Christmas Scripture Countdown

This is a little late, but I kind of knew it would be. Christmas break may be a break from school, but in my hometown of Rexburg, it is a party at all times of the day. Its exhausting and we are getting close to needing to get home to get ready for school. However, this past Christmas Season I found a Christmas Scripture countdown that I liked and decided to implement in my little apartment. This one emphasized the many missions and titles of our Savior Jesus Christ. Jordan and I enjoyed looking up these scriptures and then even looking online and in dictionaries to find the deeper meaning of the titles that are given to our Savior.

This is a little photo of the display on our wall. I included an extra picture of Christ, a piece of paper that we reported our findings on every night, and three quotes that I thought were important to keep in mind during the Christmas Season. Below is a copy of one of the quotes on the wall as well as the scripture countdown. The scriptures come from 3 of the 4 standard words: The Book of Mormon, Bible, and The Doctrine and Covenants. For more information about the Book of Mormon click here.

Names of Jesus Christmas Scripture Countdown

1. 2 Nephi 2: 26-27    Messiah
2. 2 Nephi 2:8-9        Firstfruits
3. Matthew 1: 23       Emmanuel
4. Isaiah 9:6             Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace
5. Omni 1: 26           Holy One of Israel
6. John 3: 16            Only Begotten Son
7. Alma 7: 14            Lamb of God
8. John 10: 11-14     Good Shepherd
9. John 6: 35            Bread of Life
10. John 15: 1-5       True Vine
11. D&C 38: 1-4      Alpha and Omega
12. D&C 138:23-24  Deliverer
13. Ephesians 2:19-20 Chief Corner Stone
14. 1 John 2:1-3         Advocate
15: Revelation 17:14   Lord of Lords/ King of Kings
16: Revelation 19:11-16 Faithful and True
17: D&C 19:1-2         Great I AM
18: Matthew 20:26-28 Son of Man
19: John 8:12            Light of the World
20: Isaiah 40:28-29    Creator
21: D&C 93:8-10       Word and Messenger of Salvation
22: D&C 138:42        Redeemer
23: Isaiah 53:3-5        Man of Sorrows
24: Mark 14:61-62     Son of the Blessed

Christmas is a celebration, and there is no celebration that compares with the realization of its true meaning—with the sudden stirring of the heart that has extended itself unselfishly in the things that matter most.
~ Howard W Hunter.

I know this post is a little late and Christmas already seems long past. However, these scriptures can be used at any time of the year. Because of our break we left off at 14 before coming down to Rexburg, hopefully we can finish the rest of these scriptures up in a future Family Home Evening. 

Merry Christmas 

From the Fuquas

The Thankful Turkey

I know that Thanksgiving has been long over, but between moving into a new apartment, having a few Etsy orders to fill, and finals, life is busy and this year's Thankful Turkey didn't get up on the ole blog. The thankful turkey is something that I planned on doing the whole month of November, however, I didn't get it up on the wall and ready to go until the day before Thanksgiving break. Oh well....

We had so much to be thankful for this year, only 6 made is up to the thankful turkey, but on top of that we are thankful that:

* Jordan got into Grad School for this year

* An sweet deal for a new apartment that we are moving into

* how long our car as actually run thus far

Hopefully I will post again soon with the Christmas happening that are going on since Christmas is only 5 days away.  

Catching leaves

It is Autumn Time and the leaves are falling down. In Utah, Fall isn't very predictable. Some days it is cold, rainy, or even snowy, some days are crisp and windy, and other days are sunny and whimsical. I prefer the latter.

Jordan has this tradition where he catches one leaf a year as it is falling from a tree to the ground.Walking to school today I was reading The Boy on the Porch, by Sharon Creech. I walked under a tree and was instantly surround by little leaves. I decided to try to catch a leaf. Catching a leaf is more difficult then one would think. They are so small and never fall down in a predictable pattern. After a few minutes of feeling wonderfully silly I gave up. As I continued down the sidewalk I looked into my book and saw a golden yellow leaf. This is the leaf I'll catch this Fall.

Summer in Review - Bryce Canyon, Mesa Verde, Canyonlands, and Arches National Parks-

This week was the first week of school and we survived. I  have filled myself up with 18 credits of classes and 16 hours of work. Already my to-do lists for each day have become daunting. I am very much enjoying my classes though, I feel that I am being filled with interesting applicable knowledge all hours of the day. Jordan graduated this August and started Grad School. He is planning to get his Masters Degree here in Exercise Physiology before moving on for more schooling.

Sadly, I did not feel motivation to post this past August. So I have compiled pictures from this Summer from probably only half of the happenings. We had an exciting Summer. After we got out of school in the middle of June we went camping, swimming, running, traveling ( in Utah mostly), four-wheeling, Indian dancing, and family seeing. Honestly we did a LOT!!! Below are some pictures of the happenings and perhaps little stories and memories below. Enjoy!


Right after school got out in June we took a trip to Moab, Ut with some friends. We hiked, camped, burned tin foil dinners, got Frosties, woke up for sunrises, went cliff jumping, and visited 2 National Parks and a State Park.

Arches National Park : this is the most popular arch in the park. We hiked it in the evening to watch the sunset. 

Arches: We decided that this rock looked like a perched bird.

Arches: Getting ready for a long day of hiking

Arches: I don't really have a comment for this picture

Moab: This is a popular place to go where you jump into a river. I was scared, I honestly sat there for 30-40  minutes holding tears back. In my defense the water was only about 5 feet deep.

Canyonlands National Park

Canyonlands: Basically the whole park was on top of these Plateaus that looked down and across into miles of canyons.

Deadhorse Point State Park/ Monument: This was one of the highlights of the trip. Here the Colorado River turns and goes in the direction it came in kind of the shape of a horseshoe.

Deadhorse: We got up super early and watched the sunset on a cliff overhanging.

In mid-July we went to a family reunion in Lund, Nevada. The town of Lund is literally in the middle of nowhere, and has less then 300 people. However, I love it there. One reason is perhaps I have over almost 50 cousins that come visit, but also the FREEDOM. Jordan and I shuttled kids over jumps and mountains on four-wheelers for hours, praying that one of the 5 kids on a single vehicle would not fall off.  We also ran a 5K. My 16 year old brother actually came in 2nd, Jordan was 4th, and my 10 year old brother was 1st for children 12 and under. I however, was pretty close to last. :)

Lund: Jordan finishing the race!

Lund: This is me and my running partner/cousin Victoria. In my defense, if you look closely you can see that my legs are not working right, and then I cannot run past a slow jog without having to drag my hurt leg. (which looks pretty funny). Not to make excuses, but that is a fact.

We went to Southern Utah again for a family reunion, but Bryce Canyon National Park happened to be within 10 miles. We loved Bryce Canyon!

Bryce Canyon National Park

Bryce: The deep green and orange was beautiful together. In some parts of our hike it reminded me of Doctor Seuss Books. It was sandy, and the trees looked like trees from the Lorax. ( wish I had a picture)

Reunion: Playing tennis very gracefully

Reunion: Jordan fell asleep during the auction and Grandpa got a picture.

Reunion: You can't really see me, but I am in there in the back middle left.

We went to Oklahoma and New Mexico to visit Jordan's family. We want to an Indian Festival, rode a super fast motorcycle, saw fireflies, and went swimming. On the way back to Utah though we went to Mesa Verde National Park.

Mesa Verde: This is one of the cliff dwellings.

Mesa Verde: I am honestly curious about how many people lived in a dwelling like this.

Just a few weeks ago we topped our Summer off with a little Manner Reunion fun. We relaxed, teased kids, played intense Uno games, settlers, and poker. We even threw in a little missionary tag until someone got hurt. Below are some pictures and a video that I think is especially funny, but that is probably because I know the children in it.

Reunion: Playing poker with candy

Reunion: My family! Minus Leslee ( on a mission in Spain) and Kimball (to ornery to come)

Reunion: My Grandparents posterity

Here is the video. My Grandpa likes to catch us all by surprise. There are multiple parts and people in this video that show their true colors.

 For all that are my family or who care. Here is the link to all the photos and videos from Manner reunions. Actually the whole site is full of some hidden/old treasures.

Well that was a bulk of our Summer, we are ready to jump head first into school.

My Little Etsy Shop

Jordan finally convinced me and I have opened my own little Etsy shop! It is called twirlingcreations.  For now I sale an assortment of crochet hats and beanies.

Check out my shop at
  http://www.etsy.com/shop/twirlingcreations

Here are some of my creations so far:

Today I was a Princess

Today was church. In the summer I love church. With school out, usually there are not to many events or activities for me to dress up for. Church is the perfect opportunity for me to wear my favorite clothes, put on make-up, wear flashy high heals, and do my hair. I like to think that I dress up for the sole fact of looking my best to worship, but lets get real, this is not the only reason. I love to turn heads.
I decided that today I wanted to look like a princess. (Please don't make fun of my childish fantasies.) I wore a frilly, white chiffon skirt. ( A friend at church called it "extra feminine", I felt this was a weird compliment. Probably because she didn't know what to say, she was so overwhelmed with the obvious little girl look). I also wore a lacy teal green blue shirt, sparkly earrings, and silver high heels to show of my pink and white zebra pedicured toes.
I planned to braid my hair around my head to give myself an innocent milkmaid, or renaissance princess look, but Jordan stopped me mid hairdo and decided he liked the braid on the side.

The flower just added more frill. I might have went a little overboard today.

This may be the vainest post  I have possible posted.

oklahoma

Oklahoma..... that's where I am now. Jordan is of the Potawatomi Indian tribe and this past weekend was the tribe's powwow and we went to the festival. I don't know where they get it, but these Indians have tons of money to throw around. Jordan tells , me they get it from their casino. We took advantage of the money being thrown around and made off like thieves. $100 dollars each for the three on three basketball tournament which we won, and then a tablet I won in a dance contest!

I have created a list......
OKLAHOMA AMENITIES

* BUGS EVERYWHERE, tons of grasshoppers, spiders, and lightning bugs
* DIVERSITY
* WEATHER - over 100 degree weather with 70% humidity
* VEGETATION - beautiful and green everywhere
* DRIVING - no two towns are closer then 1 hour away
* BRAUMS - a local dairy store that resides in every town regardless of the population. Oklahomans swear by this ice cream but I honestly do not see what the fuss is about.
* WILDLIFE- the other night I heard coyotes cackling in the distance, rabbits, and everyone owns a couple of dogs and cats

We planted a garden

Jordan and I bought a community plot to plant a garden. We planted tomatoes, jalapenos, bell peppers, beans, and peas. Hopefully, a watermelon too!

 Just thinking about the tomatoes made our mouths water. We cannot wait till harvest time.

On a Sunday afternoon

One time Jordan and I had a really busy week where we barely saw each other. We looked forward to Sunday where we could take a break from homework and work.

First we finished reading Ender's Game. Wonderful wonderful book.

Then we went to the duck pond to feed the ducks. The ducks were not very hungry, but the temperature outside was beautiful and we had a great time watching kids run and chase after ducks.

And then we played Pirate Dice and Stratego.

A perfect Sunday afternoon.