A sign that I am getting older...

When bands that I listened to in High School are now doing reunion concerts. It started with STP in September, now it is this: Ben Folds Five performing The Unauthorized Biography of Rienhold Messner start to finish... AWESOME!

Here it is in its entirety-




You can also check out the whole thing here

P.S. robert sledge has really let himself go... no?

For those about to Blog...

I've decided it is about time for someone to take over the task of making this portion of the internets more interesting... so without further adieu I give you... whatever I happen to be thinking about for the next 10-15 minutes.

It may not seem like it but what I have really been pondering a lot lately are baby names. Seeing as our gestating fetus is currently only known as him, he, it, or little guy even after 7 months of brainstorming one might think that we have been aloof in our responsibility. That is not at all true though. We have poured through those useless baby name books, scoured the web, tapped our friends for ideas... but nothing really seems to fit perfectly for him who still remains nameless.

Part of the problem traces back to my band naming days. We came up with a lot more stupid and hilarious names than we did good ones. Call me immature or something but i have a lot more fun sitting around thinking of funny things to name the kiddo, rather than actually coming up with socially acceptable titles. The Frank Zappa approach (naming kids Dweezil or Moon Unit) would be funny for a couple days, but eventually the buyers remorse would settle in and the name, like a novelty electric guitar shaped like a stone with a sword stuck through it, would have to be exchanged for a more traditional and less cumbersome moniker.

I maintain that it will be easier to do once we actually see mister bun from the oven. The only problem with this is that the pressure is really on at that point. I hear they actually want you to name the child before it leaves the hospital, and if that is the case, I'm not sure I can stand the pressure. We could name him "#1" or son of Zach, and then just let him choose his own name once he is old enough to reason through the temptation of referring to himself as Batman or Crapbag. Of course, seeing how hard it is for me to not consider naming him Astird (for you Office watchers) he might not reach that maturity level until well after his 30th birthday.

Regardless, I can't wait till he gets through with his prego pergatory and comes out to play. His mom and I have a lot of great things to show him.

For Reals... here is the shortlist in no particular order:
-Dexter
-Lucas
-Adam
-Andrew
-Mark

Feeble attempt at resuscitating the blog

I picked up the new Randy Newman album a few weeks ago. I love this guy, probably the best songwriter alive today.

The Goose is Getting Fat!

Tonight (Sunday Oct. 12), while Skyping, we drew names for Christmas 2008 (we being Beau, Zach and Ksenia while Melissa, Hailey, and Drew witnessed via video).  

Here're the results!  All complaints can be submitted to Z.J.E.  

Travis has Beau

Margaret has Zach

Kimball has Drew

Melissa has Margaret

Zach has Kimball

Ksenia has Hailey

Beau has Ksenia

Drew has Mallory

Hailey has Travis

Mallory has Melissa

Please post your Christmas lists as a comment to this blog post, and the sooner the better (sorry to rush you all, but we are having A BABY in December (still can't believe it) so we're trying to plan ahead)  Mom and dad -- please post your lists here as well.  

As a reminder, please send your checks to Zach if you are interested in running the Hood to Coast 2009 (application is due this Wednesday).  

Kennedy is excited for her first Christmas!

Hope everyone is well!  

Mallory's Incredible High School Adventure

It's so hard to believe that my "baby" has graduated from High School and we are officially going to be "emtpy nesters".

Mallory graduated on Saturday and what a wonderful event it was!!! Mallory received a lot attention and awards for her academic achievement that led up to the Graduation. Being one of the Valedictorians she was written up in the Hillsboro newspaper, The Argus, along with all of the other Valedictorians in the District. But she was the only Valedictorian in the Hillsboro School District that was featured in the Oregonian where she was interviewed and had a big picture of her talking about how varied the students are who are Valedictorians. It was quoted to say, "Some are shy and some, like Mallory Everton, could be professional comedians." Her comments during the interview were bright, and funny and thought provoking.

At the graduation ceremony, she was chosen to be the Mistress of Ceremonies and announced all of the speakers and musical numbers. The Vocal Ensemble choir, which she is a member, was able to sing. Then she, along with the other Valedictorians were able to read off the names of their classmates as they came up to receive their diplomas.

Coming from the very small high school that I did, in our yearbook our Senior year, all the activities we were involved in and things we accomplished throughout our high school years, were listed by our senior picture. It was very gratifying to me to see that list of what I had been involved in and what I had accomplished during high school. The schools here are way too big to do that for each student. Mallory had an INCREDIBLE high school experience and I thought that atleast her family and friends should see a list of what she has done these past 4 years, in celebration of her graduation. (She would never do this -- or maybe not even want me to do it-- but this is a mother's perogative, so please bear with me. I've been proud of every one of my kids but there was no blogging when you graduated, so modern technology has provided me this opportunity for Mal.) I admit, I am adding a few extra things from church, etc. to this list that you wouldn't have found in my high school yearbook, but it shows the big picture of how involved and well-rounded she has been.

FRESHMAN

* Soccer

* First year of Seminary (had 4 teachers that year)

* Played "Zelda" in "Singing in the Rain" (Spring Musical)

SOPHMORE

* Seminary with Zach as her teacher

* 1 of a few who got to be in Concert Choir as a Sophomore

* Homecoming Princess

* Got her Driver's License!!!

* 1st AP Class - AP US History (Passed AP test)

* Played "Maizey" in "Suessical the Musical"

* Got Mono and stilled maintained her 4.0

* Soccer

* Went on a Choir Tour to Canada

JUNIOR

* 00 Period Seminary @ Pioneer Heritage (private LDS School) 6:00 am!!

* Made Vocal Ensemble (which was 0 Period)

* Took 3 AP classes - AP Chemistry; AP Enlish; AP Calculus (passed all 3 AP tests)

* Cross Country in the Fall

* Had a lead in "Arsenic and Old Lace" the Fall play with Whitney as the other lead

* Involved in broadcasting the "Morning Announcements" live over LTV (Liberty TV)

* Got her 1st job at Jamba Juice

* Played "Emily" in "Bang, Bang, You're Dead" (Whitney's Sr. Project)

* Placed @ District, Regional & State for Group Musical competition in Drama

* Went to Drama Nationals in Nebraska

* Performed in a One-Act at Drama Nationals

* Directed, edited and performed in a music video for a Prom Promo for LTV

* Went to Whitney's Sr. Prom with Andy Turner

* Played "Ado Annie" in "Oklahoma"

* Performed a solo at "Radio Jazz Hour" put on by Choir

* Member of Stake Youth Council

* Lettered in - Cross Country, Drama, Leadership, and Choir

* KIT Counselor at Stake Girls Camp

* Went on trip to Mazatlan with Whitney and her family

SENIOR

* Cross Country

* Played "Zerbinet" in "Scapin", the Fall Play

* Took Seminary release-time at Century High School 7th period

* Vocal Ensemble

* Assisted the Choir director at Poynter Middle School Choir

* Homecoming Queen

* Took 2 AP Classes - AP Literature; AP Stats (still waiting for test results)

* Senior Project - Wrote, directed, performed and edited a weekly teen mini-series called "Liberty Heights" that aired each Thursday for 5 minutes during Morning Announcements. It was amazing!!

* Played lead "Roxie Hart" in "Chicago", the Spring Musical

* Sang the "National Anthem" solo at a school assembly and at the "Mr. Liberty Contest"

* Performed her 1st personal acoustic guitar gig at "Insomnia" opening for Zach and Parker

* Was given a wish to record one of her songs in a recording studio

* Manager of recording studio set her up with a gig at "Borders Books"

* Conducted a Youth Musical Fireside and sang a solo there, also.

* Asked to perform in SKID which is a Drunk Driving Crash re-enactment shown in a school assembly before Prom

* Applied to colleges and was accepted to New York University, Loyola, Boston University, & BYU and received scholarship offers from all of them.

* Took a trip to New York to visit NYU

* Got to see "Chicago" on Broadway!

* Escorted Andy Turner for Mr. Liberty Contest (Andy won!)

* Chosen for Falcon Frenzy Court by teachers

* Went on a Choir tour to Los Angeles and San Diego

* Went to Glencoes Prom

* Went to her Sr. Prom with Garrett Paulson

* Asked to be Stake Girls Camp President

* Graduated from 4 years of Seminary - Spoke at Seminary Graduation

* Awarded ACT Idol from her peers in her academy

* Chosen to be the next "American Idol" by classmates in her Sr. Awards Assembly

* Valedictorian!

* Chosen to be featured in Oregonian article on Valedictorians

* Mistress of Ceremonies @ Graduation

Lying Liars Who Lie!

I have a confession to make. Well... we have a confession to make. You see, we kind of pulled the wool over your eyes. We might've caused you to beleive something that was just not true. I have known the hellfire consequences promised to those who bare false witness for the majority of my lifetime, but we just had to leave you all in the dark.

At first, it made me uncomfortable to lie so much. With each shadey response a twinge of guilt would inflict the symptoms of minor indigestion. However, after a few well placed fabrications it became easier, and soon enough it got to be kind of fun. The feeling of power (as synthetic as it all was) became intoxicating. I was always grateful for the opportunity to lie over the phone so I had technology to veil my devilish grin as I spun a web of lies so tight that no one expected it when the truth came out (well not everyone, Beau seemed to be on to us).

You see, all those times we said we were waiting to have kids till much later. We lied. We're having a baby in December.

New Blog!

Drew and I have officially set up our own blog. The address is www.drewandhailey.blogspot.com for any who are interested in viewing the details of our pest control/pregnant life.