2009 Christmas Season

The Christmas season has come and gone, and it has been a great one. For me it started on November 28 when I sang in the Salt Lake Tabernacle with We Also Sing. We sang beautiful Christmas music with the intent to heal hearts this Christmastime. I felt fortunate to have my dear friend Terri sing with me this year. It was also an opportunity to make new friends and to be uplifted at rehearsals each week as we were taught by our director and each other.

We of course had the regular round of parties to attend. First of all was Mike's company party which is always fun. This year Mike's band provided the entertainment and I enjoyed the chance to visit with my friends Tammy and Laurie (their husbands are in the band). Our ward Christmas party was fun, Mike and I were the entertainment and I must admit I was a bit nervous, but I think we pulled it off. After the ward party I bolted off to my friend Melissa's in Kaysville for a "girl's night out party". I'm always guaranteed some good laughter at this party. We attended a 50th birthday party for my brother Archie, a neighborhood party, a dinner party with the ward Young Mens Presidency and wives, and of course my highlight of the season... the family Christmas party.

Miss Avery checking out Santa

I LOVE the joy on Mason's face

William gives his gift back to Santa in exchange for Santa's bells

Zachary and Santa

Adam and Santa

Caitlin Rose and her old friend Santa Claus

Christmas Eve was spent at the Nielsen's; my sister Lilian fixed a wonderful dinner and we even had after dinner (Mindy) mints. We love the Nielsen's and appreciate their including the three of us.

Christmas Day we spent with our family. First stop, Granpa's and Granma's for breakfast; and then all of our kids and grandkids came over in the afternoon. That night Mike, Caitlin, and I drove up to the Bountiful Temple so that we could see the beautiful lighted murals depicting the story of Christmas in the front yards of the homes surrounding the temple.

Of course there is always a lot of hustle and bustle with shopping and such; but this year I was a Deseret Book winner after putting my name in a drawing while I was purchasing a book for my Dad. I received a call on Christmas Eve morning telling me I had won a Willow Tree nativity. I was pretty excited! We went to a couple of movies, one with Adam and Zach for Grandma Day (we let Grandpa come too). We enjoyed a wonderful evening at the Five-Alls with our kids. We went to my nephew Taylor's band concert where Santa was a guest conductor, and to Caitlin's Christmas choir concert where she sang a beautiful solo. We also attended a wonderful Christmas Cantata performed by our stake choir. I even did a little Christmas crafting as I sewed two of these cute Santa's and filled them with candy. Of course there was a little holiday stress as we had two visits to the ER within 36 hours (Caitlin), but we are so grateful that everything turned out to be okay. We still have one more party to look forward to... chili at the Nielsen's on New Years Day!! I hope that everyone has had a wonderful Christmas season, we are looking forward to 2010 and new adventures, like... the FLOAT!!!

Ode To Five-Alls

'Twas three days before Christmas and we were out on the town;
It was slick, it was snowy, and I was scared I'd fall down.
We were meeting our kids at Five-Alls, what a treat!
For it has always been our most favorite place to eat.
As parents it has been our wish from days long past;
To share this with our children, and we did it at last.
It was hard to find parking but we finally succeeded;
But walking to the restaurant some snow shoes were needed.
Then came Andy and Kristin and Jeff and Melissa, there was Jeremy and Emily and of course little sister.
We toasted, we ate, we laughed.... we ate more;
By the time that we finished my tummy was sore.
And as we were leaving out into the night;
I heard Mike say, "cross that off the bucket list" and we drove out of sight.

Family Friday: Featuring My Husband Michael

I've posted about my handsome sons, my handsome brothers, my handsome nephews, and my handsome dad...this week I'm posting about "Handsome" (that is what I call him). Mike was born in Ogden nearly 52 years ago. His mother chose his name....Michael Paul. Michael is my favorite male name; I love it. Just for fun I looked it up in the Bible dictionary where it says Who is like God. Paul was the name of Michael's paternal grandfather. Michael is the middle of three children; he has an older brother and a younger sister. When he was a boy his family moved every five years; they started out in Ogden, then moved to Willard, then to Salt Lake, and then came to West Bountiful where he met me. I remember Mike's dad once telling me that wherever they moved Mike always made friends, everyone likes Mike; this is something that I have observed in the nearly 34 years that I've known him.

When I was a Junior in high school I had a recently returned missionary as my seminary teacher, he kept a guitar in class and he played it for us every day. He was engaged to be married and I remember thinking that someday I'd like a husband who could play the guitar for me. A year later I met Mike. When we first started dating he would come over to my house and he would pick up my guitar and start playing it; he played the same song over and over.... "The House of the Rising Sun". I didn't think that he knew any other songs. Boy have times changed. I have watched Mike evolve as a musician over the past 33 years. He has an amazing talent, he's so good! For almost our entire married life Mike has performed with my Dad, most recently he was featured on Dad's new CD recorded last summer, playing the guitar and the banjo. In the 80's we were in a band together, and in 1997 he was in a band that opened one night for Toby Keith (yes...that's the real Toby Keith), and now he is in Endless Summer. He's always willing to share his talent with others whether it's performing or teaching. You may be surprised to know that Mike can't read music.

Michael loves our family and is "well pleased" with our children. As each of our three sons served missions he faithfully wrote letters to them each week. He and Andy play in the band together, Jeff and Jeremy play on a softball team with their Dad, Caitlin is his little princess. He loves our three daughters "in-law" and is grateful for each of them. He is a devoted "Grandpa Bear" to our 5 1/2 grandchildren. His heart has always been very tender when concerning our precious Ashleigh.

Three generations of Leger men: Michael with our three sons and three of our four grandsons

Michael with Caitlin at the Firehole River in Yellowstone

Michael has always been a hard worker. During his early teen years in Salt Lake he mowed lawns, when his family moved to WB he worked at a local produce farm, and then when he was sixteen he went to work for Safeway. The grocery business seemed to be his destiny, he started out as a bagger and now he works as an account manager for a well known food line. Mike works hard and has a good reputation, he is respected by those in his industry. He taught me long ago that you "never burn bridges" and I have seen by his example why you shouldn't, he has been called on more than one occasion by former employers asking him to come work for them again. His work ethic has greatly blessed our family.

Michael loves nature, he particularly loves wildlife and his favorite place to visit is Yellowstone National Park. He can drive along the winding two lane roads of Yellowstone and at the same time point out an animal on the top of a mountain or a bird in the sky, often times naming a species that I've never even heard of. I truly think his "eye" is a gift, it's as if he sees something before it even appears.


Mike always accepts callings and assignments, and he always magnifies whatever he is asked to do. While Mike was serving in the 10th ward Bishopric, occasionally I would see one of David's children walk to the front of the chapel after sacrament meeting to pay their tithing. I was the silent observer on my front row bench as I watched my nieces or my nephew waiting for their turn to give their tithing to Uncle Mike; he always had a big smile and a hug as he accepted their tithing envelope. That scene always warmed my heart. On the Sunday before Mike was released and we moved from the ward, I saw Chelsea, Derek, and Emily all go up to Uncle Mike at once to give him their tithing. He enveloped all three of them in his arms in a group hug, it was a scene so tender to me that I couldn't keep the tears from coming as I watched.

Mike is not a blogger. He reads my blog and loves Family Friday, but by his own admission he does not leave comments. Often times I read my posts to him before posting and usually on Family Friday posts I'll ask him, "tell me about so and so" or "what do you like about so and so" and he immediately has something good to say about everyone. He even shows my blog to people at work, and most recently when a co-worker told Mike that they were going to see Scrooge at Hale Centre Theatre Mike quickly told them not to go see it there but to go to RMT and see his brother-in-law. He then pulled up David's Family Friday post and showed his co-worker the picture of David in his costume.

Things you may or may not know about Michael: He was co-captain of his high school soccer team. He is a certified scuba diver. He is an Eagle Scout. Mike bought his first car for $1.00 from a neighbor, when he sold it the neighbor bought it back for $1.00. He has owned two horses. He owned his own grocery store. Twenty years ago at a ward campout Mike saved the life of our BFF's daughter, she named her firstborn son after Michael which he considered a great honor. Several years ago Michael acquired the nickname "Bear" or "The Bear", it started with Jeff and one of his friends and it seemed to stick. Although he enjoys being a performer, generally he does not like to be the center of attention. He makes me laugh; hard. He's a good son and brother. He cares about others. He honors the Priesthood. He has a firm testimony. He loves the Lord. When in his twenties he averaged three homeruns a game in church softball. Although he loves Yellowstone, it always brings him great pleasure to take me to t'ocean. He is very organized and tidy, if you don't put it back exactly as he had it... he will notice. He always smells good. He's really good at gift giving. He's a Mountain Man. He's just a good person.

Michael's family: Jeremy, Mason, Emily,Michael, Lesley, Zachary,Caitlin, Adam, Kristin, Andy, William, Melissa, Avery, and Jeffrey

Michael is the greatest blessing in my life and he is my best friend forever. We've gone through a lot together.... you could say we've "grown-up" together. He takes care of me and just wants to make me happy. I'm so grateful that he is in our family and I know that the rest of you are too. We all love him! Love you Handsome.

That's my Mikee

Christmas Contest

Here's a handsome little boy on Christmas day! If you can guess who he is you will get your name in a drawing for a prize. You will get your name in twice if you can guess who I think looks just like him in this photo! The drawing will take place at the Christmas party. Anyone can guess....if I draw out one of my friends, I will bring the prize to you.

Merry Christmas

Christmas Traditions

We have many traditions "wrapped" around the Christmas season; the family Christmas party, going to temple square (and hopefully a visit to Crown Burger in the process), watching White Christmas to usher in the season, driving around town to look at lights, breakfast at Granma's and Granpa's on Christmas morning....most of our traditions we share with our friends and family, but we have one tradition that we share with very few; our Christmas visit to the cemetery. Each year this visit takes place on December 12. This is a significant day to our family because on December 12, 1989 my nephew Christopher passed away unexpectedly at the tender age of two years and ten months. It has been twenty years since Christopher's passing, his family live in California and planned to be here today to honor him and place his wreath at his grave themselves, but due to bad weather in the Sierra Nevadas they decided it was better not to come. So Alan and Marivic, this post is for you. We love all five of you, and may "God bless us; everyone".

Uncle Mike carrying Christopher's wreath to the grave

Mike and Granpa clearing the snow away from the two graves

Granpa making sure that everything is as it should be



Daddy clearing off Ashleigh's marker

Granma calling Alan in California to let him know we are at the cemetery

Me and my parents; Granma is talking to Alan on the phone

The surrounding graves are decorated also

A view of the Bountiful Temple from the cemetery; need I say any more

Family Friday: Featuring My Daughter (by marriage) Kristin

It's funny how things work out when you throw names into a tupperware bowl and pick them out one by one. Some families have had all of their family members featured on "Family Friday", some only have one or two of their family members left to be featured, and most of my family have yet to be featured. This week it's my daughter-in-law Kristin. It has been nearly ten years since Kristin was the first of our three daughters-in-law to join our family, and we were all pretty excited when she did. It was fun to have another girl in the family, it was fun to have a daughter-in-law, and Caitlin loved having a big sister. It was fun and exciting to see the beginning of a new era in our family as new "daughters" and eventually grandchildren joined our family.

Andy and Kristin met in high school, they even went to a school dance together, but it wasn't until after graduation and just weeks before Andy left on his mission that their friendship blossomed. Eleven months after Andy returned from his mission they were married in the Salt Lake Temple on March 10, 2000.

Kristin has always been a very thoughtful and considerate person. She remembers important dates and events in the lives of others. Members of the family and friends have been recipients of kind notes and treats on holidays and other special occasions. When Andy was on his mission Kristin came by the day before Mother's Day and dropped off a treat, I invited her to come back the next day so that she could talk to Andy on the phone when he called for Mother's Day. Kristin was so sweet when she said, "it's Mother's Day, not girlfriends day." But we still managed to get her to come over.

Kristin has always been very supportive when it comes to family activities. She makes family a priority and I appreciate that so much. Several years ago Kristin, Caitlin, and I went to see a display of Princess Diana's dresses at the U; I had always been a "Royal Watcher" and it was really exciting to see the actual dresses that the Princess wore; the three of us had such a good time together that day. On another occasion, our ward had a mother/daughter overnighter at Zarahemla; Kristin, Caitlin, and I all went together. A few years ago several of the girls in the family got together to watch the most recent version of Pride and Prejudice. We were all squished in my little family room watching the show (and eating of course) and adding our own commentaries. There's always a lot of laughter when the girls in the family get together. I remember during the movie glancing around the room at everyone, when I looked at Kristin she had a big smile on her face and I could see that she was enjoying herself. That made me smile.

Lesley, Caitlin, and Kristin at Zarahemla

Kristin did everyone's hair at our families "girls night" in 2008; here she is with Becca

Kristin grew up in a family of girls, and now she is raising a family of boys. Kristin has always been very gracious, polite, courteous, and attentive as well as many other wonderful qualities that I admire, she is a good mother to her boys and wife to her husband and loves them all so much. I have to share this story that happened just recently: we had all of our kids over and were playing some games when Kristin very excitedly announced that she had a game she wanted us to play; I won't go into the details of explaining how to play the game, but it had to do with one of the players being named "Ar-ted". It was so out of character for Kristin, and I loved it!! I still laugh when I think of us playing that game, and coming to the realization that living in a house full of boys has rubbed off on Kristin...well, maybe just a tiny bit.

Some things to know about Kristin: She has a beautiful smile. I love it when she laughs. She is very talented at decorating. Her home is always spotlessly clean. She's always been very thoughtful. She thinks of others. She's dedicated to family. She magnifies her church callings. She's a good friend. She listens. She doesn't waste time. She's a good speaker. She always looks good. She graduated from SLCC and the U of U. She was an EFY counselor. She was in the Hill Cumorah Pageant. Kristin has run in a couple of marathon's as well as half marathon's. She has participated in other races. She stays in shape. She was a volunteer at the 2002 Winter Olympics in SLC. Kristin enjoys to travel. She's very motivated. She's a good and dedicated mom to her three boys. She is wise with money and other resources. She loves the Lord. She's a hard worker. We are all grateful that Kristin is in our family and we love her so much.

Kristin's family: Adam, Kristin, William, Andy, and Zachary; I love this picture

Our First 100 Days

It's been 100 days since we moved into our new home; and so in the tradition of the President of the United States, I'm going to give a report on our accomplishments/happenings during our first 100 days...

I started and finished my entire second season of We Also Sing.

We've done lots of organizational stuff: address changes (times a ba-zillion), utility hook-ups, newspaper and mail, milkman, figuring out which switches control what lights (still working on that one), trying to remember what is in each kitchen cabinet or drawer, learning how to multi task so that I'm not going up and down the stairs so much (I counted one day just for fun; 29 times)....

Mike played his Fall season of softball.

Caitlin rehearsed and performed in West Side Story.

I've made some meager attempts at decorating (I don't like putting nails in new walls).

The very first thing I did was re-create my favorite corner (not in a corner anymore)

This is my master bathroom, the top picture was taken during the day and the bottom was taken at night, I love this room


As you can see Michael has no problem hammering nails into his music room walls; this is just one corner

We spoke in our new ward.

Mike and I were called as chairmen of our stakes float for The Days of '47 parade.

Mike was called as first counselor in the Young Men's Presidency.

I had a favorites party with friends (and a few strangers....they're my favorite strangers).

We've had overnight guests (Derek, Emily, and Becca).

Caitlin and I had a trip to St. George with Chris and Chelsea.


Mike bought a shed (he loves it).

We enjoyed Thanksgiving with our Children and grandchildren.


I was in a car accident on I-15.

Caitlin went to the Homecoming dance and the Halloween dance.

There have been some band practises.

Mason is a way cute future drummer for the band

Steve and Becky came over for dinner and a card game.

We've had several visits from family, friends, ward members, co-workers, and even Jeremy's friend Shanti from Canada.


Caitlin was chosen to sing a solo in her upcoming Christmas Concert at BHS.

On day 96 Caitlin (and her parents) spent hours at Lakeview Hospital while Caitlin underwent testing to determine if she had appendicitis.

On day 96 Mike and I made it home from the hospital in just enough time (literally minutes) to perform at our ward Christmas party.

On day 96 (while at the ward Christmas party) Mike secured a building for us to build the float in; and one of the things (there are a few) that is really wonderful about that is the fact that it is just around the corner from us, we will have easy access to the float during the duration of the building process, we feel really blessed about that.

On day 97 Caitlin went to the Christmas dance with KK; on the way home from the dance Caitlin and Kevin were two of the passengers involved in a car accident (due to black ice and a huge telephone pole). Caitlin had to be transported by ambulence to the hospital. Two ER visits, one CT scan, one ultra sound, and x-rays all within 36 hours is a record for our family; on a positive note (the cup is half full) they were able to do her follow-up tests from the previous day while we were there after the accident. It was frightening for all of us and I'm so grateful that Caitlin is okay.


Over the last 100 days I've experienced a major change in my life; I left my comfort zone and ventured into something new, not always an easy thing to do. I feel very grateful and blessed for the love and support of family and friends, I am grateful for the warm welcome and enthusiasm that we've felt from our new neighbors and ward members, I'm grateful that our beloved tenth ward members haven't forgotten us, I am grateful for how abundantly blessed I have been when I don't feel like I deserve it. Here's to the next 100 days (and hopefully a few more nails in the walls....and no more visits to the ER).

Caitlin Rose

My sister Lilian (who for some reason I occasionally call Caitlin) took these pictures of Caitlin (who I sometimes call Lilian....and I do the same with Jeff and Tim; go figure) several weeks ago. Here is just a sampling of what she took; and you can click here to check out her amazing photography blog.

Family Friday: Featuring My Niece Ammanda

During the duration of "Family Friday" I have found my families blogs and facebook accounts to be great resources for lifting photos to use. This was the case as I went to my niece Ammanda's facebook account where she had well over 200 pictures to choose from. You would be surprised at how much thought goes into the pictures that I choose each week and I knew that I couldn't look at all of Ammanda's pictures, but as I skimmed over the tiny (facebook size) photos I caught glimpses of Ammanda and her family, Ammanda and her friends, Ammanda on vacation, at graduation, at college, goofing around...you get the idea. It was fun to see these brief glimpses of Ammanda's life and what she loves. She is a beautiful and happy young woman and I enjoy having her as my niece.

Ammanda was born on December 14, 1988 to my brother Archie and my sister-in-law Julee. She was the eighth grandchild and the third granddaughter. Ammanda is the eldest of three sisters; each of their names start with the letter A, they all have Ann as a middle name (like their Mom), and they all have double letters in their names. When Ammanda was a baby I occasionally had the opportunity to babysit her when her babysitter went on a vacation. That was fun for Ashleigh who was just about a year and a half older than Ammanda. For several years Mike, Caitlin, and I went to Questar Lagoon day with Ammanda's family. Ammanda and her sisters were always so cute with Caitlin, each one wanting to sit with her on the rides. Ammanda is an enthusiastic young lady, I remember Archie telling me once that he sometimes would call her "Lesley" when she was younger because she occasionally reminded him of me, probably because Ammanda and I both enjoy talking and we both have a zest for life.

Ammanda with her sisters Alyssa and Aubree

Ammanda has impressed me in many ways. She graduated with an Associates degree from Salt Lake Community College a month before she graduated from high school. She has attended SUU since high school graduation and she spent time doing a job where she helped hearing impaired people with telephone communication. For the past four and a half months Ammanda has been in China teaching children how to speak English (and learning a little bit of their language too). What an amazing experience for her to have. She has also been able to do some traveling while in China. I look forward to hearing about her experiences when she returns in two weeks.

Some things to know about Ammanda: She loves to wear hats, and she looks really cute in them. She plays the violin. She likes going to Disneyland. She has a beautiful smile. She loves her family. When she was a little girl, she and her sisters often dressed alike. She's tidy. She has a quick wit. She's a sharp dresser. She's fun to be around. She's smart. I have vacationed with Ammanda and her family in Yellowstone and in California. It was a priority to Ammanda to be home in time for the Christmas party (Yes!!). We are all so grateful that Ammanda is in our family and we love her (and we're looking forward to her being back in the USA).