In Memory of Ryan Runia

This was our house's scene last Thursday night as I was leaving to go to a Favorite Things Party and then onto Mattawa so we could leave for Utah for Ryan's funeral the next morning. I was nervous and sad to leave because I think of the worst and was worried I wouldn't see them again so I took pictures on my phone as I was crying and walking out the door. Kyle was half laughing at me because he kept saying "it'll be fine". He was nice to stay home so I could go. He took the kids to Costco for dinner one night then Preston to a bday party the next day, the girls to the American Girl Store, he cleaned a couple bathrooms, did laundry, vacuumed out his car and even took them to 9 am Church all by himself. He was pretty awesome! 

I went to the Favorite Things party (we all bought 3 of the same thing $5 and under to give away so we all went home with 3 new favorite things!). Jenn Mize (a new girl in the ward) and I planned it and had it at her house since it was bigger. In the end it worked out good it was at her house because I had to leave early to meet Marci and get over to Mattawa that night. I gave away a cookie scoop, it's technically called a disher. It's a yellow handled disher (#20 to be exact, they color code them in the food industry to make it easy to distinguish between the sizes) and perfect for scooping batter to make muffins and/or cupcakes. It dishes out the perfect amount...thanks to my Mom for figuring it out from trial and error. I got them from Bargreen and Ellingson, a restaurant supplier open to the public, and it was the ABC brand.

We left at 7am on Friday morning and stopped in Kennewick at my Gpa's house to pick up him and Jeni. Then we headed out. We stopped in Nampa, ID for lunch at Panda Express and then got back on the freeway. We had just gotten on the freeway when a white truck passed us and my Dad said, "is that Dallas?" My Mom and Dad have visited him before so they know he lives there and my Dad noticed his work sticker on his truck. Dallas Jensen is from my hometown, near my age, who worked for my Dad on the farm and are good family friends. Well, my Dad speeds up to get beside him and we are all staring weird at him and realized it was him!!! Crazy! We rolled down our windows and he did too and we were waving and laughing. He ended up calling my Dad and found out why we were passing through. Small world. If we were a few seconds earlier or later leaving we would've missed seeing him. 

We met up with Jeff and Sadie around 7pm at Tai Pan, decorating mecca, and shopped for a bit and found some cute things. Then we ate dinner at Brick Oven (disappointing from what we remember so that was a bummer because we were excited to eat there). We headed to Tom and Liz's house after that. We visited with them before my parents and Gpa left to go to Jim and Shellie's to spend the night. 

Ryan's funeral was on Saturday Nov 16th at 11am. They had a viewing beforehand from 9-10:30am. We got there and stood in a long line to see the family. It was good to hug them and see them. They were so positive and comforted US! There was even a viewing on Friday night for a couple hours that we heard went over. There were a lot of people paying their respects to Ryan and his family. Incredible. The funeral was amazing. Cari spoke and did such a good job. She shared that Ryan had gone hometeaching the night before he passed away and came home and told her what he told this person he visited. He said, "You have a choice right now and it's a big one. You can choose to blame the Lord and be mad at Him, or you can rely on Him and His grace to comfort you and get you through this." Cari said, little did she know that the very next day she would need to hear the words her own husband had told her the night before. Her two older kids Jaac and Gracie also spoke and shared their testimonies. Jaac shared his talk he had given in primary recently about how the instruction manuals for Legos are like the Plan of Salvation. We don't know what will be created until we follow the instructions. Just like in life we need to follow the commandments and we will eventually become something wonderful. (This is my interpretation of it :)) It was a great analogy. Ryan's Mom and Dad spoke as well as a sister and brother. Everyone did a good job. The funny thing was while we were waiting before the family prayer we saw Steve Young walk right by us in the hallway. We were trying to act cool. haha. He is good family friends with Ryan's family (Ryan's and his brother and Dad are financial planners). Danny Ainge was also there at the funeral. My Dad (and others) got their picture taken with Steve Young at the luncheon. My Dad said he was very personable. The luncheon after the funeral was amazing. It was catered by Costa Vida. Yum, yum. Good choice Ryan! (His family said it was one of his favorites.)

It was snowing pretty good while up at the cemetery. Cari said it was fitting because it always snowed on their significant days together like their wedding and I think engagement. Jaac was cute and helped carry the casket.

Here is a recent picture of their cute family. Cari holding Thys, Ryan holding Piper and Grace and Jaac in front. Ryan was funny, happy, smart and made you feel like you were his good friend. It was fun to have them come visit and/or stay at my parents house. He will be missed by many. Cari is a strong person and has lots of family around which is good. She has a good attitude that impresses me. It's inspiring how she handled the funeral.

We went to Cari's house after the luncheon and visited with her and some of my aunt Dana's family. It was nice to relax with her and Cari shared some fun stories of Ryan. Then we went to JCW's to eat dinner. It was delicious. Cari's family and Ryan's family were both invited to go to Provo Beach Resort. Ryan's family are friends with the owners and they invited us to go there for free and have a fun night. How generous! I thought it was mainly for kids, but I was wrong. We bowled, played croquet, played arcade games, some did the ropes course, rode a carousel and visited. It was a fun night and we didn't leave until 10:30pm! 

We left early Sunday morning to head back to Washington. It was a quick and good weekend. I'm so glad I was able to go and support Cari. It was fun to spend time with my family and we had lots of laughing and joking along the way. My kind of fun. :)