Family Friday: Featuring My Son Jeremy

This week on "Family Friday" I'm featuring the youngest of my three sons, affectionately known to me as "Baby Boy" and to everyone else, as Jeremy. Jeremy is my third son and was born on August 25, 1983. As a baby and a toddler Jeremy brought a lot of joy to me. When the older boys were in school he and I spent a lot of quality time together. One of my favorite things to do was to go on a daily bike ride with Jeremy sitting in a child carrier behind me. When Mike was a manager at Dicks Market, Jeremy and I would often go to the snack bar located in the store and have lunch with Mike. Shortly before Jeremy's third birthday Mike left Dicks and became owner/operator of his own grocery store; Leger's Market, and so Jeremy and I went to work. Every day we tied an apron on Jeremy and he ran the store. One of my favorite stories to tell (wasn't favorite at the time) was the day Jeremy happened to be sitting on the check stand while I was ringing up a customer's groceries. This nice lady had a rather sharp nose and Jeremy said, pointing directly at her, "mom... is that lady a witch?" Oh my.

One of my sweetest and most tender memories of Jeremy occured when he was just eighteen months old. Mike and I went to Hawaii for a week and the boys stayed at my parents home. On the night that we returned, we didn't arrive at our home until the wee hours of the morning, my parents had brought the boys home and put them to sleep in their own beds. During the night, a half asleep Jeremy ended up in bed with us; right in the middle. When he woke up the next morning he turned his head and looked at me, then he turned and looked at Mike, he then turned so that he was looking straight up at the ceiling and his face broke out in a beautiful, dimpled smile as if to say, "they came back."

Jeremy was the baby of our family for nearly four years, that is when his sister Ashleigh was born. Jeremy and Ashleigh had a special bond right from the start, they loved each other. Jeremy was always a loving and caring big brother which I always thought was so tender, because he was just a little boy himself. In the spring of 1991 I took Jeremy and his siblings to have their picture taken together, after the pictures were taken and Andy and Jeff had stepped away from the view of the camera, I glanced over and saw Jeremy and Ashleigh just as you see them in this photo. The photo shoot was over, but I very exuberantly said to the photographer, "take that picture!" And she did.

Jeremy served a mission in the Canada Toronto West Mission from 2002-2004. I have been the recipient of phone calls and letters from people that live in Jeremy's mission, we've had people from Canada visit our home, I even currently have a phone/pen pal of sorts from Canada. One lady that called often used to tell me about the "boys" that visited her home. There were many that she was not impressed with but she loved Jeremy. She told me the same story every time she called: she had a wreath on her front door and whenever Jeremy knocked on her door and she opened it, there Jeremy stood with her wreath around his neck.

Jeremy and his wife Emily met in high school. Emily graduated the year before Jeremy and so the timing was perfect when they both went on missions and returned less than two months apart. They were married in the Salt Lake Temple on 05-05-05. They have the handsomest little boy Mason, and are expecting their second son in a couple of months. Jeremy is a wonderful husband and Father and I am very proud of him.


A year after Jeremy and Emily were married they went to Africa as part of BYU studies abroad. Jeremy loved Africa. It was an amazing experience that they will never forget. While there Jeremy had the opportunity to sing three songs on a Mozambique radio station. When they left Africa they were able to visit Emily's brother's family in Sweden and then they went to England to visit Jeremy's Uncles and Aunts.


A few years ago Jeremy went to Real Estate school where he earned his license. He works hard and has been very successful in his own brokerage; Elite Realty. He and his business partner Dave recently purchased an office building which they remodeled, it is a beautiful office. Jeremy and Dave have 50 employees working for them. Mike and I have debated for years whether or not we should sell our house or add on, we wanted to do the best thing for our family but it was a hard decision. Last January after all of our children and grandchildren left the house following a family dinner we looked at each other and said, "it's time to sell the house." We called Jeremy the following day and told him our plan. It was about six weeks later when Jeremy took me to see our new home for the first time. I immediately fell in love. Jeremy worked very hard to make it happen for us.


Jeremy has always had a very charismatic personality. He has always loved people and shown others kindness and concern; whether it was the handicapped boy in his elementary school, the people that he met and served on his mission, or the people of Africa, he has a very tender heart and it shows, consequently, people love him. My life has been blessed because I am his mother. I feel gratitude that the Lord sent him to me.

Things to know about Jeremy: He has lots of nicknames; Jer-Bear, Bermans, Jerms, "J"... just to name a few. In his teens he became interested in Motocross and owned his own motorcycle, I was glad when that phase passed. For his birthdays I always made him a yellow cake with chocolate frosting covering two-thirds, he ate the third that wasn't frosted. Jeremy doesn't like ice. He has a great smile and a dimple to compliment it. He has a beautiful singing voice. He sang in show choir in high school. He worked as a lifeguard at Lagoona Beach one summer. He gave me my famous nickname, Loggdogg, as un-flattering as it sounds it's supposed to be a compliment (I think). He's a good brother. He loves the Lord. He magnifies what he is asked to do. He gives service. When he was younger he enjoyed learning about Mountain Men and Indians. He loves golf. He plays tennis and has participated in tournaments. Last year he participated in a triathon. He works very hard. He is funny! He has a great sense of humor. He calls his mom. He's a peacemaker. He's Christlike. He's a BYU fan in a family that seems to favor the U of U, and I can honestly say that I've never seen him get his "feathers ruffled" when he's teased about his choice of teams. Jeremy is wonderful and we are all blessed to know him and have him as a family member, we love you Jeremy.

Jeremy's family: Jeremy, Emily, and Mason