Goodbye 2007

As I look back on 2007, I find myself looking through the pictures that we have taken this year. The kids grew so much. We had lots of fun this year. And we've all grown a little closer to each other. As I look at the pictures, I couldn't help but think that I wanted to share some of my favorites with everyone. So here they are. Now, I have a lot of favorite pictures, so I apologize for the length of them. So take a few minutes and look at these really cute slides of our kids!!

First is Jake. He grew so much. Did a lot of cute things, and not so clean things. He turned 3 in November. Oh, and had a blast on our Vacation to Washington in August. And this slide is long. Enjoy!!

And here is Zoë's slide show. I can't believe she started off this year as only 5 months old. She really has grown a lot. This year she learned to crawl, walk, is starting to talk now. She also had a blast on our Washington Vacation in August. She ate a lot of sand! She turned 1 in July. And got her first hair cut the day before Thanksgiving. It was a lot of fun! So here is her slide. Enjoy that as well!!!

This year has been amazing. Just a quick recap for everyone, just in case you didn't know what happened to the Richins family. We started off our year with a move into Student Housing. That meant we had to give away our pet guinea pigs.

Jak is the white and golden brown one on the left. And Daxter is the dark brown fluffy one in the center. They were so much fun. I got Jak for my Mother's Day gift in 2006, then we got Daxter about 2 months before we moved. I loved those little guys, but they had to go. They went to a nice police officer's son. I hope they are doing well!

After the move, we got settled in and all was going well. The kids we're enjoying the open space of our living room, and the fact that there is a huge back yard playground that we could play in. Right before Zoe turned 1, we found out that we are expecting another child. We found out it's a boy in October. We're really excited to have another child in our home. And I think Steve is more excited that it's a boy!

In August, we took a really long vacation back to Washington. We spent 5 days at the Beach, Ocean Shores area. Then we went up to Bellingham/Ferndale to see Steve's Dad and Step-Mom for a few days. They took us to Birch Bay for the day. We all had a good time! Then we went down to Gig Harbor, and stayed with Grandma Wickie for a few days to see her and Steve's Mom and Step-Dad, and his brothers and step-sister. We went to the Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma as a part of mine and Kyle's Birthday celebration. We finished up the trip going to Moses Lake, where we went to the Adams County Fair in Moses Lake and I got hypnotized on my birthday. And there is a DVD of it as well. On the way home we stopped in Payette to see my parents, and then we came home. All in all a 20 day vacation is too long!

On the right is me and the kids at Ocean Shores, and on the left is us and Steve's sister, Elizabeth, her kids, her sister-in law Nacey and Steve's brother Nelson at Birch Bay.

Also this year was a lot of downs. Steve was planning on getting an internship for Spring, but that didn't work out. But he did get into the Master's program here. Which is great. That means we'll only be here for another year, then we're off into the real world! Steve graduated on the 15th with his Bachelors of Science in Accounting! That was a big moment for us. He's been going at this for almost 10 years now, and it was great to cross that threshold! 

All in all, this year has been a good one. We're very excited for next year and what it holds for us. May everyone have a safe and Happy New Years!!

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