Mercy's Angels

We went for a bike ride along the Nebo Loop. It was beautiful. I'm still biased to the Alpine Loop, but this one was still beautiful.

I love the mountains. It makes me feel close to heaven. I can't help but feel that heaven must look a lot like this... natural beauty, enjoyed by all the special angels. Please excuse our helmet hair. Hehe.








Bessy says hi.

Mwah! Grah-tzie!

We made homemade pizza and bread sticks and they were TO DIE FOR. Oh my, trust me. These were not only beautiful to look at but they were beautiful to eat!




Is your mouth watering? It should be.
Here's the recipe for the dough. Try it. You won't regret it.
This is the recipe for one pizza:
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 1/2 tbsp honey or sugar (we did honey)
3/4 cup cooked grains (do a one or a combination of many kamut, oat groat, wheat, whole millet, whole quinoa, spelt, barley, sweet rice, etc.)
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tbsp yeast
Mix well. It will be a little runny. Let it sit and sponge for 10-15 minutes. Then stir to release the air. Then add:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup flour (to separate sponge from salt)
1 tsp salt
Mix/Knead. Add flour a little at a time while mixer is kneading until dough pulls away and cleans sides and bottom of mixing bowl. Knead 10-15 minutes.
Form into a ball. Spread oil all over ball. Let it relax 5-10 minutes. Roll out to desired size and thickness. Place it on a piece of parchment paper.
Bake a couple of minutes. Pull out of oven and place toppings on dough. Put back in oven. Cook a total of 5-9 minutes in an oven at 450 - 500 degrees. Mmmmm!

I'm Gonna Go Out and Wrastle That There Li'l Piggy

Yeah, it's been pretty busy. Here are a few pics to keep you entertained...
Before the big PIG WRASTLE (Luke, Trav, Kody, Nic):

and After the big PIG WRASTLE (Kody, Nic, Luke, Trav):

Showering offered by the fire department

Grrr! These pretty boys are squeaky clean now!

It was very, VERY entertaining!

The Dog Days of Summer

We had a big double wedding in our family. It was so beautiful and absolutely perfect! So happy for you Luke & Andy and Justin & Ashley! They are beautiful couples and I know they will find much happiness... I was, of course, excited because I got a cute new (modest) little black dress. It's pretty much the most comfortable dress ever! I got it from Shabby Apple. They have such cute stuff!








(The picture above is Luke & Ashley, Nic's siblings. Obviously they aren't the ones who were married to each other... they were married to other people... just wanted to clear that up for any of you who might be looking at this picture going... "huh?")






We celebrated my sweet Grammie's birthday by getting the chocolate molten cake dessert at Applebee's (the only thing worth getting there, in my humble opinion). We also celebrated Trav's birthday by going to Rumbi Island Grill for dinner (food is mediocre and the price is too high... but company was priceless). Nic and I decided to try out The Red Mango for some ice cream. Mmmm... it was okay. The pomegranate wasn't that delicious. Sorry.


We also had our Sherwood Family Reunion. Barely anyone came, but I'll tell ya, we still had a kickin' good time! We went to Park City and I LOVE PARK CITY! It was so beautiful up there! In my husband's words, I'm "spoiled". Instead of camping (like we were supposed to) we stayed at the Marriott. It was fabulous. We enjoyed "being one with nature" (which, I honestly don't mind, so long as I have a nice warm shower and in-door plumbing at my fingertips. Hehe.)




My brothers, of course, had to get their trademark wrestling moment in. Don't worry. They only wrestle until one of them gets injured in some way. Luckily, this was a very mild wrestling match. PS Please ignore the fact that one of them is in his underwear (typical man).

Someone Special

Happy birthday to one of the most beautiful women I've ever known.

I love you. I miss you. I'm blowing you kisses.

Refreshing

We went for an incredible ride up Provo Canyon and through the Alpine Loop over the weekend. We went as a cool biker gang. Ha! We call ourselves "Mercy's Angels". I kinda like it.

The ride was just what I needed. It is so beautiful up the canyon. I think I have decided that if I had to choose between the beach and the mountains, I'd have to take the mountains (yes, I have a fear of deep water... but I love the beach nonetheless).







This is Luke and Andy. They are getting married in just under two weeks! It's a double wedding. Luke and Andy are part one. Ashley and Justin are part two. How cool is that? Luke and Ashley are Nic's siblings. I'm so happy for both of them!

Thoughts from a grieving heart

I have decided to declare to the world that I LOVE THERAPY. I know, it seems somewhat personal. No one EVER admits when they are in therapy, right? Well, not me. I am an advocate for therapy. If you need help, why not get it? I'm very passionate about it. My therapist is helping me change my perspective, accept my grief, remember my sweet little girl, and improve my life, all while finding happiness... AND BEING OKAY WITH IT. If you haven't ever TRULY experienced grief, you're probably thinking I'm sounding a little crazy. Well, so be it. I thought I was crazy too. Turns out, I'm grieving. I now know I'm not crazy. I can't tell you the freedom I'm feeling. It's a great blessing in my life to have this knowledge. Sometimes, Heavenly Father puts people (who have tools to help you) in your life. These people provide something you can't find elsewhere. These people may be the way Heavenly Father answers your prayers.

If you ever need a GOOD therapist, I'd love to give you my therapists info. He's great. And it DOES make a difference, if you allow it to.

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I had an experience this last week. It was a hard one. I went to the doctor. I visited the Cardiologist. For me. It was emotional. They did an EKG. As I was being hooked up to the probes (or rather, as the probes were being hooked up to me) I had a flash back of the many times my baby had this done to her.

WHY????? WHY??????

It still breaks my heart. I can't fathom what she endured. I'm so grateful she isn't experiencing that any more. I have always been afraid of truly understanding what Mercy went through. I'm not strong enough. I could never endure what she did. But she did it with such elegance, dignity, beauty, patience.

I love her. She is my hero.

Grammie, please take care of my baby for me.

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I received a newsletter in the mail from Primary Children's Medical Center. Have I ever said that I never, ever want to go back there? Well, let me clarify. I never, EVER want to go back there. I fear it with my whole soul.

This newsletter they sent out is for those enduring the never-ending experience of grief. It was a beautiful newsletter. Here are a few excerpts from it...

"Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts." -Charles Dickens

"Unless you have been very, very lucky, you have undoubtedly experienced events in your life that have made you cry. So unless you have been very, very lucky, you know that a good, long session of weeping can often make you feel better, even if your circumstances have not changed one bit." -Lemony Snicket

"Do you wonder if the tears will ever stop? They steadily fall, unpredictably and unexpectedly. Like spring floods, these human raindrops pool into streams and then seemingly flow into rivers. Like spring showers, they pop up, beat us down for a time, then just as suddenly, they dry.

Others may tell us to stop crying, as though we can command nature to change course. How burdensome this is. We must, and will, cry as long as we need to cry, as often as we feel the dampness of moisture, as many raindrops as our body produces. Not to cry when our very nature demands release is to deny our humanness.

What we, and those around us, may not know is the healing physical nature of our tears. Our body produces tears for biological reasons. Chemically, the composition of tears of emotional pain differ from tears of laughter and joy or tears of physical pain. Tears help wash out negative chemicals building up when our body experiences pain or stress. Tears cleanse." -Pat Andrus


If you know someone who is grieving, please allow them to cry. Don't feel like you have to fix it. Just be there while they cry. Sometimes, being there says more than any words ever could.