Derek, you wouldn’t…

{For 18 months  – Jan ’17 to Jul ’18 –  posting our letter to Miranda while she's on her mission to Cochabamba, Bolivia.  Our letter titles are taken from a list of family sayings & catchphrases we recorded onto a pillowcase she has with her.  You can read her adventures on her mission blog: www.hermanamadsen.blogspot.com!}

Ok, so this week was crazy.  The subject title is appropriate because it's about Derek, and he went to SEVEY DAY on Monday!!!  Because of the eclipse, they gave them all a stamp sheet, and they just had to get to their 8 classes, get it stamped, and then meet in the auditorium to get their solar glasses and eat pizza while waiting for the eclipse.  =)

Dad & the kids went to Grandpa & Grandma's & made eclipse boxes:

Carlie & I went up to the mall in Sandy for school shopping, ended up sitting in this stand-still traffic... were people trying to get to Total Eclipse at the last minute??? We couldn't figure it out.

But we learned some cool things with the eclipse this year.  When Carlie was weirded out at her shadow, I took this picture.  The edges of her shadow were spikey, but if you look closely at my hands, the tiny spots between my fingers didn't shadow as regular circles.  =)

So anywhere that should have been a small circle, was a cute little crescent.  Like my cousin's tree leaves:

And this lens reflection on my naked phone picture of the eclipse.  My post said:  "No solar glasses, shopping at the mall, walk out with everyone else, take direct pictures of the sun just in case. And this little reflection appears in the lens. =)  Hello little eclipse. =)

And while we have all our homemade 93% Eclipse experiences, friends like the Edwards & Galloways, who travelled and camped in the path of Eclipse Totality are getting pictures like this and having 360 degree sunsets, including crickets starting to chirp, birds freaking out, and it getting noticably colder.  =)

So exciting - Makes us want to fly down to Argentina for the next one in 2 years, or take the cruise out to Totality in the middle of the ocean that is already booking.  =)

Then the first day of school happened on Tuesday.  =(  

And the Westfielders.  =)

We curled the girls' hair as many times as possible during the week:

HK 5th, Connor 2nd.  Happy, sad, exciting and heartbreaking.  H&K have Mrs. Snow, a strict, grumpy, kind teacher, whom I just love.  I think she's going to be perfect.  =)  Connor has Mrs. Jenkins, a brand-new, spunky intern, who is also going to be perfect.  =)

This is me in line at Costco, covertly snapping a pic of... Satchels are a thing, right?

And then Morgan had his birthday party... Paintballing.  Before:

And after.  I was SO SAD when they guy said the paint they use wouldn't stain and the balls didn't have very much paint in them... I really wish they had some messy after pics.  =)

Talon, Dennis, David Blake, David Peacock, Blake, CJ, Max.

Can you see all 8 of them?  It filled my heart when I took this, because it reminded me of this day.  And how far have they come since then?  I doubt they would wear bandanas for me again, and pretend to be pirates on a giant playset "ship."

When I got up Sunday morning, Lucy Doezie asked me to share for her Laurel class with Carlie, what I was looking for when I was dating Dad, what qualities I found in him, and what I loved about him.  I thought I would share what I sent her with you.  =)

I was looking for handsome. (!!) 

I heard that President Kimball had said that we didn't need to look for someone perfect; that we simply needed to make sure he would honor his priesthood and be a good father, and we would be able to become celestial people together as we honored our covenants and tried to become better people through our lives. 

So when it came time to pray about the 2 people and who I should marry (Jeff had asked me to marry him 6 months before my missionary came home), I knelt down and said that Zach would be a good priesthood holder and a good father, and I felt good about that. Then I said Jeff would be a good priesthood holder and a good... and I couldn't finish. I was overcome with a rush of feeling. I knew Heavenly Father was telling me His choice, and I have looked back on that many times as we work our way through this life together. 

By the way, that prayer was 45 min long, and the answer didn't come until I was 30 min in, because I hadn't been as close to Him as I felt I should have, so as simple as it sounds, it was actually a lot of work. 

Even though I had heard the counsel I talked about, I was personally looking for a spiritually strong man. He had to have been on a mission. He had to have a certain soberness when it came to talking about spiritual topics. Like he was committed to getting back to Heavenly Father and living with Him. I wasn't thinking personally about Daddyhood, so the counsel helped me to think about that while I prayed. 

Then you marry the man, and you see what happens. Jeff has turned out to be one of the best people I've ever met. And one of his best qualities is that he's always looking for ways of making himself a better person. 

He does honor his priesthood. Through his consistency in praying and reading his scriptures and attending the temple, he's able to bless our children and me, when we need him. When I hear him give Back to School blessing to our kids, for instance, I can feel that he's receiving personal revelation and counsel from Heavenly Father for that child for that school year. And I get a blessing for the school year, too. :) He goes to the temple with me, and I know he honors the covenants we made there. 

He's one of the best daddies I've ever met because he's so interested in his kids and how they're turning out. He's always trying to find ways of reaching them and helping them become righteous and successful people. 

He's the first thing I thank Heavenly Father for in my prayers, because I know with him in place next to me, all the important things I want from this life can happen. 

{HEART HERE}

So here's the progress on Grandpa & Grandma's house!

Kierste asked me to take this.  This was her idea, and it looked awesome:

And Halle wanted me to take this, too... I think they should do a photo shoot where they come up with their modeling poses, because they have a knack.  =)

Morgan & Adrianny blew out their 30 candles on a brownie cake & cheesecake:

Second to last, Please pray for Jodie & Tim.  They are in the path of Hurricane Harvey.  They spent the weekend in & out of their above-ground HP closet (no basements - too close to the water table) on tornado warnings, having the kids sleep in there at night also, and now they are watching their city flood and their neighbors lose their homes with all the hurricane rains. 

They are on higher ground, but with all the overwhelming rainfall, it's rising to their level. Jodie said: Now this is getting personal. 

Here's the picture from her in-laws' front window:

And here's the picture of what they have to live on. :) Thank heavens for this!!!!! Yay Jodie & Tim!!!

We prayed mightily for them as a family. Here's what Jodie said this morning:

It was really close, but a miracle happened and it stopped raining over us. The flood waters drained out of our street. Many many of our friends are losing their homes this morning, and a nearby levy is about to break, which will cause a huge flash flood tomorrow in our ward, but it will head away from us. We are safe and planning to take refugees. 

Just keep them in your faithful, powerful missionary prayers because they need you. :)

And last, and maybe least, but very important, the memes:

Love, us


Pictures that didn't make it in the letter:

Holding up the mission skirt in DownEast to ask Miranda if she wanted it on Google Hangout.  She did.  Easy peasy.



A selfie we sent while we were eating and Hanging Out with her still:



And they used my tile from my craft room floor on the sides of the trashes at the mall... famous.



Ok, this had to be noted.  The giant dog is submissive to the little dog.  Either he's being a gentleman or a wuss.  It doesn't really matter which.  It's pretty adorable.