Look! Not a Birthday Post!

The birthday posts have gotten out of control, haven't they? Well, fear not, because I feel refreshed when it comes to posting. Maybe I just had to take January off for the most part...who knows.

It's been nice weather here, cold definitely, and not sunny per se, but certainly not the constant rain that we had been expecting. So yesterday we decided to get some fresh air and go on a hike.
We went to a trail sort of close by that a friend here took me this summer, but that Daniel had never been to (I feel like our readers are always guessing as to who's writing until one or the other of us drops the other's name like I just did and then you think "ah, okay." We just like to keep you guessing...).
So anyway, this trail was completely different in the winter than it was in the summer. We walked along a creek/small river the entire time and seriously, we could not believe how clear the water was. I guess with all the snow here, as it turns to water it's incredibly clear.
And there are some really cool parts to this trail, like this waterfall down a rock, and water streaming down from the top of a cliff, in little droplets like constant rain, and all the moss...And Nickel got her head under water for what, I'm pretty sure, was the first time. We haven't ever been to a place with her where, for instance, we could push her off a dock and force her to swim. So she's been in water, but only to the point where she can't walk anymore and then she gets scared. But yesterday Daniel threw a stick into the river and she went chasing after it and first stepped on a rock and then suddenly, as she was going forward, the rock wasn't there. She went completely under and was shocked, but then I think she realized she actually can swim and we couldn't pull her away from the water...And this picture is amazing. I have no idea why Daniel is doing that with his hand. He looks like he's trying to be Gob (for any Arrested Development fans)...