Pictures!!!

The News

Harrison Walbridge Larsen was born at 10:25 am, P.S.T., after 2.5 hours of serious and intense labor. Olivia was such a tough girl! She missed a really good opportunity to beat me like a red-headed stepchild, she never did, nor did she cuss at me, even when I said "Well, this ain't as bad as I thought it would be."

He is 20 inches tall, and 8 lbs. When the nurse handed him to me I told her that he was probably 8 pounds, since he felt about the same as my 1895 Marlin 45-70. I was spot on.

Risa was here for the whole festivities. She was extremely helpful when Olivia was trying to feed for the first time. I was way out of my league. I mean, getting a calf to take a bottle is nothing to trying to get a little feller to start feeding.

His picture will be coming soon to the Gritman Stork Report.

All is well and we will have more news, and pictures, soon.

Morning Update:

No baby yet. However, things are still progressing. Will keep posting as things change...

Update:

We are in the hospital. Olivia just got done with the epidural. I was helping her and all was well, then I woke up. I dozed off for a few seconds, notice, that was not fainted, I fell asleep. Olivia didn't notice and when I woke up things were done. She is resting and we are gonna see some action soon. She is at a 6 and the nurse, Sally, just put down the rubber sheets. We are gonna have a baby boy here before morning. He must be his daddy's boy, since I like to work at night... More to come soon.

Here's to Mom:

Happy Mother's Day to all Mom's.

Olivia is ready to be a mom, but Wally is not ready to be out yet. Olivia's feet and legs are swollen and she cannot get comfortable at all. Poor girl. We got pre-registered at the Hospital and took a tour of the facility. Quite the deal. I hope we get to return to the hospital soon, for Olivia's sake. Of course, the nurse giving our tour said that the baby knows when it is time and there is usually good reason why they do not come until they are ready.

I know Olivia will be a great mother. She has good examples: Risa (Olivia's Mom), Lois (Olivia's Maternal Grandma), Holly (my Mom), Jean (my maternal Grandma), Marj (my paternal Grandma), Devonie, Michelle, Lindsay, Pat, and all our other friends and relations.

Be thankful for your mom today.

The Importance of Listening and Remembering

Often what I write on this blog is just me blowing off steam and making light of things. Today is not one of those days. Today is a bit more serious. Today is about listening and remembering.

Remember is probably one of the most important words in the English language and most definitely one of the most important in the Book of Mormon. Remembering is so vital to staying true to the faith and honest. One who remembers can reflect on things learned prior to the moment of need. If you remember where you came from and Whose you are, it is easier to live righteously.

Listening is important. Listening is more than just hearing. It is paying attention to what is being communicated. Communication can come from others or from the Holy Ghost. It is important to hear those words and then act on what is being said.

Today I had the opportunity to talk to Grandpa D. I miss him dearly. I grew up with Grandpa. Mom and Dad would drop me off and I would tag along with Grandpa all day. We had frequent trips to Milner, to town and good fishing trips. One of my favorite memories is when we rode the Oregon Trail together, Grandpa driving Freckles and Rainbow and me riding Tiny. What a time. I remember helping him around the house and in his shop. I love that shop and the smells of it.

Our conversation today was different, and I wish I would have said less and listened more. Usually we joke together and laugh a lot. Today, he seemed serious. Today, Grandpa was sharper in his speech than I have heard him in a long time. He asked me if there was anything I wanted to know from an older brain. He told me how much he loves me and that many people love me. He said that I need to stop trying and just do good. He also told me that he expects big things from me. He asked about Olivia and told me to tell her how much she is loved. He also told me that I would need to tell the baby how much he is loved by all of his family. He said he has finally got his head on straight, I told him it was about time, he said it was about time for me to do the same.

I wish I could have talked to him longer. I wish I could be there. I miss my grandpa. I have said this before, but I know that it is true: All that I am I owe to my family. Grandpa has been a huge part of my life. He and I have spent countless hours talking about life and how things are. He taught me how to serve the family and what it means to have good relationships with all the family. He used to tell me when I would depart from his home: "McCord, be a good boy!" I hope I can remember and listen to that advice.

Just in case Law School doesn't work out...

I just fixed our oven. It took me all of 15 minutes. I will remind you that a few months ago I wrote about the oven beeping in the middle of the night and waking me up. Well, I finally got around to fixing the problem. Diagnosis was a bad CPU board. It took me two minutes to order the part and then about thirteen minutes to install it once it showed up. If this was someone else's stove, I would have charged 90 bucks for the service call and 155 for the CPU. Yeah, that is right, in fifteen minutes I would have made 128. I have no shame in this. That could be as much as 512 an hour. That sounds way better than a measly 200 an hour as an attorney... Too bad fixing appliances doesn't pay like that every hour. I would totally drop law and go home to Burley.

In other news finals start on Monday. 8 am is the start time for Constitutional Law. This is going to be fun. Then on Wednesday at 8 the Evidence final. Then I am officially 2/3 of the way to being a J.D. degree holder.

In more important news, Olivia is swelling up and the meat thermometer that was her belly button has popped. I think she is ready for Harrison Walbridge to be on the outside of her body. I am excited to meet him, he sure is a mover, thus far. He can do some crazy moves in a very limited space. It is pretty neat. Remember, the big day is May 15th. However, one of our nurses is pretty sure Olivia will go into labor on the 7th. We shall see. I have already filed a contingency plan with the administrative faculty in case Olivia goes into labor during a final. Luckily, a birth does actually count as an emergency, so if he comes before a final starts, I can delay taking it for a while... However, I would rather be done with this crap sooner than later, by crap I mean law skool.

Well, I am off to bed, hopefully to gain some needed rest.

Twnty For

So, I was up all night writing a paper that was due today and I am writing this without using my backspace. I wasn t to see how good I can tyoe without correcting myself on 1.25 hours of sleep in the last 24 hours.

What I was most amazed is how fast time moves after on e oclock in the norning. I am here to tell you that when the closk struck one I was dragging hind end. However, as the mornig slid from night, I begant to workr with increased efficiency, I was genuienly impressed. The paper is howpefull a leiitel better than thia post. Woe, I have a topugh time operating withoug the delete button.

To update on the fanily, Oilvia is getting some swellling and we found out that she her family has a history of preeclampsia. Hopefully she will not have any problems, but any prayers on her bahalf, well, her and HW. would be greatfully apricieated.

Well , I think this experiemt has been a successes, I have proved that I would not make a good insomniac. Have a good day . I just got stopped in my typeinfg by a comment that my shirt made someone think they should be on vacation. I replied that I feel like I should be on vacation every day.

Tuesday Afternoon

Just a quick thought: I miss working on appliances sometimes. Especially when I think of the fact that I am $50K+ in debt for doing what I am doing. Oh well. One of the things I miss a lot is driving all over Southern Idaho and jamming out to 94.9. In particular, when the Moody Blues song Tuesday Afternoon would play. It made life seem right. I am listening to MB right now, because sometimes I just need to.

How can you not like a song like this:

Tuesday afternoon,
I'm just beginning to see, now I'm on my way
It doesn't matter to me, chasing the clouds away.

Something, calls to me,
The trees are drawing me near, I've got to find out why?
Those gentle voices I hear, explain it all with a sigh.

I'm looking at myself reflections of my mind,
It's just the kind of day to leave myself behind.
So gently swaying through the fairyland of love,
If you'll just come with me you'll see the beauty of

Tuesday afternoon, Tuesday afternoon.

Tuesday, afternoon,
I'm just beginning to see, now I'm on my way.
It doesn't matter to me, chasing the clouds away.
Something, calls to me,
The trees are drawing me near, I've got to find out why?
Those gentle voices I hear, explain it all with a sigh.

Peace out, while I go search for myself...

Happy Easter: Fukatu Sai Omedetou

I still prefer the Japanese name for this day, it means The Day of Resurrection. Regardless of what you believe the day means when you think of Easter, I would hope that people can acknowledge that it is the day when Christ rose from the tomb. That is why I prefer the Day of Resurrection, there is no doubt of the meaning, it does not get lost in candies and stuffed toys. This is the day we celebrate the Lord's overcoming death! He lives! He rose from the tomb! Because He lives, we shall live also. The power of death lost its eternal sting on this day. Christ overcame that: Oh death, where is thy sting? Behold, there is none. We shall all live again! I know this to be true, and I am proud to have this knowledge! I hope all of you have a lovely Day of Resurrection.

In other news: Olivia is officially old enough to do all the things we don't do! Yesterday was her 21st birthday! She and I went to Sangria and had an early dinner and then we returned home and finished watching Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments. You have got to love Heston as Moses!

Also, yesterday the sisters in our ward had a baby shower for Olivia. She got some neat presents and it sounds like they had a great time. Thank you to all who came, Olivia is blessed to have such good sisters in our ward.

"Everybody laughs at Rednecks

until their car breaks down..." I heard that from Larry the Cable Guy, but I would have to say I think he is right. As I am a pretty good Redneck, I would like to point out that when something needs fixed, shot, or roped, I am usually the first man called to the job.

Be prepared to be amazed:

Click here for some interesting news about PETA. This is the kind of stuff I cannot make up! Just goes to show you, everyone kills fuzzy animals, even PETA. Boohyah!!!

The Name Game

So, we are about six weeks from the arrival of our new boy. Crazy! I bought him a .22, called the Chipmunk, it is made by a company in Lewiston, so it is kinda neat. No I won't be giving it to him soon, but the price was right.
We are thinking about using the name Harrison Walbridge Larsen. Harrison is a family name on the Matthews side and Walbridge was Grandma Jean's middle name. I really respected her and think it would be neat to have him carry her name. We are thinking about calling him Bridger, or Wally (my idea, not Olivia's). Tell us what ya'll think. Vote in the poll!
We might also be toying with the name Maxwell Cash, or Clarke or some variant. We will need to see him before we give him a name, but so far H.W.L. is kinda looking like the idea... More to come soon, including belly pictures...

What a day, huh?

Here is the thing: I used to write and publish online whatever was on my mind. Some people like what I say, some don't I really have no problem with that. Most of what I have written has been a slight travelogue with me trying to find meaning to it. If you like what I have to say, feel free to keep reading, but if what I have to say bothers you: DON'T READ IT! I am not out to hack on anybody, I don't really care enough about what people think I think. I am not here to rag on folks and be negative.
The other day something that I said was taken out of context and used to show that I am an intolerant person. I am sorry that they were offended by what I said. However, I would like to quote Brigham Young: "Woe unto the man who takes offense where none is given, for he is a fool. But also woe unto the man who takes offense where it is given, for he is a fool as well."
If you want to keep up with Olivia and me on Facebook, search for Olivia and ask her to be a friend... Also remember that in communication with me (remember communication is the exchange of ideas, this blog is not an exchange this is just me, and sometimes Olivia, blabbering) face to face is best. In fact, I would like to leave this subject with a quote from my father: "Email is a chicken shit way to talk to someone. If you have something to say pick up the phone and call someone or do something novel, like talk to 'em face to face."
Now on to important stuff: Olivia and I are working on getting ready for the baby. We have the car seat, the crib and the stroller. Shopping for baby stuff is interesting to say the least. Everything is so little, but so dadgumm expensive. I wish I could say money is no object, but this kid might just end up sleeping on clean straw... Just kidding, please don't report me to Health and Human Services...
Life has been fun this last month. Tim and Pat (our landlords) have been in St. George, so Olivia and I have been Bentley sitting. She is such a funny dog, she just thinks she is one of the gang. If you are going, she wants to go. If you sit down, she wants to lay at your feet. She loves following me around as I hike all over the place.
Olivia is starting to feel better, other than her back. She is sore and stiff, but I think she is mostly happy. It is pretty neat to feel the baby jump and move around. He gets pretty active when we are going to bed at night. It is nuts to see Olivia's tummy jumping and moving around. It is friggin neat.
I am pretty excited to become a dad. I hope I can be a good one.

FB NO MORE...

I just deactivated my account on Facebook. Some of you who are in Moscow might know why... I think I will stick to blogging, since not everybody knows my address. You will still be able to keep up with Olivia on FB, so feel free to.
More to come on this subject later...

WOW: 2 Years...

Two years ago today I became the husband to the best woman ever. I am pleased to say that this has been the best two years of my life. We have had a lot of crazy experiences, not all easy, but I am so glad that Olivia agreed to marry me. What a wonderful woman.

News of February...

We have been super busy with school and family. Olivia is doing well and staying afloat in her classes and I am keeping my nose above water. School keeps us really busy...
We had to make a quick trip to Burley to say farewell to Grandma Matthews. What a woman. She was Grandma to 79 great-grandkids, 27 grandkids and Mom to 6 kids. She was 91 years young. She taught me how to read and always taught us how to appriciate what we had and to work hard and get an education. I miss her. Her full name was Jean Jordan Walbridge Matthews. I had the opportunity to speak at her funeral. This is an experience I hope I never forget. It has been a long time since I have been that inspired. One of the cool things was being able to read family history notes that Grandma wrote. I am sorry to say, she did not write about me, but she wrote about my siblings (I wasn't born yet). She said Riley, my older brother, was a law unto himself (She nailed that, he really is his own man). Grandma had a neat veiw of the world. Two things she taught me was "It is hell to get old. Don't ever get old." And "Do the best you can with what you have." She would always say that she did the best she could with what she had, reffering to her family. She really did. I have a great family. We are not perfect, but we sure have a good time. As I write this, I am a little teary eyed, which is not normal for me, at least it wasn't until I went to Japan. It is amazing what you can learn from learning to love other people. I just want to let all those who read this that Grandma was one of the most important women in my life. All that I am I owe to those I love. I love Grandma.
Olivia's belly is growing. The baby is the cause of this growth. It is pretty cool. Last night he had the hiccups and her belly would move. It was just neat. I am pretty stoked to be a pappa. We will post a poll/list of names we are considering. One of my new favorite hobbies is making names. Olivia gets a tad annoyed because every couple days I come home with a new one... Oh well, what can I say, I have named all sorts of things, steers, horses, dogs and even vehicles, but I have never given a name to something that I thin will out last me...
Well, I hope wherever you are and whoever you are, all is well in your world. Just remember to say "I love you" to everyone you should. You never know when that chance won't be there.

It has been a while...

We haven't updated the blog for a while, so I think we will take a minute to do so now.
We had a pretty good time on the trip home, lots of family time, work and a little play. My favorite part was getting to ride Forrest, the horse that I broke the first summer of our marriage. He is coming along nicely and hopefully will be ready to rope when we leave Hippieville. Another fun thing we did was watch Sarah, Olivia's younger sister, who is 6'3", play a basketball game. What a hoot! She kinda towers over the other players. If that girl gets too good she will have colleges knocking down the door by the time she is a junior!
As of today, we have been in classes for almost two weeks. Time flies everywhere but in the classroom. I swear it feels like all we do is travel back and forth to school... Oh well. Olivia has some fun classes (at least I think they sound a whole lot more fun that Law School), one of which is Japanese History. I get a kick out of some of the things she hears and is learning. My classes are going to be a bit of busy work in three, the other two I will struggle to stay awake for... Lecture classes pretty much bite the big one, but who am I to tell the school what to do?
Work has been fun. I am trying to talk Charles into changing the sign to read "Congratulations Mr. President: Gun Salesman of the Year." I don't know if he'll do it, but it sure would be a hoot.
Olivia is feeling a bit tired and her tummy is expanding. The other day I felt The Boy move. it was pretty freaking neat.
I am going to see if Olivia has anything to add, surely she will have something... I am getting the "Maybe later" look from her... So this will do for now...

IT'S A.....

BOY!!!! Yahoo! More news to come later...

Happy Chirstmas Adam!

This greeting comes from an old tradition that a few friends of mine had. We used to get together at Howel's Opera House and play games on the 23rd of December, Christmas Adam. You know, Adam came before Eve...
Anyhow, as you can tell from the time of this post, I cannot sleep. It is 2:30 in the morning. Sometimes this kind of thing is frustrating, but I have learned to deal with it.
These last few days have been hectic. Last week I had three finals (two of which were absolutely crazy difficult) and Olivia had all of her finals. To say the stress level in our normally easy-going home was high is almost an understatement. We are very thankful to those of our friends who were so kind to put up with us without trying to kill us. Luckily, finals are over for another semester and we can put them behind us, well, at least till the grades are published. The neat thing about this semester is I have officially reached the halfway mark in one of the most foolish endeavors I have sought to undertake: Law Skool. Okay, I will admit, this is not the craziest thing I have ever done, but this is definitely the most difficult, that is coming from a kid who learned Japanese without any prior foreign language training! What keeps me going? The answer to that is easy, a wonderful wife. Sometimes when I was single I would wonder why I was having such a difficult time finding a wife. The answer to that question is easy: she was still growing up and being prepared by the Lord to take on the task of becoming my wife. I love her with all my heart, and that love just keeps getting better every day. She is such a good wife. She not only puts up with all my crap, but she encourages me in what I am doing. She believes in me.
(Paron me while I un-plug the stove... More on that later...) We have survived a lot through our first (almost two years of marriage): our first apartment, our second apartment, moving to Moscow, the first year of Law School, a summer full of way too much roping, our reception and the worst first night of marriage, and being away from all our family way too long.
We are now getting ready to be parents, and I am not kidding when I say: I can't wait. I don't care if we have a girl or a boy, I just want a healthy baby. Olivia will be a great mother, she has learned a lot from her mom and grandma. She watches sisters in our wards, our friends and other moms and she pays attention. I know she is more than qualified to take this new job. Me? Well, I do not know, I don't think I am the best candidate for Fatherhood, but with such a great wife, it will be hard to really mess this up. I just hope or children can be patient with thier dad. I am sure I will have shortcomings, but I will do my best...
Now, back to the stove comment: our stove's control board is going out and it beeps randomly throughout the day/night. It is really annoying. I get annoyed enough that I unplug it and put power to it only when I need to use it. I might fix it, but it may take a while... Repair man's famous last words...
I hope all of you have a lovely Christmas and New Years. Enjoy Chirstmas Adam, gather some friends around and have some fun. God bless all of you, and may peace fill your life at this time.