Brubaker Family Adventures

 Well that was an exciting 4th of July! My parents came to visit on the fourth of July and my dad picked up some fireworks to add to our collection.  We were sitting about 75 feet away from where Ben was lighting the fireworks off and I was in charge of opening each one and having the fuse ready to go.  It was a nice evening and we could see big fireworks going off in the distance around us.  Ben is always prepared and had a hose hooked up and ready to use in case of an emergency.  We just never expected the fireworks to mis-fire in opposite directions.  We got to the last one of the night, the biggest one with a fountain of sparks and 6 bursts in the air.  Every other one had gone off with out any issues but all night I kept worrying about what if one misfired and shot towards us.  The last one did.  I yelled run and paused for a second to grab Belle's hand.  One whizzed past my head and exploded right in front of me.  I was dazzle...

 Ben was hired to be the City Manager of Coffeyville, KS! We are so excited! We watched the meeting on Zoom with the kids when they announced and we all cheered.  Ben has been working towards this goal of becoming a city manager for years now! From his internship with the Salt Lake City's Mayor's office to the successful completion of his Master's of Public Administration and his mentorship with the Tulare City Manager in California this was a major milestone for our family!  We currently have a virus going through our house and everyone is running a fever and coughing all over me.  Unfortunately Ben started his first day at the City with the flu.  He had it for two days before starting his new job so hopefully, it will subside soon. The kids have been out of school for the summer for a couple of weeks now and we have started swimming lessons and our Marine Biology Summer Science Study. We are reading Island of the Blue Dolphins to go along with our ocean life s...

 I never did get around to posting about Henry's baptism.  It was a bright spot in the midst of everything we had going on at that time.  Matt and Bridget and the kids came and my parents and Tami and Adam.  And a few of our friends there in Grantsville.  We didn't have a ton of time for reflection like we did with Peter's because we had basketball games to get to afterward.  Henry is quiet about many things but I get the sense he has a strong testimony and a love for the savior with the things he does say.  He is a very bright little boy with big blue eyes and the cutest sprinkling of freckles across his nose.  His curly topped head also makes him stand out among the crowd.  He has perfect teeth and will not need braces, lucky kid. He's the only one who doesn't have any issues with the arches of his feet.  He reminds us to say our prayers and read our scriptures and he is so very special.  He is a tender-hearted little boy with big...

 A lot has happened since my last blog post.  For instance, we moved to Kansas...surprise!  And it threw me into a deep depression that took me months to recover from.  I was totally emotionally unavailable and just retreated into my own little world.  I obsessed over my mission memories for several months and it was a unique experience remembering all the things I'd long forgotten.  I talked to a doctor about it and then a therapist and eventually pulled out of it and returned to the present.  It wasn't easy.  It was so interesting how hard this move hit me, it was really traumatizing for me.  Anyways, Kansas has been great.  Our ward is great and we've made fast friends with the people there.  Everyone is so friendly and nice in this area.  It's fun to be around missionaries again after 5 years in Utah.  We bought a house on 10 acres that had the roof ripped off in a tornado 5 years ago and everyone knows exactly which h...

 Lots of changes have been happening around here lately.  Ben's company went under and had to close its doors.  He was able to help shut things down and help some of the employees network into new positions.  Now he's in the process of looking for a new job and trying to make a career change. Ben's pursuing a career in City Government and also trying to a property management up and running with his brother Jacob.  It will be interesting to see how this all works out.  In the meantime I signed up to be a substitute teacher and got my first gig tomorrow morning.  Hopefully I like it! Tonight Ben was counting change from our Disney Land jar with the kids. He thought it would be fun for he and Peter and Briscoe to organize the quarters alphabetically by state.  Henry had grown tired of counting change and left the table to sit on the couch.  He overheard Ben and the other two boys listing off the states and Ben said there were two missing Alaska ...

The first day of school has come and gone already! Everyone is in school this year.  Belle is in Preschool, Briscoe First Grade, Henry Second Grade and Peter fifth grade.  We got to go to a few BYU games this year and it was really fun.  It was the first time I've ever taken Belle and she did great.  She fell asleep on my for the entire 2nd half of one of the games and then again for the 4th quarter of the other one we went to.   Peter and Henry chose to play Soccer again this season on Coach Nick's team and they have learned and grown so much.  Briscoe did awesome at football and Belle has loved doing gymnastics.