September is a great month for birthdays in my family because we have 4 of them.  My birthday is the 8th, my Mother’s is the 9th, my niece’s is the 10th and my great-niece’s is the 15th.  This September my family and I celebrated my Mother’s 70th birthday.  The planning for this celebration began a year ago when she informed me of what she wanted to do for her birthday.  She wanted to ride in a black stretch limo so she could cross that off of her bucket list.  She wanted the whole family to ride in the limo and go to lunch together.

So, I contacted a local limo rental business in our county, Royalty Limousine Service in Bude, MS, and told them the occasion, what we needed and where we wanted to go.  It is a small county and Mama actually taught the owner of the company, Jonte Marshall, when he was in the 6th grade.  They only had 8 passenger white limos available and we have 10 people.  We figured we could all just squeeze in and it would be ok.  So I booked it.  A week before the Birthday Extravaganza, I find out that the owner has actually gone out and bought a 10 passenger, black, stretch limo just for our family.  This should tell you how much he thought of my Mother.  He was as excited as we were about this.  He told her that he was honored to drive her for birthday.

When he picked us up, they had the inside all decorated up.  There were sparkling juices, water, festive napkins and even fresh flowers, chocolates and gifts for Mama for her birthday.  We truly felt like royalty.  This was going to be the first limo ride for each one of us.  So away we went!   We went to Jackson, MS to eat and turned around and came back.  Total we were together about 4 and half hours.  It was so much fun!  I know that any other limo ride will never live up to this one.  Thanks to Jonte and Royalty Limousine Service for the best Birthday Extravaganza ever!!!!!!!!

The Crew

Birthday Girls

Jonte and Mama

Special Treats

We always had popcorn balls at Christmastime when I was growing up. A couple years ago, my mother gave me this recipe for an updated version.—Vicki Theis, Shakopee, Minnesota

I also made some fun Birthday snacks for the gang.  I found this fun recipe on TasteofHome.com for Popcorn Snacks that have peanuts and chocolate.  I had most of the ingredients, and just needed to buy some peanuts.  These were such a hit in the limo!  Check them out-

Happy Cooking!

Michelle “red” Roberts