Okay, so I guess the title Once Upon a Time has other significance than my love for fairy tales. Should I add a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, because apparently that is how long ago I last added to this blog. So here I am back again, and rather refreshed just coming from a family vacation stay at the beach. Nothing like clean ocean air and three good natured toddlers running around to refresh your perspective on the world. Plus I got to cook for a larger group than usual. This is always fun stuff. And to top it off I found the perfect cookie cutter at the coast. I don't remember where I saw the idea for these sandwiches, but it was the week before and I thought it was adorable, but figured I would never be able to find a cutter. I was so excited to walk into the candy store and find it. A bit of work to get it right, but they came out fabulous.

Little nestling all cozy

in his bunting.

Ride'm cowboy.Look Mommy! BIG

KITTIES! Daddy and me just

hangin' around like my

newest buddies.Choo! Choo!Growl. We got a shot

of Grandma's favorite

for her.See you later, alligator.It was a good day.Well, the first annual birthday alone with Mommy and Daddy went well. We took in the whole zoo. The favorite by far was the bats, so much activity. It was a fabulous day, the weather was cloudy and cool but the rain stayed away for the day. Daddy did most of the heavy lifting (involving one strapping one year old boy), and the stroller served more as a bag transportation vehicle. The new lions were incredible, although the den gave a little too close for comfort a view. One of the lionesses kept pounding the glass. The chetah was gorgeous and I got a shot, but it was a bit blurry (it was moving at the time). All in all it was a beautiful day, the weather was perfect for animal viewing and we had a fabulous day (culminating in a nap for Mommy).

Whew! Well, the party is over. What a day. I think I was on autopilot for at least half the day, but I have the pictures. William had a blast and everything seemed to go very smoothly. My In-Laws were fabulous with the food and everyone appeared to enjoy themselves. Now I'm looking forward to a quiet family day on the actual birthday. (Although we will allow ourselves the luxury of not starting the day like we did a year ago; we will not be beginning our day at 4:52am.) We are embarking on an Erik and Amy Ingram family tradition. Each child will get to choose what they want to do on their special day, and they will get mom and dad all to themselves. It is so infrequent that a birthday falls on an acceptable party day (ie. a weekend day). So, from now on the royal decree is "It's your day, you time with mom and dad, your choice of activity (with in reason)." But now for some pics of the party.
Fun with Great Grandma & Grandpa

WOW! We had an incredible speaker on Sunday morning. Frank and Marie Drown came, and while Frank did most of the speaking, Marie helped him provide a taste of life from a whole other world. Frank and Marie were missionaries for many years to headhunters in South America. They even wrote a book about their experiences titled Mission to the Headhunters. It was almost surreal to hear Frank talk about his experiences in South America, mostly because I've heard the story before. In fact I've read several accounts of the events that happened January 8th, 1956 to missonaries Jim Elliot, Ed McCully, Roger Youderian, Nate Saint, and Pete Fleming. It is rather odd even now to think back on Sunday, because for the first time I was hearing the story from someone who had actually been there. You see, Frank is the missionary they called on to go after the men to find out what had happened. If you don't already know the story, the men had been killed by the tribe of natives they were trying to reach with the gospel. To me it was still just a story, but to watch this little old man (now in his eighties, and yet still involved in active mission work) tell the story, I feel so incredibly blessed. I also feel challanged, and I've felt it alot lately. The question that keeps coming to light is "am I really called to be comfortable?" I know the answer is no, so where do I go from there. No, we're not planning to move to Ecuador or the other side of the globe, but where do we go from here? Where do we step out in faith and just trust God? I hope you are challanged by these thoughts as well.