Jax Goes Ranchin

Luckily for Jax, he has a lot of farming/ranching blood in his background (thanks to the Hoods and the Elliotts). Unfortunately for Jax, his mom and dad fashion themselves as suburbanites and city folk, respectively.

On the bright side, the Cushman's Twin Creeks Ranch provides ample opportunity for Jax to... to... well, I guess fishing/shooting/horse riding and 4-wheeling are out when you're only 3 months old? Raw deal, Jax.... someday, my son. Just be very very nice to Sam Cushman. She's not the one you should be kicking in the shins. That is, unless she likes it and kicked you first (we'll talk about technique in this area in a few years).

At least for now, you got to ride on a plane! True, your dad is a marginal husband and your mom had to fly with you alone. At least you share her love of escalators.


It should be said that Jax was completely easy on the entire round trip. His penchant for sleeping in cars clearly translates to airplanes. Plus, if he gets ranching from the Elliotts and Hoods -- he gets some flying prowess from his Grandpa and Uncle Graff.

Here he is taking it in on his own row...


And then falling asleep...


Once at the Ranch, Jax wanted to go for a hike.


Similar to his dad's approach to household chores, Jax finds it more appealing to sleep while mom does all the work.


And here is a potpourri of other good times at the Ranch.

(I know, no Jax -- but what a great shot of the Yak)

A Little More Family Time

Jackson continues his travels from one relative's arms to another's. First, the Grandma and Grandpa Graff headed downtown so that they could get Jax some ice cream (well, at least indirectly).


At first, Jax's hat needed to be backward or his patented headbutt would be uncomfortable. But when you see something that cute, you stick with it.


Man that's comfortable.

Fatherly Advice Alert! Fatherly Advice Alert! Fatherly Advice Alert! Jax - if you're reading this in 21 years as your physical activity is grinding to a halt and you move to a big city where you're going to be eating out most meals and going out at night... remember that Ben & Jerry are two hippies that you don't need as friends...


Jax finally got a chance to meet his Great Aunt Dona.


And yes, I know she looks like "Aunt" instead of "Great Aunt"... but I'm telling the truth here.

As a side note about this time (11 weeks) -- Jax started some intense drooling. He's pretty much has a drool pool from his belly button to his neck at all times. I mention because Jax has a drool bubble in this photo - and if the light was different, you'd notice that he looks like a coed in a Cancun wet t-shirt contest.

In late June, Brooke is getting ready to head back to work. This meant a lot of traveling to Fort Collins and having fun before her evil husband made her go back to work. Grandma Scrivner was often a happy recipient of Brooke's travels.


For those of you that haven't been blessed with two many "when Brooke was young," stories.... When Brooke was young she used to get tired when people were visiting the Scrivner household. However, instead of heading to her bed or a couch to catch some Zzz's, her favored move was to fall asleep on the floor under the kitchen table. This way she could feel like she "didn't miss anything." Yes - a strange concept when you're sleeping, but it was her move all the same.

I believe she's trying to teach Jax the same as she has him sleeping on the restaurant booth seat. Also, be assured that this was before Jax learned to roll over.

A Birthday - but not Jax's

Disclaimer: the information you're about to read/see occurred in the month of June and is just now hitting the blog because Jax's dad is a lazy son of a gun.

Pop quiz.

Question: What do you call your aunt's brother?

Note: (Pete Cushman has a Graff/Scrivner/D'Ambrosia family tree that might help answer any questions on this subject. Please see him for details)

Answer: A lush.

OK. OK. That's just a joke. Chris D'Ambrosia celebrated his 30th birthday with a big group dinner at Maggiano's followed up with his friends trying to buy him shots and avoid having to drink any of their own. Jax's dad was lucky enough to pick this as his driving night and avoid the shots entirely.

All kinds of fun people on the scene for this one (working clockwise). Some guys that I don't know over on the top left, Chris Theiss and his girlfriend Ali under the TV (no idea what Theiss is doing -- but best guess would be a Boulder-erotic townie gang sign). Peter Cushman next to Braden and Rose. Hannah and Dax -- recent Denver implants from Arizona. Josh and Jen Guernsey holding the little guy.... and finally Jill and the birthday boy wearing a ridiculous cowboy shirt complete with dragons and skulls.

As the Guernsey's are about to add a baby to their crew this month, I thought it would be a good idea to get Josh some live fire with a baby that understands how to eat. Josh did great... which is a good sign, let's just say that he started out a little "rigid".


Chris managed to still get in some photos with Jax. I think Chris was just complementing Jax on his Broncos colors.

Finally, Jax decided it was time to go home.
OK, that's not true. He was still rocking out. Jax's parents decided it was time to go home and slipped out of the party using the now wholly acceptable "baby's tired" excuse.


What do you do after an all-night birthday throw down?

Get a zerbert from your uncle, of course!