Sheepdog Competition

After the race we hurried home to shower and get ready to head on over to the Soldier Hollow Classic, the World's Foremost Sheepdog Competition. Clark always pokes fun at my family and our affinity for events such as these. If there is a rodeo, a parade or a festival devoted to ostriches and/or llamas within 50 miles you can count on the Tueller clan attending.

My theory is that we're so used to living in foreign countries and being a "tourist" in those countries, that when we're back home we gravitate towards these unusual events to recreate that same feeling of being an outsider. We can be tourists in our own backyard. And let me tell you, people watching at the Soldier Hollow Classic is just as intriguing as people watching at the Sirkeci Train Station in Istanbul or Al Azhar Park in Cairo. Plus, who doesn't love funnel cake? No one. That's who.

The first event we watched was the Dock Diving Dogs Competition...

There is no such thing as too many Yuna pics...

Then we hit up the petting zoo...

My brothers have a thing for drinks that come in fancy bottles, in this case, homemade root beer...

Then the Bow Wow Luau Dog Acrobatics Show...

Then the main event, the actual sheep-herding which was super impressive...

Sheep are dumb, dogs are smart. That's how this thing works...

We watched one dog perform really well and then in the last second he nipped a sheep trying to corral it in the gate. He was disqualified. It was heartbreaking.

Amara and Baba...

We had no idea that Ike had an ear infection and a burst eardrum. Looking back, he did ask for an unusual amount of "huggies" that day. Poor kid...

Isn't my sister beautiful? I think so...


It was a full day...


At the end of the day we headed back to Provo. I was supposed to take my little brother to a Blink 182 concert for his 18th birthday that evening but I was way too pooped. Instead I joined Clark and the boys...