08/21/2026
IT’S TIME TO MEET TWO NEW CROSSWYND FARMS RESIDENTS!
Tonight’s animal introduction is going to be a little different because instead of introducing you to one animal, we have TWO.
Meet our two baby sheep!
Now, you may be wondering how long we thought about getting sheep before actually buying sheep.
The answer?
About 10 minutes.
A few weeks ago, Pyper decided she wanted to go look at a pig. And not one of our little “fufu” pigs either. She wanted a feeder pig.
Why? I have absolutely no idea.
Jim helped her find someone right here in the county who had some young piglets. We like getting our animals young when we can because we want them to grow up around us and be social, so Jim scheduled a time for us to go look.
Somehow, all five of us ended up loading into the truck together.
That alone is worth mentioning because these days, getting all five of us together at the same time is few and far between.
So off we went… TO LOOK AT A PIG.
Please remember that part.
We get there, walk over to the pig pen, and start looking at the piglets.
Then Pyper looks over and sees a pasture with what had to be close to 100 sheep and baby lambs.
And just like that…
She forgot all about the pig.
She walked over to the fence and started asking the man question after question about the sheep. He asked if she wanted to go into the pasture and see the lambs up close.
Of course she did.
Now mind you, it is 90+ degrees outside.
Jordyn hates the heat.
Cross works in the heat all week and has absolutely no desire to voluntarily walk around a pasture in it.
And Pyper?
Pyper is taking her sweet time, strolling around this huge pasture looking at sheep like we have nowhere else in the world to be.
About 10 minutes in, I hear:
“How much for a lamb?”
Jim and I looked at each other.
We have nowhere prepared to put a sheep.
We have never discussed owning sheep.
We know absolutely nothing about sheep.
And our very brief experience with goats ended rather quickly after discovering that if Pyper came within about 10 feet of them, she broke out in hives.
So naturally, the next thing we hear is…
“Yeah, I’ll take that one. The black and white one.”
Excuse me?
I look over and, unfortunately for Jim and me, it is the CUTEST little black and white baby lamb.
Cross and Jordyn just start shaking their heads.
After somewhere between 30 and 45 minutes wandering around this pasture in the heat, we finally make our way out.
Jordyn heads straight for the truck.
Cross isn’t far behind her.
Neither am I.
Pyper casually makes her way BACK over to the piglets, looks at them again, and then says she’s ready to go.
Then she asks the man when she can come back and get her lamb.
He tells her the lamb needs to stay with its mama for a few more days.
Pyper says:
“Okay, just let Daddy know and we’ll come back.”
And walks away.
There were no words.
Jim and I were speechless.
So we get back in the truck and start doing a little research about sheep.
And guess what we learned?
Sheep need sheep friends.
Well…
Y’all already know what that means.
ONE SHEEP HAS NOW BECOME TWO SHEEP.
Fast forward a few days and Pyper goes back to visit her baby and start looking for a friend for him.
And THAT is where I come in.
I may not know anything about sheep, but I do know how to pick out a cute animal.
I narrowed it down to two that were cute and around the same age. I figured we could make the final decision when we went to pick up Pyper’s.
Saturday comes and we get the call.
They’re ready.
The man had even corralled them into a smaller makeshift pen to make catching them easier.
Notice I said easier.
Not easy.
We quickly learned there is no magical sheep-catching technique.
Apparently, you just…
catch the one you want.
Pyper jumps right in, finds hers, and before we can even say, “Grab him!” she is standing there HOLDING HER LAMB.
Okay then.
Now it’s time to get sheep number two.
I may not be quite as fast as Pyper, but I am proud to report that it only took me two tries to grab mine.
The sad part was hearing those babies cry for their mamas when we first got them.
Thankfully, they settled down pretty quickly and before long they were home at Crosswynd Farms checking out their new digs.
Their current pen is, well…
temporary.
Although I actually really like where it is located.
Side note: Does anyone know how hard it is to find good help to build a run or fence these days?! Some of these prices are CRAZY.
But for now, the boys are safe, happy, and enjoying their temporary setup.
Pyper was SO excited because she thought she was going to get to bottle-feed her baby.
The man told us they might still want milk for another few weeks.
Nope.
These two wanted absolutely nothing to do with a bottle.
They wanted FOOD.
So now for the most important question…
What did we name these two handsome boys?
If you know our family, these names probably won’t surprise you.
Pyper named her black and white baby Neil, after the attorney from Landman. Yes, his name is Nate but Angela calls him Neil.
And I got to name the other one.
Meet Rip, named after Rip from Yellowstone.
Two of our family’s favorite shows, so the names just seemed to fit.
So everybody give a BIG Crosswynd Farms welcome to…
NEIL & RIP!
The two sheep we had absolutely NO plans of owning until approximately 10 minutes before Pyper bought one.
And yes…
Jim and I are still shaking our heads.
But we have to admit, they are pretty darn cute.
Welcome to the crazy, Neil & Rip.
You’ll fit right in at Crosswynd Farms.
