Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Thanks for check'n out the Deguara's blog! We are frequently updating the latest happenings in our lives, mostly Josiah and Mariah's sport updates, so we hope you'll come back and check up on us again! 2008 was a year of memories for our family here's some of the cool things that are going on in with us...

Girls first....Mariah

Mariah is the sensitive one in our family! Whenever we go to a football game or a school function everyone wants a hug or a hello from her. She makes everyone smile and is a friend to everyone. She made the 9u Folsom Select Soccer team earlier this year and played with a great group of girls. Mariah's specialty is defense and made goals tough to come by when it came to playing the Crossfire. She just wrapped up the outdoor season and is now playing in an indoor league. Mariah's first love though is music. She is taking piano lessons and excited about singing at church during the holidays and an upcoming piano recital. I think she gets here musical talent from her dad! Check out Mariah's recital and singing debut at New Life below:

What's Josiah up to...

Josiah is a middle schooler now! Ready to turn 12 in February, Josiah is growing too fast! (Where did my baby boy go?). He is an outstanding athelete and gets good grades! He will be receiving an award for his academic and athletic achievments from Folsom's City Council early next year. He led the Folsom Jr. Bulldogs Pee Wee football team to an 8-1 season at quarterback and strong safety and was named team captain of Capital Christian's middle school 6th & 7th grade basketball team. A quick highlight for a dad who doesn't like to brag too much- Josiah was promoted to the 8th grade basketball team for a tournament as a 6th grader and wasn't expected to see the court much. When he finally got his chance his team was down by 12 points, which Josiah erased quickly with 4 consecutive 3 point shots! Though we came up short...it is a moment that will stick with him for a long time.

Amy...

The question is what doesn't Amy do? She is still working full-time at Capital Christian Preschool and is going to school part-time, running the kids to their practices, involved with Women's Ministry at our church and still manages to keep her sanity! She is an incredible wife, mom and friend and is the backbone to the Deguara machine. Amy's brother Adam is getting married on December 20th, and her dad is moving back home from Alabama after 6 years. So needless to say there is a lot of excitement in our home!

and Dean...

I recently was promoted to a senior associate position at New Life Community Church. I didn't like the title so I changed it to Pastor of Life Development. I basically oversee our staff, organizational culture and creativity of our church. I absolutely love it! The church has grown from 550 to over 800 in the last two years and we recently had over 1,500 hundred for our Christmas services. God is doing some exciting things and I'm just glad to be doing my part. Hey, if you want here me speak click on the sermon player...every now and then I get an opportunity to share at New Life and other churches in the area. The highlight of my year however was my 20 year high school reunion! It was great to reconnect with old friends and thanks to facebook we can all keep in touch (ha ha ha!).

We hope that your Christmas is meaningful and 2009 is full of wonderful memories!

Love and Peace,

Dean, Amy, Josiah and Mariah