Josef's Wedding

In September, my nephew Josef married a most beautiful and wonderful girl, Christina. Josef's dad is from Finland, Christina's mom is also from Finland. You can imagine how thrilled their parents were that the two lovebirds met at good ole' BYU.

The night before the wedding, there was a wedding dinner where all but a few of my family members were able to attend. It was especially fun to see the newest babies in the family.

My niece, Alexis

My great niece, Aila

Uncle Steve trying to dip Alexis' toes in the sauce so he can nibble on those tasty morsels.

Josef's brothers and best friend played ukeleles and sang, so cute.

The bride and groom.

 

 

My family, a good lookin' bunch if I do say.

The wedding ceremony was at the Logan Temple. As you can see, the bride was stunning.

The reception was really nice, all decorated really cute reflecting all the many travels the couple have taken over the years, and will continue to take, as Josef's new job has taken them to China! (Now that is what you call true love... leaving your family and friends to go with your new husband all the way to China!) I am so happy for Josef and Christina, they are a wonderful match.

Flag Football

Alex is trying a new sport this fall, flag football. After being exposed to football his whole life because of his dad coaching, I think he's excited that he now gets a turn to play. What he was most excited about is that his dad is his coach. Steve usually has the "I don't want to be my own kid's coach" philosophy, but flag football is all about teaching the kids fundamentals since it's their first exposure to playing the game, and who better to teach kids than the guy who has been coaching for the past 17 years or so. (He didn't really want to do it, but I asked him to because I knew the kids would benefit, plus he's very patient.)

Alex is one of the youngest, so he's not super aggressive, but he's having a lot of fun. One day, before they had their first practice, I overheard him having an imaginary conversation as if he were talking with his teammates. He said, "Hi guys, my name is Alexander Nile Lilly. This is my dad, Steve Lilly, and he's the coach." And later I again heard him imaging a conversation where he said, "The coach might pick me first, because he's my dad". Apparently he's thinking that being the coach's son will bring a few perks.

Interesting pose....

Alex's turn at kick-off.

Poor Steve, it is so hectic trying to get 8 kids lined up properly between each play, trying to make sure each one gets an equal chance to hike, kick or be quarterback. I try to help him out from the sidelines by being in charge of subbing kids in and out and making sure everyone takes a turn sitting out for a few. That alone stresses me out just a little!

Alex was excited that he got to "verse" (as in versus) his buddy Kane who lives down the street.

Future star in the making.

1st Day of 1st Grade

Alex started first grade last week and I'm happy to say that so far, so good. He is happy to go every morning and reports that he had a great day every afternoon. He switched schools this year and is going to the elementary school that Steph and Jordan went to. So far I am really happy with the change, it kind of feels like "going home", as corny as that sounds. His teacher, Mrs. Beecher is only in her second year of teaching but I've heard good things and am impressed so far. It's strange to have him gone all day, but it's kind of nice to get more sleep after my night shifts. Ok, it's reallly  nice!

We scored big with Alex's new lunchbox. He is obsessed with Beyblades! I thought he looked so handsome in his first day of school outfit. I wonder how many more years I'll get to dictate what he wears without him caring....

I am sorry to say that as of the other day, these gorgeous curls are history. And yes, tears were shed. (Mine, not Alex's, he could care less.) There is an unfortunate story as to the demise of those curls that I was so in love with, but I'm trying to move on from my post traumatic stress, so I'm not going to expound upon it at this time.

Alex was so excited when he found out he'd be at the same school as "his best church friend" Sawyer. They aren't in the same class but it sounds like they play together most every recess.

It's kind of fun to think that Steph was in this same classroom 15 years ago. I just found out that I'm going to be the head room representative for Alex's class. I told Steph she's going to have to help me, she's very creative with coming up with crafty ideas. Pinterest here we come.  (Sidenote: As I was typing, Alex was looking at this picture and told me that there is now another student sitting between him and the boy on Alex's left. Apparently the two boys were doing too much talking. Something I'm pretty sure never happened to Steph when she was in this classroom!)

 

 

Tarzan!!



Alex and I were invited by my sister to go see a production of Tarzan at the Hale Center Theater. Alex had never been to anything like that before so I was really excited to see how he liked it. I was so impressed with the production, they did an amazing job.
At one point in time, Alex leaned over to me and said, "Mom..." in a quivering voice. I was wondering why it sounded like he wa about to cry. He said, "I'm about to cry... it's just so cute." (This was during a song that was rather tender.)





After the play, the actors lined up by the exit of the theatre so that you could say hi to them. This is Terk, Tarzan's gorilla friend. He was so sweet, he knelt down and talked to Alex, asking him his name, how old he was and so on.



He also got to get his picture with Tarzan and Jane. When we got home, Alex was telling Steph about his experience seeing Tarzan. He made sure to tell her, "Jane told me she thinks I'm cute. Ahhhhhhh." Alex's first crush, perhaps?

Deseret News 10k 2013

I had such a good experience doing my first 10k last summer for the Deseret News Classic on Pioneer Day, I wanted to do it again this year. I was really hoping to improve upon my time from 2012. I had a really crappy night of sleep and was feeling it the next day, but I tried to push it and I shaved off a minute and a half from the previous year. I was happy with my pace, a 9.2 minute average. (It kinda helps that the first half of the course is on a slight decline!)

As he did last year, Steve dropped me off, then found a place mid-route to cheer me on and take pictures. Again, he almost missed me, even though I was frantically waving my arms in the air as I was approaching him and yelling his name.

I got his attention just in the nick of time.

At this moment, I am saying to Steve, "I'm TIRED!" And he goes into coach mode by telling me, "You're 3 minutes behind, let's go, let's go, LET'S GO!"

I immediately start running faster, then think to myself, "He's full of crap, he's just saying that to 'motivate' me". Well, I guess it did work, for a moment anyhow.

 Hallelujah, I'm done!

I compare running a race to childbirth; in the midst of it, especially towards the end when you are wearing down, you think to yourself, "this sucks, I don't wanna do this again." But then when it's over and you recover, you realize how awesome it was and can't wait for the chance to do it again.

Living the Good Life, Napa Style

After our camping trip, it was such a lovely treat to not have to drive back to Utah, but to drive home to Napa to spend time at my parents house. There is no other place I'd rather be, there is even a certain sweetness in the air that you can smell when you get out of the car when you arrive there. I know that sounds odd, and probably like it's my imagination, but I know some of my other family would back me up on that!

One of the things I was most looking forward to was meeting my brother Brett's new baby, Alexis. Couldn't you just eat her up?

I am so in love with this picture. Between my kids' mocha colored skin, and Alexis' creamy white skin, this pose has been named "The Oreo Cookie".

We spent a day in San Francisco at Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf, saw my brother's new home they just built, went swimming at my sister's house, and took lots of walks and a few runs enjoying the beautiful Napa Valley.

Grovers 2013

We had our yearly family camping trip to Grovers Hot Springs in early July. We were missing a lot of people this year due to new babies, new jobs, school and such, but it was still a great time as usual.

 One of my favorite things about camping is hanging out by the creek. It is so relaxing, and I love watching Alex just playing and enjoying nature.

The boys can usually be found playing hacky sack. Now that Alex is older he tries to join in... and his sweet cousins let him.

Lesley gave Lorna and I Grovers Hot Springs shirts for our birthdays, what a great gift!

Steph and I trying to psyche ourselves out before jumping into the cold water!

The nightly campfire.

Alex is in heaven with all the boy cousins there to play with!

The whole crew. I always feel a little sad when it's time to leave. Grovers is such a big part of the Eide family legacy. It's a special time to be together as a family, to put everyday cares out of your mind for a few days, and enjoy the fresh air and beautiful scenery. I'm still hoping one of the grandkids will name one of their future children Grover, but I'm not sure if there will be any takers.