the classic

I know I say this every year, but the Meeker Classic Sheepdog Trials is one of our favorite weekends of the year! It brings out the whole community to volunteer and make it one of the neatest international events I've ever seen. We attend every year - see last year, and the year before! - and enjoy different parts of the 5-day event every time. We love to support the art auction - and this year the landscape was beautiful the night of the reception and the boys had fun playing on the fence:

The special treat this year was an art submission from our dear family friend who has painted for our family before and decided to try his hand at sheepdogs! His entry sold in the auction and received much praise throughout the show - here it is displayed in the middle, top:

The boys had their fill of the event - Thursday night art reception, Friday all-day 2nd grade field trip (which I helped chaperone so Sam came, too!) and Saturday all-day spectators! - but they particularly enjoyed having our friends from Denver & Boulder visit for the weekend... and having funnel cake!

 I tried to take a few photos of the trials - but nothing I do can really do it justice. The dogs are beautiful, skilled, and amazing to watch. Their handlers are patient and kind and the Meeker sheep are infamously ornery! The whole event is spectacular (relatively speaking of course - to pull off this kind of weekend in a town our size is great!) and made for a fun, long weekend!