Another goodie

This comes from my friend Janae, who always knows what to say...

"Today I am not writing about one person but to all the great people in
this community. There are just so many people that give of their time
and talents to make this a better community, a better city, and a
better ward.

I see the way people forgive and forget, the way they accept, the way
people are trying to be good. It is inspiring and humbling to live in
such a neighborhood.

Though we all have our faults I am grateful for neighbors who can look
past them, for those who try to lift. There is so much good here that
it gets me choked up just thinking about it.

Thank you Gateway and Pleasant Springs neighbors for being you."

Janae, you are also a great example of this! We truly live in a great neighborhood.

P.S. Be sure to say hi to your elderly neighbors! You never know when they are feeling blue or left out.

Email me your good gossip at cassmaster(at)gmail(dot)com!

ANOTHER service-oriented person

This again comes from me-

Carrie B. is probably one of the nicest people on the planet. I know I say that a lot, but seriously. Seriously! She never has a mean word to say about anyone.

She did SO much to make the pioneer primary activity so fun for the kids. Did you guys see all those wagons? Carrie did them. My girls LOVED them! I'm sure she did so much more than that, but I don't know the details. Those wagons were so fun for the kids to play in, and to make a 'trek' outside. So cute!

And, to go along with yesterday's post, she ALSO volunteered to take care of kids in the 'ward choir nursery' along with Sheryl. So, she spent two hours working with kids in primary, and then she stayed an additional hour to help take care of kids so the parents could sing.

Carrie is so helpful, kind, and LOVING. She's always willing to lend a helping hand. Did I mention that she's such a good mommy? She's a great example to me on how to be loving to my kids. We love you!

Email me your good gossip at cassmaster(at)gmail(dot)com!

The definition of nice

This comes from me, because I thought, this girl is so thoughtful!

Sheryl O. is always taking care of babies. Does she have any of her own? No. She just always has one in her hands to help take the load off of his/her mother.

On Sunday I saw her taking care of little McKay, Erica's little boy, during church. Erica was subbing in primary, and I'm assuming Sheryl volunteered to take her baby so she wouldn't have to worry about him in primary. She was holding him all through relief society, and she even changed his diaper. Talk about service! haha. :)

THEN, she helped take care of kids in the 'ward choir nursery.' In case you didn't know, in order for mommies and daddies to participate in ward choir, there is now a ward choir nursery for the kiddies to play in during rehearsal. Sheryl volunteered to stay AFTER church for an hour to take care of all the kids so their parents could sing.

Again, she is the nicest person on the planet. How many of you agree with me? And she's smart and funny, and so fun to talk to.

We love you, Sheryl!

Email me your good gossip at cassmaster(at)gmail(dot)com!

Have we not done this girl yet?!

This comes from my friend Michelle, again. She's really good at recognizing service...

"Wendy G is amazing! I have loads of scrapbook stuff that she has given me, which I have used on so many occasions. Most recently for Coby's birthday party.
She lent me her serger to turn the boys' pants into shorts for summer. They look fantastic and I saved SO much time.
Despite having a whole bagful of clothes, I had very little that DJ could wear. Never fear-the clothing fairy appeared in the form of Wendy. Now, DJ looks so cool in his Ironman shirt and I chuckle when he is wearing his HULK shirt and gets angry.
And she lets me borrow books from their library. What a wonderful friend!"

Gosh, I couldn't agree more. Despite being superwoman, Wendy is so thoughtful, kind, and always willing to help. If you even mention the need for help, she will go above and beyond the call of duty. Last year, I wanted to make a scrapbook of pictures for someone who was moving out of the ward. I asked Wendy to make the scrapbook, since I am terrible at things like that. I told her I would pay for supplies. When she was finished, not only did it look INCREDIBLE, but she wouldn't take any money. She said she's trying to get rid of her supplies anyway. How nice is that?

AND, when I had to make a Christmas scrapbook page for my family, and mine would NOT print off in time, Wendy saved the day and made gorgeous scrapbook pages that I passed of as my own to my family. :) She is AMAZING. Did you know that she's also colorblind??? Have you seen her scrapbooking? Just amazing.

We love you Wendy!! Never move, okay? :)

Email me your good gossip at cassmaster(at)gmail(dot)com!

You gotta love surrogate grandpa's...

This is my last one from Michelle, and again, the text is really small. Oh well...

"I love swimming. Kai, Coby, and Liam love swimming!! DJ loves the bathtub and tries to crawl in every chance he gets, but he does NOT like the pool, unless he is clinging to me. No fun! So I am grateful that the boys are still able to get their swimming fix because "Grandpa Randy" K. is willing to watch them while Randy swims. Thank you!"

That is so nice, Randy! My goodness, that is such a big help. I know that when I need to go quick and even just be gone for a few minutes, it's so nice for someone else to watch my kiddos at the pool so I don't have to take the kids with me. That is so nice to let the kids play at the pool and watch them.

Thank you Randy, for just being who you are. You are such and kind and generous person. We love you!

Email me your good gossip at cassmaster(at)gmail(dot)com!

Teaching Awesomeness, there, I said it.

This post might be a little selfish of me, because I already did a post about this person. But frankly there's only so many people in the community, and I'm gonna do it anyway...

Brittany S. has been teaching the Babes in Arms class at church for a while now, and I love her lessons. Here's the reason why I love them- 1) you can tell she loves the gospel. It just emanates from her. You can feel her testimony. And 2) You can also tell that she has prepared so much for her lessons. The spirit is so strong in her class, and it's because she has put so much thought and prayer into each and every lesson she teaches. I always walk away from her class uplifted and enriched.

Brittany got a new calling, and she gave her last lesson on Sunday. Now the Young Women get to bask in her teaching awesomeness.

We will miss you, Brittany! But we know you will do great in your new calling.

Email me your good gossip at cassmaster(at)gmail(dot)com!

Has gardening taken over your life, like me?

This comes from Michelle. And I don't know why the font is so small. I can't fix it...

"I know nothing about gardening. So I appreciate any help and tips I can get.

• build a mound up and around my potatoes. ~I had no idea I was supposed to do that, thanks Liza B.
• an action hoe is the best way to weed your plot ~ I was able to weed 8 lines with the action hoe in the time it took me to do two lines with an ordinary hoe. Thanks Rachel C for letting me borrow it.
• if you have an end cap on the end of your line you can take it off to use the line as a hose to water your plot instead of hauling watering cans ~ Mandi T, my arms thank you!
• you can fix a gushing hole in your line with a candy wrapper and twine. ~ Thanks Rob for stopping the impending flood. "

Do you know how helpful people are at the garden? Seriously. That place is like a little service heaven. Ryan J. helped us weed the other night, and believe me, it was a big job. It's kind of the new hang out place. Thank you so much to all who help out so much over there!

Email me your good gossip at cassmaster(at)gmail(dot)com!

Adopted Grandparents

This one comes from me...

So, I'm trying not to use last names on this here blog, but sometimes it's impossible. I think just this once I will...

The Pitzaks (sp?) are just about the nicest couple you could ever meet. They are so kind of good with kids. They are an older couple with grandkids of their own, and they know just how to have fun with the little kiddos.

This past Saturday we were at the pool, and the Pitzaks were there as well. The girls had a blast in the pool with them! Randy was throwing Lexi in the air, and Lanie was swimming to him. It was like having grandparents for our kids to play with. They were so nice to be willing to play all afternoon with them. And that meant that I could relax a little and watch them swim in the pool.

Thank you, Bro. and Sis. Pitzak! We are so lucky to have you with us!

Email me your good gossip at cassmaster(at)gmail(dot)com.

This makes me feel so good inside...

This comes from my friend Michelle...

"This is a two fold shout out.

Inspired by this blog, Raven H. offered no-strings-attached babysitting for one of her neighbors. The first to comment on her facebook status got the babysitting. Brekke F. commented first for ME. Isn't that awesome!? How wonderful to be thinking of me and giving something that she could use for herself.

Raven watched my oldest three while I shopped with just DJ. I never thought that as an adult, I would look forward to going to the grocery store. It was heaven!! I was able to get my shopping done (in half the time), unload it all, and have a snack before retrieving my kiddos, who had a blast playing Mythbusters. Thank you Brekke & Raven!"

Aw, what nice neighbors! And I'm so glad this blog had a bit of an impact. Need we mention that Raven has 3 kiddos of her own, including a newborn? That was so nice of her! And Brekke, you are so kind and considerate to take the offer for someone else instead of using it yourself. Wow, I'm seriously impressed!

Email me your good gossip at cassmaster(at)gmail(dot)com!

Complex of FIRE

This one comes from me...

A lot of us participated in what we called a 'complex of fire' on Friday night. A bunch of us from the complex got together to watch fireworks. First of all, it was AWESOME! The best fireworks show that you would ever expect in our little complex. But I was also thinking about the silent helpers throughout the night.

1. Rachel B. brought out a tablecloth to put all the little goodies on. I thought that was so helpful! I think she also brought out a pitcher of water...

2. Dave B., Dan C., Nick B., and JT W. (is that all of them?) helped with the fireworks all night to make sure they were lit, and that we were all entertained.

3. All of the above mentioned's wives LET their husbands do that so we could enjoy the fireworks. That means that they were alone taking care of their kiddos so their hubbies could light our fireworks for us.

4. And just to add a little, Dan C. cleaned up the firework debris afterward. That was a pretty big task and it was so helpful!

Thank you to everyone that made the complex of fire such a blast this year!

Email me your good gossip at cassmaster(at)gmail(dot)com!

Answer to prayer

Sorry guys, I guess life just happened this week, and I've been away from the blogging scene. Here's our latest gossip from Michelle. She actually said she felt silly giving me this gossip because it's small, but it was so helpful to her. Are you kidding?! Small acts of service are the best!

"DJ had a melt down during Relief Society. Usually, when he gets this way (every Sunday) one of us will take him home for his nap, but Jake is out of town and I didn't want to pull Coby or Liam from their class. I was at a bit of a loss, just wait it out or take him home then come back?

Fortunately, Renae V. came out and asked "Is there anything I can do to help?" Yes!! She brought my boys home from church, so I could take DJ home to nap. He fell asleep almost immediately. What a relief! Her help was exactly what I needed at that moment. "

I'm sure Renae felt some kind of prompting to ask Michelle if she needed help. And it's exactly what she needed. We are so glad that her family is still in the ward! And in the community. Thank you, Renae!

Email me your good gossip at cassmaster(at)gmail(dot)com!