Singles How Down

The last weekend of April the singles had a Hoe Down to kick off the summer. We had it all. A barbaque, square dancing, and we even dressed up in western attire. Take a look at a few of the pictures. If I knew how I would upload the video that was taken of us square dancing but I don't know how, sorry about that!!

The Yoder Boys

Here is a new picture of the Yoder boys. Everyone is doing well. All of Christian's check-ups so far have been very good and all is well. Praise the Lord for his goodness to the Yoder family in protecting their newest addition.

It is still hard to get Christian to look at the camera!!

The Harvey Twins

I went to visit Stephanie and the girls last week. Here are a few pictures that I took while I was there.



Reagan taking a snooze!!

Kieran being a stinker already!!

I didn't take this one but Steph sent it to me and I think it is great. They start off apart but have figured out how to get together to snuggle whiel they sleep.

Visit to the Zoo

Kelsey and I took the boys to the zoo a couple weekends ago. It was a fun time but it was raining so we had to stay inside the whole time. I am looking forward to a time when I can take them again when it isn't raining.



The Snow Leopard was fascinated with Uri and vice versa!!

A Weekend Getaway to the Country

This weekend I went down to Welcome, MN with Lydia, Amber and Andrea. We had a blast. We were down there to visit Curt, Sarah, and Megan Gwin. I have known GreenBean, as I affectionately call her, since my freshmen year of college. We had a blast down there in the country. It was so refreshing to not see traffic backed up, this weekend they closed 2 of the major highways in the cities. I also enjoyed my time with Curt, Sarah and Megan. She is adorable. Here are a few pictures. I will probably put more on especially of me on the tractor.

More Pictures of the New Baby

I was finally able to get some new pictures of Christian when I was over there for Easter. Here you go.

Awesome Pictures

I have a friend who is in school working on photography. I had the privilege to be a model for her. She did an awesome job. Here are three of the pictures she has posted on her blog. I just can't believe how awesome they are.

The Twins were Born

On Saturday, April 1st my co-worker had her twin girls. They are 7 weeks premature but doing wonderful. Reagan Amelia was born first weighing 3 lbs 9oz. She is currently weighing in at 3 lbs 13 oz. While Reagan was in the womb she had her bigger but little sister pinned in a headlock. I am sure she is going to give her parents a hard time.

Reagan the day after she was born.

Reagan 5 days after she was born.

Kieran Olivia was born second. She is the little bigger sister. She weighed 4lbs 5 oz when she was born. Kieran will probably be able to go home sooner than Reagan because she is eating really well and making tons of progress. It doesn't hurt that she is a pound larger than her older sister!

Kieran the day after she was born.

Kieran 5 days after she was born.

Mom and babies are doing well. I will be adding more pictures as they come to me. Continue to pray for their speedy release from the hospital.

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!!