CHEC pictures

These are the pics Amy said she would put up.

Here's Allen, Showing off his booth.

It's really funny because Allen had like five people everyday coming
to his booth and just fighting with the swords.
Those are the people who are in the background.




Here's Andrea and me at her booth.
(Look at how pretty it is!)

Allen and his booth are ready for customers!
(Didn't Amy do a good job on that poster?!)

We're ready for customers too!

There's Allen and Kevin.

If you squint you can read what the signs say. :)

Allen and Andrea- entrepreneurs

This last weekend the annual CHEC conference took place down in Denver.

Andrea and Allen each had booths there this time. CHEC always dedicates part of its space to young entrepreneurs. They did this more for just the experience, rather than for money or for anything serious.

Allen sold some ingenious foam swords that he invented. He had made them and was taking 20 or so to church every week that all the boys played with, and one boy approached Allen about partnering up for a business. They were very successful at the conference. On Friday night, they only had about 20 swords left and had to make a bunch more. They sold out completely on Saturday.

Boys at church playing:

The swords are alot of fun because you can whack each other as hard as you want. For a boy, what could be better? =)

Andrea sold some really neat handmade necklaces. She found these little jars at a craft store, and decided to make some clay figurines to put inside them. She used sculpey clay and hand-painted the figurines. They are so well done! I can't believe how tiny and detailed they are. She named her business "Gracie J's," and the necklaces she made for the conference were part of a line called "Symbols of Virtue." Each necklace had a biblical meaning. We made some cards to go along with each necklace that bore a Bible verse and a little devotional blurb that Andrea wrote.

The candle symbolized light.

"Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."-Matthew 5:16

The fruits stood for the fruit of the spirit.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperence; against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit."
-Galatians 5:22-25

The bread stood for the Bread of Life.

"It is written, that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God."
-Luke 4:4

The lily symbolizes faith.

"Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."
-Matthew 6:28-29

This salt symbolizes... salt. Haha the salt was my idea, which is why it isn't as cool. But I like it.

You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men."
-Matthew 5:13

Andrea sold out of all her stuff, also. That's actually quite the feat for both of them!

I'll upload some pics from the conference later.

Little Catcher

Daddy just bought himself a catcher's helmet so that I can (safely) pitch to him.

Aidan decided to try it out.

As you can see, it fit him perfectly! .... =)

A.T. pitching


Aidan tossin it back. What an arm! =)

A swing and..

a miss. haha. But it looks like Aidan caught it!

A Visit to the Doctor

Recently, Anna and Amy went to the clinic. For Amy it was something about her allergies, but Anna had to get shots. I was interested to hear how a visit to the doctor would look to the eyes of a small child, so I asked Anna about it. This is what she said.

"....Well, we went in a room, and we sitted in some chairs..."

(Here I asked her if they were in there for a long time.)

"...No, we were only there for a little while...and then the doctor came in and she said...she said, "Anna"-- she said my name first, and then it said, "Anna, Amy, and Mommy?" And so we followed the doctor into a different room, and she put me on a table...And she gave me a shot. She put it in my mouth. It didn't hurt at all, though. It went, "BEEP," and she took it out and looked at it. And then she told me to take my shorts off, and she gave me four shots in my legs. Look."

(Here she pulled her shorts up and pointed to four Band-Aids on her thighs)

"And when she was done she gave me a high five. And then we came home. Actually, no-- we went to Safeway and then we came home."

Isn't that cute? I love seeing how the world looks from two feet off the ground!

Recent Birthdays, Video of Aidan

Avery's birthday was May 29th, and Aidan's was the 30th. Avery's 12 now, only a year away from being a teenager! And baby Aidan is THREE!

The Birthday Boys:

____________

We've been working on memorizing questions and answers from the Children's Catechism. Aidan is so good at it! He hasn't really been taught, he just learns from listening to everyone else learn and recite theirs. We recently figured out that he knew the answers to many more than the usual 3 questions he gets asked. He is just a little sponge, and he is so smart for his age. He has a huge vocabulary and great ability to grasp concepts and what we're telling him. He can really express his thoughts well, too.

Here is a cute video of Aidan reciting (and attempting..) some Catechism answers.

These are the questions he went over:

1. Q: Who made you?
A: God

2. Q: What else did God make?
A: God made all things.

3. Q: Why did God make you and all things?
A: For his own glory.

4. Q: How can you glorify God?
A: By loving him and doing what he commands.

5. Q: Why are you to glorify God?
A: Because he made me and takes care of me.

6. Q: Is there more than one true God?
A: No. There is only one true God.

7. Q: In how many Persons does this one God exist?
A: In three Persons.

8. Q: Name these three Persons.
A: The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

9. Q: What is God?
A: God is a spirit and does not have a body like men.

10. Q: Where is God?
A: God is everywhere.

11. Q: Can you see God?
A: No. I cannot see God, but he always sees me.

12. Q: Does God know all things?
A: Yes. Nothing can be hidden from God.

(haha it's funny that Aidan messed up on this one because he had a big discussion about this with me other day after I read the Jonah story to him and Anna. Aidan explained to me that God is EVERYWHERE, and Jonah could not run away or hide from God because God knows all things. He told me that "God is everywhere- he is here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and everywhere!")

13. Q: Can God do all things?
A: Yes. God can do all his holy will.

14. Q: Where do you learn to love and obey God?
A: In the Bible alone.

Our Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory store

Here's the slideshow of our Longmont Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory store. I don't have many pictures of the Westminster store becauseee.... well I think I liked the Longmont one better. haha =). It was beautiful. Mommy did a great job having it built out.

These pictures are from when Mommy and Daddy first went and checked out the location with the Martins in about July 2006 (it used to be a Stephany's Chocolates), to Valentine's Day 2009, a week before closing.

Click the delicious caramel apples below to see the slideshow. (You may need to disable your pop-up blocker.)