Family Friday: Featuring My Grandson Mason

There are only five weeks of "Family Friday" left, I can't believe how fast it has gone, I have enjoyed doing it so much. Last week I featured my "baby boy" and this week I am featuring his "baby boy", my grandson Mason.

Mason is one of the sweetest little boys that you could ever meet. He is always pleasant to be with, he's obedient, he listens, he's smart, if there is truly such a thing as the "terrible two's" I am sure they passed right over Mason. But I have to tell a funny story that happened several weeks ago while I was tending Mason at his home, I asked him to do something and he responded, "no Ma." I was giggling inside at his blunt refusal (so unlike him), as well as his reference to me as "Ma". That was pretty cute.

Mason is very tenderhearted. We had a family get together recently and a cousin had hurt feelings. I was talking to the cousin upstairs and Mason happened to be in the room, he could see that someone was sad and came over to offer comfort. A short while later we were all downstairs having a family discussion. It was my turn to say something and I remember seeing Mason sitting directly across the room from where I was standing. I got a little emotional as I was speaking, suddenly I looked down and there was Mason standing at my feet with his arms reaching to me, I hadn't even seen him walk over to me. He saw my tears and immediately came to comfort.

He does a good job of saying the families names, but Caitlin is a little harder to say so he calls her Roe (Rose). Recently while she was tending Mason, he was protecting her from make-believe cougars that he was hunting with his wooden toy gun. He would hold his hand up in a halting motion and say, "stay back Roe!" He was a good protector.

Last summer Mason went on his first beach house trip. He loved t'ocean which pleased me very much. One day Jeremy took him out in the water and Mason couldn't get enough of it. We were all entertained as we watched Mason and his daddy play in the water.


Mason has always liked his Grandpa Bear, they have fun together. Grandpa likes to be silly sometimes, whenever he sees Mason he messes up his own hair, Mason liked that, so now when we say to Mason, "what does Grandpa do?" Mason messes up his hair just like Grandpa does. He also likes it when Grandpa does his Tigger impersonation.

I love this picture of Mason and Grandpa Bear looking at our Disneyland scrapbook in anticipation of our Disneyland trip last summer

Things to know about Mason: he has a wonderful smile. He always looks handsome. His hair always looks good (then he sees Grandpa Bear and he messes it up). He loves to go places with his daddy. He loves his mommy. He learned how to do baby sign language when he was a baby. He loves to play the drums when he come over to our house. He's going to be a big brother very soon. He loves tractors. He's all boy. He likes to read books. He likes Tigger. He's a BYU fan!! I'm so grateful for Mason and I know that everyone else in the family is too, we all love him so much.

Mason's family: Emily, Mason, and Jeremy

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

Family Friday: Featuring My Daughter (by marriage) Emily

Throughout my life I have known many women who I admire and respect....the women in my family are no exception; they are all wonderful. The first of the women in the family that I am featuring is my daughter-in-law Emily.

My very first memory of Emily was when she was in high school. She came to our home one day with a friend and they were in the basement talking with Jeremy, I was in the room immediately above the room that they were in and I could hear their conversation clearly as it drifted up the stairs. Emily was telling them a funny story that involved ice-cream (you know the one Em). They were laughing and I laughed too; it was a funny story.

When Jeremy and Emily started to date we were immediately endeared to her. I thought that she was such a cute girl, and so friendly and fun to talk to as well. That is one of the things I love the most about Emily, she is herself and we've always been able to talk very comfortably with each other.

One of my memories of Emily is when she, Jeremy, and I went skiing at Deer Valley during spring break in 2001. I hadn't been skiing for several years and the first run was a little to much for me. Part way down the slope I decided to "crawl" the rest of the way. Jeremy had already taken off down the hill, but Emily came back to help me and stayed with me until I finally felt that I could get up and continue skiing (I quite happily spent the rest of the day on the bunny hill).

Jeremy left for his mission to Canada in September of 2002 and Emily left the following February to serve a mission in Brasil. I can still remember the last time we saw her before she left. She came to our home one evening to say good-bye to me, Michael, and Caitlin and she brought me a gift; a beautiful bracelet which I treasure. When it was time for her to leave we had hugs all around, I remember her standing at the front door and looking up at us as if for "one last time" before she left. Caitlin and I stood hugging each other and crying as Emily drove away. We didn't know then that Emily would someday be a part of our family.

Jeremy and Emily returned from their missions within two months of each other and were married in the Salt Lake Temple on 05-05-05, and well....the rest is history.

A few interesting and fun things to know about Emily: She is a wonderful homemaker, her home is always spotlessly clean and organized. She is very creative and crafty; whether it's a party or a dinner, she knows how to bring a table or a room to life with her decorating skills. She loves to try new recipes and is a wonderful cook. She is very family oriented, and loves family gatherings. She is loyal. She is a wonderful wife and mother, I have been especially impressed that she taught Mason how to do baby signing. It just amazes me to watch Mason communicate in that way. She is always willing to serve others in any way that she can; last summer she spent an afternoon school shopping with Caitlin and I, and more recently she did all of the decorating for Caitlin's 16th birthday party. She is a make-up artist; at our family "girls night" last summer she did makeovers for everyone. She does whatever she is asked to do in the church diligently, her current calling is Young Women Camp Director and I'm confident it will be a memorable camp experience for the YW in her ward. She loves animals. She is sensitive to the spirit. She speaks Portuguese. She does really great impersonations. She graduated from BYU in 2007 with a degree in Sociology. She enjoys learning new things. She's a great hostess. She is fun to be with.

I am so grateful that Jeremy and Emily found each other. She is an important part of our Leger family as well as our "extended" family, and we love her.

One of several pom poms that Emily made to decorate Caitlin's 16th birthday party

Emily doing Jessica's make-up at our "girls night" last summer