Hi Keith,

How are you fairing? I’ll bet you are enjoying the peace and quiet. I am glad the kids are home, but truthfully, haven’t seen much of them, as they are making up for loss time with their friends. I wanted you to know that they had a fabulous summer, as you promised. And they look fantastic. They both got on my scale Sunday morning when they got home, and Jacob had lost 40 pounds, Jacqui lost 34. Imagine?? Plus Jacob has grown 2 inches since the middle of May, so the weight looks that much more dramatic. He really looks wonderful. And the self confidence seems higher also, although is really wasn’t a great problem for him. He was always comfortable with his size, but now he almost struts. :o)

Jacqui was starting to feel the negativity of being overweight, not from other people, just within herself. She was getting into a slum at school, and I had to attribute that to her lacking self esteem. She is tickled to just be able to buy herself jeans in the popular stores all the teens shop at. She used to be limited to sweatshirts, shirts and shoes, and then struggle to find pants that were cool enough. I am sure this is not foreign to you.

There is a lot to be done yet, and we are going tomorrow to check out two local gyms. There is no way they can keep up with the level of exercise they were getting at camp, but we need to do something on a regular basis. The whole family if joining. I hope they will keep up the good work, and not fall back into bad habits. The whole objective for me is to get them healthy, not skinny. And I am a pretty bad example unfortunately.

I hope that you can manage to get the kids together throughout the year, as maybe that will keep them motivated and in check!! Again I offer my services if you need any help in that department. They made some really awesome friendships in that short amount of time. Jacqui cried for a good hour of our ride home. And both of them had little crushes/romances as well.

Pam Dionne