Mom's 50th Birthday

Well, my dear mother turned the "big 5-0" back on Sunday, December 5. That afternoon, Jordan and I (and Rylee) had her, my dad, my brother, and my sister over to our house for lunch and some birthday cake and ice cream. I made a pot of taco soup. I had never made it before, and I had been craving it for a while, so I decided to give it a shot. I pulled out a few of my cook books and picked which ingredients from those recipes I wanted to put in mine. I ended up using:

- 2 pounds ground beef
- 2 cans pinto beans
- 1 can corn
- 1 can petite diced tomatoes
- 2 packages taco seasoning
- 1 package dry ranch dressing
- 1 cup water

I browned the ground beef, mixed all the ingredients together in my Crock Pot (my first time using it), and let it simmer for a few hours. I was nervous how it would turn out since I had never made it before, but it ended up being a big hit with everyone (and I thought it was really yummy myself), so I was relieved. Anyway, we had a nice time visiting with them and celebrating my mom's birthday.
BUT... with it being her 50th birthday, of course we weren't just going to leave it at that. Little did she know, Dad and I had been planning a surprise birthday dinner for her. The only downside, though, was that we had to wait until the weekend after her birthday to have it, because she was out of town the Friday and Saturday before her birthday for the "Deeper Still" conference in Birmingham, and Sundays are already busy enough with church. I busied myself making phone calls and sending Facebook messages to reserve a restaurant, order a cake, and invite family and friends to help us celebrate. We only had a few weeks or so to pull it all together, but the anticipation of the surprise made it feel like the day was never going to come.
I made reservations at Casa Napoli in Wetumpka for 6pm on this past Saturday, December 11, and I ordered a big chocolate cake with chocolate ganache and white chocolate butter cream frosting from Chocodelphia in Prattville. I bought some balloons from Dollar General to tie to the chairs at the restaurant to add a little festive touch to the atmosphere.
Mom arrived with Dad and Amanda at the restaurant shortly after 6 o'clock, and we had a nice group of family and friends (I think there were 22 people in all) gathered to welcome them. We pulled off the surprise, and had a nice time celebrating her birthday over some good Italian food and a delicious cake. I'm so blessed and thankful to have her as my mother. I love you, Mom!
I forgot to have a picture of me taken with my mom at the dinner (I'm so bad about remembering to get pictures taken, and I always want to kick myself afterward), but I do have a couple of pictures I wanted to share. 

my sweet hubby and me at my mom's birthday dinner

Mom's beautiful 50th birthday cake, made by the very talented Jennifer Kirk at Chocodelphia