I am the youngest of four Lawrence daughters, all of whom have names that start with the letter J. We all have four letters in our names, too. Growing up, when our parents called one of us they'd say, "Jane . . . Judy . . . Joni . . . grrr . . . Jeri! You know which one I mean!" We'd look at each other and all go running. If Jane, the oldest, gave one of us the evil eye, we knew it was our turn to take blame for whatever had gone wrong. We were much more afraid of her than of our parents.
My parents are Max and Conni Lawrence. My father was a schoolteacher and later principal in the Granite School District in Salt Lake City. My mother worked for Becton Dickinson as a bio lab technician and also sang in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir for more than twenty years. She has passed away, so one of my current favorite pastimes is driving my dad half-crazy. I like to think he enjoys all my attention, but when I'm being honest I sometimes think that perhaps he just tolerates it.
I met the man of my dreams, Brad Gilchrist, at a singles ward. I'd been eyeing him (with half the girls in the ward!) for a couple of weeks. One memorable Thursday I went to watch him play baseball with the other guys in the ward. (We girls were always very supportive of our men.) Parking a car and watching Brad walk down the sidewalk at the same time was too much for me. I backed into our bishop's truck. At least I got Brad's attention at last! It was love at first sight.
For our first date, Brad came over to play trucks with my young son, Tyler. They even made cookies! Tyler was being potty-trained at the time and wanted Brad to "help" him. Brad went willingly, despite a couple of beads of sweat and a desperate glance of trepidation. What a courageous man he is! It was only a few dates later that Ty lost his dinner. Brad cleaned it all up. I knew then and there that he was the man I was destined to marry. (The fact that he is a good kisser, handsome, and treats me like a queen doesn't hurt, either.) Ladies, take it from me, a man who cooks and helps around the house is everything any girl could want!
Ty is now twenty-three and we have added another son to the fold, Bryan. His personality is as charming as his father's and big brother's. My three men are the pride and joy of my life. Last April, Ty married his sweetheart and gave me a lovely daughter, Felicia. The final member of our family is a miniature dachshund named Jonah. He's a cute little brown thing, but just strange enough to convince me he's part alien!
About Me
