Heidi's 40!

I used to be so jealous that Heidi was 2 1/2 years older than me! It drove me crazy that no matter how hard I tried I could never catch up and be as old as she was. Well I must admit that after all these years I'm not one bit envious and am finally happy for Heidi! Congrats Heidi--you did it-- you are older than me!

I helped host a surprise birthday party for her last week. She flew in for less than 24 hours and had the time of her life! At least she better pretend that she did!

My sisters--we are almost identical except Heidi is older and Brittany is 10 years younger and I am the only one with brown eyes, naturally brown hair, olive skin, rectangle smile, etc. but other than those few things . . . identical!

I gave Heidi a gift with a music cd with the top hits from 1969, a cute book about sisters, 40 pieces of riesens candy and 40 black balloons filled with the 'riesens we love Heidi'. I thought it would be the perfect gift for her until she shared her debilitating fear of balloons and popping balloons. So Blake helped out by popping all of the balloons and handing her the strip of paper. And I think my favorite part of the night was watching Blake sit next to Heidi while she read each reason and him nodding in agreement and adding why he thought it was true. It really was the sweetest sibling moment!

40 Riesens we love Heidi

1. You are lots of fun to be around. (Brittany)
2. You work hard at whatever you are doing. (Brittany)
3. You are a great teacher. (Brittany)
4. You are patient. (Brittany)
5. You are not afraid to share your beliefs with others. (Brittany)
6. You make a mean sweet potato casserole when your hubby's out of town for just you and I to eat! (Brittany)
7. You are giving of your time and talents. (Brittany)
8. You are very crafty, sometimes so crafty that I wonder how we're related! (Brittany)
9. You are a great example. (Brittany)
10 You are very accepting of others. (Brittany)
11. I always felt popular because everyone knew me as "Heidi Stewart’s little sister" (Heather)
12. You introduced me to my favorite hobby...scrapbooking as my Creating Keepsakes distributor and even gave me the employee discount! (Heather)
13. You always found great romances on our family vacations–Peru, Bermuda Star, Hong Kong, Lake Powell, etc. (Heather)
14. You always were mom’s favorite! And still are! :) (Heather)
15. You would make a perfect ‘statue model’! Just look at all our family pictures of Paris!(Heather)
16. You’re the bishop’s wife! :) (Heather)
17. I always know I have a friend awake in Vancouver when I am having a hard time falling asleep (Heather)
18. You let me be in your clubs–even if I had to always be the treasurer (and there was never any $ involved!) (Heather)
19. Your example of serving a mission helped me (find some penpal boyfriends) and start thinking about my own mission. (Heather)
20. You’ve never shyed away from bold fashions–bright purple and pink eyeshadows and lipsticks ($1 wet-n-wild) in the 80's. (Heather)
21. She makes the most amazing family calendars for Grandma. (Jolie)
22. Heidi always has an upbeat, sunny side.. how does she stay so happy with all those activities to drive to... what meds are you on? :) (Jolie)
23. It's always party time when Heidi comes to visit. (Jolie)
24. Love that I get to have 4 sisters that are so fun. (Jolie)
25. She is so generous with her time and talents. With 5 kids it's difficult to have any time or talents. (Jenni)
26. She is a fabulous party planner. Had she not pursued her career as a "stay-in-the-car" mom, she could have been a very successful party planner. (Jenni)
27. She has a very positive attitude. Heidi always seems upbeat no matter what the circumstances are, even if she is eatin' pavement at Lagoon. (Jenni)
28. She is very slow to anger. I read a comment she wrote about herself once answering the question "How do you show anger?". She responded that she just gets quiet and doesn't say much. We could probably all benefit from not speaking out when we're angry. (Jenni)
29. She always puts her family first. In this day and age, that quality is getting a lot harder to come by. (Jenni)
30. She is an excellent speaker. Since my face gets red, I shake, and want to vomit in a public speaking setting, I really envy that talent. (Jenni)
31. She is good at sticking with things. I can't think of a better way to word that, but she is so good about continually keeping up family traditions, having family home evenings, etc. even when those things are really difficult to accomplish. (Jenni)
32. She is very giving. The clothing budget for my kids is practically zero because of all the donations from Heidi as well as other sister-in-laws. I know it's a huge undertaking to get all those clothes down here instead of just donating them to someone where she lives, but she does it and never complains about it. (Jenni)
33. She is a "good helper" (as I would say to my kids). She doesn't need any asking and she doesn't expect any thank yous, she just does it to be helpful! (Jenni)
34. She's totally hot! I probably could have thought of one more thing that was a little deeper, but don't we ALL want to be hot?! (Jenni)
35. Amazed that she finds time to do it all and have her house still look good. (Jolie)
36. Impressed that she is raising 5 wonderful child with a gospel centered life. (Jolie)
37. Every summer when she comes to town to attend Education week it inspires me to try to get there, even if it's for just that one day. (Jolie)
38. She's such a tough chick, surviving the stinky rats in her engine.. (Jolie)
39. She is just all around a fun and amazing sister in law. (Jolie)

40. Love that someone else in the family is a little older than me.. ok.. less than 60 days but still.. (Jolie)

Happy Birthday Heidi! We love you!