May 2, 2010
Easter was fun with Vayden. She really liked finding and opening eggs. Lori is doing much better with her back. She is going to the gym about 3 to 4 times a week and getting stronger. Lori works out with a trainer. His name is Jon and he is a nice guy. Lori went to a Jeans party. It is like a Tupperware or Pampered Chef party only they have women’s jeans. Christian went to his first baby shower with Lori. It was at a Mexican food restaurant. Lori and Christian went shopping together the day before and Lori bought him a vest that he wanted so he could wear it to the shower. Christian wants to wear it to school. Lori thinks it is fine, Karl is concerned. It has been a long time since Karl has been in elementary school, but back in his day any kid who wore a vest might as well have just worn a sign that says “Beat me up. I am strange.”Very Vayden
We got Vayden a little kitchen set to play with. She loves it. We also made her a house out of the box it came in. We had fun putting her kitchen together. She is a funny critter. She is developing into quite the princess. She can’t stand sand in her shoes when she goes to the park. Every time we go outside she asks for her sun glasses, which she calls “eyes’. Her sensitive little vampire eyes can’t stand the sun. She has been playing more in the backyard 
these days. Her favorite movie is Ice Age – Dawn of the Dinosaurs. It is very entertaining to watch her watch this movie. After a year and a half, she has finally given her monkey a name. His name is George, which she pronounces “Hoege.” She has learned that she can get just about anything with her cute little smile and the word, “Peease” which is how she says ‘please’.
Completely Christian
Christian signed up for football again. He will remain a Badger even though his team and his coach have both moved up a division. He is excited about this fall. He really likes football.
Christian competed in his second triathlon and came home with a first place medal again. We might have to start taking his triathlon career seriously now.Christian recently completed a science project that measured athletic performance with water vs. sports drinks.
Man Vs. Doughnut. Man won!
Sooooo Shelby
All AlyssaHAPPY BIRTHDAY ALYSSA!
Being Brittney
Brittney is getting ready get an apartment with her friend Marla.
Really Roxy
Roxy now chases imaginary cats on our back wall. She has become quite fixated on the subject. She sometimes sleeps outside many times so as not to miss an opportunity. When there are no opportunities she seems to create them in her mind. Karl was telling Christian that Roxy is mental. Christian became quite concerned and asked if we were going to have to take Roxy to therapy. We think that Roxy’s herding instinct makes her want to have a task to work on, so she has created one for herself in the cat obsession.
Family Stories
Lori’s Desk
Lori rightly decided that she deserves her own space instead of always doing bills on the couch with her lab top. So Lori went to Karl and asked if she could get her own desk. After a lot of searching Lori and Karl found a beautiful desk for Lori and cleared out a space in Karl’s office for it. Now Karl is a little bit jealous now because Lori’s desk is much nicer than his. Karl’s desk is actually the kitchen table he had in his old apartment. Getting that desk in the office is the story.
While Lori was at work on a Saturday and Christian was at an all day scout jamboree, Karl left Vayden with a babysitter to go to north Phoenix to get the desk from the warehouse. Karl used the truck to go get the desk, which is why he couldn’t take Vayden. The box the desk came in was about 4 feet wide and 4 tall. It was about 7 feet long. The thing must have weighed about a thousand pounds. After Karl got home Vayden went down for her nap and Karl wanted to get the desk set up for Lori. After about 45 minutes of planning and a series of rolling contraptions Karl had managed to get the box out of the truck and to the foot of the staircase. This was a no small accomplishment in itself. Karl was so proud of himself being able to get it this far that he wanted to figure out a way to get it up the stairs too. After two and half hours of failed attempts using straps, rolling devices and all sorts of other ideas Karl had to admit failure. Karl tried to call around and find someone to come over and help him but he could not find anyone.
Christian came home and now with a little helper Karl decided to try again. The problem was that when trying to push the box up the stairs the front would catch on the lip of a stair and prevent forward progress. The front had to be lifted about a half an inch to clear the stair. The box was as wide as the entire staircase, so it was impossible to work a corner past the catching stair. The whole box had to clear the stair. The solution: Christian stood at the top of the box with a strong maple 1X4 that he would use to leverage the front up a half an inch as Karl pushed form below. Each stair was like an extreme dead lift + extreme bench press for Karl which had to be synchronized perfectly with Christian’s leverage. Karl and Christian were a great team as they worked each individual stair. Christian was a little scared by the sounds that were coming out of his Dad as he pushed the monstrous box up each stair, but the plan was working. There are 16 lifts on that stair case. The plan developed a serious problem at about the twelve stair. Muscle fatigue began to set in followed by muscle failure. Karl suddenly realized a dangerous flaw in the plan. Without his body pushing against the box, it would slide all the way back down the stairs and certainly destroy the wall below after it did some serious crushing damage to Karl’s body. There is that moment when you realize you have done something stupid and the fear sets. The fear of being crushed released substantial quantities of adrenaline into Karl’s blood stream. The release of adrenaline along with a quick prayer and some help from above allowed Karl to clear the last few stairs. Christian’s eyes were now wide with shock. He had never heard anything like the primeval roars that emanated from below the box. Just to give you an idea of the strain, a blood vessel in Karl’s arm actually burst under the skin during the final pushing. We wish you could see the size and weight of the beast that Karl and Christian managed to get up 16 stairs.
Swimming Hazards
Karl has been competing in various triathlons and related events. Once of the events he has been getting ready for is swimming Alcatraz later this month in San Francisco. 
To prepare for this challenge both physically and mentally Karl has been doing long distance open water swimming competitions. Karl wanted to get some experience swimming in water that is both cold and rough. He also needed experience swimming in the dog eat dog soup of tangled bodies that goes along with open water swimming, not to mention getting some experience swimming with a wetsuit. Karl has done well in several events but recently learned a valuable open water lesson.
The race was 1.2 miles in Saguaro Lake. The water temperature was about 66 degrees. Alcatraz will be about 57 degrees. The choppy water, hundreds of bodies and inability to swim straight make open water swimming much more difficult than what Karl is used to. For the last half of the race, Karl practiced a technique that many triathlons swimmers use which is called drafting. Basically you swim right behind someone else and let them break the waves and water which saves the drafter energy. Karl found a guy who had a great pace and was an excellent navigator. Karl struggles with navigation. Visibility in the lake is about as far as you can reach your hand.
Karl’s plan was to draft until the last 300 yards and then let his sprint background go to work. Karl was drafting behind the 5th placed swimmer and felt he could pass the next two swimmers in the last 300 hundred yards and medal for the first time. As the finish approached, Karl swung right to pass the swimmers ahead of him and within reach. Karl however forgot that this was an open water race and did what he done for years in the pool, which is an all out head down sprint. The plan was working and he passed two swimmers and was catching a third when he was reminded what kind of race he was competing in. During his last sprint Karl had swung right to pass, but forgot to correct course. Towards the finish and protecting the entire swimming area, there are cement pylons they have been permanently posted on the lake as a warning to boaters protecting the swimming area. Karl caught the very last pylon with his right hand. The blow stopped him mid-stroke. Karl looked up at his hand and immediately knew that what he saw wasn’t a good thing. Meanwhile 3rd place slipped away. Karl finished the last 100 yards with a handicap. Luckily the cold water had numbed his hands a bit.
Late Edition Entry: We found out later that Karl actually got 1st place. There were several distances and divisions going on at the same time. None of the swimmers in front of Karl were actually competing in the 1.2 mile swim. In the end there was no need to sprint. 2nd place was almost 5 minutes behind Karl. Karl's first medal in 23 years, and he wasn't there to recieve it. 
Note from the Editors
Be sure to check out the Volume 38 Photo Addendums.
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