New Name Ideas

HOLD THE PHONE.......We've got a new name! Aaron just couldn't get on board with Leander. And I am sad about that because I do love it so much. But it isn't fair if Aaron doesn't love it as much as I do. So one night I was looking at a list of baby names and it was a collection of names that the authors considered to be the best baby names NOT in the top 1000 on the SSA list from data collected in 2018 (which is the most recent list). I read through the list and there were a lot of names that fit my style. Later, I had Aaron read the list to see if anything stuck out to him. He glanced through, and said "What about Oslo? Ross Oslo Swan."

I was prepared no to like anything he came up with that wasn't Leander, I admit, BUT his suggestion threw me off guard. It sounded really good all together, Ross Oslo Swan. Hmmm.......

So I said, "Well, it sounds really good, and flows well, but I wonder what Oslo means." Because, you know, meaning is important to me, and I thought there was no way it could mean anything that meant anything. Oslo is the capital of Norway.......but that didn't really have any significance, BUT, the reason they names the capital Oslo is because Oslo means "meadow beneath the ridge" so, a nature name! Just like I've been wanting. Not only that, but a nature name that pretty much perfectly describes where we live. I was a little bit stunned. And said, "Aaron it's perfect." And he said that he liked it a lot.

A few days later we were talking about it again and Aaron told me that he always thought he'd come across "the name" while he was indexing, as sort of a blessing for doing what he was supposed to be doing. (Our stake president has asked each ward member to index one batch per week.) But Aaron said when I showed him the list, the thought came to his mind that he should scroll to the bottom section of names, and it would be a little ways up form the bottom, and then his eyes went straight to Oslo. He didn't tell me at first because he didn't want to make too much of it, but I thought it was a pretty cool story. I don't know how much Heavenly Father cares about what our earthly names are, but I do know He cares very much about us and the things that are important to us, and we've been praying about our baby's name for awhile. So Aaron's experience makes me like Oslo all the more.

Then I noticed that his initials would be R.O.S., Ross, which would be his first name, and I liked that too. Just for fun on Sunday we looked on Familysearch.org to see if we had any ancestors from Norway, and I do! Not only that but he came from a little town near Oslo, called Rollag, about 2 hours from Oslo, actually. His name was Eric Gautesson Midtboen Hogan. His parents have different last names, but the farm he lived on in Norway was called Haugen Farm. So he took Haugen as his last name, then Americanized the spelling to Hogan when he came across the ocean with his wife and kids. He was the first person to join the church in the Hogan line. He helped settle Bountiful, UT. My mom's maiden name was Hogan, and she, and therefore I, am a direct descendant of Eric Gautesson Midtboen Hogan from close to Oslo, Norway. So we can add that to the list of meaningful connections that go along with the name Oslo.

I'm in love. Haha! I am about 99.99% sure that Aaron officially agreed that Ross Oslo Swan would be our baby's name. He would go by Oslo and whatever nickname we think up for him (we haven't come up with a nickname yet... maybe Ros (hard s sound like a z) or I think solo would be cute, but Aaron isn't sure). We agreed not to announce the name, or tell anyone about it until after he's born and we see that it fits him. I'm not really worried about it fitting him, it's too perfect not to, but I am totally on board with not having to hear anyone's opinions about the name beforehand. We'll announce after he's born, and it will be a done deal.

Hooper Weekend

Cal, Ollie, Ruby, Ivan, Adelia, and Lincoln making a pyramid behind Papa Stew's grave at the Hooper Cemetery.

Krystal, Baby Ford, Tindy, and Tami

Four generation photo: Granny Jan, Tami Lemmon Sparks, Krystal Swan, Adelia Swan, Ruby Swan

We spent a fabulous weekend in Hooper. We drove up Saturday afternoon, and Aaron took the kids to Mom and Kerry's house while I went out to dinner with Heidi and Tami, two of my wonderful friends from high school. We got together awhile ago for Tindy's baby shower, and decided we needed to make a habit of doing it more often.

Sunday morning we loaded up the Suburban and went to the Hooper Cemetery to put marigolds on my dad's grave since we didn't make it up for Memorial Day. We also located Aaron's ancestor, Daniel Ross (the one who helped settle Hooper), whose headstone is not very far from my dad's. We put a marigold on his too. I know that Aaron and I (and our kids) are probably the only people in the whole world who even care, but I think it's so cool that we have ancestors buried in the same cemetery. And that Aaron's ancestor helped make the tiny farm town that I would later be raised in. Those kinds of family history connections are so fun. As we walked around near Daniel's headstone, we saw so many other 'Ross' family headstones that I'm convinced Aaron is practically a Hooper-ite. No wonder he's so amazing. :)

After that we went to Tindy's and Ben's baby blessing. The baby's name is Ford, isn't that the most adorable? I love it. We went to lunch with their families afterwards. And I was just really happy to be celebrating with them. We definitely don't see them enough since they moved to ID and we moved further south in UT County.

We capped off the trip by celebrating Father's Day with my family. Mom and Kerry did a BBQ in the backyard and the weather was perfect. All my brothers were there for at least a minute or two, and it was fun to chat with them while all the cousins played. My Granny Jan was also there, I haven't seen her in awhile. We took a four generation pictures with Gran, Mom, my two girls, and I. An all around good, family-filled weekend.