The Brubaker Family

The Brubaker Family

President Brubaker and I are excited to be here as the Mission President and companion of the Belgium Brussels Netherlands Mission! We love your sons and daughters, and feel to thank you for the wonderful missionaries you have raised! This is a very unique mission. Our mission includes two countries, and five languages, not including many dialects spoken in the Netherlands. The missionaries are teaching many people from all around the globe. With the help of the Spirit, the missionaries are finding those who have been prepared to receive the Gospel. This is truly the best mission in the world, and we are honored to be a part of it. We will try and take good care of your sons and daughters. We love them so much already!

We have 5 children and 11 wonderful grand children. We have so much fun together! We are grateful for the support they have given us as we prepared to leave for three years. Our home is in Salt Lake City, Utah. We have raised our family in the Millcreek Holladay area. We enjoy many activities together. We are happiest when we are hiking in Southern Utah, cross-country skiing into our rustic cabin in the Uintahs, enjoying a good game of Train or Settlers of Catan, or just being together and sharing a meal with each other. We love our family so much!!!

Tuesday, June 07, 2011

Queen For A Day!

The Queen's official birthday in the Netherlands is a festive occasion that is annually celebrated on April 30th. Several months ago I had bought an authentic Marken costume. I was told the best day to come was on Queen's Day to see many people in their traditional dress. Our friends the Kaelins and we decided to experience this fun holiday. President Brubaker suggested that I wear my costume. So I made a quick stop at the shop where I had purchased it and got properly dressed!
I had forgotten all the intricate details!

This was my day to really feel "Dutch."
Background

On August 31, 1880, Princess Wilhelmina was born in The Hague. She was the last child of King William III and the only child to outlive him. On August 31, 1885, and on the same date each year after that public birthday celebrations were held for her. The occasion was originally known as Princesses Day (Prinsessedag) and became known as Queen's Day in 1890 after Wilhelmina became Queen following the death of her father. On August 31, 1902, people in the Netherlands heard that Queen Wilhelmina had recovered from typhus and Queen's Day became a true public celebration.

On September 6, 1948, Wilhelmina's daughter, Juliana became queen and from 1949, the Queen's Day celebrations were moved to April 30, her birthday. On April 30, 1980, Beatrix, Juliana's daughter, became queen. Her birthday is on January 31, but the date of Queen's Day remained the same as a way of honoring Juliana. Hence, Queen's Day is the Queen's official birthday and the anniversary of her coronation.

Many small towns in the Netherlands show their patriotic colors on the Queen's Day. Marken was ready for lots of celebrating! To really feel like I was one of them, President Brubaker had an idea.. Many Marken women were sitting together . We were really brave! He came with me, and asked if he could take my picture with them.

They made room for me! They were a little puzzled.......who is this woman? They were gabbing away in Dutch, and I just answered back Yaah, yaah. A smile always works!
We enjoyed the festivities, the street markets,
the music!
These klompens were saved for this day of celebrating!
I fell in love with Holland all over again!
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2 comments:

  1. ronda20 June 2011 at 14:45

    Love,love, love that you had your picture taken with the locals. You fit right in except for the fact that everyone else looks much older. Great memory day for you.

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  2. Stephanie24 June 2011 at 23:27

    You look wonderful Rebecca! I love seeing you in that gorgeous costume and love that we visited that village together. It's so adorable.

    p.s. I'm sad you're leaving Brussels...loved that home so much. :( But I bet you're loving not driving a bajillion miles every week!

    xo

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