We went canoeing last Saturday with some friends. It was a beautiful day and the river was gorgeous. I love how green Tennessee is!



Peter told me I didn't need to wear my swimsuit since we wouldn't be getting wet. I figured if we were in a canoe on the water, there was a very good chance that we would get wet. And I was right. Half way through our trip, the canoe tipped over and we both took a little swim. This was the spot of the dangerous rapids were we tipped. It looks pretty dangerous, right?


We had a relief society activity with a 50's soda shop theme. I was one of the waitresses who took orders and served the food. We were asked to come dressed in 50's theme. This is what my friend and I came up with. The skirts are made out of tablecloths and sheets from Goodwill. The rollerskates were my favorite part. I found these at a thrift store for $9. A little spendy for me, but now I own a pair of rollerskates. Not quite sure what I will do with them in the future, but don't be surprised if you come over to my house and find doing my housework with my rollerskates on.

Sunday Nap

I decided to take a nap after church today. Peter was kind enough to watch Laura while I slept. I woke up an hour later to see my baby running around naked with no diaper on. Then I saw a mysterious looking puddle on the floor. I pointed it out to Peter. When he saw it he said, "Laura, I trusted you!"

Pictures from our road trip to UT and WA

Laura did better than expected in the car, considering how much she hates sitting in her carseat. For the most part she was happy and entertained herself with cheerios and sippy cups.


The hardest part about leaving TN was leaving my little "garden" on my back deck. We had a friend that tried to water them for us while we were gone, but it has been too hot here and they are about 65% dead. I'm hoping to coax them back to life.



Laura had so much swimming at Priest Lake.


I made Laura and I skirts for the Fourth of July.


Laura and Great Grandpa Fielding

Laura at 13 months

Laura just keeps getting more and more fun. I love this age. She is constantly jabbering all day long (Peter says she takes after her mother) and often times she gets lucky and stumbles across real words. For the past few weeks she has been walking around the house saying, "guys!" like she has an announcement to make and wants everyone to hear. Her vocabulary also includes: "uh-oh," "mama," "dada," "hi" (which she says to everyone in the grocery store), "oh yeah" and "wow."

She also loves to accessorize. She is constantly putting things on her head, around her neck, on her hands, etc. Maybe it is my fault for telling her how pretty she when I put a flower on her head to try to encourage her not to rip it off. Now she thinks she can put anthing on her head, or elsewhere, and she looks pretty. This includes, scraps of fabric, food, toys, etc. All day long she is collecting items and sticking them somewhere on herself. Then she will go look in the mirror and giggle at herself. The other day she was walking around with this pink shirt on her head for 5 minutes. She couldn't see anything so she kept running into walls and furniture but I guess she thought it was so pretty she couldn't take it off.



She is a super happy baby and is so easy. Which means that my life is easy since my only responsibility is to take care of her. She is especially good when there are other children around.

I also love having a little model to practice my sewing. Most of her wardrobe consists of little dresses I have made her. In fact, I think I need to chill on sewing her more clothes. But I am just having so much fun. Everything looks good on her so she makes me feel like I am a better seamstress than I am. Trust me, I tried to make a skirt for myself last week and it was a total disaster. So, I am just going to stick with sewing Laura's wardrobe. I also made her a white sun hat to protect her from the ridiculously, hot TN sun.




Laura recently learned to give five and give kisses. I love those slobbery kisses! And when you ask her "where's your head" she sticks both hands on her head and smiles. When asked "where's your nose" she sticks her finger in her mouth. We are still working on that one.

What we've been up to

After what seems like forever, Laura has finally decided that she is ready to start walking. And I am loving it. She just keeps getting more and more fun.


I took Laura to our favorite park to go on a walk and it was such a gorgeous day we had to take a couple of pictures. I am loving spring in TN. The last few years I have been in Utah for the spring. I hate spring weather in Utah. Really, does it have to continue to snow until June? Maybe in a couple of months, when my clothes are sticking to my wet, sticky body, I will be missing Utah's more moderate summer weather.





Isn't she starting to look so much like her father? Everyone tells us she looks like a little Peter.



Grandma Munk came to stay with us several weeks ago and we loved having her here. She even let us share her birthday with us. It was a great opportunity to try out the birthday banner and hats I just made.



And last but not least, I have little blossoms all over my vegetable plants! About a month ago, I built these homemade earthboxes following an online tutorial. I wanted to have a garden, but didn't have a spot to put it. So I built these to put on my deck.



And now, a little over a month later, my tomato, squash, zucchini, and cucumbers are covered in little yellow blossoms. I love gardening. Even if it is in a cheap, plastic tub. It is so exciting to watch plants grow.

Laura's Birthday Present

For the past month, I have been slaving away on Laura's birthday present. This little quiet book took a surprising amount of time! But, I really like the way it turned out. And so far, Laura seems to love it. The test will be on Sunday when we find out if it really keeps her entertained and quiet!












(I am not sure why this pictures uploaded sideways.)

Happy Birthday, Laura

My baby is now one year old!. I can't believe how fast the last year has flown by. Last night, when I was putting her to sleep, I got a little sad thinking that the first year of her life is over and I will never get to spend that time with her again. But, as cute as she was as a little baby, she is so much more fun now. I love seeing her gain her own little personality and learn how to do new tricks.

We celebrated her birthday with a little party with some of our friends.


One of the couples we invited over have a baby about the same age as Laura. It was fun watching them play together. Don't they look so cute in the party hats?


Laura had her own cake that we put on the floor. She had fun digging in to the frosting and licking it off her fingers.



This was the cake I made for Laura that the grown ups got to eat.