Duck Football 2008

It's finally here! Duck Football 2008! Eric, Jocelyn and Marshall headed down to the big season opener on Saturday night. We had a great time, ran into many old friends, and were able to catch up with Jocelyn's brother, Mark. We were thrilled to find our new seats for the season and discover another young family who will be sitting next to us for the season. They have 3 kids and the youngest is Marshall's age. Marshall is excited to have some buddies at the games, and we were excited to learn we have a lot in common with this sweet family. Check out Marshall's jersey for this year - he has not taken it off since he got it on Thursday morning - he has been sleeping, eating and playing in that jersey. I might have him convinced that I need to wash it tomorrow. Next time you see him he will be proud to tell you that it is Jeremiah Johnson's jersey number. He cheered hard for the Ducks and yelled "Bye Bye Purple People" as all the Huskie fans left the stadium at the end of the blowout. He can't wait to go back this Saturday. Go Ducks!

Eliza's First Birthday

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate. Psalm 127:3-5

Happy Birthday Eliza! Eliza has been nothing but a blessing since she arrived last August. She turned one year old on August 27th and we celebrated yesterday here at our home, thanking the Lord for the precious gift He has given us in our daughter. Eliza loved being the center of attention, loved presents, loved wrapping paper . . . but didn't love cake. As soon as Eliza had one finger in the frosting she started crying - and not just crying, but sobbing. (Yes, we have a major drama queen our hands - I'm sure we will need a lot of prayers as she nears 13!!) It was so sad but so cute. She was finally willing to try a bit of cake on a fork and warmed up to the idea a little bit, but she never really dug in. The presents were definitely her thing and she loved having a houseful of friends!

New Swing Set!!

A new swing set/slide/play structure was added to our backyard today!! It has already had lots of use in just a few hours. Marshall LOVES it!! And, Eliza loves the infant swing - she didn't want to get out and stayed in for about half-hour this afternoon. Mom is excited to have something new in the backyard for outdoor fun :) You'll probably find us there for hours a day for the rest of the summer!

More Outside Pictures

Venti's New Location

Those of you familiar with Salem might have had the chance to dine at Venti's Cafe. Eric has lunch at Venti's almost every day that he stays downtown - and the Compton/Venti family friendship started there when Eric and Conrad Venti became friends standing in line at Venti's for lunch everyday :) Conrad's Uncle Dino owns the restaurant and they make the best teriyaki chicken bowls. Venti's Cafe opened their new location this Monday so we met the Venti Fam for our first Venti's meal at the new restaurant. Conrad and Kari have the cutest 5 month old twins - Mila and Nolan. And, with the four of us and our four kids we never would have fit in Venti's tiny previous location!

3rd of July!

Last night, we visited the Oregon Gardens in Silverton for their 4th of July event with our friends the Richters - Paul, Bethany, Sydney, Noah and Abraham. We have been blessed by their family's friendship and it was a great chance for us to visit and for the kids to play! Noah and Marshall are just a few months a part in age, and Eliza and Abraham are just 2 months apart. Sydney is almost 5 and does a great job of being a big sister to both Noah and Marshall. The parents and the kids all had such a great time. The kids loved the children's area with a pirate ship bounce house/slide and balloon animals. And, everyone enjoyed eating a picnic dinner in the grass. We left before the fireworks got started - by 10:00 all 5 of the kids were tired, but Marshall is hoping to catch a few fireworks tonight here in Salem!

Hot Weather!!

Summer is finally here! Our temperatures hit 100 degrees here in Salem yesterday and the kids were so excited to get out and play in the water. We set up a swimming pool in the backyard and brought Marshall's slide outside and set it up to land in the water. Next door, our friends the Pools (fitting last name for all of our water fun!) also had a pool set up. Their son, Etai, is just 2 months older than Marshall and they are great friends. We spent the day with Marshall and Etai going back and forth between our yards playing in sprinklers and swimming pools and eating lots of snacks. Eliza loved the water too and tried hard to keep up with the boys, a difficult feat when she can only crawl these days. She had a lot of fun in the pool though. She really wanted to swim by herself- you'll see in one of the pictures she is practically crawling out of her float and she kept trying to crawl into the pool on her own. She loved sticking her face under the water too - we couldn't believe how much she loved having a wet face. We can tell that both of the kids will have a great time at swim lessons in a few weeks. Marshall and Eliza were both exhausted by the end of the day, but Marshall woke up ready to head out again today!