Happy Birthday Mom!

My mom's birthday was on April 24th. Easter Sunday this year. I had to work so we surprised my mom a week earlier with a birthday dinner after church. Beckie planned most of it and we had it at my house. Conveniently, all my family has 9 am church so they could all be there by 1 pm.

We tried to plan the menu around things my mom liked. We made Coconut Shrimp with a Pina Colada dipping sauce and we also made this shrimp recipe (per my brother Doug's request-he doesn't like coconut). Both turned out amazing! We had funeral potatoes and cheddar biscuits.

My family are fans of Red Lobster's food, obviously. Since there is not one in this town, we make our own stuff! We also had chicken nuggets for the kids. Poor Kara is allergic to shellfish so she brought her own burritos! It was all good!

After eating until we were stuffed, it was time to break out the birthday cake. It was an ice cream cake in my mom's favorite flavor, mint chocolate chip. My dad hates this flavor so he opted out of dessert in favor of a nap. We told him he could have the flavor he wants when it was his birthday. Hehe!

The cake was awesome, made by Reeds Dairy, a local dairy that has, hands-down, the best chocolate milk and ice cream ever! The ice cream cake had a white cake in the middle. It might have even been pound cake, I'm not sure. But, it was awesome.

All the effort of stuffing yourself was tiring and soon the men found a soft spot to perch and fall asleep. My dad was asleep before we were done eating our ice cream.

Brent followed shortly after. Sunday afternoon naps with full bellies are glorious. And a good way to get out of doing the dishes, eh boys? Haha!

We had a great day for my mom's birthday and hope she enjoyed it. She is truly the greatest person in the world. Love you Mom!!