June

June has been such a whirlwind of a month I'm not sure where to even start. At the beginning?

June 1st - eh, nothing much happened except Jen & I were secretly scrambling to find subs for Bunco the following night. The rule is, if you are hosting, you're in charge of finding a sub for anyone who says they can't make it. Well, the host (Darlene) thought we were good-to-go; however the subs Jen told Darlene were good-to-go were NOT good-to-go, so Jen called me. Luckily we found two fabulous subs for a fun night of Bunco the following night.

June 2nd - Bunco night with the girls. Guess who won the 5th month in a row? Me. There is no skill or strategy in Bunco whatsoever (or I wouldn't be playing). Skill & strategy scare me. As the girls say, God is blessing me with Bunco winnings because of our Dave Ramsey discipline.

June 3rd - Shad's night of Poker with the boys. This is the monthly game in which all the guys get together in hopes of winning enough times each month to have an all-expense trip paid to the World Series of Poker the following June. Shad's heading it up this year & prayerfully he'll win lots too so the World Series of Poker will essentially pay off our mortgage. Wishful thinking.

June 4th - Amber Joy's elaborate birthday bash (details in a prior post).

June 5th - Drove to Missoula for the annual Nyquest Family Reunion at Lake Mary Ronan. This was the day that it was confirmed that Cashe not only inherited his father's great looks, he also inherited his car-sickness gene. Cashe threw up TWICE on the way to McCall. Poor thing didn't know what was happening & thankfully didn't cry; however Mom sure did. Prayerfully, that was the worst of it & I shall never have to see more vomit or any scrapes or blood of any kind in the future. Wishful thinking.

As soon as we pulled into town, we rushed into my sister's house & changed clothes & headed to their church for Sage's dedication. The dedication was quite incredible. It was there that we were told we were Sage's Godparents. Awe. It was just an awesome experience & we couldn't be more honored & that tiny peanut could not be more blessed with better parents. She is one special little girl. Prayerfully she'll be the saint her mama was when she was growing up. Wishful thinking.





June 6th - June 12th - Our annual week at Lake Mary Ronan with the Nyquest family. More often than not, we spend the week inside our cabins because of Montana's lovely June rain, rain & more rain. The story was no different this year. We managed to get outside a few times, but spent most of our time playing games or reading (& eating, of course). We celebrated Stacy's upcoming 40th birthday with a surprise party in Shauna's cabin with decadent cupcakes (courtesy of Shauna) & Bellinis. I wish leaving town meant leaving your calorie concerns behind too. Wishful thinking.



One of the days, the boys drove into Kalispell for a day of golf & a few days later, the girls all went to the Mission Mountain Winery.








June 13th - Drove back to Missoula to spend the night with my family.






June 14th - Drove back to Boise. On the way, I received a text from my brother that read, "She said yes!" Yahoo! Matt had taken his girlfriend, Ali to Seattle for their anniversary weekend & had been planning an elaborate proposal for months prior. As of now, the wedding is scheduled for next June.





June 15th - June 18th - Less than 8 hours from arriving home, Kelly came over to bring us to the airport. We were headed to San Antonio with Shad for work.






We spent days in the 100-degree heat, basking in the sun at the pool, shopping, strolling down the River Walk, eating & eating & eating some more. Oh & we both managed to work too. Too bad we don't buy lottery tickets so we could increase our chances of doing these months traveling away without work. Wishful thinking.






We had a wonderful trip though & as I mentioned in a prior post, I'm not sure we have laughed as hard as we did on this trip. Cashe was just a RIOT.


June 19th - Father's Day. Shad was spoiled with several new books & an hour-long massage. After church, Shad requested Mexican food for lunch, so we went to a local Mexican restaurant in Eagle. We got a babysitter & I took Shad to the movie, Super 8. Afterwards, the 3 of us went out for ice cream. It was quite a special day for a super special guy.

June 20th - 24th - We relaxed & life resumed to normal ... but not for long.

June 25th - We flew to Seattle for Shad's cousin's son's high school graduation party. As soon as we got off the plane, we helped with set-up & the party started. Shad's two sisters & parents were both there (as well as many, many other family members) & we had an amazing time together, laughing & joking around. It's a bummer we don't all live closer. Wishful thinking.

June 26th - Seattle Woodland Park Zoo. Shad went golfing with the guys & the girls took the kids to the zoo. Stace left the directions at home, so we toured the University of Washington district for awhile, followed by a wild trip to a 7-11 before we ever even found the zoo. The kids LOVED the zoo though & we had such a fun time enjoying their amazement.

June 27th - June 30th - We started to relax & life has resumed to normal ... but not for long. Wishful thinking. Stay tuned for further details!

It's All Fun & Games Until Somebody Gets Their Eye Poked Out

I'm not quite sure where I even start with how much our son has morphed into our own private comedian. We haven't stopped laughing for what seems like months now & I can only wonder if it gets harder ... or if we're just truly blessed with a tiny comic.

For starters, we had to share a room (all 3 of us) within a cabin while we stayed at the lake earlier this month (another post in itself). Since we were there spending time with Shad's family, I thought I would let him spend time gallivanting with everyone until the wee hours of the night while I took Tootsie to bed. (Note though, this isn't anything new - in the 11 years we've gone to the lake, I'm always in bed by 10pm anyway because I'm partly narcoleptic after 9:30pm.)

Unfortunately, Cashe inherited his father's sleeping habits, which means he can't fall asleep in the middle of a hockey game like I can. The temperature must be just right, the lighting must be just right & the level of comfort as well as white noise must also be just right. Needless to say, I was out long before Cashe ever fell asleep in his Pack N' Play. I'd wake up a good 15 minutes into some deep sleep to him standing on his tippy tippy toes trying to grab at all the books & magazines on our nightstand.

Did he need a spanking? Nah, I'm all about natural consequences. Soon enough he'd realize he was sleep deprived half way through our trip & he'd get the picture. Until then, a good laugh out of an exhausted Mama was well-deserved.

The same sleeping circumstances applied only a week later in San Antonio. Only this time Cashe's Pack N' Play was only inches from our bed. This time, I woke up to Mister on his tippy tippy toes again softly reaching for my eyelashes. Another good laugh (a little boisterous in fact) outta Mom was certainly well-deserved. Shad didn't seem to think so - rather than painting the town red, he was trying to get some sleep to work the next day while his wife & child giggled like little girls at a slumber party at the Hyatt.

But get this - the following night, guess who decides it'd be fun to let Cashe sleep in between us? Shad. And guess what had them giggling all night? Cashe's tiny fingers softly reaching for Shad's eyelashes. (Good thing we taught him, 'gentle'.)

Aside from all the silly bedtime stories, Little Man is just non-stop & full of smiles. He loved spending a whole week with all of his cousins & could hardly stand to be inside the cabin (although it down-poured a good portion of the week). Any chance he got, he ran to the door & said, "Byyyyyyyyye" & would wave. And if it wasn't that, he'd grab anyone's hand who was close enough & guide them to the door & say, "Walk".

San Antonio was a little less distracting since it was just us three. The plane ride was a little nightmarish since Cashe operates as if he's hopped up on Red Bull around the clock. We calmed him slightly with a few books & the Sky Mall magazine, but 5 hours later, we were exhausted. Cashe's nonstop, "Whoa's!" of amazement as we took off & landed had us all chuckling.

It was 100+ degrees in San Antonio (you can be cited for watering your lawn right now too if you live there - crazy), so we spent quite a few hours at the pool. Cashe is far from fearless & was eager to jump off the side of the pool into our arms over & over & over & over. Before he'd jump, he'd open his eyes & his mouth really wide - very theatrical.

Now that we're home, Cashe wakes up & immediately asks for "wazzes" (strawberries) or "mik" (milk). He eats more fruit than a growing teenager. He's eaten 2 flats of strawberries, kiwi, an entire cantaloupe, peaches & a partridge in a pear tree in less than 4 days. His diapers certainly do reflect it too. He's to the point now where he will grab my hand & guide me to the changing table. Time for some potty training? I think so.

I know there are a bunch more stories, but I can't keep up with writing them all down (& I only have one kid!)

And if you didn't find any of that funny, ... you had to be there ...

Or I suppose it's funnier when it's your own child. Regardless, these oughta make you smile:

This is me trying to tame the beast - he was acting as if the ketchup he had for dinner was laced with something. He was running all over the mall, in & out of racks of clothing, just laughing & laughing & laughing. He was high on life, I suppose ... or the fact that we let him "walk".


This is the laced ketchup. He had a few fries with his ketchup.

Sleep-deprived (& quite spoiled, I might add) after a night of giggling with Mom & Dad.

Looking for all the "doggies" in the Sky Mall magazine.

Racin' his car in the airport.

This was taken on Father's Day - he's just like his Auntie & has to dip every piece of food he eats in something. If it's not ketchup, it's salsa & if it's not salsa, it's bean dip.

This is undoubtedly snotty-nosed-"pick-a" (peek-a-boo) in Mom's decorative towels.

One of my all-time favorite pictures of Cashe. This was taken at Merrill Park in Eagle, ID. Every year they put these flags up for Memorial Day. I'm not sure we were supposed to be running through them, but it sure made for a fabulous photo op.

Little Man loves basketball just like his Dad. He has known how to say "ball" for awhile now, but now knows how to say, "bat" & "mitt" too. Anytime he sees a ball in a store, Shad will play catch with him, so he's already hooked.

Takin' a break from helping Mom dust. Might as well chill & take a seat on the basketball.

He can now swing in the big swings. Another thing he adores now.

I was packing for one of our trips & heard some noises in our bathroom. When I went back, this is what I found. Cashe had pulled out all of our toiletries & made himself a little seat out of one of the drawers while he tried to figure out how the floss worked. I went to all ends of the earth to find Shad & show him what his son had done because I couldn't enjoy this all by myself - I was laughing too hard.

This ketchup shouldn't be laced because it's from our fridge; however, something's a little funky because he's dipping his CANTALOUPE in it. And he loved it.