Easter Waterfall

Happy Easter! Preston and Mike made crepes this morning. Preston is stinking adorable. The kids had small Easter baskets and a present from us. The present wasn't well received. We expected that. I have been thinking and thinking about a way to get the cell phones out of the kids rooms at night. The problem is they listen to certain music and audible books on their phones. Jorja used to listen to the Friend every night, but I don't think she does that anymore. Mike came up with a brilliant idea to use Alexia. Mike and Christen gave us Alexia for Christmas. We have had fun playing with her, but knew we weren't using her to her full potential. The idea of having Alexia as an alarm and playing their music was much more appealing then having them continue to use their cell phones. The Alexia Mike and Christen gave us we put in the boys' room. We found an Alexia for a great price to put in Jorja's room. She changed her name to Echo. Preston was surprisingly sad about this. He has been sleeping up in the guest room lately. He listens to video game music at night. Mike found a way for him to continue to listen to video game music, so he is happy again. Half of the time Stockton leaves his phone by his computer, so it is no big deal for him. Jorja on the other hand is a different story, also the reason for this change. I told her that if Maysen had been as social as she was this policy would have happened a long time ago. I don't want to have her friends texting her after I send her to bed. Especially since some of her friends have not been the nicest to her lately. I don't want to worry that my child is getting mean things thrown at them when they should be safe at home. Plus, I read a study somewhere that said kids who sleep with cell phones in their rooms don't sleep as well because subconsciously they are listening for texts, worried they are missing something. I could see that being the case with Jorja. Mike and I got a charging dock for the kids to put their phones in before they go to bed. Hopefully this will be great, even though Jorja will resent it.

After church Mike, Preston and I went on a hike to Mike's favorite place - the Bell Canyon Waterfall. He spent a lot of time here while he was growing up. Stockton and Jorja didn't come. They both had a lot of homework to do. Stockton has been working hours and hours on homework. He has eight pages left of a giant review sheet due on Tuesday. Stockton gave me a compelling argument to stay. Jorja didn't do a great job on her argument. She has an essay due tonight. I hate how teachers can have things due after school. I wanted Jorja to lay out her case like Stockton did, but she didn't understand what I was asking and basically said she would have a horrible attitude if I made her go. Hmmmm. That argument sounds familiar. Maysen used that one a time or two. Jorja started crying and said that her church lesson was on friendship and that made her sad. I let her stay with Stockton and she ended up getting 30 out of 30 on a Utah Compose essay. That's not an easy thing to do. She wrote about kudzu. I asked her if she remembered kudzu from Georgia. She did not. Anyways, at least she did well and we had a great time with Preston.

Preston needed to go on a three mile hike for scouts. They did this on Thursday. They changed the date of scouts and I didn't realize it. Preston's piano teacher had asked if he could move his piano lessons to Thursday that week. If I had known about scouts I wouldn't have done that. We had a great time with Preston, so it worked out just fine. Preston loved taking pictures, so some of these are from him. I tried not to double any pictures, but it got a little confusing taking them from different phones.

Stephanie

 Preston

 Mike & Preston ~ Preston really wanted to find this rock he remembered climbing with Stockton

 Stephanie ~ didn't want to climb that rock

It was a long way up but we made it to the waterfall. We told Preston we could turn back early because we had gone more than three miles, but he wanted to stick it out. It is so pretty up there! We also saw Dan's signs he helped put up last fall. It makes it a lot easier to find the waterfall, especially the last turn. I missed the turn when I went with Maysen. Mike didn't like the signs because he liked the waterfall feeling more like a secret. Later he said that at least with the signs his kids and grandkids can find the waterfall after he is gone.

Mike took Preston to stand next to the waterfall. I felt like I was close enough. Plus I was able to get a few cute pictures of them.

Preston & Mike

 Preston

 Preston

 Preston & Mike

 Stephanie, Preston, Mike

 Stephanie & Preston

Preston was supposed to make trail mix and bring his first aid kit he made in scouts. We sent these pictures to his scout leader.

Preston

Mike loves to drink from the water and to stick his head in the stream. Like father, like son.

Preston

 Mike & Preston

 Preston

Mike and Preston got ahead of me on the way down. I always think down is going to be easier, but my knees hate going down! Preston and Mike were waiting for me on this rock. They wanted to scare me, but I knew they would be here. I know my boys.

Mike & Preston

One of my favorite pictures. I love watching these two together. Preston is so much like Mike. This is right after Preston fell. He did great the entire way, and fell here. Mike asked him if he wanted a piggy back ride to the car, but Preston wanted to walk the entire way. He has grown up! It wasn't too long ago when he wouldn't be able to stop crying over a fall like that.

Mike & Preston

We made it to our car right as the sun was setting. This was the first time Mike has gone on this hike where he hasn't left from his house. It was weird to him, and a bit sad. He is happy that there is still a way to get up to the waterfall though. That would have been really sad if all access had been cut off. My feet are tired. I kept thinking on the hike, "I hope tomorrow isn't leg day." Well, I have now checked. Tomorrow is leg day. Oh boy....