BONUS Family Friday! Featuring LESLEY! (Written by her favorite sister!)

Lesley seems to think that her Family Friday Feature is complete. However, I beg to differ. Our family is NOT complete without Lesley. Of course she isn’t going to go write a big post about how wonderful she is, so as her favorite (and only) sister, I am going to take the opportunity to do it for her.

Lesley is the first born of our parents. She was born in Belfast Northern Ireland. Just a couple of months after her birth our parents took her to the London LDS temple for it’s dedication. Soon after the dedication they were able to be sealed together as a family. Lesley may have been the only one of the children there in body. But I’m sure we were all there in spirit.

Lesley only lived in Northern Ireland for a few short years before she and our parents, along with our brothers Archie and Timothy, emigrated to the United States and made their home in West Bountiful, UT. It wasn’t until after our brother Alan, and I were born that they became citizens of the United States.

Lesley met Michael in high school and were married within a year of graduation. Their oldest son Andy was born shortly before their first wedding anniversary. Not long after that they moved to Duchesne County; Jeff was born while they lived there. Then the time finally came for them to move back to West Bountiful where Jeremy, Ashleigh and Caitlin were born.

Lesley has always been a very loving and devoted mother. After three sons were born and a daughter came, she was so delighted. They were all so happy, all the boys loved their baby sister. Lesley lovingly cared for her baby girl until the moment that Ashleigh passed away. I remember myself being so heartbroken for her, but I also remember seeing my sister as a pillar of strength.

Her testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ shone through and it was clear to me at that time, and still, that she loves our Father in Heaven and knows His plan for us. I can’t speak for them, but I do believe that she is also a wonderful mother-in-law and loves the women who are married to her sons. She is also a wonderful grandma too! Even though it is difficult to think that MY SISTER is a grandma! Ha ha!!!

I suppose I should be used to it by now since Adam is almost 8 yrs. old. As well as the fact that in the next few months there will be three more! (One of them at anytime!) Lesley loves to have “Grandma Days” with the little boys and I’m sure as the other little ones get bigger they will get their turn.

Something that everyone MUST know about Lesley - She HATES birds. Dead or Alive… she hates them. For whatever reason they scare the heck out of her. If she knows there is a dead bird on the street she will cross the road in order to not have to pass by, or see it. I was with her in London England one day and as we walked through St. James’ Park we came across a HUGE bird sitting on a bench. Forgetting her fear, I asked her to stand there for a picture. She actually complied…. right as the bird was starting to spread it’s wings!!! What a good sport!

While she hates birds, there is something else that she absolutely LOVES! T’ocean! (THE OCEAN). She loves to go to the beach and just sit and stare at t’ocean. As often as funds and time will allow we go to the beach house in Capistrano and spend a week there. Lesley loves everything about being there. And never likes to leave. There have been times when the tears have come when leaving. There was another time she forgot to leave the key. Now it sits in a shadow box as a memento from the beach. She has another trip planned to be there soon! I will get to be there with her too and it will be so wonderful!

In December of 1985 Lesley had a family Christmas party in the living room of her home in West Bountiful There was approximately 20 people there. It was so much fun she had another one the next year, and the next, until one year as the family was clearly growing, she began having the party at the cultural hall of her ward building. With anywhere from 60 to 70 people (or more!) What started as a small gathering with dinner, a few games, caroling and a visit from Santa. Has now become the highlight event of the year. With dinner, a major talent show, contests, games and the visit from Santa!! I think sometimes we look more forward to Lesley’s party than Christmas itself. I know that for my family it’s like Christmas can’t start until we’ve been to Lesley’s party!

Lesley is kind to everyone she meets. When we were traveling home from England in 1997, we had to get through U.S. Customs in JFK in New York. They are GRUMPY people there and we had already been on a long flight (we both hate to fly). I remember this mean looking grumpy man lifting a bag to Lesley and she very sweetly and politely said, “Thank you.” He just grumbled and looked away. I then asked Lesley, “why bother being so kind to someone so rude and obnoxious?” Lesley simply told me that it was because it didn’t matter how the other person was treating her, she was going to be kind. I’ve always remembered that and have tried to have the same attitude. (I would have told the guy in customs what he could have done with his freckles!)

I love spending time with Lesley. As I’ve gotten older she’s become one of my best friends and we have lots of fun together. Sometimes she calls to invite themselves over for a movie night. She always asks if it’s okay that they invited themselves and I always say “Of course!” There have even been a few times when I have thought to call and invite them but they beat me to it and invite themselves first. We always have a lot of fun together.

Some things to know about Lesley: She collects nativities. She made my wedding dress. She made our sister-in-law Marivic’s wedding dress. She has sewn countless costumes. She makes beautiful baby blankets. She has a beautiful singing voice and has sung with dad, Echoes of the Heart and We Also Sing, as well as Starflite! She was once called on down on The Price is Right. She LOVES that Mr. Darcy! Sometimes when she tells a funny story she laughs so hard while she’s telling it, that everyone else is laughing hard too… although they have no idea what she’s saying because she's laughing too hard. She can’t sit through a movie without talking, or asking “What just happened?” She was once bucked off a horse. She has had skin cancer. She used to live in a log cabin. She likes Cavanaughs Mindy Mints. The family likes to tease her about being a bit ditsy at times… like snow on top of buses in June… in California, or the Lake at Yellowstone… “no Les, that’s the sky”. She has a very strong testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She has served in many callings and served in them well. She is a daughter of God and she knows it. She is a good mother, grandmother, wife, daughter, aunt, cousin, sister and friend. She is an amazing example of love, kindness, and patience. And through all the things she has dealt with, Lesley still has JOY. She brings me great JOY knowing she is my sister. I love her so much! Thank you Lesley for the amazing job you have done in making each one of us in the family feel special. You are special to each and every one of us too!!

Lesley and her family at Disneyland June 2009

Family Friday: Featuring My Nephew Christopher and My Daughter Ashleigh

There is hope smiling brightly before us...

My parents have twenty-three grandchildren. Andy came first, then Jeffrey, and then Jeremy. All three mine. In October of 1985, two months after Jeremy's second birthday, Melissa was born to Tim and Margie; she was the first granddaughter. At the time of Melissa's birth Granma made a prediction that there would be three new grandchildren in the near future and she was right. Early in 1987 and within four months of each other arrived three new babies. Today's "Family Friday" features two of those babies; Christopher and Ashleigh.

Christopher was born on February 7, 1987. An unusual occurrence happened during his birth which was by Cesarean section; Christopher's forehead was cut with the Doctor's scalpel. I remember seeing him for the first time the following day, he was such a beautiful baby boy. There was a thin bandage around his head protecting his wound which had been carefully repaired; with his beautiful brown skin and an abundance of black hair, at first glance I thought he looked like a tiny papoose wearing his miniature headband. But he was Christopher; one of Heavenly Father's most valiant spirits.

Christopher knew and loved each of us in his family. I'm confident that that includes those family members that didn't have the privilege of meeting him here. He was an intelligent child with an enthusiasm for life. He loved his mommy and daddy and there was absolutely no question that they loved and adored him; and they still do.

Mike reminded me of a "tender moment" he had when he saw Christopher and Marivic at Albertsons one day. Christopher's response when he saw his Uncle Mike at a place that wasn't where he would normally see him was, "is it you?" Yes it was, and Uncle Mike loves that memory that he has of Christopher. I had a similar experience about the same time. One day Alan brought Christopher over to be tended, I had gone on a quick errand and Alan left Christopher with my older boys. When I arrived home Christopher was standing at the top of the stairs and with a big smile proclaimed, "I'm here!" I couldn't help but share his enthusiasm as I exclaimed, "and I'm so happy that you are!"

Ashleigh was born on May 13, 1987, it was a beautiful spring day. Ashleigh was the perfect answer to a mother's prayer. She brought her daddy, her mommy, and her "boys" much love and joy. My joy was so full at having a daughter, that many of my tasks as the mother of a newborn seemed so much lighter. Even getting up at 2 am seemed easier. The boys were delighted to have a sister and they loved and served Ashleigh with all of their hearts. Ashleigh loved "my boys" as she called them, with all of her heart as well. Ashleigh too, was one of Heavenly Father's most valiant spirits.

Ashleigh loved her daddy. Occasionally on an evening, Michael would be lying on the floor watching TV and Ashleigh would sit on his back. There would be a big bowl of popcorn in front of Michael, and Ashleigh would lean over his shoulders to reach in for her share. Sometimes we played a little game that went like this: I would say to Ashleigh, "he's my Babycakes", and I would point to Mike. "No, he's my Babycakes", she would reply. We would go back and forth trying to decide whose "Babycakes" he was, Mike loved it! Sometimes I would start the game and sometimes Ashleigh would, and then there were the times that Ashleigh would say, "he's my Babycakes", and I would say, "you can have him."

Christopher and Ashleigh were playmates as well as cousins. I don't think it matters what age a child is... when you get more than one of them together they can come up with some clever ideas. Ashleigh's bedroom wall had a small hole in it, it was about the size of a door knob, actually the door knob caused the hole. One day I found Christopher and Ashleigh in her room, having a great time dropping toy blocks into the hole in the wall. Consequently, another hole had to be cut into the bottom of the wall to retrieve the blocks, and... a few other toys that we found in the process. Eventually both holes were repaired.

Christopher was a smart little boy and he spoke very well. One day while he and Ashleigh were watching "Bambi" some butterflies appeared on the screen. Ashleigh pointed to them and referred to them as "fafa flies". Christopher looked so surprised and kindly informed her that they weren't "fafa flies, they are butterflies." Ashleigh loved "The Little Mermaid" and quite often per our request mimicked Ariel as she sang Part of Your World on her make believe rock.

At the beginning of "Family Friday" it was suggested to me that it would be neat to post a picture of me with the featured family member. That was a great idea, but I don't have very many pictures of me with individual family members. I am grateful to have this picture with me, Christopher, and Ashleigh; together.

Throughout my life I have heard people use the word "heartbroken" countless times. It wasn't until December 12, 1989; more than 31 years into my life that I discovered that the word "heartbroken" or "heartbreak" has very real meaning, and that having a broken heart is a very real physical pain.

It seems that most of the days in our lives begin in a routine manner; that's how it was for me that December morning. I was being a mom and getting my boys out the door to school, getting Ashleigh and myself ready for the day, I had projects to finish for Christmas which was less than two weeks away, and my Christmas party was only five days away. It was my brother's last day of school for the semester and Christopher was coming over to be tended. When Alan returned to pick up Christopher I had no idea that that would be the last time I would see him. Later that afternoon when I received the phone call, I remember seeing the partially filled cup that Christopher had been drinking from just hours earlier sitting on the kitchen counter. I did not know when I woke up that morning, that when I returned to my bed that night that the lives of our family; and most especially Alan and Marivic, would be changed forever.

August 16, 1990 started out as a beautiful summer day. The sky was blue, the sun was shining and I felt great. The previous evening a good friend who is a nurse, expressed concern to me about Ashleigh and suggested that I take her to her pediatrician. Everything seemed fine that morning and I thought to myself, "Ashleigh is okay, I don't need to take her to the Doctor." I was immediately impressed that I must take her to the Doctor. There are a lot of details that go into the events of that day that I won't take the time to share here, but by the time I left St. Benedict's hospital that afternoon, the beauty of the day had been replaced with black clouds and pouring rain. It was as if the heaven's mourned with me as I learned that my precious daughter, my perfect answer to prayer, had a brain tumor. When I went to my bed that night, again the lives of our family; most especially Michael, myself, and our four children had changed forever.

Things to know about Christopher's family: Christopher was the first child in his family, he never had the opportunity to associate with his siblings Tara and AJ as most children do. But they know him and love him and he is still their big brother. As I have been reading Alan and Marivic's 25th anniversary series my heart has been touched as I have read about the sacrifices that Marivic made to come to America; her life has been greatly blessed because she came, but it hurts to think of our Filipina sister enduring the experience that she did without her mama and papa and her siblings by her side. I remember that December twenty years ago, when I looked at Alan it hurt me to think that I would never see my brother smile again. I have seen my brother smile, and I've heard him laugh many times. Alan and Marivic are good people, they are my heroes and I love them.

Christopher's family: Tara, Marivic, Alan, and AJ

Things to know about Ashleigh's family: On the morning of September 17, 1991 Ashleigh returned home to our Heavenly Father. During the previous thirteen months our faith, love, determination, hope... increased as we endured (and I think well) and accepted our Heavenly Father's will for Ashleigh and our family. On March 17, 1993 we were blessed with a gift; Caitlin Rose. We have been blessed with the love and comfort of our three sons. As you look at the expressions on the faces of "her boys" in the picture below; I think we came through it pretty well, and I think Ashleigh would agree.

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

Some things to know about Christopher and Ashleigh: Doctrine & Covenants 137:10. Christopher and Ashleigh are lights to our family. I love them both with all of my heart and soul. I look forward to the day when I will see them again, maybe then I will be the one to say (with a big smile on my face), "I'm here!"

Family Friday: Featuring My Daughter Caitlin

... just remember in the winter, far beneath the bitter snows, lies the seed that with the suns love, in the spring becomes... the Rose.

As I have been writing and editing this weeks "Family Friday" feature, my heart has been feeling a little extra tender, because I'm writing about my daughter Caitlin Rose. Next month Caitlin will celebrate her seventeenth birthday and during the past seventeen years I have often referred to Caitlin as a gift to our family. She was truly a gift of love and healing from a loving Heavenly Father, of that I have no doubt. She has been and continues to be one of my heroes and I am ever grateful that I am blessed to be her mother.

Several years ago my friend Becky made a comment that reading "The Book of Mormon" aloud with her children helped them to become better readers. I decided to put this idea to the test. When Caitlin started kindergarten we set a goal that we would read from "The Book of Mormon" reader (for children) together every day and then pray together before she left for school. The first word I taught her to sight read was "of" and as I read the book aloud, every time that word appeared I would point to it and she would say it. We then learned "it" and "and" and other simple words, and then we learned bigger words like "Heavenly Father" and "Jesus". On the day that Caitlin was actually able to read an entire sentence herself we cheered for joy. Caitlin was reading.


My favorite books of all time are the "Little House" books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I wanted to share these books with my daughter, so Caitlin and I began reading them together when she was in the first grade. We read them each night, taking turns reading aloud. We finished the entire series in just over two years. As we completed each book we both signed our name and wrote the date at the back of the book. I hope that one day Caitlin will read these books with her daughter and add their signatures to ours.

Caitlin has always been a goal setter. When she was in the second grade she decided that she was not going to eat candy or drink soda pop for an entire year; her reward if she accomplished this would be $100.00. As the year progressed and I could see that she was accomplishing this goal, I was busy saving the hundred dollars. I decided that a hundred dollar bill wouldn't mean as much to an eight year old as one hundred single dollar bills would, so each quarter of the year I saved twenty-five ones. On the day that her goal was achieved the brothers and Kristin were there for a celebration party. We enjoyed rootbeer floats together and watched as Caitlin took her first bite of chocolate, which was a Cadbury Flake (her fav), she was very hesitant to take that first bite but she ended up enjoying it very much. She was able to spend her money any way that she wanted; she chose to buy a new set of scriptures.



Caitlin began ballet classes at the age of 3 1/2. She is a beautiful and talented dancer. When she reached the right age and height requirements she auditioned for Ballet Wests "Nutcracker". We were thrilled when she was chosen as one of the child dancers. When I picked her up from her first rehearsal at the Capitol Theatre she was a little distraught as she informed me that she had been assigned to be in a cast that would perform on a Sunday (they usually have 4-6 casts of children throughout the season). She told me that she would not do it. Caitlin was adamant about it and now I was a little distraught as well, I was going to have to call the person in charge and explain why my daughter could not dance in "Nutcracker". I'll be honest, it would have been very easy to just say, "Caitlin, dance on Sunday." I'll even admit that I did give her permission to, but in the end I called the lady at Ballet West who was in charge of all the children in the production and explained to her why my daughter would not be performing; I was heartbroken for Caitlin. The lady informed me that she could fix this, she could put Caitlin in another cast that wasn't performing on a Sunday, she then said to me, "you have to admire someone so young who stands up for what she believes." Caitlin was an example to me as I was reminded that the easy way is not always the best way, sometimes it's hard to do the right thing but it's always worth it.

We have been very fortunate as a family to enjoy many nice vacations through the years. Although we enjoy going to the beach we also love going to Yellowstone which is Mike's favorite place, Caitlin is a really good supporter of her dad's love of nature. She loves the animals and is particularly fond of the Buffalo. While in Yellowstone she will get up early in the morning and go for a ride through the park with her dad to look for animals, and she will go out after dark to do the same. Just last week while on a date she spied a Utah license plate with an Elk on it. Her date saw it too and commented about the deer on the license plate, Caitlin responded, "that's not a deer, it's an elk."


Caitlin has three brothers and one sister. Although Caitlin was born eighteen months (to the day) after Ashleigh passed away, she has always known that she has a sister. There was never a defining moment or an announcement, she just grew up knowing. Caitlin loves her brothers and they love her. Although they are all significantly older than she is they have always been genuinely interested in, and concerned for her. I don't think that any of them realize that they are the most important people in the world to her. She admires them, she wants to please them, she simply... loves them unconditionally. She has watched as each of her brothers left to serve missions, as each one got married and left our home, and as each of her brothers have become fathers. I'll never forget the day that I found four-year-old Caitlin kneeling over the heat register on the living room floor, and calling down to Andy who we had just taken to the MTC. When I reminded her that Andy was on a mission she said, "I know, I'm just pretending that he's down in his room reading his scriptures." I'll always remember the time fifteen-year-old Jeff tended her all day, when I returned home he was sitting on the front porch watching over her as she played in her wading pool. Jeff had fixed cute little pigtails in her hair and made sure that she was wearing sunscreen. Jeremy has looked out for Caitlin since she was little, he often calls or texts her just to visit and find out what is up. I have been asked occasionally if I feel like I've raised two families, the answer to that question is a resounding "NO". We have always been one family no matter the span in our children's ages. Once in a while Caitlin struggles with being the only one in the family who is caught in between the married kids and the grandkids, but Caitlin has the distinctive and honored title of "Princess Royal", there is no question that she belongs; and we all love her very much.

Caitlin and her brothers: Andy, Jeremy, and Jeffrey

One day these sisters will meet, and I am sure that I will be there to witness that joyous moment

Things to know about Caitlin: She is FUNNY!!! She keeps her mom and dad laughing all of the time. She is a good student. She is a good friend. She became an aunt at the age of nine. Caitlin's dream in life is to be on "The Disney Channel". She was a big fan of Hilary Duff who is her "Disney Channel" Idol. She is also a fan of Taylor Swift; Caitlin has seen both Hilary Duff and Taylor Swift in concert (she went to the TS concert with a boy named Taylor Smith). She has had a broken arm. She wore braces. She has a beautiful smile. She always looks good. She has the perfect hair. She has a job and is responsible for some of her own expenditures. She loves musical theatre and has performed in community theatre as well as her high school theatre. She can sing. She is almost perfectly obedient. She seldom complains. She shows gratitude. She's honest. She's a good sport. She has faith. She's in her Laurel class presidency. She's been on trek (twice; once as a child actor). She can play the piano. She's thoughtful. She is very tenderhearted. She is Christian Bales biggest fan. Her favorite movie is "Newsies". She doesn't eat fruit (everyone knows that already). Next month she will be 17 on the 17th. She loves her family. She LOVES being an aunt. She has two pink guitars and loves playing them; especially with her dad. She prays about everything, and her prayers are answered. She's considerate. We are all so grateful and blessed to have Caitlin Rose in our family, and we all love her very much.

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) Melissa

As a mom to three sons I knew that the day would come when additional "daughters" would join our family, I feel very grateful for the choices that my sons made in their wives. Melissa was the second daughter-in-law to join our family when she and Jeff were married in the Bountiful Temple on October 20, 2004. Knowing Melissa, and having her in my family has truly blessed my life.

I was the first one in our family to meet Melissa. While I was serving as Relief Society president Melissa's sister Kathryn moved into our ward. One evening my presidency went to visit Kathryn and welcome her into the neighborhood, Melissa was there also, she sat quietly off to the side and was playing with Kathryn's new baby. During the visit I turned my attention to Melissa and started to talk with her, at some point I asked her if she was dating anyone; I told her that I had a good looking son (can you believe I did that?). It was several weeks later that Kathryn and I exchanged Jeff's and Melissa's phone numbers in the hallway at church and as they say... the rest is history.

Melissa has a great sense of humor and there have been times when she has made me laugh really hard. Case in point: while Jeff and Melissa dated they spent a lot of time at our house, oftentimes in the family room downstairs. Once in awhile, probably more often than not, if I was coming down the stairs I would knock on the wall (teasingly) letting them know that I was approaching. One day Mike and I were standing in the family room embracing when Melissa entered the room, without skipping a beat she turned around and went back to the hallway where she knocked on the wall as she entered the room again. We laughed so hard.

Melissa is very motivated and hard working. She graduated from WSU with a Bachelors degree in Dental Hygiene in May of 2007. Hygiene school is a difficult program to be accepted into and Melissa did it. Before and during her schooling she worked for a Dentist, following graduation she worked as a Hygienist until Avery was born.

Melissa is very creative and enjoys crafting. She and her sister share a craft blog called Nannygoat and they have almost 800 followers. You can always find a variety of creative ideas when you visit Nannygoat; sewing, paper crafts, mod-podge, painting, room decorating ideas, holiday decorating and crafts, household tips, food... recently an idea from the blog was featured on Good Things Utah. Melissa designed and painted Avery's nursery; she made the curtains, the bedding, re-finished the crib, and made pictures for the walls. You can see it all on Nannygoat.

A few months ago Jeff invited Mike, Caitlin, and I over for dinner and to watch a sporting event on TV. I am not very interested in watching sports on TV and so I spent the entire evening sitting at Melissa's kitchen counter visiting with her. I enjoyed our conversation so much and left that night feeling uplifted. Amazingly, Melissa was flying to Kentucky the next day, if I had been leaving on a trip like that the next day, I would have been running around like crazy preparing to leave. But not Melissa, she fixed us a nice dinner and spent the entire evening talking to her mother-in-law.

Things to know about Melissa: She is a wonderful wife and mother. She has naturally curly hair. She was living in Germany when the Berlin Wall came down. She keeps her home spotlessly clean. She decorates beautifully. We always feel welcome and comfortable in her home. She's funny. She's organized. She enjoys to play board games and card games. She can swing dance. She taught me how to crochet the edges on baby blankets. She is patient. She thinks of others. She teaches "Sunbeams". She magnifies her callings. She is a good cook. She is very wise with her resources. She made her own baby food for Avery. She teaches Avery baby sign language. She loves purses. She is good at photography. She always looks good. She loves being a mommy. She serves others. She's always willing to share her talents and abilities with the rest of us. She loves the Lord. She's kind. We are all grateful and blessed that Melissa is in our family and we love her.

Melissa's family: Jeffrey, Melissa, and Miss Avery