"Where did those fun people go?"


















"They went back to Utah!?"










Timmy had a such great time with Grandpa and Macha Stapleton visiting last week. He went to see the cars being built at the Ford Factory with Grandpa and got lots of "Macha Time" too.

Timmy's misses all of his grandparents and can't wait to see them again this summer. Here are some fun pictures of Timmy's grandparents visiting.

Hang Time

Last week I was pleased that Timmy started to love this little play gym. It usually buys me about 20 minutes to hurry and make dinner, or take a shower. He is starting to babble and talk to the hanging animals.

We were shocked to see him lay on his tummy and suddenly flip over onto his back two times in a row last Sunday! He did it once more a couple of days later. It was kind of funny, because each time he did it, it surprised him and he was upset.

Scott is the creative/artistic one in the family. He participated in the pinewood derby race yesterday, and this was his "fork" racecar.

He also agreed to display some of his famous crocheted hats (like the one he is wearing here) for our ward talent night.

Luckily, Scott's work schedule has eased up this semester enough to allow him a few hours a week to participate in such frivolities. :)

He flies next week to NASA in Langley, Virginia for a quick trip and crash course on the research he will be starting this summer.

The first smile!

So we have now entered the era of the first fleeting smiles: we suspected the beginnings of a smile weeks ago, but never had a full-blown smile until g-ma stapleton's silly baby voice. Since then, we've been enjoying a new facial expression, though it's hard to capture a picture because the flash has the tendancy of making him forget his previous gaity.

Here was the crew who came for the baby blessing. My parents on the right, and our Michigan family, Nate and T (L to R) from my engineering program. The blessing was great: Timmy was sleeping the whole time (I personally discourage sleeping during church, but am willing to make an exception for a while).

Fat, fat baby

So, we finally did it: we reached the 75th percentile in height and weight. We are so proud of our fat baby. (Not as proud as dan and janet for their whopping 90% ers, but 75% is still a high C, which is a passing grade). All he really wants to do is eat, which means that father/son bonding is a little difficult, because what he wants, I don't got. However, we now believe that his insulating layer of blubber is sufficient enough to take him out into the Michigan winter: hence the full-body, fuzzy-wuzzy cute suit.

Now this movie is a particularly interesting one. I wrote a blog a couple of weeks ago about his shrill cries, and my quest to capture them on film for the public. Well, I finally achieved my goal... or so I thought. I heard him crying, and I rushed upstairs with the camera. He was still at it when I reached his crib, so I started the camera rolling. I was getting it all, I was so excited. Then, I realized that I was filming with the picture camera, not the video camera. The lack of microphone on the picture camera thwarted my attempts: It was all futile. So, in the spirit of failure, I post this video to let you fill in the cries through your own imagination: not that you can do it justice, but it's the best I can do.

New year, New snow

Hey ya'll. It's the new year, and we're startin things out with a nice fresh blanket of snow! Although we have a newborn, it wouldn't be right to not play in the snow, so Katie went cross-country skiing around the student housing, and I went to the forest near our house for some pictures. It was good to get out a bit.

We also had a quick visit from Dave and Sarah Hopkins (for those of you who haven't yet had the privilage of their company, dave was my mission companion in germany and i've had to put up with him ever since). It's nice to see friends, even if it's Dave!! They are doing great: Sarah is teaching High School in Virginia, and Dave is attending George Washington law school and working the grind at a lawfirm. we're really proud of them. This picture should be motivation for all of you out there: visit the Stapleton's, and recieve international notariaty through our ever-popular blog!!

And last of all, the superstar of the blog: timmy. This picture is for those of you out there who are anticipating his eventual rise to fame, fortune, and glory: hold on to this embarrasing baby bath picture, and it could be worth thousands in blackmail funds someday. You never know. Anyway, we didn't cover him up because of censorship on the internet: he just gets a little chilly when he bathes. Although the natural censorship is always appreciated.

By the way, we are so grateful for all the generosity everyone has shown us with your gifts, cards, etc. We are so blessed to have so many people around who care for us. Our families have been so great to us. I'd like to especially thank Pat and Kent for all of thier help while they were here. There is no way I could have taken care of my family and finished my finals at the same time!! THANKS