Christmas 2010

We had a wonderful Christmas day. Nicole opened a metal detector this morning--something she's wanted for a while. Afterwards a few church friends joined us for lunch. Later in the day Nicole tried out the metal detector and found a penny and a little metal toy. (Okay, so the treasures found so far have not exceeded the cost of the gift. . .we'll keep trying!) We ended the day with Nicole decorating a gingerbread house and watching "A Christmas Carol" and "Despicable Me."

We're looking forward to the new year and are anxious to see how God will lead and use us in His work. Thank you for praying for us.

Hamstrung!

Jane has severly injured her right hamstring and needs your prayers because she is in a lot of pain. The way it happened was silly. We were playing laser tag last weekend for Nicole's birthday. Jane tried to go down a ramp instead of up, lost her footing, did the splits, and pulled something (or several somethings) in this muscle group. She saw a doctor on Monday and he diagnosed the injury. He gave her an Ace bandage to wrap and support the muscle, and gave her some pain pills. (As an aside, the pills aren't helping a lot!) The level of pain and discomfort directly relates to how much she's on it. She's sitting as much as possible! Thank you for your prayers for us and for Jane's injury, particularly.

Happy 11th Nicole!

Friday was Nicole's 11th birthday. To celebrate, we opened presents and headed to St. George to enjoy some family fun and a birthday dinner. On Saturday Nicole celebrated with a friend at home.

Nicole opens a wall-sized horse for her room.

Opening a new video game

Laser Mania in St. George (laser tag, 3-D golf, and arcade games)

3-D glasses anyone?

Each hole in the 3-D golf was painted thematically.

Back at home, the horse looks great on Nicole's wall.

More horses. . .

Nicole's friend celebrates her birthday.

No slobbering on the birthday cookie!

Video gaming

It has been a wonderful birthday. These years just fly by! Thank you for your prayers for us and for the ministry here.

Halloween

Our church had its 3rd annual trunk-or-treat in the church parking lot tonight. We passed out lots of treats and a gospel tract to every family.

Pastor Dad as Moses

Coach Fiscus with a church friend



Mom as the Statue of Liberty

The weather was remarkably pleasant for the end of October--especially given that it was chilly and rainy earlier in the day. We had several church families participate. For more pictures of our night, go to our church blog (www.bereanbaptistpioche.blogspot.com).

Thank you for your continued prayers for us and for the ministry here.

Flooding!

It rained today. This is a big deal for us since we get so little rain annually. Mitch and Nicole were traveling home from a nearby town and captured these amazing photos of the flood-covered highway. Just shortly after these shots were taken, this highway (the only paved road home) was closed to through traffic. We thank the Lord for their safe travel home.

In other news:

• Jane is enjoying teaching her 1st/2nd combo class and has found a routine that is working well.
• A new ladies' Bible study is underway at church with nearly 30 women from our area attending.
• Mitch will marry a couple from the church this weekend.
• Nicole is enjoying home school and doing very well.
• The church is preparing for its annual trunk-or-treat ministry at the end of the month.

Thank you for your continued prayers for us and for the ministry here.

Three Prayer Requests

As the new school year is about to begin, we would request your prayers in three specific areas:

1. Please pray for our church that it would grow spiritually as well as numerically. Pray for Mitch, particularly, as he pastors.
2. Please pray for Jane as she teaches a combination class of 1st and 2nd grades. Pray for wisdom to know how to teach two grades together successfully and for the 13 children in her class and their families.
3. Please pray for Nicole. We have decided to homeschool her and we all seek your prayers in this undertaking. Mitch and Jane will share the role as Nicole's teacher throughout each week. Pray for us as we do so and pray that Nicole will not only grow academically but spritually, as well.

To God be the glory for what He has done, what He is doing, and what He will do. Thank you for your prayers. We love you!

4-H Fair

Nicole ended her 4-H season by entering several exhibits in our county's 4-H fair. She entered a zucchini she had grown with knowledge from the 4-H gardening club and three pencil drawings created during the drawing club. Mom & Dad are quite proud of Nicole! She's already planning what to draw and grow for next year's fair!

Nicole's zucchini plant:

Her zucchini won 2nd place in the category:

Her drawing of boots won Judge's Choice in her division:

A second drawing, "Beautiful," won a 2nd place ribbon:

Her third entry, a building using perspective point, also won a 2nd place ribbon:

Wyoming Vacation

We returned this week from visiting family and friends in beautiful Wyoming. Here's a recap of our trip, as well as a photo slide show:

• Monday, July 19 - Help a stranded motorist outside Wells, NV on our way to spending the night in Idaho Falls, ID.
  
  
• Tuesday, July 20 - Visit Yellowstone World (a drive-thru animal park & petting zoo outside Idaho Falls) then see beautiful Yellowstone National Park and Old Faithful. Drive to Riverton in west central Wyoming to spend the night.


• Wednesday, July 21 - Spend the day with Grandma Jeannette (Mitch's mom). Enjoy visits with Susan K., Linda D., Dick & Joyce P., and Linda H. (friends of Jane's). Eat dinner out with Grandma and Mitch's brother Spence.


• Thursday, July 22 - Enjoy Sinks Canyon with Grandma Jeannette. Enjoy a wonderful lunch with Dick & Joyce. Eat dinner at Spence & Shawncy's house and enjoy nephews Tristan and Trey.


• Friday, July 23 - Leave Riverton and drive to Torrington in southeastern Wyoming to spend a few days with Grandpa Gary and Grandma Sharon (Mitch's dad and his wife).


• Saturday, July 24 - Go boating with Grandpa & Grandma on the lake in Guernsey State Park.


• Sunday, July 25 - Worship at Goshen Baptist Church in Torrington. Swim at Torrington's pool in the afternoon.


• Monday, July 26 - Leave Torrington and head to Rock Springs in southwestern Wyoming to meet up with Neal H. (a longtime friend of Mitch's). Spend the night in Green River, WY.


• Tuesday, July 27 - Drive through Provo Canyon on the way back to Pioche.

(Click on the X to get rid of Super Poke Pets in the slide show above.)

Wyoming here we come!

The Fiscus family will be traveling to Wyoming July 19-26. Besides visiting our family, we'd love to see our Wyoming friends while we're there! Contact us and we'll give you further details of our travel plans.

A Weekend in Reno

The Fiscus family traveled this weekend to Reno for a class Jane needed to take at the University of Nevada at Reno to remove a provision on her Nevada teacher certification. Along the way we traveled on Nevada state highway 50--what has been called "the loneliest highway in America." While parts of this highway lived up to its name, we agreed that there are stretches of other highways we're familiar with (especially between Pioche and Ely, NV or from Panaca, NV to Cedar City, UT) that might certainly tie for the title. In any case, it was a beautiful drive and we soon discovered why Nevada claims to have the most mountain ranges in the U.S.

Now that this class is done, we can focus on our church's vacation Bible school which is right around the corner (June 21-25). Thanks for your prayers for our VBS and for us.

Science Fair and other things

Nicole displayed her science project at the school's annual science fair. "Nails for Breakfast, Anyone?" showed how the iron in Total cereal is attracted to a magnet when the cereal is soaked in warm water for a bit. Fascinating!

As the end of school approaches (May 27), Nicole is gearing up for another summer of 4-H. She's signed up to participate in the gardening and drawing clubs.

Outdoor gardening in Pioche will have to wait another month. Even though it's a beautiful, sunny day in Pioche today (about 68 degrees), we had snow this past week with more chilly weather in the forecast by next weekend. (Don't tell Jane's parents! They're heading this way in the next couple weeks with their home in tow.)

In other news, it looks like Jane will be teaching again next year (barring any further layoffs by her district). The teacher Jane was hired to replace for this year has chosen not to return to district employment which leaves an opening for Jane. The principal has asked Jane to teach a 1st/2nd combination next year. She's never taught a combo class and knows of its challenges; however, God knows how to do this and she is asking for His wisdom as she prepares for this task this summer. We thank the Lord for this job for another year.

We are seeing the Lord work in the life of our church. A couple recently told us they've begun to read their Bible daily after the sermon series on the importance of discipleship. We've also welcomed some new faces in our midst. The ladies' Bible study on the book of Daniel is about to conclude but is leaving participants hungry for the next one to begin in the fall.

Thank you for your continued prayers for us and for the ministry here.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

A few weeks ago we celebrated the day when we first came to Pioche and the church called Mitch as Pastor. That was two years ago and a lot has happened since then. We'll spare you the rehashing of events summarized in our last two Christmas newsletters. Suffice it to say we've been busy over these last two years!

It's no different today. We find ourselves coming and going, burning the candle at both ends. All the while, we continue to see God's grace and mercy and His strength and faithfulness to do what He's called us to do.

Mitch recently gave the church a State of the Church address, if you will, and is now leading the body through a series of discipleship messages in order to further equip us for ministry. He's finishing a Wednesday night series on the truthfulness of Scripture and prayerfully seeking the Lord's will about beginning an AWANA program for kids on Wednesday nights in the fall.

Jane is partway through a ladies' Bible study on the book of Daniel. She and the ladies are finding the prophecy portion of this study challenging but invigorating. She has also begun thinking about this summer's VBS after a kickoff potluck/planning meeting last Sunday.

Teaching school is still consuming much of Jane's time and energy but she's beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel (summer vacation) in a little over nine weeks away. Her school district is experiencing budget cuts and it remains to be seen by the human eye whether she will have opportunity to teach next year. (We know our sovereign Lord has His plans well-laid out, though!)

Nicole was recently in the annual talent show at Pioche Elementary. She demonstrated sport stacking (a fun craze she learned while in school in Texas) and played a basic piece on the piano. Dad and Mom were as proud of her as ever.

Nicole calls on an audience volunteer to try it:

Jake the dog is as energetic as usual. He has had the pleasure (his feelings, not this author's) to discover and chase two cats out of his yard. One of the traumatized cats was barely able to get away from him by squeezing in a tight spot between our fence and shed. Mitch rescued the poor thing and sent it off to tell its friends how dangerous this yard can be. Jake loved every minute of it!

Callie the cat is as lazy as ever. It's her goal to lounge in as many places as possible (even if it seems a little inconvenient to others). Jane discovered this during a recent Bible study. Callie loved every minute of it!

That just about explains our busy lives lately. We are excited about Spring Break just around the corner (March 29 - April 2)!

We thank you for your continued prayers for us and the ministry here.

There's "snow" place like Pioche!

Jake the snow dog:

and his igloo kennel: