Guess who turned 1?!

Izzy Marie is no longer a puppy.....well, I take that back. Unfortunately, she's still ALL puppy! But we did celebrate her first birthday on June 16th.




With her love of chewing, (things she's supposed to chew and things she's definitely NOT supposed to chew) we found her the largest "busy bone" they make.




I made it last 3 days, but if you would have let her, she would have had it gone in about an hour.




"I really don't like that dog."




Izzy got a pool for her birthday too! She had to test out the waters first.




Then it was play time!



She would dunk her head under the water to get the golf balls.
















Then we dry off on the sun.



"Ahhh. This is the life!"



"Thanks Mom and Dad!"




This is how Izz gets the sticks out of the pool.




Izzy says, "No sticks in the pool!"




"No footballs in the pool either!"




"And definitely no golf balls in the pool!" :)

Redfish Lake and Stanley Lake in Stanley, ID

Jed and I decided to take a somewhat quick trip up to Stanley so we could scope out a few spots for when my family comes out in July. It was not such a good day.....chilly, rainy and overcast, but it still is about the most beautiful place I've been to.





This is Redfish lake. Again, it was quite cloudy and rainy, but there are pretty much snow covered mountains 360 degrees around you.



Izzy wanted to get into the water in the worst way! It was way too cold though, and we didn't feel like riding home with a wet and sandy dog!




Oh, look! Jed is smiling in a picture!! (I'm almost certain it was an accident, but I like it nonetheless!) :)




You can't really tell, but the water was so crystal clear. I haven't seen anything like it. It was like a Poland Springs commercial!




Izzy Marie taking it all in.




These were some interesting looking birds on Stanley lake.




Absolutely breathtaking!




Some of the birds you'll hear and see on Stanley lake.



Jed and Izzy down at the lake taking in the beautiful scenery. (One of my favorite pictures)












I could stay here forever, I think.



Take #1.....Izzy and I getting ready for a picture and trying to hold my glasses in my mouth and juggle the dog....didn't work so well, but thanks for taking this great picture, Jed!



Take #2....that's better







We decided to take the truck up this road (if you could call it that) up one of the mountains and there where some really beautiful wildflowers blooming.



Izzy looking out the window and stepping on poor Anthony. He was a good sport with her though.



Driving up the mountain and taking in all the smells.







More pretty wildflowers.



The view from the top.....so worth it. Too bad we had to leave. This is one of my favorite places on earth now. I can't wait to see it when it's sunny....hopefully!

Shoshone Ice Cave

On our way up to Stanley, we decided to stop at the Shoshone Ice Caves, since it's only about 20 min from our house and we hadn't seen it, we wanted to check it out.








We had a 20 min wait before the next tour, so I got my picture taken with this green Dino and the little man on the Mr. Dino's head.



Some pretty blooming cactus



The tour guide said that these were a replica of the cave people who lived in the cave 20,000 years ago. They were only about 3-4 feet tall he said and lived to only 35 years old. Hmmmm..... ok, whatever.



Heading down into the cave



Down, down, down



There was something about the layers of rock and being able to tell how many volcanic eruptions there were, but I can't remember. I was too busy taking pictures.



It was raining.....Jed was happy. :)



Further down we go! And it kept getting colder, and colder!



Looking back at the opening of the cave




Inside the ice cave....it was cold...go figure!




The pictures inside the cave are not so great. It was dark and a flash made it worse so you had to hold perfectly still to get a picture without a flash and so they are mostly blurry....sorry. But in the center of this picture is the skeleton of a Grizzly bear and her cubs. Supposedly 10,000 years old, according to the guide.




Inside the cave, there was a walkway, but underneath us was solid ice. The guide said they have to pump the ice out every summer otherwise the whole cave would be filled with ice! He also said that this cave was one of the only ice caves of it's size and it stays below freezing year round.




Stalactites or mytes or whatever....sticky uppey rocks!




Ice on rocks



Me and a sea of black.....this is when we figured out the flash would not work....



Inside the cave, but blurry



Blurry Jed in the cave



Water was dripping from the ground above because the lava rock is so porous and the hole of the light is the way back out.



In the different colors of the rock formation, there is something that looks like a face and the guide called the face their "gate keeper." He said the eyes follow you wherever you are.....(insert creepy music here) :) (It's hard to describe, but it's in the center section of that top layer of rock. There's like two dark spots...those are the eyes)


Outside the cave




We enjoyed seeing it, even though it took a bit to thaw out after we got out. :)