Even though our trip to Celina was abruptly cut short, the three days Brennan and I shared with our friends was wonderful!  There’s nothing like going to the country and basking in the silence, the beauty.  Jill’s folks’ home is always a retreat to me and Matt, and remarkably was still such with a 3 month old to take care of!  The weather in Celina was a bit uncooperative for all the "firsts" I envisioned Brennan taking part in:  swimming, riding the "Gator", and getting dirty in the garden.  Wind and rain were the two culprits.  And it was cold for April.  Not as cold as ya'll who experienced April blizzards though!  Burr! 

Brennan and I had the best time traveling up to Celina with our friends, Jill, Harrison and Haddie!  The kids were all troopers.  Brennan slept the first half of the way, and after our stop for lunch, he was mesmerized by watching the other two kiddos for the duration of the drive.  It made me giddy looking back at the three of them all lined up.  Needless to say, he crashed when I put him to bed that night! 

In addition to the car ride up in which Jillie and I were able to flap our gums the whole way, there are a few highlights of our trip to share:  first, being in the company of Jill’s folks, Pappy and Nana!  They sure know how to make people feel welcomed and loved, and we chowed down on some awesome food.  My most favorite:  a strawberry cake.  Ya’ll know that I am a die-hard chocolate fan addict, but the other chocolate options I had to eat were in strong competition with this divine strawberry cake.  The cake won 5 out of 6 times (I ate a lot of yumminess…at least twice a day).  And it would be totally rude of me to tempt ya’ll with the strawberry cake without providing the recipe, so it’s down below.  I made one today for some guests we’re having for dinner tomorrow night.  Spring time is the perfect time to make this southern favorite.  Bonus:  it’s super easy!

Another highlight:  visiting our dear friend, Lindsey, and her cutie, Gibson!  I sure wish we got to see them more often than we do, but I’m glad that on occasion, we can sneak in a personal visit. 

Harrison and Haddie are quite the helpers!  And they love little babies!  As you can see in the picture below, they’re enjoying assisting Lindsey push precious Gibson in his stroller.

Of course, the one opportunity we had to play outside while I was there was a highlight, too!  It was windy, but it didn’t take away from the fun of sliding, playing in the sandbox (with sand that felt like it had been specially shipped from Hawaii!), and swinging.

My little man in the shirt and shoes that Harrison once wore.  Don’t you just love the loafers!?

Strawberry Cake

1 white cake mix

1 package of strawberry jello

4 eggs

1/2 cup of sugar

1/4 cup of flour

1/2 cup finely chopped strawberries

1 cup of vegetable oil

1/2 cup of milk

Blend all ingredients and cook at 350 degrees for 23 minutes in three round cake pans (grease beforehand).  Let cool, and layer each cake with icing.  Cover the entire cake with remainder of the icing.

ICING

1 cup of butter

2-16 ounce packages of powder sugar

1 cup finely chopped strawberries

Gotta go make the icing for the cake I made today, and I am stoked about licking the bowl!