Snow, snow, snow, snow....snow!!!!!

It snowed!!! I woke up this morning to several inches of snow on the ground and flakes falling from the sky. It was awesome! The first snow of the winter, and it was a fabulous one! No wimpy little puny snow, this was a substantial snowfall. And Ika and I (and everybody else in Hood River) couldn't be happier!! Usually I take my time getting up and outside for the day, but today I jumped out of bed, put on all my cold weather winter gear, and headed outside with Ika and the camera. This was Ika's first snow (sure, she's seen snow in the mountians, but this was her first fresh powdery snow), and my first snow in many years (well, at least where I lived)! I had forgotten how exciting and fun snow is. Especailly the first snow of the year. All the kids run outside to go sledding or have snowball fights, the grown-ups run off to the ski slopes, and all the dogs frisk around in the fresh white powder. It's so beautiful and rejuvenating! I'm so happy today...like a kid in a candy store. Winter has officially arrived!