14/52

Aunt Joyce

The fourteenth of 52 portraits of my family in 2014.

My Aunt Joyce in the beautiful light of her new kitchen. 

I never thought I'd meet a more hard-working industrious person than my dad, but his sister gives him a run for his money. It is appropriate that these portraits are set in her kitchen while she cooks dinner for our family, because the first memories that come to my mind when I think of her are of her standing over the camp stove on early Easter mornings, steam and smoke swirling around her, cooking loaf after loaf of her legendary stuffed french toast. Almost all of my memories of my aunt are memories of her serving others. She is constantly cooking, cleaning, building, tending, and nurturing. Last year she made a great sacrifice by selling her beautiful home in Idaho, leaving her friends behind, and moving to Orem to take care of, and live with, my grandma and grandpa. I am so grateful that she did, because now I can I feel her hard-work every Sunday evening when I visit her house. She is a homemaker of the highest, most honorable degree and she has created a home that is welcoming, cozy, beautiful, and orderly, a place where the spirit can be felt, where children can play and where our family can grow closer together. I admire her immensely, and I have much to learn from her about how to someday raise my own family and how to be a service-oriented disciple of Christ.
I love you Aunt Joyce.

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