Whats in a Name?

I thought some of you might be wondering why we chose to name our son August when he was born in January during the dead of winter. Well, there were several different reasons. Andy and I decided we didn't want to give him the exact name of his father but we did want to honor the family name. I liked "August" because it has the potential to grow with him (Augie being so cute for now but maybe not so cute when he wants to be more adult) and it isn't a overly common name. I also really like the history behind the name. Andy's great-grandfather was August Steinke and he farmed the land that Andy's parents live on now. My great-grandfather, Henry John Westerhoven, came over from the Netherlands and worked at the Michigan Bulb Company near August Steinke's farm in Sodus, MI. My dad knows for a fact that great-grandpa Henry trimmed grapes for Andy's great-grandpa. We also believe that great-grandpa Henry's sponsor for his U.S. citizenship was August Steinke. I'd like to do some more digging eventually to see if I can prove this, but for now the idea is really cool. Neither I nor Augie would be here if it wasn't for August Steinke. Therefore, it only makes sense to honor him by using his name.

As far as the name "Graham" is concerned, we just liked how it sounded. It's only claim to fame is a baby name book. Yet, it does have a nice ring with August :-).