Life Sketch for a Funeral

I was looking at pictures and talking o my mom, she said she remembers him sleeping with Christine on his chest. (Insert letter from Ryan to Christine) Dad was always very supportive of us kids. He did not like cheerleaders, and never failed to let me know that, but he always paid for me to participate because he knew it made me happy. If I happy, he was happy. Mom, Dad, and I moved to Utah in 1993 so Ryan could attend the university of Utah. One of his favorite classes was photography and Lisa remembers taking Christine to the photo lab to spend time with him. In August 1995, the family moved back to Idaho and lived In Mud Lake on the farm.I would ride with Ryan In the stacker, or â€Å"snacked† as I called It. Ryan was taking classes at the SIS extension during that time. Ryan and I-Sis were serving as Primary teachers In their ward there- a calling that Ryan loved because he got to be with kids. That was a good time for our family, and we later moved to Roxbury. On August 1 6, 1996, I got my baby brother, Nathan Grant Hill. Dad spent a lot of time with Nathan as a baby because Lisa was working full-time. Lisa remembers he was so happy to have a son. Nathan spent a lot of time with his Dad in the combine. As he grew up, Neaten loved to go fishing and camping with Ryan.He especially liked the homemade bows and arrows and walking sticks that Ryan would carve for him. Ryan and Neaten went on a week-long hunting trip. Ryan bought Nathan a new bow. They didn't get anything, but they had a good time. Even though they loved the outdoors It wasn't always smooth sailing. Neaten and dad were going down the Alpine Slide together, and hit a curve going too fast, and instead of riding the sled down the mountain, Dad was ruling Nettle's face Instead. Neaten has scars on his head from getting hit with tree branches on the head from dad collecting fire wood.Neaten came out with battle wounds, but they always have a good laugh about it later- well, at least dad laughed at Ante's expense. Neaten and Ryan shared a special connection through their love of sports and music. Ryan only missed one of Ante's football games. When Neaten chose his number, he chose the number 11 because he didn't want to be Just like his Dad, but he knew the numbers 1 and added up to 2, which was his Dad's number. When Nathan started wrestling, Ryan posted on his Backbone account, â€Å"Neaten took first in his first wrestling tournament. I love football, but I goat say wrestling Is intense. He loved to watch Neaten wrestle.Lately, Neaten liked playing a game with his Dad where he would play clips of songs and then ask Ryan who sang It, when It was made, and whether It was famous. If my dad would say the song was popular and my Neaten didn't agree he would come back with â€Å"Nobody's heard this song! † When Christine and Nathan were young, Ryan worked as a snowmobile guide in Park City. He was a great guide and met some interesting people, Including ten calculator Attorney General, Ana Kept In touch Walt many AT them. A few days before Christmas in 1996, Ryan got in a snowmobiling accident that hatred his elbow and broke his forearm and scapula.Uncle Dave can remember sitting on Ryan while they tried to reset his dislocated shoulder and thinking how strong he was even in that condition. The first thing he asked when he was coherent was whether his snowmobile was alright. We can all remember being so grateful to have him home that Christmas. In 1998, Ryan moved back to Utah. That summer and fall, he and Lisa, Christine, and Nathan spent almost every weekend camping in the High Ninths. They loved to camp together. It became a family tradition to camp in Zion's National Park over Easter and then drive into SST. George for the annual Easter egg hunt.It was around this time that Ryan got very interested in food. We can all remember the strange things he liked to eat, like oysters and Kipper Snacks. He loved Tobacco sauce and would add it to everyt hing, seriously- everything. But, he not only liked to eat food, he loved to cook it. He had become an amazing cook. He made turkey and oyster dressing for the Hill Family Thanksgiving a couple of years ago and raised the bar for all Thanksgivings to come. He regularly cooked prime rib dinner for the Erickson family on Christmas Eve. Lisa said he could spend 25 minutes kicking out a steak.He loved to cook, but he especially loved to cook for his siblings. While Aunt Stephanie and Uncle Ryan and Aunt Megan and Uncle Shawn were attending BUY, Ryan would invite them over regularly for Sunday dinner and a game of Sequence, until I decided to choke on a game piece, and dad had to stick his finger down my throat to make me throw up. We will miss his good cooking. Ryan started working for OMG in 2002. This was the start of a very successful career in sales. He quickly moved up and became the top salesperson at the company, which later changed its name to Prosper.Most recently, he was leadi ng a sales team at Property. He was good at what he did and became a leader to those he worked with. His co-workers have commented that he was a great leader, mentor, and boss. People genuinely enjoyed working with Ryan and appreciated his kindness, consideration, and generosity. Even those who had worked with him Just a short time, thought of him as a brother and best friend. Lauren Joined the family on September 4, 2003. Lisa calls Lauren their â€Å"Evolve child. † She would not go to anyone other than her Mom and Dad. Ryan did not do anything without holding Lauren.Ryan decided to take Lisa to New York for her birthday after Lauren was born, but they could not leave Lauren so they ended up taking her with them. Ryan read to Lauren every night and Lisa thinks this is why she is such a good reader. Ryan always took his time to answer her questions and never rushed to be done reading. That same year, the family made another whirlwind trip to New York for Thanksgiving. When w e decided to go we spent about an hour on the computer, and six hours later they were on a red-eye flight bound for New York City. They stayed and had Thanksgiving dinner at the Plaza.New York was one of the most memorable trips our family took. Going to see all the sights my dad had random facts to share with us. He was always like a walking encyclopedia! When we first got to New York we walked out of the taxi and the Hotel Bellman at the Plaza saw that my mom had 3 children and was pregnant with another. He asked â€Å"Is there nothing better to do in Utah? † Madeline arrived on April 1, 2005. We all knew that Muddy was Ryan's favorite, no matter now much en terra to any It when en got none Trot work, en would ask where Media was and then spend time all night with her.He told Lisa he Just felt like she needed that time with him. Not long after Media was born, Ryan and Lisa were sealed to their children for time and eternity in the Salt Lake Temple on November 19, 2005. The only way I remember this day was because it was the same day that Santa came to the mall that year. It was a beautiful day and one they had looked forward to for a long time. One of my dad's favorite quotes was, â€Å"l never said it would be easy, I only said it would be worth it. † Making it to this point wasn't easy, but without a doubt it was worth it.It marked how far our family had come. My dad worked with all his soul to get our family there, and because of that hard work we will be together forever. He always knew that was true, and made sure that his children knew that too. Soon after Media was born, Charlie followed. And when we say soon, we mean it- 9 months and 18 days! Charlie was born on January 18, 2006. Grandma Chris calls Media and Charlie the â€Å"Irish twins† because of how close they are in age. Lisa was determined to have all her babies before she turned 30 and she did.There were some scary moments prior to Charlie's birth because of some issues t it his heart, but when he arrived Ryan and Lisa were thrilled because they really wanted another boy. â€Å"Chuck,† as they call him, looks Just like his Daddy. He also has his sense of adventure. The day of the accident, Charlie was riding his neighbor's dirt bike and couldn't wait to show his Daddy how good he could ride. Ryan was a great Dad. He was extremely patient with his children. He would rather be doing something with his kids than anything else. He taught all of his kids how to ride a bike when they were very young.One of their family traditions was participating in he Freedom Festival activities over the Fourth of July in Provo. Ryan sometimes ran the K and the family always attended the Stadium of Fire with Grandma Knells family. But, their favorite thing to do together as a family was to go boating. The happiest times I can remember were out on the lake. Lisa introduced Ryan to boating because the Erickson are avid boaters. Tom recalls teaching Ryan to water ski on one ski. Ryan could ski with two, but was determined not to be outdone by Lisa who already had slalom skiing mastered. Tom spent most of one day trying to get Ryan up on one ski.He tried and tried and would not give up. Tom kept asking Ryan if he wanted to take a break and Ryan Just kept saying, â€Å"Hit it! † No one could ever say that my dad wasn't a hard worker. Needless to say, Ryan eventually got up and he was hooked. He was happy to go boating with Tom and Chris, with or without Lisa. Eventually, Ryan bought a boat for his family and it became their safe haven. They put hundreds of hours on the boat on Lake Powell, Utah Lake, Deer Creek, Carbondale, and others. They boated during the day and at night. We would go out when it was a full moon, and would hook glow sticks to our life Jackets.The only thing you could see was a little light going back and forth, and in my dad's case that light was moving pretty dang fast. Ryan spent many hours taking Christine and her fr iends on the boat. I don't remember a time when I asked him to go out on the lake with my friends and he said no. I know that we drove him nuts most of the time, but he knew that I loved it. He was always extremely patient in helping us learn to ski, something he must have learned from Tom ;). His kids have wonderful memories of their times together as a family on the boat. The last family vacation they took together was lastAugust. Again on ten spur AT ten moment, Lisa cellar to take ten Kilos to calculator. Three hours later, she and the kids were on the road. We would have left earlier, but I had to teach a cheer camp. The second I was done, we were on the road. Ryan surprised them all by catching a flight and knocking on their hotel door at 1 a. M. We were planning on leaving the day after he got there, but He moved the family to a hotel on Huntington Beach and we got an even longer vacation. The kids remember it being the nicest hotel they had ever stayed at. They had a wonderf ul trip and made lasting memories.