Cessie’s DNA Results

Cessie purchased her own DNA test and got her results back. She used a different test than Andy and I used. One thing I am not including here is that she also got a lot of other bits of information about what the dna revealed medically and genetically for her. It was very interesting.

Road Trip Days 1-2

My Grandma Bailey died on Friday March 9th at about 4:15pm. We were all expecting it, but it was still sad for me.
I decided to take the kids up to the funeral. Steve had to work, so the kids and I did the drive without him.
We took hour Honda Civic and Honda Fit because I was afraid to take such a trip in our beaten up van without Steve. I didn't want car troubles and it is too big for the teenagers to really safely drive in my opinion. So we took the small cars and me, Cessie, Jonah and Eden all took turns driving.

This is the route we took. On day one we drove from home to Albuquerque New Mexico where we stayed the first night. The second day we drove from there to Twin Falls Idaho.

Near Fort Sumner New Mexico we stopped to see Billy the Kid's grave. Actually, just my car did because Cessie's car got lost with no cell coverage for a while, ended up taking a two hour detour. So we had to kill some time while we waited for them to catch up.
In my car was Eden, Andy, Charity and Sam.
Cessie had Jonah, Becca and Hana.

Charity School Play

This week the 2nd graders performed their play "Lemonade".

Also Charity tried on a couple of costumes for a dance we're working on. And of course we needed photos!

Game Tournament

This was the only photo I got. But I still want to write about this event because it ended up being pretty fun. 

We have been struggling with getting Family Fun Days in lately. Mainly because it is hard to pick an activity that everyone is going to to like. Our kid's ages range from 6-19. So interests are varying a lot. It is hard to find activities that everyone will want to participate in. And it is hard to pay for our family too. So yesterday I decided to try something different. 

I gave each kid an invite and let them give input. I enjoyed the responses. Eden's was my favorite. For a game to play she requested "sleeping contest", which sounded awesome to me! 

We didn't have a sleeping contest. But we put on a log in the fireplace in the kitchen, brought in the studio sound system, played music (people made song requests) that we played loudly, sang, and we played games and ate a lot. Some of us played games of Chess, Checkers, Poker, and we even played Capture the Flag. For Capture the Flag, we split into two teams and Steve and I were captains of each team. We picked kids to be on our team, just like middle school. And my team kicked Steve's team's butt. Ha! I had Andy, Hana, Eden and Jonah. Steve had Cessie, Becca, Charity and Sam. We got a lot of good laughs. We ended up not giving out any cash prizes. Nobody mentioned getting one, and I was just kind of planning on giving a buck to each winner, but we all ended up just giving out chocolate to winners. We all ate a bit too much candy. But it was a lot of fun.

Charity School Dance

 
The elementary school did a Sweethearts Dance on Friday. Charity really wanted to go and when I told her that I would take her, she was over the moon. She spent about an hour at least getting ready. She wore makeup, her fanciest dress, held a clutch, her sparkly black flats, and two french braids.
It was all just so cute!
I only got these two photos as we were walking in. She gave me her "I don't want a pictured, scowly face" here.

Inside, the party was booming. The lights dimmed, a DJ blaring songs like "I got a feeling" Black Eyed Peas, and "Take on Me" by Aha. The decor, food, and lighting was great. And the kids were the best part. So many of them were there and dressed to the nines. And they were dancing and socializing. I had not seen that at a school dance (other than High School) before. Adorable!
It was a lot of fun watching her interact with her friends and acquaintances. This girl is more social than I had realized.

Cessie’s 19th birthday lunch

Track Meet

On Saturday Andy had his very first high school track meet. Basketball season went long as they were able to make District Champs. So he had to miss the first few weeks of track practice. So after just three days of practice, he had this meet. He was put in 3 events, all in the Mens JV category. He ran the first leg of two relays: the 4 x 100 and the 4 x 200. Both of those races, his team took first place. Then he ran the open 200. He was first place in his heat and second place overall. So we were excited that his first meet went so well! He is a gifted athlete.

Birthdays

 
On Saturday night we went out to dinner with the Alvarez's Vickery's and  Borcherts to celebrate Dario's 40th. And as always, we had a very nice time with them. 

 
On Sunday we took Cessie out to Olive Garden to celebrate her 19th birthday. She was a little too easy to please with her birthday this year. We just had this lunch, a family dinner that she wanted, and she got money. But it was a nice day and we love her and are so proud of her! 

Another traditional Bishop Family Redneck Birthday Song

Charity’s 2nd gymnastics class