A New House, A New School, and A New Life?!

My Tiger Cub!

Home from school. She is adorable in her uniforms.

John and X getting ready to try some skating.

Addie watching Daddy and X skate. She was not a fan of doing it herself.

All ready to skate.

part of the backyard. (Yes, we have a lot of red clay. :( )

The back of the house. I love that we have a back deck.

One side of the house.

The front of the house. See my rocking chair? I can't wait for it to get cooler and then I will be spending a lot of time sitting there. :)

The past few weeks have been almost heavenly. Yes, we have been super busy and swamped with work, but yet there is a peace filling our home and we LIKE it!

We knew our summer was going to jam packed with activities and places to be then we added a move to a new home into the mix. What were we thinking????

2 years ago my mother and my niece moved in with us and after a few months it became very clear that we needed a bigger house. We found a 6 bedroom 3 bath house close to my job in Mableton, GA. It was a great house and we have so many found memories of that place. It was really hard to make the decision to move. But, with my mom and niece moving to Seattle, WA there was no need for such a large home or such a large rent payment every month. We decided it was time to down size and found a nice 3 bedroom 2 bath home in a great neighborhood in Dallas, GA. But I don't think it is just the house that has made life more enjoyable, I think it has to do with us getting to spend more time as a family.

Before the move, it was a rare occurrence to have the whole family together in the evenings or weekends. John worked far from home on a different schedule every week. He tried so hard to get a regular schedule but it always seemed to change once we got use to it.

Now we live very close to both of his jobs: Sears and the church. I, however, must travel to and from work, but at least it is a set schedule that doesn't change.

Even though I must leave the house by 6a.m. and don't get home until 3:45ish, we are still getting lots of family time and time with our children. It use to be me and Xavier together and then Addison and John together along with Grandma. Now I am getting to spend more quality time with my daughter since she has started preschool at my school. John is now in charge of getting Xavier up and off to school as well as being here when he gets home. Their relationship is starting to grow leaps and bounds.

With John being so close to Sears and not working as many hours, he and I are getting more time together as well. Once the kids are in bed, we have been watching movies or sitting and talking with one another. Before the kids go to bed, (weather permitting) we will either walk around the neighborhood or sit on the front porch and let the kids play. It has been fantastic!

Xavier's new school is even keeping us busy. Their PTO is super and has a whole year already planned out. I think there is an event almost every week. Xavier has started Cub Scouts and since he is a Tiger Cub, one parent must attend meetings with him. John and I will be taking turns depending on his schedule. But this is yet another opportunity for us to share as a family.

David and Rachel have also been a tremendous blessing. They volunteer to keep the kids for us and even hosted John's birthday dinner.

God has his plans and purposes for our lives. He is certainly blessing us and we couldn't be more grateful.

On an end note, I have posted some pictures of the outside of the house and some random ones from the month. There are also some from the photo shoot with Mandy Henry.

The Hargett - Fox Wedding

It was about 4 years in the making, but David and Rachel have finally gotten married. :)

They tied the knot on August 6, 2010 in Rome, GA. John was the officiant, Xavier was a ring bearer, and Addison was the flower girl.

David and Rachel have become very close to our family and we love them dearly. It made us so happy to be a part of their wedding and have them in our life.

Conference 2010 in Springfield, Missouri

At Dickerson Park Zoo.
They are some crazy but awesome kids!!

What can I say? I love these guys! Who wouldn't?! :)

John Mark, Nick, and John in deep thought and conversation at dinner one night.

Xavier at the nursing home. It was part of their service project for Children's conference. He had a great time.

This picture will be worth a million in a few years! Jonah, Cate, Eve, Addison, Micah, Elyssa, and Joey in the nursery.

Addison, Cate, and Eve drying their hands. They got along so well. :)

Daddy and his children!!!

My beautiful children. (who apparently have the same smile.)
This years conference for our denomination, Seventh Day Baptists, was held in Springfield, MO. John was once again the young adult Pre-con director with our good friends Dave and Nick.

This year we went along with him and stayed on campus. I was in charge of running errands and organizing the food for the party Saturday evening. The kids both had a fantastic time at pre-con. Xavier was his normal outgoing self and made himself right at home with the young adults. He ate almost every meal with them, walked around campus with them, and even participated in their court jester game at the party.

Conference was nice and I got to establish some new friendships as well as catch up with old friends. We also got a nice big "surprise" with John being names Conference President-elect for conference in 2012. WOW!!??? It is a huge responsibility, but we have faith that God has his reasons and we will do our best as a family to do what God has called us to do.

Summer Vacation in Wisconsin

OK so these are not quite finished, but since we are currently in Springfield, MO at conference and when we get back, we have to "move in" to our new house, I figured I better get them up.
We spent the first part of our summer vacation in Janesville, WI. John was finishing up his last Summer Institute class and thanks to Randy and Marcy Kersten, we were all able to come and stay the 2 weeks with him.

We had a great time at the Kersten's home and made new friends. Xavier and Corbin got a long great and Corbin wanted to do all the cool things X could do. They even slept in the same room together.
Addison and Natalie took awhile to warm up to each other, but still kept their eyes on one another through the 2 weeks. They both have very strong dominant personalities. So, watch out! :)

We spent most of our time visiting the local parks and then Palmer Park. That place is awesome! A free large wading pool?!?!?!?! We went every chance we got, even twice in one day. :)

We also got to visit with Uncle Nick and Aunt Brittany. Aunt Brittany is pregnant and we are all so excited!!!! She will be a terrific mommy!

Wisconsin was a lot of fun. We have such great friends/family there. I think we will have to make sure to visit more often now that John is done with Summer Institute.

Xavier Graduates from Kindergarten!!!

One handsome little fella!

Xavier and his sister. (I have no idea what they were looking at.)

Dominic, Xavier, and Olivia.

Getting his diploma from Dr. Barber. (A woman jumped right in front of me while I was taking this picture. NOT HAPPY!)

Our Graduate!!

The cake one parent made. It was super cool and all different kinds of cake flavors.

Xavier graduated from Kindergarten on May 3, 2010. His school made a big deal out of the whole thing. They wore caps and gowns, got brass rings, and a diploma. The ceremony was very cute. They sang 2 songs and one was a rap that the music teacher had written. Xavier was super cute while singing the rap. Alexis took video of that one, so I will have to get a copy.

There were a lot of humorous moments as well as some frustrating ones. But overall it was sweet to see our little boy graduate. He seems to think that you graduate from every grade. LOL! Oh well he will eventually learn.