Christmas update 2010

Dear friends and family,

We pray that you have had a wonderful year and would love to hear from you and learn what God has been doing in your life! We have been quite busy this past year and are so thankful for all that God has taught us. Mark has continued as GM of his sports facility and has really enjoyed interacting with the children and their parents as he oversees and coaches his basketball, soccer, tennis, and tee-ball programs. He has also been serving as one of the pastor/elders at our local church and has enjoyed the ministry opportunities there. We absolutely love our little church family!

Meagan has enjoyed keeping busy at home with Karis and Karlie. They are such a joy and growing so quickly! Karis is a busy 3 three year old who loves to read, sing, bake, and take care of her baby doll. Karlie is a fun-loving 1 1/2 year old who wants to do everything her big sister does :) They are both quite strong-willed, but learning how to obey "all the way, right away, and with a happy heart!" Karis and Karlie are super excited about the new baby girl that will come sometime around the first week in February! They talk about the baby all the time and give Mama's belly lots of hugs and kisses. We can't wait to meet our new little blessing!

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Christmas Update '09

Dear Family and Friends,

We hope you are all doing well and enjoying the holiday season. We thought we would take a minute to share what God has done in our lives this past year and what you can be praying for us about in the upcoming year.

On January 17^th, God blessed us with another beautiful baby girl! Having two little ones has been quite challenging and exhausting, but ever so worth it! Karlie Sue is such a sweetie and we love her so much. She has a very happy, loving little personality, but is very strong willed at the same time. Karlie is just starting to take steps on her own and is getting into everything! Needless to say, she keeps us on our toes :)

Karis is a bubbly 2 ½ year old with boundless energy. She loves to sing and pretty much does so all day long. She is Mama’s little helper, cooking and cleaning alongside her throughout the day. Karis loves her little sister dearly and the girls entertain each other quite well now. Karis often has to be reminded to be kind and share, but for the most part, she is a wonderful big sister. We are so thankful for our sweet little girls!

In March, Mark was blessed to be able to quit UPS and work full-time at the Sports Factory (where he had been a soccer coach the previous year) as director of youth programs. Words cannot describe how wonderful it was to finally have him on a day schedule again! He is now in charge of the entire facility, a position that has been enjoyable, but very challenging. We were very grateful for the promotion, but, as expected, it definitely added more hours and a lot more responsibility. We truly believe that God has provided this job for Mark at this time. However, we would still love the opportunity to move back to VA and be closer to some of our friends and family. :)

Our favorite part about living here is our wonderful church family. We have been members of our church for almost 4 years now and have really grown to love the people there. This has been a good place for us to learn about being the body of Christ. We are enjoying studying and living the Word with them.

All and all, our year has been one of transition and excitement. We are so grateful for our family’s expansion and the avenues through which we have to serve our community and church. Please keep in touch and keep us in your prayers that we will wisely serve our King this coming year.

Love,

The DeLongs