Sawyer's Baptism 10-7-2012

This past Sunday (Oct. the 7th) Josh and I had Sawyer Baptized into our covenant family!  I know he is now 5 months old and that's kind of old for an "infant" baptism, but with all of the chaos and happenings that have happened in our lives since Sawyer's birth I feel like we didn't have much of a choice.   Almost all of our families came for this sweet time in our lives, which made it that much more special.

 I would like to clarify why we had Sawyer baptized as an infant for those of you who might be wondering "why infant Baptism?".  Although our church denomination (The Presbyterian Church of America -PCA) does practice infant baptism, Josh and I do believe that the bible teaches that this is the new sign of the Covenant.  Back in the old testament, and before Jesus came to die for our sins, circumcision was considered the sign of the covenant of Abraham (this of course was only practiced on the males). But after Jesus came into the world, he would baptize whole families in the name of the Father, the Son and The Holy Spirit.  These families also included the children and baby's as well.  Saying that baptism had then become the NEW sign of the covenant which was meant for the WHOLE world (male & female alike).  We, of course do NOT believe that because Sawyer was baptized as an infant,  he is now a Christian and will spend his eternity in Heaven no matter how he chooses to live the rest of his life.  Of course Sawyer will one day have to make his own profession of his Faith, and will have to choose to live his life for the Lord, understanding that he is a wretched sinner and that the only way to salvation is through Christ Jesus who died on the cross for his specific sins!  Sawyer's Baptism was more of a covenant that Josh and I were making to the Lord that we will raise Sawyer according to His word, and teach him the Gospel so that he may one day call upon the Lord to be his personal savior.

I just wanted to clarify that real quick because I know that some people believe that infant Baptism = infant salvation. Simply not true. :)  Anyway, it was a very sweet day for us and we would like to thank all of our friends and family who were there to take part in it with us!

Acts 16:31-34 "And they said, "believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And  he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all of his family. Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God."

Evangel Youth Kayaking Trip

This past weekend, Josh and I joined our church's youth group on a little trip to Wetumpka, AL to go kayaking on the Coosa.  It was soooo much fun getting to hang out with those kiddos and the other leaders that went, and just enjoy God's beautiful creation on the water.  And it was beautiful!

This was mine and Josh's first experience with kayaking on the river.  We're both semi-avid white water canoers, and have kayaked in the ocean before but never the river.  We were pretty big fans of it once we tried it out!

The rapids on the Coosa were a lot bigger and more fun than the ones we're used to, so of course Josh and I were trying to find the most difficult/dangerous routes that the river had to offer and go through them!  Josh and I are so used to riding together in the canoe that we would catch ourselves paddling side by side,  studying the next rapid that we were approaching and trying to decide what the best possible way to get through it would be (this is how we communicate when we're canoeing).  So much fun!

 So after about 4 hours of being on the water, you can imagine the bus ride home was pretty quite as everyone was napped out after our long day. I think the kids all had a blast.  I know WE did:) We'll definitely be joining those kids again next year.

Swimming, Beaching, Biking, & More!

 The pool at the resort was gorgeous! One of the nicest I've ever been in, and the slide was like one from a water park! Soooo much fun!

 Just chilling in the shade. Sawyer LOVED relaxing in the hammocks!

 The Grand Marina. Josh and I enjoyed walking around and looking at all of the different kinds of boats.

 Beautiful sunset!

Batman playing in the sand

 If you look real close you can see Sawyer's little footprints in the sand

 One of our favorite things to do was biking around the resort. There are acres and acres of beautiful landscape and beaches. It made for such a beautiful ride!

 Our favorite house that we found on our bike tour. Nestled right on the bay. We decided we're gonna live here one day ;-)

 Playing in the sand on the bay!

 Swimming with daddy

 He was very interested in the sand. Playing in it and eating it too!

 Another part of the pool. It was shallow for the kids and had these fun water fountains to play in.

 One of the beaches at the resort.

 Relaxin'

 These two are best buds

 The Superbrella. Best investment ever. And best invention ever.

 Don't let the face fool you, he LOVED the beach!

 Taking it all in.

 Digging those little toes in the sand.

 ...

 my view from our bike tour.

Had to throw another picture of the pool in there. haha

This past week our little family loaded up the car and headed south for the beach/bay on a little family vacation  extravaganza!  We stayed at a place called "The Grand Hotel Marriott Resort & Spa" located on the bay, and about a 30 minute drive to the beach.  My sister-in-law told us about it a while ago, so we thought we'd try it out.  It was soooo much fun!!  While Josh was checking us in, Sawyer and I took a little walk around the place to see what it was all about.  It was gorgeous. I felt like we were on our second honeymoon, except we had a 4 month old child with us this time (not so romantic. haha).  They had kayaking, sailing, golfing, putt-putting, biking, swimming, horseshoeing, and not to mention hammocks around every corner just waiting to be lounged in.  We were never short of entertainment and could have stayed a lot longer, but I don't think Sawyer could have taken it another day. He was exhausted when we got home!

One of the days we were there we drove to the beach to hang out for the day and introduce Sawyer to the ocean.  He loved to just be held and watch as the waves came crashing in. He was not however, the biggest fan of actually getting IN the water.  We had so much fun getting to see all of his expressions as he took everything in.  To top everything off, the weather was perfect! Not too hot and not too cold, so that always adds to the enjoyment of the beach fun.

Josh and I were talking and laughing throughout the whole trip about how different things had become ever since we have had a child. Instead of spending hours on end soaking in the sun at the beach, or relaxing by the pool, we had to take nap breaks, feeding breaks, and diaper changing breaks throughout the day.  We were able to squeeze in an hour of beach and pool time here and there, but neither one of us would change any of that for the world!