Day 3 with the Pearmans: Easter

RCF had a sunrise service on the beach on Easter. I really wanted to go, but knew that Ryan needed his sleep and that his parents were probably really tired from all of the traveling and hiking we had been doing. I set my alarm and decided I was going to go bymyself. Well, when my alarm went off at 5:15 and it was completely dark outside, I just turned it off and decided I'd wait for the 11:00 service! Church was wonderful. There was so much excitement and emotion in the singing because the thought of Jesus conquering death was at the front of everyone's mind. The student who led the service read lyrics from a song by Phil Keaggy called Maker of the Universe. It talks about how God created everything that would one day be used to kill his Son. Here are the lyrics (of course I cried):
The Maker of the universe,
As Man for man was made a curse.
The claims of Law which He had made,
Unto the uttermost He paid.
His holy fingers made the bough,
Which grew the thorns that crowned His brow.
The nails that pierced His hands were mined
In secret places He designed.
He made the forest whence there sprung
The tree on which His body hung.
He died upon a cross of wood,
Yet made the hill on which it stood.
The sky that darkened o'er His head,
By Him above the earth was spread.
The sun that hid from Him it's face
By His decree was poised in space.
The spear which spilled His precious blood
Was tempered in the fires of God.
The grave in which His form was laid
Was hewn in rocks His hands had made.
The throne on which He now appears
Was His for everlasting years.
But a new glory crowns His brow
And every knee to Him shall bow.

Isn't that beautiful? But also unbearable to think about?
After church we had Easter lunch at Subway. :) Craig, Ralna, William, Sophia, John Walker, Greg, and a few other friends joined us. The top picture is of William and Sophia. You can't tell in this picture, but William had chocolate all over his white sweater vest!



After lunch Ryan went to the library to study and the rest of us went home to change clothes and then off to Purple Turtle Beach. There were a ton of locals at the beach, which is really unusual. We knew that Monday was going to be a beach holiday in Dominica, but apparently they got started on Sunday. This is a picture of us eating Gooseberries. They had been rolled in cinnamon, sugar and nutmeg and baked a little bit. I didn't like them, so I fed mine to Sophia & John Walker. I literally fed them because I had to bite the big seed out of the middle before I could give it to them. We stayed at the beach for a couple of hours and just walked up and down the beach, went about halfway into the water, laid out and just soaked up the sun!


This is a picture of the cake I made for Easter. It is a mandarin orange and pineapple cake and the recipe is on another blog I'm part of - ourfoodnetwork.blogspot.com

Oh, and before I forget, thanks for the Peeps, Nana! I hid them from Ryan until Easter morning and he was excited! :) Thanks to my mom and Ryan's parents who brought us suitcases full of treats! Thanks to Theresa who sent me 2 really cute dresses from H&M! :)