Pastor Riley Passes on to Glory

Hi friends and family,
We are kind of in shock right now because our dear pastor Robert Riley, who has served as pastor of Southview Baptist Church here in Richfield, MN for thirty years, passed away last night. We are all grieving his sudden death. He was only in his early sixties and was a healthy guy, so his passing was a shocking surprise to us.

Please be in prayer especially for his wife and four children during this difficult time. Even though it's really hard to deal with his dying, we are thankful that Pastor Riley knew Jesus Christ as his personal Savior and that he is now in heaven with his Lord. We praise the Lord as well for the grace He is displaying in the lives of Pastor's family as they work through this time of grieving. We're not grieving for Pastor, because he is in an infinitely better place with God, but for those who were close to him who now miss very much his presence.

Please pray too for his friends and for the church here as we will have to be making some important and difficult decisions in the very near future. Pray that we, and especially the church leadership, will know God's will for these decisions. The funeral will be on Saturday at 1pm at Fourth Baptist Church in Plymouth, MN.

We've talked to many of you and will most likely talk to more, but thank you in advance for your prayers...it's so good that God's people can support each other even from across country through prayer. It really is a blessing for us to know that so many are praying and I'm sure it is for the family as well.

Here are a couple of photos of Pastor Riley from our couple of years with him here at the church...

Janae Came to Meet Megan!

What a blessing it was to have one of my best friends Janae stop through Minneapolis on a layover (on her way home to Denver)!! Even with just a couple of hours together, we were able to catch up quite a bit and she got to meet Megan for the first time. God is so gracious to give us Christian friends to uplift and encourage each other. Janae always said in college that we'd be friends forever! (Thanks so much for keeping up with us and taking time to spend with us Janae!!)

HAPPY 9 MONTH "BIRTHDAY"

Meg is nine months old today!

Tiffany and I are again so grateful to our God for the inestimable blessing that Megan is. That God saw fit to trust a little life into our care is amazing and a little bit scary (Hey! I see you all nodding your heads right now. Don't agree with me so fast that it's a frightening thing that I am a Dad!) but it is a great rush too. =D We love her more than we ever thought possible.

Please keep praying for us as parents, that we will raise Megan well and that we will be good, Godly parents. Wow do we need wisdom (especially with those adolescent years on the horizon...Ok, we have a little while yet). Good thing God promises to give it liberally to those who ask. Keep Megan in your prayers too as she grows up. I know that so many of you are faithfully praying for us, so thank-you from the bottom of our hearts.

By the way, if you haven't noticed, we added an age ticker thing to the top of our blog so you can easily follow Meg's progress through her first year of life. =)

Till next time,
farewell from Rob and Tiff and Meg up here in Minnesnowta!

Megan in the Morning

Thought you all might enjoy seeing photos of Megan as she gets ready for her day. We thought these were really cute (especially the toothbrush ones) and had to share them.

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Can you say Bad Hair Day!!! Even Babies get them, but somehow they are cute when their hair's a wreck, unlike us adults. =P

Meg decided she wanted to be like Daddy and Mommy and brush her teeth!!

I'm glad she enjoys it...maybe since we're starting her this early we won't have any trouble with her teeth down the road!? yeah right.

Now it's meal time...a bit of some gooky baby food after she ate her Cheerios

Now she just wants out so she can crawl around a play!!

Before Tiff could finish dressing her, Meg excaped into the kitchen!! She is so fast getting around now...it's so fun to watch her develop physically.

Here she is all set to go...fed, clothed and in her right mind (I hope, although with babies, you never know what is goign on in their little head...what mischief might they be planning!?)

Storytime with Daddy

We took a trip to the library recently and picked up some new books for Megan. She is really beginning to pay attention to the pictures and listen to the words now!! (She used to just try to grab and eat the book). So this was a special time for Daddy and Meg.

Making Breakfast with Mommy

1. Today we are going to make waffles (I bet if I look hard enough, I'll find leftovers on the floor later)!!
2. Being in the kitchen is a TON of fun!!!
3. HAHA! I even convinced her to hold me while she cooks!
4. What, daddy? Did you say you'll do breakfast dishes?!

Wedding Pictures

Many of you were asking us for pictures from Joel and Sarah's wedding, and we just got these from Rob's Dad (he could be a professional photographer) who was following around the photographer snapping pictures. So enjoy!

























Top Left: Joel made Sarah's boquet
Top Right: cousin Paul, brother Nathan, Joel,
little Eric, Rob and friend John Varner
Middle Left: Rehearsal just doesn't compare to
the real deal
Middle Right: Sarah surrounded by her 2 sisters,
Emily Wagner and friend Missy and flower girl
Bottom Left: Sarah and her parents

More Pictures from the trip

A great picture of Meg with Opa and Omi


These are Rob's "adopted" Grandpa and Grandma from
the Bill Rice Ranch--they really treated us like family.


Joel and Sarah with Sarah's family and
Dad and Mom Wagner


On the plane (Ironically this is Meg's 3rd flight
and Nate and Em's 1st)


All packed up and ready to go home!!

Trip to Chicago plus one Uncles shot

The Old Union Station, where we met a nice bum

Uncles Kurt and Steve (Caleb in the background)



Meg woke up happy about an hour before we got to Chicago


A beautiful day in downtown Chicago


Uncle Nate and Aunty Em at Union Station

Home Again

Hi, everyone!
(Tiff writing)Thanks so much for all your prayers and encouragement for our trip! It really went much smoother than I expected. The bus ride down went pretty well, at least we all got some sleep. Then in our layover in Chicago, we walked SIXTEEN blocks (Rob had told me it was really close) to a wondeful and comfortable coffee shop. It had nice plush leather couches that I took a nap on and also was loaded with toys and board games that Megan thoroghly enjoyed! Oh, and free high-speed Internet for Rob to get lost in.
Rob's brother and sister (Nate and Emily) took a bus from Milwaukee and met us in Chicago so we only stayed at the coffee shop for around 4 hours and then left for the long walk back to meet them =) I was really thankful for 2 beautiful, sunshiny days for our walking in Chicago, as rain had been forecasted (if that even means anything). So then we flew to Nashville on Thursday evening with no problems and met the family at a motel about a mile from the airport.
Sorry if I'm boring you with details, but everything worked out so perfectly that I'd just like to share (despite my worry and negative thoughts, God had figured things out much better than I did!)
Joel and Sarah's wedding was really beautiful (decorated with the fall colors). The bridesmaids wore nice cranberry-colored dresses. The Bradens are quite the organized people, as well as calm, which I could only marvel at. Megan was pretty clingy during the whole ordeal, since she didn't recognize anyone but Rob and me, so we learned that if she was being fed something she would go to anyone . . . soooo, Meg got fed all kinds of stuff (and still survived). The kids and all the family just loved her, and she loved all the attention. Saturday night after the wedding we went to the Bill Rice Ranch in Murfreesboro where Rob was born. It was pretty dark, but we got to see some of it and heard a few stories from back in the day.
We flew back to Chicago on Sunday morning. This was the most exciting/scary part of our trip. I had called the airline before we left to let them know Megan was coming along (you don't pay for babies as long as they sit in you lap), but apparently that info had gotten lost somewhere. So after we arrived at the airport about 50 minutes before our flight and made it up to the end of a LONG security line, we still had about a half hour before our flight. As we handed our papers to the TSA guy, he said we needed to have a pass for Megan or something written on our pass. This had not been a problem in O'hare, but for whatever reason, they wanted it and (despite all our pleas and explanations) were not going to change their minds. Now we are down to about 20 minutes. So Rob and I told Em and Nate to board without us and we would go on a later flight if we had to. I ran to the ticket counter and told the man the situation, so by the time we got that taken care of, got taken to the front of the line and through security check, they were calling our names. Em told the lady at the counter what was going on and they were kind enough to wait for us, so we made it on our scheduled flight. Phew! We had lunch at Union Station after saying bye to Nate and Em and then we were on our bus again headed back. The Bee family was so kind to take us and pick us up from the bus station despite the lateness of the night! Thanks again, Dallas and Ruth!!
We were all grateful to be home, and Megan was especially cute! We set her down on our bed while we were unpacking a little and she laid back, stared at the ceiling and started giggling! She was thrilled as there is "no place like home!" We are so grateful to God for our safety and for the strength and wisdom He daily provides!!
Oh, Rob got the pics onto his laptop (I'm typing on our desktop), so I'm sure he'll post some soon, just wanted to write and let you all know we are back home safely.