Night On the Town

On April 1st we finally had a birthday celebration for myself, Amber and Andrea. It has been so busy with us here at church that we never had the chance to celebrate. We decided to head to a place in downtown Minneapolis called The Times Bar and Cafe. It was an enjoyable evening with a live Jazz band. Here are a few pictures of our fun time. I never did get a chnace for a group picture so you will have to settle for some individual ones.

Andrea in her new outfit for the occasion!

Amber and her new outfit too!

They had a very good cheesecake.

So good I had to take a picture.

Jodi and Andrea. Jodi foudn this dress at JC

Penny for $1.77. She is the queen of bargains!

My roommate Amy..looking cute as always.

Lewis and Ivan...not sure if they want to tackle the dance floor.

Lewis and Jodi trying out the dance floor.

Baby Number Three Has Arrived

Christian James Yoder was born today, Monday, April 3rd at 11:20am. He weighs in at 8lbs 6oz and was 20.5 inches long. He is doing really well and is quite as a button. But you can see for yourself, I am going to try and take better pictures tomorrow and will update if I get more.

Uri and Christian. What a good big brother!

The guys...Natanya is definetely out numbered!!

Levi and Christian...He is going to be a good helper.

Weight Loss Progress Report

Things are going well since the last report. I have lost 80 pounds since September 25th, that was the day I started my liquid diet. I am 52 pounds from my goal weight. I hope to reach this weight by August. It will be the first time my parents have seen me in person since before my surgery. I have one prayer request. Please pray that I continue to work on emotional eating. I am doing better but know that if not in constant prayer I could slip at any time. The exercising as well as the protein intake are still going well. Thank you for your prayers and words of encouragement. They are much appreciated.

New Addition to the Family Already

Here is another email sent out by the Wilkinson's.

Hello Friends,

Yesterday morning Sean left our home. He has been with us for five months and his cheerful chatter and happy little personality are missed tremendously.

While we were sending Sean off, we received a call to take in another baby in need. We are calling this 2-month old, little red-headed treasure, Hazel. (I know, I know, someone you know who's very old is named Hazel) She's healthy, but not so happy - - we're working on that! And so, once again we've boarded another God-directed emotional roller-coaster - hang on for the ride. . .

Attached is a picture of our family right before Sean left, and another of the new addition, and one more of the current "baby burritos".

God bless,
Dennis, Mistin, Sierra & Hazel

Goodbye to Sean

Here is an email I received from Dennis and Mistin, Sean's foster parents.

We have loved him these last five months. We prayed and dreamed and hoped to adopt him, but God in his sovereign wisdom has seen fit to let him go away from our home. He will be leaving us on Thursday morning.

Please pray that God in his mercy would preserve Sean from the negative influences of the world that he will now be exposed to. Pray for his salvation. Pray for us too, we have grown to dearly love Sean and our hearts are very heavy right now.

Thank you for your prayers,

Dennis & Mistin (& Baby Sierra)

Please continue to uphold them in prayer.

Outings with Ms. Georgia

There have been big developments with the Yoder boys. A few weeks ago they spent the night in preparation of the BIG Day when their new sibling would arrive. That went fairly well. Levi and I disagreed on the music that should be listening to while trying to sleep. Needless to say when I still hadn't fallen asleep at 3am I decided I was going to listen to the music I needed to in order to keep some sleep. Uri also decided he was going to get up at 7am that morning instead of the 8am that his mom said he should wake up. All in all in was a great time. Every time I see Levi he asks if he can come over to my house. Actually he sys, "Ms. Georgie's house" with longing in his eyes. I try to oblige as much as possible.

Here are some pictures of a few of our outings. I don't know if I will ever be able to live up to the first outing when we went to the aquarium at the Mall of America. Every time I go to pick them up they ask for the big fish. Hopefully this summer we will go to a few different zoos.

This picture is a miracle. In Uri's short
lifetime I have only been able to take
two pictures of him smiling. On this day
alone I have two.

We also went out last Friday night to take some pictures. I didn't have much success. But here are a few that turned out okay of Levi.



And then there are Uri's pictures. You can tell he clearly doesn't care that I am trying to get a nice picture for his mom and dad. He just does his own thing. But in this one Levi is doing the same thing.



I quickly scraped the idea of trying to get some nice pictures that night. It was a fun time however. I did get great video of some of our favorite games.

Urgent Prayer Request

Yesterday I found out that Sean, one of the foster children that lives above me will be leaving next week. The state made his parents decide what they were going to do with him yesterday. His father has decided to take him. I know that many of you might think that is great. Which it probably is. It is just hard to see Mistin and Dennis hurt again losing another child. We were all sure they were going to get to adopt him. Please pray for the following:

1. God would give Mistin and Dennis a great peace.
2. Sean would grow up to become a great man of God.
3. Sean's dad might change his mind and see the good in allowing Dennis and Mistin to rise his child.
4. All of us who know Sean will also be comforted and continue to uphold him in prayer.

Keeping in Touch

It has been exciting to see how many people I have lost contact with stumble across my blog because of someone else they knew. I woudl really liek to keep in contact with all of you. When you post a comment could you please leave your email address. If you are hesitant about leaving your email address out there online please email me at gbryant@express-scripts.com I do get your comments but then I can't get back in touch with you.

I would love to hear from the following people who have posted comments recently: Katie, Pam, and Christina. I can't believe you guys thought I wouldn't remember you...especially you Christina. How could I forget about you when I made you bleed playing floor hockey in gym class or all of our education classes together.

Elizabeth Heath is Getting Hitched

So many of you know my cousin from Northland. She has taken the big blunge and is getting married August 12th. I am super excited for her and I can't wait to meet him at the wedding. Don't they look adorable in their matching pink shirts!! Beth I am extremely happy for you.

I had a request for details. I don't know much. His name is Brad Schubert. He is a twin. They met at Bob Jones. He is from Illinois and he went home one time and brought Beth for a surprise visit to see. I don't know if it was love at first sight then or not. I don't think so. They are both graduating in May. He wants to be a youth pastor and he is going to grad school at Bob Jones in September. That is all I know. Here is her email if you would like to contact her: Eheath@bju.edu

Weight Loss Progress

Man o man has it been nuts here in Minnesotta!! I have had a crazy busy month since the last update and I don't really think anything is going to slow down in the near future. I am feeling wonderful. I have not been sick at all this past month and my energy level has been up. I think I am back to normal, as normal as I could be with my family background that is!

You will notice that in the picture below my hair has been cut very short. I had to do this because it was falling out in large quantites all day long. It still falls out in the shower but since I mouse it in the morning it doesn't fall out all day. I actually really like this hair cut. I have never been able to have a short haircut because my face was too round.

I have three prayer requests for this next month:

1. I would make time in my super busy and always getting busier schedule to exercise. I haven't done it in a week now and that is not good.

2. The shampoo I got to thicken my hair would work and it would stop falling out soon.

3. Now that I can eat normally for me that is, I am struggling with the same things that made me overweight. Pray that I will only eat when hungry and I will not use food to mask any other problems/emotions.

Finally, the grand total since September 25th: 73.6 pounds I am 58.4 pounds away from my goal weight. Please pray that I continue to do well.

Natanya and I went to see Little Women for my birhtday. I even put on make-up for this.

Fun with the Guys

On Saturday I had my first overnight with Levi and Uri. This adventure was in preparation for the new baby. I might be taking them for a few days when the new little one is born. Here are a few pictures I took on Sunday morning before church.



This one is my favorite!!

Underwater Adventures

On Friday night I took Kelsey, Levi, and Uri to Underwater Adventures in the Mall of America. Kelsey was a big help. If she wouldn't have come along the boys would have spent the evening in the double stroller. As soon as I would let one out he would take off to the next exciting "fisshh" to see. Here are a few pictures from our adventures.

It is really hard to get Uri to look at the camera.

I snuck this one in that is why it actually turned out.

Levi is not camera shy at all!!!

Aren't they adorbale??

Precious Bundles

Here are some new pictures of Sierra and Sean. We had a blast hanging out at my house last night.

Sierra: "Just one more push-up! I know I can do it!!"

Sean: "I am bored with this place."

Sean: "Well, okay if you must take my picture!"

Sean and Sierra: "Aren't you finished yet!!!"

Party in St. Louis Park

Last night Lydia had a bunch of girls over to the house. We had a blast!!! Here are a few pictures from our party!!

Driver's License on the Internet

This is upsetting, thought I should pass it along. Check your drivers license... Now you can see anyone's Driver's License on the Internet, including your own! I just searched for mine and there it was...picture and all! Thanks Homeland Security! Privacy, where is our right to it? I definitely removed mine, I suggest you all do the same.....Go to the website and check it out. Just enter your name, city and state to see if yours is on file. After your license comes on the screen, click the box marked "Please Remove". This will remove it from public viewing, but not from law enforcement.


PS: The internet is good, but it sometime reveals to much private information. My license was on there. You can delete it though.


http://www.license.shorturl.com/

Clarifications on the “End of the Spear” Article | Jason Janz

This will be my last posting on this subject. Yesterday I posted a link to an article by Randy Alcorn. Jason Janz posted a response on sharper iron yesterday. I think it's only fair to include his article of apology as well. Please take the time to read this article as well.

http://www.sharperiron.org/showthread.php?t=2368

End of the Spear

There has been much controversy over this movie and many postings have been made. I too previously had a posting written by Jason Janz. Please forgive me for not checking Jason's resources before I posted this information on my blog. I have come across an article written by Randy Alcron.

Here is the link to the article: http://www.epm.org/articles/end_spear_response.html#top

Here is a link where Mart Green and Steve Saint Offer Answers:

http://www.epm.org/articles/end_spear_chad_allen.html

Please feel free to forward this information to anyone you have heard talk about this subject. Let's put an end to these falsehoods quickly spreading on the internet and let truth reign.

Cheerios Contest

I have a very good friend who for grins and giggles entered a Cheerios contest. You might know the current commerical with the people siging Karoke style to the Cherrios song. Well this is what she did along with three other friends. Please visit this link and vote for Group # 2.

www.cheerioscontest.com


Thank you for helping out a fellow sister in Christ.

Weight Loss Progress

It has been crazy at work so I have not had any time to do any updates. Life has been crazy in general so picture taking has been lacking as well. There were four things that I have requested prayer for. In my last update two of those had been answered. Now they all have been answered. Thank you for your prayers.

1. I am able to drink more liquids-answered
2. I can get more protein in my limited diet- answered...Beef Jerky is the best; 15 grams of protein in 1 ounce
3. I will be able to eat more-answered
4. I will have the energy to exercise- answered...I have joined the YMCA again and go at least four times a week. Yesterday I ran a 9 min 20 second mile.


I have been feeling great the last two weeks. I am eating the normal amount of food that I am suppose to. I have been able to have small amounts of sweets which I haven't decided if that is a good thing or not. All in all I am doing great. So the moment many people have been waiting for....I have lost a grand total of 67.4 pounds as of last Sunday morning. Thank you to those of you who have been praying for me. Please continue to pray that I will stay active in my YMCA membership.

Me last week at my training class's graduation.

Christmas Delights

This year Christmas was a little weird. It is the first time I have ever been away from my parents in my short 25 years. I spent Christmas Eve with my sister and she made wonderful lasagna. Then Christmas morning we called our parents and opened presents together over the phone. After that we headed our separate ways. I went to church and then to Natanya and David's. Lydia went work and then had a surf and turf supper with her boyfriend.

I did get great video footage of Lydia in her robe from my mom, but I don't know how to get it on the internet or I would. Here are a few pictures of my time at the Yoder house.

Uri and Levi in their new Christmas sweaters. Natanya made them by hand. I am super impressed.

I still don't think Uri fully understands opening presents yet!!

Levi however fully understands. He is opening what he thinks is a guitar...it is the right size for him but it is a yuke. I think this is his favorite gift of all. It was a last minute idea and I searched three stores on Christmas Eve to find the perfect guitar. It was worth the long search when I saw his face after he opened it.

This isn't the best picture in the world but we are all three looking at the camera and that is a rare feat.