Sparring

(To My Impatient Friends... =P )

So on my birthday, the boys decided that instead of "jumping rope," they would spar. It was pretty fun to watch.

I don't think anybody escaped without an injury that night, including those of us who didn't spar. I have a small scar on the side of my face from the night. haha! It was a fun time...

So, without further ado, here are the video clips you've been waiting for.
(Thanks to the Adams for some of the videos.)

Jumping Rope

When we had a few families over that are good friends of ours, and all the parents heard that the boys were "jumping rope" in the basement, this was not what they were expecting...

Our new home!

On our sidebar there is a little blurb about us. Part of it says:

Currently, we live in the suburbs in Northern Colorado. That will be
changing soon. Lord willing, we will be building a log cabin on some land,
debt-free, and closer to our church family in the very near future.
Meanwhile, we have to be out of our house in a matter of months, so we are
looking for a place to rent.

Well, we have found the place to rent and moved completely! We are now in Elizabeth, Colorado. It is a beautiful part of the state; half prairie, half trees. Where we are it is mostly prairie. We love the openness and still being able to see some of the mountains.

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!

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.

Lego Video by Avery

The boys' (Allen, Avery, and Andrew T.) latest pastime has been making Lego slideshows using their digital camera. They set up a scene and make what is basically a flip book in digital form, re-posing the figures for each shot. They're getting pretty good at it! Once they upload the pictures onto the computer, they click through the pictures really quickly to watch their creations come alive.

Well, I didn't think clicking as fast as you can was a very sophisticated finish for all the hard work they put into these things. So, Andrea and I just got Avery and Allen a video editor for their birthdays.

(Allen's is at the end of March, Avery's is coming up this May... we have a joke about how many "combination" gifts we give. But hey, gifts have to go a long way! Daddy has gotten Birthday/Father's Day/Christmas gifts...)

Now they can put their slideshows into video form and add sound effects.

Anyway, without further ado, here is Avery's first video that he produced and edited all by himself. I thought it was pretty neat!

a transformer guy traversing our kitchen table on his skateboard