Wednesday morning I went to get my nails filled. I sat down with a woman, she put on her face mask and started filing away. A few minutes in, she glanced up at me and I distinctly saw her shock for a fraction of a second. She mumbled something. I could not hear her - obviously. You know, my condition. She mumbled something again, this time looking up at me, so that confirmed my suspicion that she was indeed talking to me. I leaned in and said the most used word in my vocabulary, “What?”. She said it again and I still could not hear her, again, “What?” I said, “I am so sorry, I can’t hear you.” Finally, she said it slow and pronounced every syllable, “You..want…me…do…yo…eye…brows.”

“Oh…” I said. “Um…let me think about it.”

“It cost you seven dollar.” She politely informed me. What a bargain!

Let me share a little secret with you. I have never had my eyebrows “done” before. I assumed it was wax. I know my eyebrows are out of control and I do have a small fear of having a stranger shape them for me.

So I thought about it. For 20 minutes, I didn’t think of anything else. Finally, when she told me to go wash my hands, she asked me again. I needed a few more minutes, so I held up one finger and headed back toward the sinks.

I was seriously stressed out. Sure, I could just say no, but I also knew that at 35, maybe I should start taking care of them.

Thankfully another customer came back to wash her hands. She was probably in her late 50’s. I checked out her eyebrows. PERFECT! They were perfectly shaped. I don’t usually ask for advice from strangers, but I just needed a little more confirmation that I wouldn’t leave the nail salon butchered.

So, I said (in a low voice), “Do you get your eyebrows done here?”

“Oh, no.” She said. She finished washing her hands and then she said, “I had breast cancer and went through chemo. When my hair grew back in I haven’t had to do a thing with my eyebrows.”

I’m sure she saw my surprised expression and I quickly tried to compose myself. “Wow, they are perfect.” I said, not knowing really what else to say.

We walked back up toward the front of the salon and she whispered to me with a crooked grin, “My armpit hair didn’t grow back at all!”

I said, “Wow!” excitedly.

Then she whispered again, “Too bad the hair on my legs grew back.”

“Yeah. Dang!” I said.

She walked off, I sat down and turned the fate of my eyebrows over to the hands of a perfect stranger.

Today, (two days latter) when I touch my eyebrows, they are still tender. The wax part was not so bad, but I think she was thinning my eyebrows and that hurt!

I don’t know what to do when they start growing back in. Am I supposed to pluck them as they grow in?

Anyway, when I got up to leave, the woman with perfect eyebrows was sitting up front waiting for her fingernails to dry. I said, “Well, what do you think?”

“Very nice.” She said nodding approvingly.

So, I did it. Finally! For all of you who have wanted to get your hands on my eyebrows, they are now tamed! Thanks to the woman with the perfect eyebrows. She had battled breast cancer and won and ended up with perfect eyebrows and no armpit hair! A true Hero!

We’ve got parent teacher conference coming up in a couple of weeks! I know! Some of you aren’t even back in school yet. My kids brought home progress reports over the last few weeks. I never have to wonder how my kids are doing in relation to school and grades. I am always pleasantly reminded how great they are. They have far exceeded my expectations and every single one of them have surpassed my level of commitment to school work and grades! I just had to share my thoughts on my little hero’s. My kids…who will someday make decisions, changes, and improvements that will benefit our future.

Andre will turn 14 this year. His whole life I have had people comment to me and share their appreciation to me for what a good kid he is. Kev and I can’t take all the credit for that. He was born that way. He never ceases to amaze Kev and I.

In 7th grade going to parent/teacher conferences was a huge ego boost for me. I would look forward to hearing all the wonderful things his teachers had to say about him. They would give him such great compliments such as, “Andre is very driven.” “He is very smart in Science, he just gets it.” His math teacher said, “I wish all the kids in my class were just like Andre”. His Writing teacher said, “He’s popular and he’s a straight “A” student. He’s and example to kids that it’s OK to get good grades. That it can be ‘cool’.” Andre is currently in Honors classes for every subject.

Again, we cannot take credit for that. We’ve have never had to tell him to do his homework. It’s never been an issue that we’ve have had to enforce. He has set the standard and Aliya and Anthony have followed.

It is tough being the oldest in a family. There are huge expectations and he is forced to take a lot of responsibility. He has never let us down. We are extremely blessed to have Andre in our family.

The future is intimidating as I look forward to his life in the “real world”. Even at school now, he faces issues that Kev & I never had to. One thing that has always impressed me is his testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It began with decision to be baptized and confirmed a member. Again, far stronger than mine was at his age. You can see it in his eyes. He just gets it! I am so thankful for that! He, at age 13 is an example to me, I want to be that strong. He helps me in so many different ways.

I see Andre following his Grandpa Dewsnup’s path. Mel is the Agriculture Professor at BYU ID. He is doing amazing things like growing tomatoes with no soil. The green houses up there are incredible to walk through if you ever get an opportunity. I can see Andre loving math and science so much that he will use it to make important changes that will be necessary for the earth in the future.

But before that…he will be a huge NBA STAR. He loves basketball and his skills prove it. Some of his first words were “shoot”, “dunk”, “ah, miss”. As soon as he could walk, he nearly always had a basketball in his hands.

(He is going to LOVE these pictures I put on the internet for everyone to see! Yep, he had a mullet. That proves he was a real man, even at 2.)

Kevin and I love him dearly and while we are extremely excited for what he has to offer the world as he grows and ventures out, we sooo wish that time would slow down so we could take every opportunity to let him know how much we appreciate him. Time just goes by way too fast.

Don’t grow up, K Bud? We love you!!! - Mom and Dad

Aliya. At 11 years old, she is the middle and truly the glue that holds us together. She is extremely sensitive. If she had a “special gift” she would be just like Jasper in the Twilight series (I know, I’m a dork). She can sense when people are tired, angry, frustrated, and even sincerely happy. She then acts accordingly. She has an amazing way of cheering people up when they are sad. If you are in a happy mood, watch out! She will take you over the edge to jubilation!

She too does extremely well in school. She has followed Andre’s example and is upholding the Dewsnup name through the years at Paradise Education Center. Her strong subject is math. I just don’t get it! I stunk at math. Last year, she was in the APEX program and this year she continues with advanced classes. Kev and I are extremely grateful that she has the self driven motivation to be her best. Her parent/teacher conferences are just as fun to go to as Andre’s!

She is her own discipliner. Aliya is so hard on herself when it comes to discipline. If she does something wrong or if she does bad on a test, it eats her up inside. When she comes to me with tears streaming down her face, I know she has beat herself up about it already. I don’t need to say much.

I can see Aliya feeling like she could make great changes in the world when it comes to the welfare of humanity. She hates for people to suffer. She also is so good at math and science she could use those skills to help rid the earth of some of the heartache and pain that plagues us. Maybe doing research for possible cures for the terminal illnesses we are faced with.

Aliya brings to our family something that I cherish. Quirkiness! Sometimes she is down right spastic. Now this, I will gladly take credit for. Kevin and the boys have been know to walk away from us and pretend they do not know us because of our behavior in public places. She brings it out in me and then we feed off each other. An observer might occasionally wonder if we have developmental issues. That is how out of hand we get. You only live once, right?

She is very affectionate. She loves her brothers. If you look closely, you will see that she is gritting her teeth. That is another family trait that she inherited from me. I am still trying to break her of that. It’s that impulsive feeling to smother whoever it is that is in your arms. She has had to learn that if she wants to play with a sibling, it’s going to have to be something that “boys do”. She rides bikes, plays sports, and can belch us all under the table! That’s my girl!

She is a people pleaser. Kev and I love her, her personality and the essential piece that makes our family whole.

We love you, Aliya! So much, you can’t grow up either, K?!! Mom and Dad

And last, but not least. Anthony. Kev and I seemed to know that three children would make up our family. There are 22 months that separate Andre and Aliya so when Aliya was 2 we decided to try for number 3. We had one more “A” name picked out that we needed to put to a member of our family. We tried and failed, tried and failed. Number 3 was being very stubborn not wanting to come to us from the comfort of heaven. Who can blame him!

We fought back with Clomid! We won.

Anthony joined and completed our family June 17th, 2000. He just turned 8. He is in 3rd grade this year! He, just like his older brother and sister, does well in school. He is showing signs of passing me up in math every bit as quickly as Andre and Aliya did. I am sure I used my fingers to count up on What am I saying, I still use my fingers to count up on. If I run out of fingers, off come my shoes and socks so I can make use of my toes. (It’s obnoxious when people are in line behind me at the bank.) Anthony seldom uses his fingers! I am so glad it comes easy for him. For all of them.

He is super creative. It blows my mind the things he comes up with. He has a huge collection of Bionicles and Lego’s. He will sit in his room for hours putting together spaceships and big scary long legged guys. After he has put together a Bionicle, he takes them apart, combines older pieces and creates completely new creatures. In his mind he sees what little piece he needs to be a joint or what piece he needs to hold the head on or the special piece that attaches the legs to the body. Those are “guilt-free” toys or rewards for good behavior I like to buy for him because I know they inspire him to create.

He is very compassionate. He loves everyone. He likes to play baseball, ride bikes and recently gained a love for tubing. He is 8, but looks much younger. He loves to snuggle with me still. I have to remind myself not to pick him up. He is my baby, but he is not a baby. He was six before I stopped carrying him into the grocery store! Is there something wrong with that? Oh, and his special gift - farting. He can clear a room faster than a skunk can. He farts all day long. I don’t know where it comes from. That little body of his! (He must’ve inherited that from Kevin).

This is one of my favorite pictures of him.

I see Anthony in living color as either a computer programmer or video game innovator. He got frustrated with me the other day because he wanted to put a game on Aliya’s website. I told him that it would be impossible and that a video game is just a bunch of codes. He was absolutely confident he could do it.

Anthony, we love you so much and feel so blessed to have you in our lives. We really don’t want you to grow up either, it seems you have taken this literally. Every day is an adventure with you!! Love, Mom and Dad

“I believe the children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way. Show them all the beauty they possess inside…” Hee-Hee! Whitney Houston!

As some of you may know, we took a flying leap at a business venture. It was a very rewarding experience.

Kevin and his brother, Kelly have always “fixed up” their vehicles. No stock rims or stock stereos for these guys.

It all started many years ago. Kevin set the standard (and Kelly followed) and has always had this drive to be an innovator - to take the norm to the next level. When he was 16, Kev used home stereo subs for his car when he didn’t quite have enough money to buy the real deal.

Later, he started building his own boxes.Here he is in action! This box housed 2-10″ and 2-15″ sub woofers. I know what you’re thinking! I promise you my hearing loss is not due to these driving conditions!

Then, once he had conquered changing the interior sound dynamics, he started accessorizing and adding to the outside.

This was our first “family” car. Complete with trophies and wheels that stick out a good 4-5 inches. One time I got pulled over by a cop in Rexburg, ID who told me that I might hit a pedestrian with the wheels…did you get that? With the wheels!

Anyway, I think you get the idea that Kevin has always loved to fix up cars. So the idea came about that he and Kelly would open up their own auto-accessories shop. Kelly and his wife, Heather moved down to AZ in Jan of 05′ and Krucial Kustoms opened in May.

I was asked to run the front. Yikes!! I knew nothing about this stuff! But I do now. I did it and I have to say it was a great experience. I loved meeting new people. I learned a ton! Kept up the books, kept track of purchase orders and receiving. Some days were high stress, others…not so much. I got really good at Spider Solitaire and I wrote a book!

Things started out pretty slow, but word was getting around. Soon we were doing GREAT! Things were getting really exciting. We hired our first employee. We went through several till we stuck with Awesome Andy! We were doing some work for a couple of dealerships and we had a pretty large group of returning customers. Whenever a customer would come back with a new car for tint, or new stereo, or new rims, I always took that as a sign that we were doing our jobs right. Kevin and Kelly and even Andy were raised to be respectful and trustworthy. That came through in their business dealings as well.

Our competition was not so respectful or trustworthy. Sometimes we’d get put into a situation when we would have to make a decision to either be “snake-like” or be trustworthy. We always felt comfortable and slept sound at night because we always did the right thing.

Our customers were happy. If they had issues they knew they could come back or call without getting “the run around”. We took care of everyone who came to us.

Unfortunately, the economy started to take a dive. Too bad purchasing luxuries like a new stereo or new wheels are some of the first things to go. We knew it would get bad. We were stressed and tired of being that way. So we put the business up for sale.

We were extremely blessed to get out when we did with minimal damage.

This morning I was riding my bike home from riding the kids to school. At the stop light was a truck that I recognized immediately. One of our customers that brought several vehicle’s to us was stopped there. We had done so much to this truck: rocker panels, new wheels and tires, tannaue cover, tail gait brake lights, complete sound and video systems, alarm…the works! He was still sporting Krucial Kustoms stickers! I got teary eyed as I approached the truck. I couldn’t help myself but stop right beside him to get his attention. He rolled down his window and then he recognized me…On my bike. I wonder what he was thinking. He asked what we were up to, I said, “just workin”. Then the light turned green, he waved and he drove off.

I don’t ever regret taking the Krucial Kustoms challenge. I hope that Kev and Kelly don’t feel it was a waist of time. They accomplished so much. Yes, there were long…hot days…and nights…and it’s easy for me to say that because I was up front with the air conditioning blasting. But at least they took a shot.

“Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.”
– Pope John XXIII

Isn’t it better to have tried and failed than to have never tried at all? Or is that “loved and lost”? Who knows!

I love the memories and the experiences Krucial Kustoms brought to me. I am grateful for all that I learned. I am so proud of Kev and his drive to do what others are too afraid to do. He is an example to me that pushes me to be all that I can be.

I would also like to give a special thanks to Heather’s parents, Jeff and Diane who willingly gave of their time to “school” us on the “money” side of running a business. Also - A HUGE THANKS for doing our taxes each year. We are so grateful for that!

Thanks to all our loving family members that prayed continually for our success. In our eyes, we were!

Krucial Kustoms was a wild ride for nearly three years! What’s next?!

For all you Twilight fans, you will understand this a little better than someone who either has not read the books or who doesn’t really care for them.

Ever since I picked up Twilight, I have been hooked. That seems to be how it is with most people. Since this craze began, the “Twilight obsessed” have been waiting on pins and needles to finally find out how the series would end. It makes me a little sad that it is over.

That’s right. The book came out midnight, August 2nd and I finished it at 9:30 pm August 2nd. Yep, a reading marathon!

Let me explain my insanity!

A few weeks ago, one of my friends suggested we go to her in-law’s condo in St. George UT. We would get the book at Barnes and Noble at midnight, read it all night and all day and all night again (if necessary) to finish it!

She called and reserved us some books, she ordered us some t-shirts and we left Friday morning after we dropped our kids off at school.

We: myself, and three other mother’s met up with two other mothers in St. George an hour behind schedule (we took a little detour and ended up in California) (Not on purpose!)

(the back of the shirts say “Team Edward”)

This was how our night began. We arrived at Barnes and Noble around 9 to get our wristbands. It was insane. There were so many people there! A bunch of freaks. Yes, the books are about vampire’s and werewolf’s, but you have to actually read the books to know that in these books, the vampire’s don’t have sharp pointy incisors. Nor do they have slicked back hair and wear black cloaks. Come on! There is nothing gothic or emo about Edward or the other vamp’s.

We found a quiet isle and made ourselves comfy with still 2 hours till the official release! It was torturous.

We took a quick trip over to the local Sonic to get a slushy but still had plenty of waiting time. They started with the “A”’s and we were “T”. Ugh!

By about 1:30 AM we were back at the condo. And so it began…

We ate when we were hungry and drank when we were thirsty. Some took a nap or two. Some took several naps.

What an adventure! Not just the book (which was in itself an amazing adventure!) but the whole weekend. Six ladies sitting around all day long in their pj’s in silence reading. Everyonce in a while there would be gasps or screams or laughter and that just modivated us to keep reading. Just keep reading, just keep reading!

At 10:00 PM we were starving and ready for some real food. The sleep deprivation caught up with us as we headed to the restaurant for nourishment.

We interviewed our waiter, who surprisingly knew a little about the books because his girlfriend is also hooked. I just can’t believe the CRAZE this author created! There were so many people at just that one Barnes and Noble. I could picture that all the Barnes and Noble’s across the U.S. were crazy. Not to mention the 24 hour Walmart’s that would also be getting a ton of business at midnight for that book!

We were not the only one’s who had t-shirts. Many groups had really clever t-shirts. But of course, ours were the best!

It’s funny how weirdo’s come out of the woodwork for things like this. There was one old creepy guy who was just walking around observing. I don’t think he was there with anyone. We would just noticed him at different times in different places. One of the ladies in our “pack” was trying to take a picture of a funny looking guy and so I leaned my head back to get out of the picture. As I was doing so, I laid my head right on this old guys chest. He looked completely excited over my action. YIKES. I B-lined it out of there!!

What an experience. Loved every minute of the weekend. With nothing to worry about except for finishing the book. The company was the best! I laughed so hard that by Saturday evening, my cheeks were sore and my stomach ached with ever giggle.

Now, we anxiously await the movie!