High Five for Monday

Yes, usually this is a high five for Friday, but I didn't want to wait until Friday to post it as everything I am posting is overdue to be talked about.

1. In the middle of March, Bryan, Natalie & Max came to Utah for their spring break.  Bryan's parents just bought a home in Orem so they came out to visit them.  They headed up to our place one day and we played on the WiiU they just bought.  There were some pretty fun games!  We tried to get Max and Kylie playing together, but there is just something about our cat where every kid wants to pet and play with her.  Natalie did get some cute pictures of Max and Kylie, so these are her pictures, not mine.  We headed down to Orem another day to see Bryan's parents as Scott knew them back in California.  Bryan graduates law school in May so it will be interesting to see where they end up!  Either way, they will have to come back to Utah occasionally to see Bryan's parents.

2. We also found out at the end of February that Scott did not get into BYU's nurse practitioner program.  It was definitely a bummer that he didn't get in.  Scott had applied to the University of Utah's program and didn't get in (he did try pretty soon after graduating though), but the school's high grade standards make it impossible to get in without re-taking some classes.  There is one other school in Utah that offers a master's program in nursing, which is Westminster College.  Scott decided last minute to apply there and the deadline was quickly approaching.  We filled out an online application, turned it in and thought all was done.  Scott got an e-mail a day after the due date saying they were missing about 5 things still!  They said he officially had until Friday to get it all in.  We rushed getting transcripts, drug & background tests and letters of recommendation in.  It was a little stressful, but worth it as Scott interviewed with them just last Friday, the 28th! We hope to hear back from them again in mid-April with a positive response.  If Scott doesn't get into Westminster, we might look at options for school outside of Utah.  It would be more expensive, but if he has the opportunity to get into school somewhere, we'll take it.

3. Last Thursday morning we returned home from California.  My dad & Roberta came into town that afternoon and stayed until Sunday morning.  They stopped by for a short visit after getting in on Thursday then came over again Friday morning.  We went shopping at the mall and they watched Kylie while I bought some new makeup with Christmas money they gave me.  I hope the girl at Sephora gave me the right stuff.  I haven't tried it out yet, but if it doesn't work I can always return it.  Saturday night we headed to Andrew & Rebecca's for a BBQ dinner and games.  It was a short visit, but great to see them!

 4. We've discovered that Kylie sure loves strawberries.  You need to be careful when you let her bite into one as she will suck that thing into her mouth quicker than you can blink!  I like that she likes them, but I need to remember to take her clothes off when she eats them as strawberries stain clothes.

5. Here are two great recipes.  One for perfect M&M cookies (and they are delicious!): http://picky-palate.com/2013/04/03/how-to-make-perfect-m-and-m-cookies/ and one for sugar cookie bars (such a time saver compared to rolling and cutting out sugar cookies): http://www.crunchyrock.com/2011/01/sugar-cookie-bars.html.  Both are really yummy and stay soft for about a week!