Our Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year Newsletter

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! We wanted to send a Christmas card with our new family photo but, it just never got done. Here is our digital Christmas letter so, this will have to do. We've had quite the year with ups and downs and we'll share a few of the memorable moments.

Our biggest news is that we are expecting a baby GIRL in April 2011.

We are truly excited and feel blessed to be able to add another little girl to our family. It has been a pregnancy with many emotions. We have been nervous yet hopeful. At 16 weeks we had a big ultrasound that gave us some peace of mind because our baby girl looks healthy and strong. We have faith that everything will turn out okay because we know that the lord is in all things. We pray for a safe delivery and a healthy baby.

We are excited for her arrival this spring and Abbie is especially excited because the baby is due on her birthday! We feel so blessed!

ISAAC

Isaac played with the Orange Tigers for Syracuse City. He loved playing soccer and especially loved being the goalie.

Isaac turned 8 years old on December 17th and will be baptized on January 8th. He is really excited to get baptized! He was the star of the week at school in his class the week of his birthday and he loved that he was able to share a bunch of pictures of what he loves to do and to show them his chess game that he loves so much! It was so cool to see him up in front of his class in the spotlight sharing pictures of everything he loves and not being shy at all. That is SO Isaac...bold and unafraid of being in front of people.

Isaac is a great big brother and loves to play with his siblings. He loves all types of games. He loves the game of chess and still loves to play games on the wii. His new favorite game is the super mario bros for the wii that the family got for Christmas and Kaden loves to play with him.

 Isaac is really creative, fun and always a ball of energy. He loves to read and loves school. He is in second grade this year. We love how you are growing and maturing...you always keep us laughing!

ABBIE

Abbie is five years old and is our little lady. She is spunky, fun-loving, and is a Momma's girl this year. She is the one to always remember Jacob in her prayers and constantly prays for him to have a good day in heaven. So sweet! She is in love with the idea of having a sister and is constantly showing love to her sister growing in mommy's tummy. She blows kisses to the baby every night before she goes to bed and loves to curl up in my lap and rub mommy's tummy. She even whispers how much she loves sister to mommy's tummy. 

Abbie loves to draw and is always creating new creations. She is my little Chef and loves to help me in the kitchen. She enjoys making things in her easy bake oven.

Abbie played soccer for the first time this year with the green turtles for Syracuse city. Kindergarten and Pre-Kindergarten were on the same team so Abbie and Kaden were able to play on the same team. She loved playing and really picked up on the fundamentals!

She was fearless and loved getting in there and kicking the ball around. So fun to watch!

KADEN

Kaden liked to play soccer but, his favorite part was being on the side lines with the assistant coach kicking the ball around. All the kids received medals this year and this was Kaden's favorite part about the season.

Kaden is quieter than the other two yet, really enjoys his one-on-one time with mom when the other kids are at school. He loves to play with hot wheel cars, and loves his educational game system he got for Christmas. He was playing with Abbie yesterday and she wanted to play house so he said he would do story time and had the game system read them a story. So cute! 

Kaden is sweet and loves to give hugs and kisses. He is inquisitive and smart. He is our sweet baby boy although he tells me that he's too big to be my baby. I just keep telling him he will always be MY baby boy.

JACOB

This year started off with the reality that our baby boy would be born and due to a 1 in 30,000 "fluke" as the doctors called it we would be burying our baby boy. We did a lot of preparation for the impending funeral and worked a lot with the kids to help them be prepared but, nothing can prepare you for what was ahead.

We feel truly blessed to be the parents to such a beautiful baby boy. It is the hardest thing we have ever been through to have to love and then bury one's child.

Jacob Merrill Tenney was born February 15, 2010 at 4:35 a.m. He weighed 2 lb 12 oz and was 13 inches long. We are truly sad that he couldn't stay with us but, feel blessed to have him part of our lives. We are so grateful that we are an eternal family. We look forward to seeing you again, Jacob. We love and miss you!

There was more sadness in our family when my (Cassy's) brother (pictured left) was killed in an automobile accident in May. He leaves behind a wonderful wife and four beautiful children. His oldest was to be baptized in just over a week after the accident. Our family pulled together and still made sure that his oldest was baptized, just as he would have wanted. It was a sereal moment that he was gone and will be missed. We love and miss you Dustin!

OUR FAMILY

After such a trying first part half of the year we decided to try a few new things to change it up this year. We tried our hand at gold panning. The kids loved their rain boots and wading through the little streams. We never found any gold but, had a great time together as a family and that is the most important thing...spending time together making memories.

We went fishing up American Fork Canyon at a few different lakes and the kids were able to catch some small fish that we threw back to catch next time when they are bigger.

This is our little Abbie and yes, she's holding a frog. It didn't matter if it was a frog, fish or a snake. She is just like my grandma Millett and doesn't mind touching and holding any slippery thing. This is very different from her mother who doesn't mind frogs and fish but, definetely NOT a snake. YUCK!

We went swimming at Bear Lake with Reed's sister's family. We were able to take the kids for their first waverunner ride. They loved it although they loved playing and building sand castles on the beach the very best.

Reed and I went white water rafting with my dad, younger brother, sister and her husband. We had a great time rafting and even cliff jumped off a large boulder in the middle of the river. It was adventurous and fun!

The kids and I went to greenriver, UT for melon days. We went and enjoyed the warm weather with cousins and experienced the festivities.

One of our favorite things to do is to take a drive up Farmington canyon. We love seeing the fall colors and having picnics with the beautiful view from the top. We were able to visit the canyon a few times this year.

The kids were able to come with me to our cub scout activity at the local fire department. They were having an open house and had tons of activities. The kids favorite part was the ride in an actual large fire truck. The kids had to wait in line for 45 minutes to get their turn and they never complained once because they were so excited.

Reed was finally able to get his planes out this fall and take them out for a flight. We haven't had much time to do this, this year but, we always enjoy Reed getting to do one of his hobbies. The kids love catching the parachuters that he drops out of his plane.

This year was the first time that the kids AND I went to the duck swamp with Reed. It was fair weather and he talked us into going with him. We enjoyed it and loved seeing Reed doing what he loves.

Kaden at the duck swamps showing off his "yummy good luck duck" sucker. Too cute!

It was funny what the kids came up with to occupy themselves while hunkering down in the marsh.

Isaac loved the pumpkin walk that syracuse city put on. The police force was all dressed up at Star Wars characters and he wanted pictures with every different group of characters. He was in heaven!

One of the highlights of our December was going to Holly Days after Thanksgiving. We were able to ride camels. The kids can now say they rode a real-live camel. It is definitely one for the books.

We took new family pictures this fall with Jacob's bear. The teddy bear is hand made out of the blanket Jacob was wrapped in. We always want him to be remembered! We love and miss you Jacob!

We pray this letter find you all happy and well. We are truly grateful for this time of year to reflect on Christ and the reason for the season. This year has been trying and yet, we have seen such great blessings. We are so thankful for those precious moments we have had this year and pray for a happy new year. 

LOVE, The Tenney's