Rose and Don

 

 Rose, Don, Noah, and Eli at Holiday Junction

 

 

Going to visit Rose and Don was such a blessing for our whole family.  Noah and Eli, especially Eli have been asking for them ever since we moved.  Eli has been particularly funny.  I will ask him, what's your name?  E: No response Me: Is it Eli?  E: Shakes his head no with the orneriest grin, "No, Don."  This little boy LOVES Don!  So, cute!  Rose and Don are very special to us because they were the closest family we had while living in Hidden Valley.  They would watch the boys when we went out on date nights, come over for movie nights as a family, have a campfires with us, you name it!  We miss them as much as they miss us.  It was exciting being on vacation at their house!  We were able to do most of our our Cincinnati Holiday traditions including, Festival of Lights at the Zoo and Holiday Junction at the Museum Center.  Festival of Lights was absolutely magnificent this year.  The weather was warm and the lights were beautiful.  We typically follow the outside loop of the zoo and get back to our car asap because we are freezing.  This year, we were able to see the whole zoo!  What a treat!  And, I didn't have to keep track of mittens!!

 

  Holiday Junction is always such a treat, who doesn't like trains?  Once, we could pry them away from the train table we were able to have our special Christmas tradition together.  Keith went to UC, so of course he is a Bearcats fan.  Rose is a professor and works on the athletes in the training room as a physical therapist at UC, so now we are all Bearcat fans.  Check out the latest Bearcat apparel the Steineman boys are sporting.  They love it and they are pretty darling, if I do say so myself!

 

I have to admit, traveling one time for the holidays was so awesome this year.  Rose and Don mean so much to me, words can't even describe it.  They love our boys the way we love our boys and they have a special way of being there exactly when you need them.  I am so blessed to have extended family that loves me as much as my family does!

Naturally, Mom

Keith's 180 Turnaround

January 2010

 

I don't talk about this much.  My struggle with weight that is.  I've struggled most of my adult life.  I would lose weight, fall off my plan, regain the weight...plus some more.  And the cycle would continue.  Guys are supposed to lose weight easier than woman, right?  I don't know what happened to my metabolism; I don't think we ever met.  Before I knew it, I was on the obese category of the BMI chart and my cholesterol was borderline high.  If I didn't find a solution, the next step would be cholesterol medication and who knows what else.  About a year or so after finding out my cholesterol was slightly over 200, my wife started talking about this Shaklee stuff.  She wanted to use the cleaners, take some vitamins.....and start a business, ugh!  So, of course, I was supportive because this was really important to her.  I watched her research for a couple months before she would even start using the products on our family.  ...I just watched football through all this.  Then, our Gold Pak came and these smoothie mixes were included to try.  It was in the house and it was food, so I tried it.  The rest is history.

I went from a size 42 to 38 in about 100 days.  I've lost about 60lbs and have lost track of how many inches have fallen off.  Believe it or not, that is the most important part about my Shaklee 180 Turnaround, the inches.  Sometimes the scale wouldn't change however I kept decreasing my pant size!  I'm not good with all the details, but I do know this.  The Shaklee scientists have it figured out for us to maintain 100% muscle mass.  And, they have a Pure Performance Team of 26 Olympic Athletes.  The athletes even use 180 to keep their lean muscle while working out and competing.  Now, that is cool to me!  Four of the women on the 2012 Olympic rowing team chose to use Shaklee because they were looking for products that they could trust.  I do know this, Shaklee is the number one natural nutrition company in the United States and they perform more tests than any other company Laura researched and they process their products in a special way, to keep nature in balance.  The smoothies I use are water washed where most companies acid wash or alcohol wash the protein.  It is awesome how using what God has given us in nature to prevent disease and illness.  Oh, and my cholesterol, it went down to 140 at my last physical!!  Plus, I was getting all kinds of comments like don't lose anymore weight, or you'll blow away in the wind.  I am so glad my wife decided to start a business because then we got the Gold Pak.  I wouldn't have tried Shaklee 180 had it not come in the Pak because I would have just thought it was another dieting gimmick. 

March 2012

My why was a really big why.  I needed to lose weight for my beautiful wife; I want to grow old with her.  And, I want to see my two sweet boys graduate, get jobs, get married, basically see them do whatever they what to accomplish!  In additon to the emotional and physical benefits, I find the spiritual benefits are equally amazing because I am taking care of the holy temple that God gave me, my body.  Who do you need to stay healthy for?

Naturally,

Dad

Our Happily Ever After After ~ October 2012

Moving

Naturally Mom and Dad is our family's journey.  Our journey of faith, health, family, and love.  Enjoy our blog from "mom's perspective" and "dad's perspective"

Currently we are moving into our new home.  No wonder moving is rated high on most stress level indicators!  This has been both a faith filled experience along with many hair pulling moments.  We had put our home on the market in July of 2010....and it sold in August of 2012....yes you did the math right, that is 2 years!

As I am unpacking, my brain is so overwhelmed by all the work ahead.  However, something has changed in me over the past year that helps lift me out of the negative thoughts of more work than time.  I've learned to dream again.  My thoughts start going towards all the things I want to accomplish as I empty each box.  And, before I know it, the boxes are almost all recycled! 

Thanksgiving is a few days and my list of Thankful is so long this year.
A God who guides me and shapes my life exactly the way it should be.
A husband who is so loving, supportive and an awesome Daddy!
2 beautiful, sweet little boys who are anxiously waiting for ho, ho, ho to come!
A wonderful set a parents who housed my family for 3 months helped us move and so such more!
A wonderful set of in-laws who are so helpful and caring.  It was amazing how fast all the walls had 2 coats of paint with their hard work!
Great family and friends who have helped us in more ways than I can count.
The ability to dream again!!!

Naturally,

Mom