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

And So It Begins

I have mentioned on this blog at least twice... briefly; that Mike and I were called as co-chairmen of our stakes float for the Days of '47 parade this coming July. We were called into the Stake Presidents office within the first two weeks of moving into our new home and ward. As we arrived at the stake center we were greeted by all three members of the Stake Presidency and the call was issued. Now I am being perfectly honest when I say that being called as co-chairmen of the float committee was a big surprise to me, but I thought to myself, co-chairmen, maybe that is do-able especially if we have another couple to co-chair with... I quickly discovered that co-chairmen meant me and Mike. Co-chairmen. For the first several weeks we were able to put the float on the back burner so to speak, but now it's moved forward and it's full speed ahead.

At this point I'm happy to report that our committee is almost completely staffed. We have two people from each ward helping us but hope that hundreds in the stake will help when it's time to actually build the float. Those called have accepted willingly and many others have expressed a desire to help. I have been amazed at people's willingness and have felt so blessed.

This call does not come with a stress-free-guarantee and when I contemplate the magnitude of it, it can be very overwhelming. Mike and I attended a meeting in WVC over a week ago for all of those building religious floats (22 stakes). The people presenting the information to us were just like us, except that they have built floats before and were now advanced to the position of guiding others in float building. All of the people that were going to be building the floats were just like us too, and we looked like a herd of deer in the headlights... I'm not kiddin'.

An example of building a tree on a float was presented to us. A float-builder-in-training asked, "you mean we can just build a tree and put people around and call it good?" A float-builder-of-experience answered, "you can if you don't want to win any awards." Awards. Now there is something to contemplate. In 2001 our stake built a float for this parade and won the Sweepstakes Award, the highest award you can win in the Days of '47 parade. This is what I say about awards... a-ward; yeah I need a-ward, I need every-ward to help me build this float. But I am sure that when July 24th arrives, I will be very excited and actually hope that we win an award. Right now that is the furthest thing from my mind.

We have a place to build the float. We have a wonderful float base. I'm very happy to say that we have a design. It's amazing. I'm excited. It's award worthy. The committee is excited. That makes me excited. I won't reveal any details at this moment, but I do have to tell one thing... me, the-co-chairman-of-the-Days-of-'47-WB-stake-float-that-will-be-featured-on-live-TV, will have a float that has ... BIRDS!!!!

Family Friday: Featuring My Niece Aubree

When my siblings and I were children, whenever one of us sulked because we were "last" it never failed that my Mother would say, "last is the best of all the game." I'm not sure if I ever figured out what that meant, but I'm sure it's something good because it always made us feel better. This week I'm featuring the "last" of my beautiful nieces; Aubree. Aubree is the youngest of my brother Archie's three daughters. The sisters were born within three and a half years of each other and are very close, I would say that they are probably best friends. They all three have the exact same initials AAM, they each have double letters in their name, and when they were young they always dressed alike. As you can see they are beautiful girls.

Aubree with her sisters Ammanda and Alyssa in Disneyland

When Aubree was just a little girl in elementary school she had a writing assignment and she chose to write about the family Christmas party. Aubree's mom Julee made a copy of Aubree's paper and the picture that went along with it and mailed them to me. I was so excited when I received it. Aubree did a wonderful job writing about the games, the food, Santa Claus, singing, and the family. Aubree's paper is a treasure to me and I keep it in a special book. If you click on the picture it will enlarge and you can read Aubree's paper; it's really cute.

A few years ago it was brought to the attention of the family that Andy could incorporate the song "Jingle Bells" into any song (Linus style), we've heard him do it on more than one occasion. About a year after that we were at the family Christmas party and it was Aubree's turn to perform. She went to the piano where she performed a beautiful musical number, just as she was concluding the song we heard the familiar tune of "Jingle Bells" being played one note at a time. There was an amazing uproar of laughter and applause, the whole family was delighted. Way to go Aubree!


Aubree is very supportive, she always comes to family functions and activities. When I recently performed in the Salt Lake Tabernacle Aubree came to the concert with her parents. Following the performance I met my family members outside of the Tabernacle where we all huddled together in a circle and talked about the concert. During our conversation Aubree told me that she could hear my voice. Now... with nearly 400 women singing I knew that Aubree couldn't actually hear my voice but it made me happy to know that she knew my voice well enough that she recognized the part that I sang and knew that I was one of the altos.

Things to know about Aubree: She has a beautiful smile. She's a very good student. Uncle Mike says she has musical talent (very important to Uncle Mike), she plays the violin and the piano. She has a sense of humor. She has a dog named Biscuit. She is one of the eight Ann's in the family. She likes "Survivor". She's a good sport. She likes going to Disneyland. We spent a week in Yellowstone with Aubree and her family. She's very sweet. She's very neat and tidy. She is a good daughter and sister. We are all grateful to have Aubree in our family and we love her.

Aubree's family: Aubree, Julee, Ammanda, Archie, Alyssa, and Biscuit

All Shook Up

All Shook Up at BHS tonight through Saturday at 7 pm and a Saturday matinee at 2 pm. This poodle skirt was my final costume to sew for this school year. Cute huh!?!

The Eleventh Nail

I hammered a nail in the wall today; the ELEVENTH nail since I've moved in. I know I'm a slacker but if you know me you understand why... I don't want to make a mistake. And even though there are eleven nails in the wall there are only ten pictures/clocks because one picture required two nails. But I'm getting braver, I promise. Let me know what you think of my latest accomplishment (just a baby step really).




Oh, and... isn't Rosie beautiful!!!!

Family Friday: Featuring My Son Andy

Family Friday is back and we are down to the final ten installments. This week I'm featuring the firstborn of the third generation... my son Andy.

Andy was born on March 14, 1978; arriving six days past his due date he weighed in at 9 lbs. 2 oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long. I was four months shy of my twentieth birthday and my normal weight was in the 120's, for such a young and skinny Mom I was very proud of my big baby. Andy brought us a lot of joy from the start; he was the first child, the first grandchild, and the first nephew on both sides of the family. We had the name David Michael picked out early in my pregnancy (I didn't have an ultra sound but I always knew that I was having a son), two weeks before the baby was born when I told the chosen name to my Irish Granpa he shook his head and said, "give him a name of his own", making reference to the fact that we already had an assortment of David's and Michael's in the family. We chose the name Andy Marsden Leger. He had his own name, and everyone else's too.

From the time that Andy was just a toddler we always knew when he was around. One day when he was three he was with his Grandpa Leger and talking rather loudly, when Grandpa asked him if he always talked that loud Andy responded, "no... SOMETIMES I TALK THIS LOUD!!" He was always protective of his little brother Jeff. When toddler Jeff fell against a metal bed (needed stitches) Andy freaked out crying, "my brother" while the injured stood calmly by. When none of the family could interpret Jeff's "language" we would ask, "Andy what did Jeff say?" and Andy would say, " he said..." then he would tell us what Jeff said; and he was right.

During his youth Andy participated in recreational sports such as soccer and baseball. One summer when he was about fourteen or fifteen he played baseball for the first time in several years. While at a game Mike overheard a Mother of another player saying, "we've got some kid on our team that hasn't played before", as if the team was doomed; parents take these sporting events much to seriously. Andy has always been a fast runner and more than once was able to steal home, and Mike was so proud when during a game Andy hit a home run over the fence. We were sitting in the outfield so Mike was able to retrieve the ball and present it to Andy. At the end of the season the coach named Andy as the most improved player, and he did so with much respect.

Andy has been blessed with many talents, and anyone who knows him has been blessed because of Andy's talents as well. Shortly after his eighth birthday he began taking piano lessons. We didn't have a piano so he would ride his bike over to Granma's everyday to practise. Andy has also always loved to sing. When Andy was just a little boy his Grandpa Leger introduced him to the music of Al Jolsen. Andy started to mimic Al and did a really good job of it, which eventually earned him a place in the school wide talent show when he was in the third grade. He wore his Sunday suit and sang Mammy (Al style) with all of his heart. In jr. high school Andy became interested in acting, which then led to musicals in high school and community theatre. At sixteen he portrayed Jimmy in Saturday's Warrier at Page's Lane Theatre (now RMT). I have seen him in many shows at school and in the community, all of which I was very proud, but the one that left the biggest imprint on my heart was The Secret Garden. As I watched him portray Archibald Craven and sing the beautiful songs in that musical, I couldn't hold back the tears and I still can't. Several months ago Andy participated with his Uncle David and a few other theatre friends in a musical review at the WB City monthly concert series. He sang Lily's Eyes in a duet and it brought back to me all of those emotions of 1996 when he did the show as a senior in high school. He currently performs in the Endless Summer band with his Dad, and also accompanies his Granpa when he performs. Last summer he was one of the major players in the recording of Granpa's CD.

Andy performing as Pharoah in the BHS production of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" in October 1994

There are so many Andy stories, but one of my favorites is when I left three-month-old Caitlin with fifteen-year-old Andy while I went over to the Johnson's to help Becky with a primary dutch oven activity. I gave Andy strict instructions that he was to bring the baby to me as soon as she woke up, and he did. He tucked her under his arm in a football hold and rode over on his bike. WHAT!!!

Andy and Rosie

After Andy graduated from BHS he attended SLCC; he then was called to serve a mission to the Canada Montreal French Speaking Mission; when he returned he attended the U of U where he graduated in 2002; he then attended Law School at the U of U from which he graduated in 2005. He was recently named Partner in the Law Firm where he is employed.

Andy's graduation from Law School

Andy is a devoted husband and father. He and his wife Kristin met in high school. They wrote letters to each other while Andy served his mission; and on March 10, 2000 they were married in the Salt Lake Temple. They have three of the handsomest little guys you will ever see. Andy is also a wonderful son. We have had many long talks and discussions through the years, he has always shown concern for my welfare, he has always made me feel like I'm a good Mom.

Things to know about Andy: He flew to Tennessee to see Mandy Patinkin perform in concert. He is the ward organist. President Spencer W. Kimball kissed his hand when he was a toddler. He spent three weeks in Ireland and England when he was thirteen. He can speak French. He can play the piano upside down. He has the best laugh. He's left-handed. He has his own signature walk. He ran a half marathon. He recorded his own CD when he was eighteen. He is honest. He learned how to play chess when he was a young boy. He LOVES Disneyland and is very knowledgeable about Disney history; he even got to sing a solo in Disneyland. He has integrity. He loves to read and to learn. He has strong political views. He serves. He's funny. He loves classic cartoons. He magnifies his callings. He makes roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. He's a good friend. He had a letter published in the TV Guide. He stood next to Jeffrey R. Holland in the circle when his friend was being set apart as a missionary. I'm so grateful that Andy is in our family and I know everyone else is too. We all love Andy.

Andy's family in Disneyland last summer: Zachary, Kristin, Andy, William, and Adam