Poppy's Baptism

Our holy week was full.

Paul and Elizabeth were here and joined me at church for Palm Sunday. The children's choir sang, "I will enter His gates with thanksgiving in my heart, I will enter His courts with praise. I will say this is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice for He has made me glad. He has made me glad. He has made me glad. I will rejoice for He has made me glad". While I was growing up, my mother would sing hymns to us to put us to bed. I remember her singing this song regularly.

Ted and I went to the Maundy Thursday communion service to commemorate the Last Supper. As stated in our churches bulletin "Here our hope is visualized at His table, the powerful symbol of the grace that holds us together in Christ". 

During the invitation to communion, we began to sing "This Is My Commandment".

This is my commandment that you love one another that your joy may be full.

This is my commandment that you honor one another that your joy may be full.

This is my commandment that you forgive one another that your joy may be full.

This is my commandment that you love one another that your joy may be full.

I want to keep repeating the words of the hymn. What a full weekend of events that are so vital to my faith and powerful to my own life. On the night of Jesus' betrayal, he washed the disciples' feet. "Christ took a towel and washed the disciples' feet, giving us an example that we should do to others as he had done to us." (exert from churches bulletin). Taking communion to celebrate what Easter means for each of us personally in faith, we celebrate the depths of His love for us.

On Easter Sunday, we had Poppy baptized at the sunrise service at Lindquist beach.

My prayer for Poppy is that her life be filled with grace upon grace. I pray that she comes to saving faith in Jesus Christ.

I am so thankful for a family of believers to help us raise her up in faith both near and far.

After her baptism, we made it to the traditional service. The traditional Easter service last year was one of the most beautiful and special services I've ever attended which is saying a lot considering my childhood was consisted of one continuing church service. This year was just the same. The congregation was invited to place flowers on the cross. The cross which once only symbolized death now is celebrated with Life. Life eternal. Life everlasting. The Cross blooms with Life because Jesus humbled Himself unto death taking upon my sin and your sin. He didn't just die. He conquered death. The Cross blooms because

He is Risen.

Happy Baptism Day, Poppy Emmaline.

Photos taken by Genevevie from S/V Necesse
More photos here.

St. John Family Session

It seems like we are on a roll of family photography sessions in St. John. Savanah, a wedding and lifestyle photographer, reached out to me about being apart of her brand video project. We were, of course, so excited to be a part of the shoot. With our crazy toddler and mellow baby, we took the passenger ferry over to St. John. She introduced us to Richelle and Eric Frank, a couple she hired to film her. (After meeting Richelle and Eric, I was able to connect them with our friends and am waiting for a super cool brand video they were able to shoot here in St. Thomas. Check out their websites and feeds, they just moved back from Paris!)

At sunset, we all set out for Trunk Bray. First of all, the beach was emptied of all tourists and locals of the day which made it all the more magical. The water was pristine and the sun setting so peacefully. Wells ran around and Savanah captured the life of a toddler while engaging a family of four. I'm usually always a fashion over function type, but after sitting in the sand, I was covered in no-see-ums and stinging! I was beyond on fire and worried Poppy was going to be covered too. In the end, regardless of bugs and crazy energetic toddler, the photos were great.  We were so happy to be apart of the day.

Our Holiday Photos with Ame Rae Photography Part Four

While Amy Rae was in town, I was determined to get a Christmas card photo. I wanted something to signify our new island life. I thought using Ted's jeep and the Magen's Bay lookout point would be fun. Thankfully when we went it wasn't too busy and we set up. When we first moved to St. Thomas, Ted would drive me and Wells around in this car. It scared me half to death. It is definitely an 'island car' and not fit for precious little one. We are thankful every time it makes it over the mountain and back. Ted is actually buying a new car soon and going to put this one up for sell. This way he can help cart around our *two* kids soon and we can both rest assured he will always arrive safely to work himself.

Our Holiday Photos with Amy Rae Photography Part Three

Part three of our photo shoot in St. John with Amy Rae Photography from last December. We were at the stunning Caneel Bay Resort which is one of my favorite spots ever. We finished this day off at the sugar mill ruins on the grounds. It started lightly raining and it felt so good because it had been so hot all morning/afternoon. Part three but I'm not even down sharing photos from our time with Amy. So, stay tuned for more and in the meantime head over and check out Amy's website for other photo sessions. I love, love, love the way she captures weddings! 

Our Holiday Photos with Ame Rae Photography Part Two

I absolutely love the way Amy Rae Photography captures by using film. Continuing our photo shoot in St. John at Caneel Bay Resort. Look at all the cactus! This is exactly why I wanted to go here. The view of the mountainside, water, the trees, grass, and cactus. It's a little more difficult to pose while keeping my toddler in the game. When all he wanted to do was chase the tracker nearby (or hold a camera himself), but thankful we got some shots regardless and had fun along the way. Click here for Part One.

Our Holiday Photos With Amy Rae Photography Part One

My dear friend and talented photographer, Amy Rae Photography, came for a visit in December which was perfect timing for a photo session. Amy, Matt, and little Brooklyn were our first visitors to our home in St. Thomas. It was so much fun showing them all our new spots and views! Little did we know, we were actually pregnant with baby #2 in these photos. Isn't the location stunning? I love the scenes at Caneel Bay Resort on St. John.