Hugh's DNA Results

Back in June, we had Hugh's AncestryDNA House Party here at our house to reveal his ethnic background. We were hoping that his birth mom would be able to come to the party and celebrate the big reveal with us, but due to circumstances beyond her control, she was not able to come.

We invited a few close friends to come over and be here to hear the news. AncestryDNA sent us a party pack and a map was included, so we played a game with guessing where Hugh's results would be from.

It was fun to watch everyone try to guess where he's from, and to see the different areas on the map where our friends had guessed he had roots.

We had some snack foods for everyone to munch on, and then we headed into the living room, where Steve was able to open up ancestry.com and show it on the television. Everyone was able to see his results at the same time, and we all discussed his results and our thoughts on them.

Here are the official results (in approximate amounts):
Europe  56%
- Europe West 29%
- Great Britain 10%
- Italy/Greece 7%

Africa  39%
-Ivory Coast/Ghana 28%
- Africa Southeastern Bantu 8%
- Benin/Togo 1%
- Mali 1%
- Cameroon/Congo 1%

Asia  5%
- Middle East 3%
- Caucasus 1%
- Asia South 1%

The results are quite interesting to me. Hugh's birth mom is almost totally German, so the huge European dominance isn't shocking. I was surprised by the Ivory Coast/Ghana part. I was honestly expecting him to be Caribbean or some type of Latin.

The main thing that we were looking for was general information about his paternal roots, and we have that. The test wasn't for any sort of genetic information, and I'm sure there are tests that give even more specifics, but for now, this is more than enough information for us to have for Hugh when he's older.

What's been interesting is that there are people on ancestry.com that have also taken the DNA test, and the website has "matched" them with Hugh. I actually just got a message from someone that says:

I've recently received results from my DNA test and my results indicates we possibly may be related. I have posted my family tree and I am wondering if you have reached the stage in your family research where you have a tree that you possibly could post. I'd love to see if there is a definitive familial link for the two of us.

As always, thank you for your assistance with this request.

I'm so incredibly torn on this. Do I respond? Do I ignore this? I mean, there are so many "what ifs" that come to mind. The site says this person lives in Greensboro, NC (where Hugh's birth mom lives) and that that he and Hugh are predicted to be 3rd cousins with a 98% accuracy. 

I'd love to hear your thoughts on exploring this!!

Let's Go to Jellystone!

We decided not to head north this year for our annual Michigan and Indiana trip. There were a variety of reasons, the main one being that Hugh cannot sit in his seat for more than two or three hours without losing his mind. 

When we told my inlaws that we weren't going to be making our trip north, my father in law asked about meeting us somewhere half way and maybe camping together. I looked to see what would be about 1/2 way and found Nashville to be about four hours for both of us. I then looked to see if there was a Jellystone Park in Nashville and I was so excited when I saw that there was one!

We made our reservations for a cabin and I was super excited to be staying indoors with air-conditioning and wi-fi. :-) I call it "glamping." Don't get me wrong, I DO know what camping is and I don't mind it, but with two little boys, I wanted to start slow and Steve and I thought a cabin would be perfect. I can't imagine how horrible it would have been to be in a tent with the 90+º days.

For the last month or so, I've been telling Gus that we're going camping and we'll be seeing his grandpa and Nana. He was so excited to finally go to Nashville to see them!!

 

Hugh did a great job in the car!

 

I made the boys some 'Smores Snack Mix to much while we unpacked

 

Checking out the bunk beds

Once we had everything unpacked, we had a surprise visitor come to welcome us!

Gus was super excited that BooBoo came to say hello!! Grandpa and Nana came over shortly after and we made hotdogs for dinner and sat outside for a bit and enjoyed some time visiting with them.

Our first night was uneventful (except for Hugh falling out of bed) and we woke up on Saturday and made eggs and bacon for breakfast. It was a superhero themed weekend, so we were prepared to dress the part. 

After breakfast, we headed to Grandpa and Nana's site and then we all went to the camp store to look around. We found out they were doing a tie-dye activity, so we got the boys two shirts to decorate and then after that fun, we went to the Hot Rod Ice Cream Shop for some ice cream!

 

I think it looks awesome if I do say so myself!

 

Brothers

 

After ice cream, we headed back to the activities area and Hugh got his face painted while Gus played on the playground. We then headed back to the cabin for a quick bite to eat and headed back to the pool for some fun in the water!

We were at the pool for several hours and then we did a mining for gems activity and then came back for Hugh to take a nap and Gus had some quiet time. Then we met up with Grandpa and Nana and headed to dinner!

 

Passed out!

Dinner was really delicious! We went to the Caney Fork River Valley Grille and enjoyed steak and shrimp! There was live music and then there's a catfish pond and waterfall inside the restaurant! We headed back to the campground and enjoyed a campfire before bed. Gus enjoyed roasting marshmallows with Nana.

We got up on Sunday and enjoyed pancakes and sausage for breakfast, and then we headed up to the recreation area for a "Hey" ride with Yogi.

No more pictures! Time to get dressed and go see Yogi!

The "Hey"ride was a lot of fun and we stayed up at the rec area to enjoy mini golf with BooBoo. It was Gus's first time playing mini golf and he had a great time!

 

BooBoo doing yoga with another camper

Grandpa and Nana came up to watch the boys golf and then we took some pictures and headed inside for the next activity, which was a "Stuff a Yogi" event. Gus created his Yogi and got a free ice cream cone, so we had to go back upstairs to the Hot Rod Ice Cream Shoppe for dessert.

After ice cream, we headed back to the cabin and changed into our swimming gear and headed to the pool for a while. We had a great time swimming and then came back for Hugh to take a nap.Steve's dad and Sue Ann came over for dinner and we had a great night chatting and enjoying kielbasa and potatoes in foil packets.

 

Had to take a picture of this love spud

 

He's just the cutest little guy

We said our goodbyes to Grandpa and Nana on Sunday night and then got up on Monday and had breakfast and packed up to head home.

 

We arrived home around 4pm and were able to get unpacked and in bed at a decent hour. It was a wonderful first camping experience and something I'd recommend to everyone with small kids. Gus was in love with the characters and Hugh enjoyed the activities as well. I hope we can go to the Jellystone Park here in Georgia because I am now a HUGE fan of these campgrounds!!

I'm so thankful that my in-laws suggested camping together and that they were willing to go to a Jellystone instead of the KOA that's located right next to Jellystone in Nashville. I hope we can make it a yearly tradition with them!