Martha's Vineyard, and a Blessing

What a lovely weekend (once the squirrely older kids got in line)! We attended "Christmas in Edgartown," a small town open house event in Martha's Vineyard, and explored the island for the first time in our lives. Saw lots of beautiful stuff and ate amazing seafood. We love the small town atmosphere and off-season feel! Watched the annual Christmas lighting of the Edgartown lighthouse, went to the parade where Santa arrived on an antique fire engine-- much to Gideon's awe, and to our delight Santa disembarked and walked right up to say hi to Giddy.... who just kept staring at the fire engine.

 Later Baby G got to try his hand at pretending to drive the fire truck, it made his day!!!! 

Audrey had a blast cranking the old fashioned siren

 and cuddling the stuffed animals in the Teddy Bear Suite, an annual event at the Harbor View Inn.

We were blessed with a beautiful warm evening on the night before the parade, that was great for watching the lighting of the lighthouse and exploring the different free nighttime events.  We even got to ride on a horsedrawn carriage!

 

Then after the parade we got to meet Norman Bridwell, the author of the Clifford the Big Red Dog books (which are set in Martha's Vineyard, where he lives... in the books he calls it Birdwell Island). 

Then we headed back to the mainland and attended a Christmas party at the Boston church where I attend when the kids aren't visiting, drove the ninety minutes back home and then went to church this morning at our local building here in southern Massachusetts.  When we got home from church, our neighbor was mowing his lawn and allowed Gideon to ride on his John Deere lawn tractor, to his great delight!

After dinner, we all made gingerbread houses and had gingerbread pop tarts and hot spiced cider, and watched Christmas specials until bedtime.

Simple joys. Audrey's had a bit of a head cold and has been struggling with lots of reflux at nights, but has been so happy during the daytime and flirted a ton at church today! We arranged to give her a priesthood blessing today right after church.  In our church, two worthy men who have been ordained in the priesthood of God can give a special blessing of healing by placing their hands on a person's head and listening carefully to the guidance of the Holy Ghost to know what words to speak.  It is a sacred and beautiful experience for all present, since through faith miracles can be wrought this way, and remarkable counsel is invariably given that often proves as valuable as the healing power itself.  We had been worrying about the decisions ahead and hoping the Lord would bless her with healing and to have her throat stay open, but today when my husband spoke the words he felt guided by the Lord to speak, we received the same answer as we did in June when the missionaries gave her the blessing in the Salt Lake City hospital while she was in all those weeks with the perforation-- that her life would touch many hearts, that she would be strong through her challenges, and that her days would be full of love. I took it as very significant that nearly identical words were spoken by the elder giving the blessing back in June, and by my husband today, even though he was not present for the earlier blessing.  I truly believe that the words spoken in these blessings are direct counsel from the Lord on Audrey's behalf.  Clearly this is a message the Lord really wants to get through to us. Patience on his time, and trust in his plan for her.  So we are just enjoying one another each day right now, and very happy to be together!! Trying to just open our hearts to whatever the Lord has in mind for our family, and receiving every blessing with gladness. Thank you to all of our friends old and new, and to our family for their support. We love and miss you all!