There are indeed thousands, you're absolutely right. The reason I decided on the Bundesadler (pictured above) is based on the colors, general "at-a-glance" notoriety being the coat of arms for Germany as a whole, and it's a bold design that is cleaner overall than the majority of the family crests. The family crest for the Moorehead name (a scottish crest) has so much detail that in a smaller size, it would simply look messy and busy.

Bundesadler is bold, clean, simple, and makes the statement that identifies with the majority of the history; without being gaudy or too "busy".

That's the justification for the tat, at least.

Having said that, it WOULD be very interesting to find the specific coat of arms for the family and display that in the house somewhere.