Nephi wrote this record thirty years after the events of 1 Nephi, after Lehi died, and after Laman and Lemuel rejected Nephi. Nephi wrote his personal record in 1 Nephi after he moved up into the Land of Nephi (2 Nephi 5). He was separated from Laman and Lemuel and had tried to reconcile with them, but that did not work. Nephi now needed to tell this story for the benefit of his posterity so that they would know the history and principles upon which the Nephite nation was founded. That was after Lehi and Sariah had died. Nephi and his followers had built a temple, and Nephi had agreed to be the king. At that point, the Lord commanded Nephi to create another record, in addition to the Book of Lehi and Nephi’s Large Plates. So, at the point when Nephi wrote of his parents being "goodly," there may also have been a subtext relevant to Laman and Lemuel in his use of the word "goodly." Nephi knew what had happened with Laman and Lemuel after arriving in the New World. It is possible that he had Laman and Lemuel in mind when he wrote these words. He must have wished that things had worked out better in the family and that Laman and Lemuel could have honored their deceased parents better. Nephi would have wanted everyone to know that they were goodly people. They were not to blame for anything that had gone wrong.
Welch, John W. "When Did Nephi Write the Small Plates." In Pressing Forward with the Book of Mormon: The FARMS Updates of the 1990s, edited by John W. Welch and Melvin J. Thorne, 75–77. Provo, UT: FARMS, 1999.