Why "Aveline Muir"?

This is something I have been meaning to write for quite some time now -- nearly six months, to be exact. So, yes, we have a fabulous second daughter, our Aveline Muir. But I am certain some of you might have asked yourself (or us, directly, for that matter), why Aveline Muir?

We deliberated over the name of this sweet second one for months. Jarrett and I both prefer less popular names, and were, thus, trying to come up with something somewhat original. We had some more common names on our short list: Lauren, Heidi. And there was one we had from the last time around, Marion. Ingrid was fairly high on the list, but we felt we might be going too far with the Scandinavian names with an Elsa and an Ingrid. We also considered Joanna. And Sydney. And, at one point, almost decided on Jolene.

But one afternoon, during a leisurely search of names on the laptop, Jarrett came across the name Aveline. The French pronunciation of this name is a-vuh-leen, but we preferred the English pronunciation, a-vuh-lin. It sounded very unusual to me right at first, but immediately felt nice across the lips as I said it over and over again. Aveline. Jarrett, I really like that. I think you might have found it.

Being the troubled decisionmakers we are, we still could not commit. And still searched out names. Consistently, though, we came back to Aveline. And when I found out while on a girls' trip up in the mountains that the name meant little bird (or little nut or hazelnut or desired one), I was pretty much sold.

Then came the middle name. This was extremely tough this go around, for some reason. With Elsa, it was a cinch. My middle name is Marie, my mom's middle name is Marie, and my great grandmother's name is Marie. So Elsa Marie it was. I was kind of searching something out in this child's name that would relate to nature. We already had our little bird, so that was making my search even more of a sincere endeavor.

I truly think it might have been the day before I (finally) went into labor that we decided on Muir. In 2010, Elsa, Jarrett, and I went on a month-long trip to California. We flew into San Francisco, where we rented a Volkswagen Westfalia camper van, and spent the subsequent weeks living in and out of its belly, traveling through Kings Canyon, Sequoia, and Yosemite. Both Jarrett and I went out there with great hopes of finding something while out exploring these wondrous, monstrous, glorious, natural worlds. Of somehow clinging closer to God while experiencing His creation first hand. Of somehow experiencing Him. At the time, it felt like all we were really finding was sickness, stress, discouragement, and heartache. Now, don't get me wrong. The trip was absolutely fantastic. And I do, honestly, believe I would pack it up and do it all over again in a heartbeat, despite it all. We saw and did some amazing things. And, the reality is, now that we look back on a lot of those trials we experienced, we realize that God was there. And he was doing some amazing things. (I could go further, but that is really another story for another time.)

So back to the name. Muir. We already knew of John Muir, but learned much more about him through our trip out West. He was an amazing person, and did some amazing things that helped preserve a lot of the natural areas we trekked through and gazed upon with complete awe. For those of you unfamiliar with the work of John Muir, he was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, and early advocate of preservation of wilderness in the United States. His activism helped to save the Yosemite Valley, Sequoia National Park, and other wilderness areas. He is also the founder of the Sierra Club, now one of the most important conservation organizations in the United States. So, in desiring a name relating to nature, Muir seemed perfect. And both Jarrett and I agreed immediately. So there you have it, Aveline Muir.

After we visited Muir Woods, near the end of our trip, I wrote the following, and ended the blog post with a favorite Muir quote. It seems just as pertinent today.


Nature has been good to us, and good for us. Even during the most difficult times, once we could get into those woods, out on a trail, and high on a mountain, everything seemed to come into focus and make a bit more sense. Again, John Muir says it best, and with his words, I leave you.

"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees, the winds will blow their own freshness into you and the storms their energy while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.