It's been a year.

Last April was the beginning of a series of life changing events that took place over the past year. (And the changes are still rolling in!)
It was the month we closed our second Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory store. The first one, we closed in February, shortly after Valentine's Day.
Many of you know the story, so I won't go into details again.
But those stores were such a huge part

Business name ideas, anyone?

Hi everyone! Allen and I are down in the Pueblo mall today running a kiosk for Daddy's caramel apple business. (I'm posting via Allen's phone with his 30 day free internet trial...) We were thinking, and we're really in need of a catchy name. Any suggestions? Right now, our signs just say, "Caramel Apples and More." The official business name is "Andrew's Kitchen." That name is so-so... We were thinking maybe we could incorporate our last name somehow since it is fairly unique. But we're not tied down to that. Right now, my best idea is "Ann & Andy's Sweets." Anyway, I know we have plenty of smart and creative friends, so I thought I'd throw this out there. =)

Fun at the Corn Maze

The month of October has been fairly busy for us. I don’t really even know why…
Anyway, I thought I’d update the blog with atleast one highlight.
Last weekend we invited the church all the way up to the corn maze, where we are selling apples, for a potluck. Even though "only" three families were able to come, there were over 30 kids in our group. =) We had a GREAT time. The weather was perfect, and there were so many fun things to do there.
As usual, the pictures tell the story:

I took these ones...

Some of the handsome boys.

Abby!

They have this box full of dried corn. Waaayyy more fun than a sand box!

However, as Becca Storrie and I learned the hard way a few weeks ago, you still get dirty. =)

Avery emerging.. and Mr. Searcy telling him he looks better under corn.

Luke, burried. Hahahaha.

Goin under.. these boys are way too much fun.

Cutie Aidan A. She reminds me of a Norman Rockwell painting.

Someone else getting burried...

Anna! and Abby! The pedal carts. The boys (and men...) loved these.


Elijah hanging out in our booth, and rating our products. =)

Andrea manning the booth.

Yummmmm.

Hahaha Mr. Adams and Mr. Searcy racing. Mr. Searcy took the inside corner and won. Click on this picture to enlarge it and look at their faces...

__________________

And Andrea took these...

Abigail and Emma!

Awww.

Pumping the water for the rubber duck race.
Abigail and Emma really got into that one!

Friends.

Avery, A.T, Sawyer

Sisters.

I love those girls!

This one, too.

And her, too.

My Aidan!


I guess the pictures don't tell the whole story- about all the fun, the memories, and the fellowship- but they do an okay job. =)

Caramel Apple Business at the Corn Maze

Videos and Pictures included...

Quick OverviewA few months ago, we started up a new family business selling caramel apples. Our first event was the 4th of July Festival in Thornton, where we've gone every year as a family anyway. That didn't go too great, but we learned a LOT. Since then, we've mainly been going to farmers' markets while we try to find better venues. We know that the best places for us to be are at things like carnivals and fairs. They're hard for vendors to get into, though. We weren't sure what we were going to do this fall, but a few weeks ago a big door was opened for us. At one of the farmers' markets, our booth is next to a man who owns and operates a corn maze and was there selling his corn. He invited us to come operate there this fall. We are so excited! I think that may be the perfect place for us to be, and means for God to provide in big ways. This weekend was the first weekend (after it was rained out the previous week), and business for the maze was a little slow, but we still did okay in our sales. Not as well as we had hoped, but Septembers are much slower than Octobers for places like that. So we're still very optimistic. It's been a rocky start for the business, but we're just riding it out. (If it was easy, everyone would be doing it, right?)

The Product

Oreo!

Cinnamon

Caramel Pretzels

We make them with all kinds of toppings.

Marshallows dipped in caramel-
yum.

Making the Apples
We make the caramel from scratch and dip them all ourselves. It takes over two hours just to make the caramel alone. It is an art that we take pride in. =) We take turns going with Daddy to a commercial kitchen in Loveland to do all the work. A BIG thank you goes to Mr. Searcy who did all the electric work to get our stove up and running there!

Here's a few videos of Aidan helping make the caramel. (Please don't report us to the health department. As you can see, he wasn't wearing a hair net...)





At the Corn MazeAt the farmers' markets, we setup a portable canopy and that is our space. At the corn maze, Mr. Langridge built us a small booth. He just put up a box frame, and we covered it with some tarps. Simple; but it looks great, and it's so nice to have something more permanent. (Thanks again, Mr. Langridge!)
Here's Daddy, Allen, and Mr. Langridge working hard to built the box.



The time of building wasn't all sweat and tears, though. There were some fun and games involved.
Mr. Langridge (at Allen's suggestion) checking how far he could shoot a nail from his nail gun... :



Here's a video documentary of the almost finished product:
(Allen bumped my elbow...)


Open for business!

As always, we really appreciate your prayers in this endeavor!

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.

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.)