Merry Christmas!!!Hello to all, I hope your year has been a good one. Ours has and it's that time of year to reflect on how blessed we are and to share what is going on with our family.
As most of you know, in September, our family grew to 6 as Stephanie Jae came into the world on the 5th. For those of you that don't, she weighed 8 lbs., 5 oz., and was 21 ½ inches long. At her 2 month check, she was in the 95% for height and weight. We love her. She coos and smiles so sweetly and looks at her brothers in awe.
Nathan, who just turned 3 last month, is such a good older brother. He makes sure she has her binky whether or not she's crying. He gave his up this year and really knows how she must feel wanting that binky. He loves playing with the Star Wars action figures, legos, and his favorite movie is Bugs Life.
Justin is now 6, in first grade and is starting to read! He has been doing so good, that he surprises not only us with his reading, but himself. He giggles when he completes the page with ease. He's such a thinker. He amazes us with the things that he thinks about.
Ryan, 8, and in 3rd grade, was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He was so excited. He was also excited to start going to cub scouts and has earned his Bobcat and is working towards his wolf. He's been such a help around the house and continues to feed our Lab, Codee, who's now 6 years old.
Valerie has been busy with all the kids. At church, she's been released as ward missionary and gospel essential teacher and has been called to teach the 11-12 year olds in primary. She also keeps in touch with some of you on Facebook. It's been fun for her to catch up with friends she's made over the years.
Steve continues to work at Lync.net and is young men's president. Through the year he has taken the scouts camping, one place was Teton High Adventure Camp, where they went rafting and hiking. Now that snow is finally here, he can't wait to start snowboarding again.
We celebrated our 10th Anniversary this year on December 4th by getting massages and staying in the Marriott overlooking the Salt Lake Temple. It was so nice and relaxing. As a family, we've taken a trip to Moab, and various camping spots throughout the year in our trailer.
We love you, miss you, and hope you have a great new year. Whether you call, write, email, blog, fax, or by ESP, we'd love to hear from you.
Love, The Hempels--Steve, Valerie, Ryan, Justin, Nathan, and Stephanie
Merry Christmas!!!Hello to all, I hope your year has been a good one. Ours has and it's that time of year to reflect on how blessed we are and to share what is going on with our family. 
