer that says, "It is evident that the work relating to temples bothers the adversary the most."

The adversary made a great attempt at keeping us from getting to the temple that night. As I was driving myself, Steve, my brother Brett and Alex, intending to drop Alex off at my sister's house and then pick up my parents to go to the temple, we had a bit of an incident. I was behind a big semi, and out of nowhere a huge block of hardened ice flew off the roof of his truck and hit my windshield. Luckily, I kept control of the car as it happened, and luckily the ice didn't hit us any harder or it would have completely come through the windshield. We flagged the truck driver over, he was very nice and concerned. I looked at the clock in a panic realizing we were supposed to be to the temple in 15 minutes. We quickly made some changes to our previous plan and drove, very carefully to the temple where Brett ended up staying with Alex till my nephew came to pick him up, and my parents hopped in the car to meet us there.

As I stepped out of the car, it took everything I had to keep it together as I'm shaking a hundred slivers of glass off my clothes and out of my hair and Steve is picking a few tiny shards out of my hand. Admittedly, my first thoughts were, "This is UNBELIEVABLE! Why is this happening?", but in retrospect I realize that the adversary truly was trying to keep us from the temple, but we must've had angels beside us who helped us get there safely. Alex really touched me when he said, "Mom, it's going to be fine."

When all was said and done, it was a great experience seeing Steve there in the temple and he loved it.

This is the Oquirrh Mountain Temple, where on Saturday we were sealed as a family. It was an amazing experience, one that I can't adequately put into words. Sitting in the sealing room, seeing the door open and watching Stephenie and Alex walk in looking so precious in their white clothes brought joy to our hearts that I just can't describe.

Alex, who is a typical, energetic and sometimes feisty 3 year old transformed into the most angelic, content and reverent little guy. He charmed the socks off everyone by the huge grin he had on his face the entire time he was there. As we were leaving, I asked him, "Did you have fun at the temple?" He replied, "I had a GREAT time."

It was a very cold and windy day, so we didn't get to take as many pictures as I would've liked, maybe in the spring we can go back and take some more.

We had almost all our family there to support us. My dear sister, brother in law and nephew drove through terrible snow and traffic from Sacramento in order to be there for us.

Our yummy luncheon put on by my family in our honor.

I truly don't know what we would've done without the help and support of my parents throughout this experience. I owe them the world.

FAMILIES ARE FOREVER....

Two Days till Eternity

I'm approaching the end of my third 12 hour shift in a row (got 3 hours of sleep between shift #2 and #3)... feeling a little worn down and worn out. But at the same time, I've got butterflies as it hits me that I only have to wait two more days for the arrival of a day that I've waited for- for a loooong time.


Our family is going to be sealed this Saturday in the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. I guess that means we've only got 2 days to decide if we really want to be stuck with each other for forever... just kidding, there's no one else that I'd rather spend eternity with than these lovely Lillys...

Steph has been having a hard time because her big brother Jordan won't be there with us, but it's one of those situations where I know everything will work out in the end.

Can't wait to see these two walk in all dressed in white, believe me, I've imagined it a million times.

Mental note: Don't forget the Kleenex.

Go Away Jack Frost, It Ain't Christmastime Yet!

My little Martha Stewart has been at it again, with the cold and winter-like days, Steph got an itch to make some festive treats. She made these cute little turkeys...

and tried a new recipe for pumpkin cheesecake which was pretty dang tasty.

Saturday night we got slammed with a huge snow storm. I actually don't mind the snow too much when all my family is safe at home and we don't have to leave the house.

Of course Alex was psyched to play in all that snow.

The good news... no snow for Thanksgiving Day.

The bad news... a huge storm is on tap for tomorrow afternoon, and I have to go to work! I seriously just might leave for work about 3 hours early, park at the bottom of the Avenues, and walk up the hill to the hospital. I'm not even joking, because what goes up, must come down, and I don't want to come down crashing into other cars.

It's time to move back to California... my nerves can't take it!

In the meantime, hope everyone has a fantastic Thanksgiving.

King of the Castle

These are my two favorite fellas... one big and one small, but can you guess who the king of the Lilly castle is? Yes, that little guy is awfully cute but don't let him fool you, he can get on quite a power trip from time to time. He has kicked Steve out of our bed so many times that (according to Alex) the family room is now referred to as "Daddy's room" and our bedroom is "Mommy's room". One morning, Steve and I miraculously awoke to find each other lying in the same bed. In his sleep, Alex must have sensed that something was awry, as moments later he walked into our room and began to cry hysterically to see another man in bed with his mommy.

Today as we were driving, Steve and I were having a friendly debate but apparently I was talking too loud because Alex told me I "needed to calm myself" and to "stop all that yelling".

Now I must go and fetch some apple juice for his Royal Heiness. Long live the King!