Pitchers come to Cali!

Landon’s family visited over the weekend and it was too short! Sharman, Linda, Adam, Monica, and Cambrie all stayed with us. We were out and about most of the time so it didn't even feel crowded. Adam’s girls are in New Jersey visiting Corie’s family so he came alone, and Court & Kelli let Cambrie come along for her first trip away from home!   Cambrie is so good with Capri, I hope we end up living close so we can have her babysit soon.  It felt like a mini vacation for me since Capri was getting so much attention and love from Grandma, Aunt Moke, and Cambrie.  Friday we headed straight to Carmel to spend some time on the beach and do the 17 mile drive. Don’t mind our wind blown hair.  Saturday was a San Francisco day. Landon and I made Sharman come on our 16 mile run with us while everyone else got a head start in the city.  We ran on the Los Gatos Creek trail and It wasn’t too difficult, but it did seem like it took forever to finish since we had to stop for Capri a few times. Usually Capri does pretty good on our runs, but she was needy this time.  We love running with “Coach,”  it’s a great therapy session and we solve so many problems while running and talking.   We met the rest of the family at Giradelli Square and had an Italian dinner on the wharf.  It was colder than we hoped for (always is!) so I bought Capri the cute owl hat.  I'm sure she was fine, but I liked the excuse to buy it.  After church on Sunday we enjoyed our apartment amenities, relaxed for a bit, and then went to Stockton to visit Chris and Geniel.  Geniel is just like Linda and it's fun to see the sisters together.  We ate delicious breakfast food for dinner and played botchy ball at the park. Busy and great weekend.  We were sad to see Landon's family go so soon, but it won't be long before we see them in Utah for Dave Earnhardt's wedding and before we head back to Arizona for Landon's  last and final Trimester at Thunderbird, yippee!

This Week....

I don't know why, but this M-F week flew by.... maybe because it was filled with fun things.   Our time in California is disappearing before our eyes and Capri is getting so big.  We have lots of great friends here and it seems like there is something fun going on daily.

Monday:  Bachelor Party at Andrea's with yummy treats and funny commentary.
Tuesday:  Pool Day!  I host and usually 10-15 moms come with their kiddos. Ran our fastest minute mile yet- 7:24.
Wednesday: Capri and I wore our stripes to shop the sales with Paige at the mall.  We found Capri and Aubrey matching swimsuits at H&M for $1.... yeah baby! Then met Daddy for lunch at Applebees.  Ran 7 miles on a new trail, we actually ran our last 4 minutes in the dark because we got such a late start.
Thursday: Grocery shopping (which is fun for me).  Picked up Tori to go see the hubbies play in a work basketball tournament and enjoyed their catered BBQ.  Later that afternoon I went to the  park for a photography class put on by my church.  Met up with another group of church girls for a running activity preparing for the stake 5k & 10k.  Landon worked out, played basketball, and folded all of the laundry when I got home, love him.
Friday:  Lunch break lunch date at California Sourdough with the Hoopers and Samuelson's.  Best. Bread. Ever.  After work Landon and Craig lifted weights while Tori and I hung out, then we went to Red Robbin, the boys fixed our flat tire, and then back to our place for dessert.
Saturday:  Yucky morning, between waking up late, tire problems, and traffic we didn't get our run in. We are going to make up for it Monday.  Jordan & Brooke, and Dallin & Kayla came over and hung out by our pool, then we went to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory to celebrate Jordan's birthday.

Despite our bummer Saturday morning, it was a great week and we can't believe we only have 4 more weeks left here!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JORDAN!

Family.... isn't it about time?

This photo is from our run today and I just had to share.  It is so nice to go out and do something as a family and I hope we always make time for these kinds of activities and each other.   Running has been great for spending time together just as much as it has been for exercise.  I might as well note that we ran under 8min miles today....we are getting faster. It was only 3 miles today, not sure we could do that with more miles.  

Capri & Capri

Capri Hooper at 9 months 

& Capri Pitcher at 4months 

After meeting Capri Hooper we were reassured about naming our little one Capri... isn't she a cutie pie! We were told that people grow into their names, but we really hadn't met anyone with the name Capri so we didn't know what kind of name (or destiny, joking!) we were giving our child.  Well, with these two babes, it's got to be a fabulous name right?  I searched a little while pregnant and here's pretty much what I found:

Capri \c(a)-pri, cap-ri\ as a girl's name is of Italian origin. Name of the Italian island famous for its beauty. A modern name. 

Origin of Capri: Italian place name

Origin: "capriccio."
Languages: This girl's name is used in Italian.
Nickname For: Caprice
Narrative: This musical term is based on the Greek wordcapra, meaning ''goat'' -- an animal whose sudden changes in direction and vaulting jumps are good examples of 

Meaning: Its source is capriccio, an Italian name meaning "A playful action."

Meanings and history of the name Capri: An Island off of Italy; means: whimsical

{Capri} Gender: Girl  Origin: Italian Rank: #1604 on BabyCenter   Meaning: Whimsical

Interesting, but nothing that has me worried about her future.  Landon and I watched the documentary Freakanomics where they did a short clip on names and whether they determine your destiny.  They found that some names are more likely to get interviews when viewed on resumes, there are names more common for wealthy households, and names more common in low income households. But when all is said and done, your name didn't determine your future and people don't "grow into their names."  What they did decide is that parents choose names influenced by their environment and experiences and then the child is raised with similar influences.  An example would be farm town parents that name their child Billy Bob.  Billy Bob might grow up talking slang and riding tractors because that was the way his parent's raised him, his environment, not that he was growing into his name.  Another example would be wealthy parents that name their child Charles.  Charles might grow up polite and highly educated because of his upbringing, not because he was growing into the name Charles.  Hmm, not sure I explained that in a way that made sense, but hopefully you get what the Freakanomics studies found.   Anyway, I think it's funny that if it's the parent's environment and experiences that influence name choices, it makes sense that we chose the same name as the Hoopers :)  We have very similar experiences so far, it's like we are just shadowing the Hoopers!  So will our Capri's grow up similar? Maybe. Be Similar?  Probably not.  Their Capri has a much calmer temperament and is so easy going compared to our Capri. But it will be fun to see what these two pretty girls become.  They are already full of life and energy making the world around them a much better place.  These blue eyed babes will become wonderful people no doubt.  We love the name Capri and we love Capri, and that's all that really matters.

So many people have asked us where we came up with the name Capri so here's the short story.  Landon's friend Isaac gives himself the credit for our marriage because he helped to get us out on our first date (that's another story). We joked that he could name our first child as a reward for his role in getting us together .... so he did.   Isaac would text us a few names here and there, but wanted some direction.  Landon told him Italy was one of our favorite places we visited for many reasons and the next day he sent this text:

Capri

and we responded: love it, done.

Isaac and Skyler heard Colbie Caillet's song "Capri" on the radio in the car and sent us that text message right away.