"This paper does not belong on the TV."
"Maybe it does look good on there?"
"Look, Mom!"
"If I sit down and put it on the door, you'll get a better shot of me."
Happy Birthday, Boaz!!
Boaz continues to have a ton of fun with the Busy Ball Popper Gma & Gpa Glace got him for his birthday. He presses the start button all on his own and quickly stares down into the hole to see what might pop up to surprise him. There is a funny video of this process below!!
Saturday was Valentine's Day and we had the privilege of hanging out with our friend, Ashley. She is an amazing photographer and we spent the morning taking Boaz's 1 year pictures! I'll be sure to post more about that in the coming days. Here's a quick shot I took of Boaz standing by an old firetruck that my dad used to play with when he was a little boy. 
Luke had to work on Valentine's Day. It's typically Papa Murphy's busiest day of the year b/c they sell a heart-shaped pizza. So, since Boaz was my 'date' for the day, we went out for lunch after the photo shoot. We went all the way downtown to Main Street and ate at Pablos. Mmmm... Boaz really liked his dang quesadilla! :) (any Napoleon fans out there?)
Yesterday we headed to the doctor for Boaz's one year checkup. Here are his current stats :: Head = 19 1/2 inches (100%), Weight = 23 lbs, 4 oz. (75%), Height = 28 1/2 (10%!!!!). He's back on the charts, folks!! Way to go, buddy!! :) We love you to pieces....
We were so glad our family got to come celebrate with us. This is Boaz's cousin, Zach. Zach will turn one in a month!
Here's the whole crew (minus Carol, Katie, & I) in our dining room enjoying dinner.
Our family...
Happy Birthday, Boaz!
Not really sure what to do with this stuff...
Luke had to get him started...
I think that I like this stuff?
Yep- I do!
I LOVE CAKE!
Boaz got a new ball from the Isaacson cousins. He will have so much fun with this!
The ball popper was a hit with all the cousins! (from Gma & Gpa Glace)
Gma & Gpa Bartlett made Boaz a book all about his first year of life. It was so wonderful.
Here are a couple of videos of the cake eating. Recently, Boaz has really been into 'talking on the phone.' (which means putting his hand up to his ear) In the first video, my dad (Gpa Glace) thought he would try to get Boaz to answer the phone with hands full of cake. Boaz's response was funny.... good thinking, Boaz! :)
Our family photo before leaving the warm sun. (in front of our great tree)
Boaz with Grandpa & Grandma by our tree.
The view from our beach. It was windy the day we left and the ocean was a bit rough. From the plane as we left, the ocean was full of white caps.
This was the beachside pool at our condo. We didn't spend much time at this one, but it was sure beautiful!
This is where Boaz spent his nights. At night, we would hang a sheet over the side of the crib so he couldn't see out to our bed. But- now that he's tall enough to peek over the side, that didn't work so well. There were three nights on the trip that he woke up in the middle of the night and stood up to see if we were in the room. We think he was waking up cranky with a new tooth. The first time at happened, it was 2am and we woke up to him staring at us yelling "Dada!" It was almost like "I see you!!" There was no way that he would have laid back down and gone to sleep in his own crib at that point, so we let him come into bed with us. At home, we would have let him cry... but all of our windows were open and we didn't want him to wake the whole place up. From 2-3am he spent the hour jumping around our bed with excitement. We typically wouldn't let him sleep with us, but once again... it's vacation!! :) He didn't have too rough of a transition back to his crib when we returned home!
We got to the Cayman airport with plenty of time to spare, so spent some time looking around in the little gift shops. We hadn't gotten a souvenir for Boaz, and saw this fantastic toy! Grandma bought it for Boaz and he loves playing with it. 
Who would have thought we'd find a Superman AND Cayman souvenir all in one!! We knew daddy would be pretty excited about that! (he's a big superman fan)
Taking a stroll around the airport with Grandma. All the ladies working in the shops had fun teasing Boaz every time he walked by. He's definitely a charmer.
This was daddy's turn to entertain him on the plane... Luke and Ron were both really ready to be done traveling! (as were the rest of us!)
We had to get a picture of his giant tummy... he was full after eating a wrap that we bought as we were running through the airport to catch our last flight!
This waterbottle provided some great entertainment also. Boaz thinks that he's actually drinking it.
We had an amazing trip. We're so thankful that we were able to do this as a family. On our honeymoon we had a guy tell us that if we valued our marriage, we'd make time to vacation every year. (he was also trying to sell us a hawaiian timeshare!) We do agree with him though. This trip was great bonding time for our family, as well as with Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle Justin. I think we'll make it a habit to vacation each year... even if it's a hotel in Des Moines. Getting away from everyday life was a great way to reconnect. 
