The Petersboro Barn, Eleanor's Visit, ACT and another weekend trip upcoming

It’s a new week and it seems a long time since I wrote last, but it only has been a week. We had a very busy and fully occupied weekend. Paul has been working with intensity on the barn the last few weeks, preparing the materials and hauling them to Petersboro. This past weekend he started putting the barn up. He left for Petersboro early on Saturday morning with the goal to put up three of the upright poles (three of the fourteen perimeter poles. This was a huge step because it means it has really started. Paul came home exhausted, dirty and very happy. I won’t see the results of his labors until Friday when I will be there to witness the work he has done. This is exciting because we have been thinking and imagining this barn for a long time, and now it is finally coming together. My weekend was occupied with a visit from Eleanor. She came on Friday evening and stayed with us until Sunday evening. She is not quite three and half yet, and so bright and lively and interested. We had a lot of fun. I had organized a whole series of activities which I thought she would enjoy and we did do a lot. We started out the morning visiting and feeding the horses. Then we headed to the Dollar Store, where we picked out a couple of small gifts for cousins, Jonathan and Andrew, --and a little something for Eleanor, too—The idea was to make a package for them and send it to them, a gift from one cousin to her other cousins. She picked out some little wooden vehicles, cars, and fire truck and monster trucks. We hope our Ukrainian cousins like them. There is a young couple that lives next door to us with a daughter exactly Eleanor’s age and while we were playing in the pack yard, Matt called to me and invited Eleanor over to play with Adri. They played outside for a little while and in Adri's playroom, too. Eleanor had a blast with a “new friend.” Erika and Jono came over for lunch—and brought Ollie (who promptly ate a pair of Eleanor’s carelessly discarded socks—fortunately coughing them up on Sunday). Ollie is the most adorable dog in the world—such a nice disposition, pleasant and genuine. We all love him. While Erika and Jono were here we painted pet rocks. Eleanor made a really nice card for Jonathan and Andrew and after Erika and Jono left we packaged the card and gifts into a box and took it to the post office for shipping. We also made stops at the local pet store (a super easy zoo experience) and the library. We also had to make a second trip to the pasture for the evening horse feeding. On top of everything else, both Paul and I were giving lessons in Sunday School and Priesthood on Sunday so in the evening there were lessons to prepare, but we had a really fun time with a very responsive three year old. We had a great time. Sunday we had a family dinner at my parents’ house and that was where we made the exchange with Eleanor back to her parents. Peter and Kortney were looking for a last getaway before the baby comes and while Kortney is still capable of taking a hike. They went to Canyonlands for a hike with Kortney's brother and sister in law. They has a great time, too. Peter called in the evening and they had finished their hikes, and were having dinner somewhere out in the countryside before heading back to Utah County. It was nice for them not to have to worry about coming home super-fast to pick up Eleanor on Saturday evening. This week I administered the ACT and I was pleased that I didn't have to void any tests or kick any students out of the administration. I have been doing this for a long time now, and have gotten pretty good at organizing and ordering it. I am no longer the site supervisor for Brighton High School, and Corner Canyon is still too new to be a site, but I expect that I will be doing it there into the future sometime. Paul and I are heading to Hagerman, Idaho, to attend another Cowboy Poetry event, Paul is taking Friday off to go to Petersboro to work on the barn. I will leave work a little early and meet him there—we will drive up to Idaho together. Paul is performing at the Friday night show, and during the day on Saturday. I hope to get a bunch of handwork done, and also attend an endowment session in the Twin Falls Temple. It should be a fun weekend for both of us.