Wordful Wednesday-Herding Sheep

I took my kids on a vacation to Utah in July.  It was jam-packed full of events, and the best part is that all of them involved my extended family.  We got to spend the week with my dad and all of my siblings and their children.  We even got to spend time  with my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.  It was so. nice.

So nice, in fact that I can’t believe that I’m JUST getting around to posting about it.

Before I dive into my post though, let me just tell you how much I love Picnik since each week I get at least 5 emails asking what I used to edit my photos.  Picnik is a free online photo editing site, and it’s super easy to use. They have some great “advanced” features that I use all the time, so I actually pay for a premium membership, but most applications are free. I edited all of these photos using Lomo-ish by Picnik.

I drove to Utah a day early just so my children would have the opportunity to see my grandpa “in action”. I knew that the sheep herders were moving their herds to different feeding grounds during the time that we would be there, and I wanted to make sure that we arrived in time to see them in an area where we could actually find them.  Some days of the “drive” are up through canyons that are downright scary, and can’t be accessed with a regular old city vehicle.

Seeing all of the sheep always brings back memories, and reminds me that there are so many jobs that make this world go round!  I’m just glad this particular job isn’t one of mine.  It’s so physically demanding.  And dirty.

I love this red sheep camp!

Part of the fun of getting to experience the sheep being herded is having a chance to ride the horses and mules. I’ve always been a bit scared of horses, so growing up, I’d have one of the herders put me in the saddle and walk me along beside the herd of sheep. Now that I’m older I realize what a nice thing that was for them to do for me.

I think Emma feels the same way I do about horses: I feel a lot better when someone else is up there with me!

The boys had zero fear of the horses.

See how history repeats itself?

Every herd has a guard dog as well as a few herd dogs.  It’s amazing to me that these dogs are completely trained by their mother.  No dog obedience classes for these guys.  They just know how to do their job instinctively.

Eventually the men, including my grandpa have to get back to work, but while we are there, they give us their full attention.

But then the time comes when they have to get back to work.  And so they do.

Have you ever had the chance to experience “rural” jobs?  Which ones?  What surprised you most?

Wordful Wednesday is like Wordless Wednesday, only WITH words. It’s for those of us that can’t contain the chatter, but in a good way. More info. in my tabber box titled WW on the right. Thank you for playing along!

Don’t forget to hop on over to my co-host Amanda’s place (Parenting By Dummies) to see what she has to be Wordful about today!

 

About Angie

Angie is a CRAFT dabbling, recipe making, WORD loving, sunshine hording, book DEVOURING, Mama to a lot! She's kind of in love with Instagram right now, so if you want her attention, go find here there. {smiling}

Comments

  1. Wow, what an experience for your kids! And thanks for the info about picnik

  2. We don’t have any “rural” in our family. I always wished that we could have experienced things like that. The scenery is beautiful!

  3. What amazing images from what will undoubtedly be a memory forever etched!

  4. Those photos are great! I’ve always been so amazing by herding dogs, especially since my dogs have always been… well… less than perfectly obedient. 😉

  5. I live in a rural area and have helped with a few of those “dirty’ jobs 🙂

  6. Angie,
    What a beautiful place! I love those rolling hills (and how cool that the kids got to see all those sheep). Sounds like it was a great trip.

    By the way, I LOVE Picnik too! So much fun, although I’ve only used the free options so I haven’t explored all that it can do!

    Hugs,
    Genny

    • The thing I love most about the paid version is that you can upload more than one image at at time, plus there are a few effects that I love in the paid version.

  7. I am so glad you were able to spend time with your family Angie! It looks like the kids LOVED it! Awesome vacation. : ) Family is everything!

    • You, more than anyone really highlight just how valuable family is, and how much you love them. I love that about you.

  8. I can’t believe Bruce is STILL herding sheep! Old Cowboys are tough!
    And the 3 boys on one horse! LOVE that photo. How fun for the kids. Farm kids are lucky. We used to love watching the sheep come through Cedar City on their way to the ‘valley’, right down the main drag, horses, dogs and all! It was a hoot.
    I tell you, if society ever goes south, I want to be in one of those rural towns, where people are self sufficient and know how to work the land. City folks are screwed. We want to be back in Cedar for such days…

    PS. Why is your blog telling me about intestinal activity? LOL. Talking ads now eh? I haven’t seen these yet, of course you are the only blog I follow that does ads.

    • I’m with you. If things go south, I don’t know how to do anything. I haven’t even ever successfully grown a garden. Maybe I can teach my kids to beg. ha! 🙂

  9. We love visiting our Wyoming relatives to ride horses. No sheep though. My brother-in-law is a cattle rancher and calls sheep “mountain maggots”. Haha!

  10. I love Picnick and have been toying with getting the membership. I’ve made holiday cards and birth announcements with the free version – it is great!

    That family picture with the sheep in the background? Lovely!

    • I love that with the premium version you can upload more than one photo at once and it saves a stream of your 100 latest photos….most lovely though? It’s easy. 🙂

  11. I love the pics with you guys on the horses and it looks like all of you had a very good time.

  12. Beautiful pics!! I remember when you went on that trip. Didn’t you have car problems’?!?!?!

    • YES! You have a good memory. My battery died while camping on a mountain and then I got a flat tire on a Saturday evening. I had to get a mechanic to open up for me or I would have had to wait a few days to get it fixed, and I needed to get home. 🙂

  13. Thank you for sharing the experience. It’s seems so humbling. I have a paid membership with Picnik too. I don’t use it very often but like the services available to me when I want to use it.

  14. How exciting! I want to take my boys to a dude ranch when they are a little older!
    I love the pics of all the boys on one horse, that is just priceless!

  15. Great photos – you did a great job with these. I’ve always been fascinated by sheep. My little white dog is about as close as I get, though. Oh, and the petting zoo.

  16. What a cool trip! I used to spend summers cleaning horse stalls at my Aunt & Uncle’s house back when they had horses. And then I was feeding a horse one day with my hand open (a big NO NO) and got my finger bit. My mother’s fear of me around horses grew exponentially for a few years but my love for horses never faded. It’s cool to give your kids these types of adventures.

    • My twins teacher has a daughter who LOVES horses. She volunteers at a stable for free riding lessons. My twins teacher said she was helping her daughter feed one day and a horse took a nibble on her arm. She was wearing scented lotion. Ouch.

  17. Great pictures!! What a great experience for the kids!

    I’m going to have to try Picnik. I always hear about them, but have never tried them out.

  18. Now that is a cool experience. I had no idea it was even an option. You rock for letting your kids in on that.

  19. It’s always so much fun to go ‘home’ and visit family – and to be able to experience something like that and see history repeating itself? Priceless.

  20. What a great experience!

  21. great vacation photos! I’ve always wanted to go on one of those Vo-cations to a rural area and learn to drive a tractor and milk cows.

    • The thought of driving a tractor scares me, and I’ve milked a cow once. Such an experience. My kids got to bottle feed calves once. So fun.

  22. Each and every time I see a picture of you and your 5 kiddos I just smile. I love your big family so much <3

  23. These are great!

    I tried a “rural” job once: Cow milking.

    Um, yeah. NEVER again. EVER.

    • I’ve milked a cow once too. Once. I also visited a dairy. Not a job I’d want, that’s for sure. I’d be too busy trying not to get peed on or dirty to actually get to work. 🙂

  24. I love Country, love Picnik and love sheep! I have always had a farmer’s lifestyle and find it very rewarding in so many ways. Awesome photos Angie! I’m so glad you and the kids spent time with your grandpa… so fine!

    • I wish I knew more about the things people learn living in rural areas like how to grow ones own food, how to NOT eat out, how to fix things oneself and get ones own water……

  25. Great that you spent time with your family… and what a treat for the kids! 🙂

    • The kids always love visits to Utah because they have so much fun doing things they are not used to, and it’s free so I love it too. 🙂

  26. Growing up we used to herd our cows…all 10 of them…twice a year. The first time was in the summer when we would move them from the upper field to the lower one (that involved crossing a highway). The winter herding was more fun because we would herd them down the middle of the highway for 1/4 of a mile, usually in the snow, to move them up to the barn field.

  27. Looks and sounds like an amazing vacation!

  28. I think it is good in today’s age of electronic gadgets and all that, for families to get first hand experiences of working the farms and land.
    Looks like a wonderful time!

    • It was really nice. ANd, like you said, it’s is important to show kids that there is more out there than their DS or their ipod, etc.

  29. GREAT PHOTOS! THAT LOOKS LIKE SOOO MUCH FUN!

  30. How awesome! I have a couple of dogs that are herding dog mixes (one is a border collie/Aussie mix and the other is an Aussie/mystery mix). I keep telling my husband that we need to get a small herd of sheep for our BC/Aussie mix and to keep our yard trimmed down. heh.

  31. Those are some fantastic pictures. I bet your kids had a great time getting to see their great-grandpa in action.

  32. That looks amazing, simply AMAZING!!

  33. What a great family adventure! I had an uncle who had a sugar beet farm in Idaho and when we visited he let us kids have a turn driving the tractor. I will never forget the great experiences there. Your post brought back some great memories.

  34. That looks like a fantastic time. My girls would love that.

    I also love Picnik, but I use the editing tools via Picasa.

  35. The boys look SO pumped to be on that horse. That is such a cool experience to share with the kids!

    • They were pretty excited. I even got on and went for a run, got a bit scared and remembered why I don’t like riding much. 🙂

  36. I’m adding you to my Bloglovin!

  37. Great pictures – looks like it was a wonderful trip!

  38. First time linking up! Thanks for hosting!

  39. I can not tell you how insanely jealous I am right now! That is awesome!

    • The nice thing about visiting places like this is that it’s just a visit. Ha! 🙂 My muscles are not strong enough for that work.

  40. Angie,

    I’m glad you got around to posting about this trip. Love the photos of all those sheep and the kids on the horses. My boys would undoubtedly fight over who got to “drive.”

    It’s so important to share our past with our kids. I think it helps them see their parents as real people!

    Christy

  41. What a totally awesome trip. Love all the photos.

    • It’s always nice to get away, see family and experience new things…..show them a bit of their heritage, you know?

  42. What a fantastic experience for the kids!

  43. I love love love your photos. Clearly I need to upgrade to the premium version of picnik because none of my photos look like that. That or I need to go to Utah.

    • With the premium version you can upload more than one picture too. I’m pretty sure an upgrade would be cheaper. 🙂

  44. Gorgeous photographs! I haven’t used picnik much at all, but it looks like it offers some pretty amazing filters and adjustments.

    Glad you got to enjoy some quality time with your family and I bet this vacation is one of those that your kids will remember forever. We’ve always lived in the “burbs” but I remember visits to our aunt/uncle/cousins farm when we were kids. We loved it. Feeding the animals, jumping into wagons full of corn, and riding horses. Totally different from our everyday lives, but a LOT of fun (and a LOT of work).