Happy Birthday Lizzy

On August 21 my niece Lizzy celebrated her second birthday. I was the only one who brought a camera, so this is for my family--

Lizzy fell asleep in her high chair. It was pretty funny.

Ross also fell asleep. What a party!

Lizzy's first gift was a princess dish set from uncle Brian. She loved it! We had a hard time getting her to open any more presents.




She loves watching a YouTube video of Elmo on my brother's iphone, but wasn't sure what to think of this.

Camping trip

So it's all past stuff...but here goes! In August we got to go camping for the first time this year, with some friends. It was a blast! And true camping--meaning, there was no "bathroom".

Within a couple minutes of getting out of the car, Savannah was covered with dirt and just enjoying life. She loved everything!

Joe pondering the meaning of life! Or just trying to be funny.

The Ashby clan: Isaac, Stephanie, and Savannah

The view from our car. These moose are huge! We're just glad we were in the car or else Isaac would have chased them.

A very happy, dirty Savannah!

Bear Lake, Mythbusters, Vampires and more

Sorry it's taken so long to update our blog! Our camera has been with Joe's parents so I haven't been able to update with pictures. First, here are some pictures our friends took of us up at Bear Lake with the boys building a sandcastle: The beautiful sandcastle was destroy from volleys of Bocce balls! We were fortunate enough to make a few trips up to Bear Lake this summer! Seems so long ago now...

Mythbusters has to be one of the greatest shows on Discovery. Joe is especially a fan. I've been trying to upload their video, but I haven't been able to. We watched one last week entitled "Phone Book Friction" where the interlace two phonebooks (alternating pages) and try to tear them apart. Amazingly enough, it is really hard. In the episode, Adam figures out how to rip a phone book in half. Joe got this really excited look on his face, grabbed an old phonebook, and attempted to rip it apart. He was so funny! Unfortunately, the phonebook got the bettter of him. Here is a link to the video where the finally got the phonebooks apart by using two tanks! Go Mythbusters!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOt-D_ee-JE

And lastly, vampires. A friend of mine asked me what I thought about the Twilight series, so I thought I'd share my opinion on the vampire books I've been reading.

First, Dracula. The true vampire book. I really enjoyed this book. It's written in the form of diaries kept by people who have encountered/have something to do with Count Dracula. Here is where you find all the garlic & cross lore. I would recommend it to everyone.

Second, the Twilight series. I think that these books are very entertaining, at least worth reading once. I do like them, although I sometimes think that there is too much romance and not enough story. Some people have compared them to Harry Potter, but for me there really is no comparison. Harry Potter has a lot of depth to it, in story and in character.

Third, The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. This book is very good as well. It follows the Dracula (Vlad the Impaler) route, but in a modern time. The story is told through letters; the narrator following her father's letters. It is set in modern times, but through the letters you go back in time. It is a large novel, but goes into a lot of depth about Dracula, and about the characters.

Oh ... I also got a new job. I am now employed by Symbiotics as their receptionist/water lab supervisor/whatever else they need! Hopefully the blog wasn't too long!