So today is Sarah’s Birthday. She had a pretty sweet day. She saw a cool idea on another blog where a woman spent her birthday doing 40 acts of kindness on her 40th birthday and decided thats what she wanted to do too. It’s a good thing Sarah is only 22. Ok, that might be exaggerating it a bit. She’s really 21. Dang it! There I go lying again! We’ll you might get the idea when you see the 35 acts of kindness she did. Why am I writing this time, you ask? Well, Sarah of course would never want to toot her own horn, but I think what she dis was awesome and should be shared!
We started the day with our love notes to Mommy.
Branson writes: “I love you so much. You make my heart shine and you make me dinner that is so good. I love you Mom forever.”
Harry writes: Happy Birth Day Mom I Love You 1000000 Percent Frum Harry to Mom
And we had the usual balloons and presents of different candy bars because Mommy wanted 100% of her birthday money to go to her 35 acts of kindness but we didn’t want her to not have something to open so we gave her candy. đ
1) Then Mommy surprised us with cards she’d written to us!
2-22) She also wrote notes to 21 others to help them know how much she loves them. These included the widows in our ward that she adores, inactives in her Sunday school class that she is trying to reach out to, and close friends that mean a lot to her.
We made sugar cookies to go with the notes and tied them with ribbons.
23-24) She also wrote an email of gratitude to each of her parents.
25) Then we took the 3 youngest kids up to Grandma and Smurf’s house where they had agreed to watch them so we could go out and do more acts of kindness. Sarah gave them some cookies and a card she had written as well.
26) We asked Grandma what jobs she disliked doing the most and she said the baseboards and bathroom floors. Sarah did baseboards while I did floors.
27) Then we went to a recycling center and recycled our newspapers and phonebooks and aluminium cans
28) We went to a laundromat and gave them some detergent for people who forgot theirs.
29) While at the laundromat, we met a nice old man who told us about his life and some of his conversion story and how he raised his kids, etc. I give Sarah kudos for this one, because he talked for a half-hour and she just listened politely.
30) We went to the dollar store and gave out dollar bills to kids and elderly people who looked like they needed it. When we explained to the girl in the sweet purple boots, she said it was her 30th birthday, too and Sarah gave her a dollar as well!
31) Then we went and put some flyers on people’s car windows that say, “YOU ARE Special, Important, Unique, GOOD,Thought of, LOVED. From someone who cares about you and wants to make your day!”
32) We went to the fire station and donated some of the kids’ old stuffed animals to give to the children who are rescued. (I know it says Police, but believe me the Fire Dept. is there, too.)
33) From there we went and got several movie tickets at our local gas station and while we were buying those Sarah spontaneously told the cashier that she would also like to pay for the drink of the young woman behind us. When the young woman got up to the counter she was so surprised and repeatedly thanked us. It was really cool.
34-35 ) Our next stop took us to the elementary school where we gave treats and the movie tickets we’d just purchased to Branson and Harry’s teachers. We also picked up Brans at this point and he joined the adventure.
36) We did the free laundry soap again in a different laundromat.
37) While there we also taped change to the vending machines just in case someone needed a snack at the laundromat!
38) Next we and picked up a pizza from Little Ceasars and then went and delivered the pizza and toys to a young mother in our ward who lost her husband last year and both of her Grandmothers last month.
Then we were able to go around and deliver all the notes and cookies! We got invited into several homes and enjoyed talking and catching up with friends, inactives, and our widows.
39) We missed the picture, but we took a trip to the DI and donated a couple computer monitors an a box of clothes.
40) We went to the Senior Home where Sarah’s Papa lives and brought him treats. While at all a dollar earlier we also picked up about 15 different candy bars and sugar free treats (for those who are diabetic) and we delivered those to other residents. This was one of Sarah’s favorite acts of kindness. She loved meeting everyone and brightening their day!
Phew! (ok, and you probably noticed we got a bit ambitious and did a few extra!) The funny thing is Sarah had even more planned to do that we ran out of time for like donating books to the library, dropping off shampoos/conditioners/soaps/hygiene items to the homeless shelter, passing out free water bottles, bringing in peoples shopping carts, opening doors for people and paying for peoples lunch at a fast food restaurant. Tomorrow she also has it planned to pick up her sister and take her to lunch (which she’d hoped to do the day before but her sisters little girl was sick), and to leave the woman who delivers our mail some movie tickets, cookies, and a thank you note! Wow!
To end Sarah’s birthday celebrating we met up with both sets of parents at Prestwich Farms in Spanish Fork. The scones and the halibut were the hits of the night. We always love spending time with our wonderful folks!
What an exhausting day! We wore each other out. In fact, poor Sarah is asleep beside me on the bed at 10pm, which is very early for her! She enjoyed the day so much and loved making a small difference in a few people’s lives. What a wonderful experience!
Happy Birthday, Babe!
I wouldn't expect anything less from one of the most amazing women I know!! Way to go Sarah! You are a gift to us all…everyday!! Happy birthday sweet friend!!