THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER VOLUME129 SEPTEMBER 2019

NEW ARRIVAL!

CALLIE ASHLYN

AUGUST 17TH AT 10.09 AM

10LBS 7OZS 21 ½'' LONG

Dear Readers,

On Friday afternoon, August 16^th, Leslee-Ann was at her doctor's office for a check up - for what she hoped would be the last time as her baby's due date was the following day and she was hugely uncomfortable and anxious for labor to begin. Her doctor did a sonogram and said the baby was going to be big and that there was an excess amount of amniotic fluid. Since Leslee-Ann was already dilated and effaced and having a few sporadic contractions she sent her to the hospital to be monitored. I asked Leslee-Ann if they were going to break her waters to get things moving but she didn't know. I heard nothing more that night and used all my self control not to text for updates! I was hoping she would get some sleep, worried that she was going to end up with a C-section or some other birth complication. When I woke up the next morning I decided to text Craig to find out what was happening and he responded immediately that their daughter had just been born, was the size of a three month old, and that Leslee-Ann had only needed three pushes to deliver her! She had gone into labor in the middle of the night and had an incredibly easy experience for someone so tiny birthing such a big baby!Josh said all the nurses were talking about it when he took Ray over to the hospital later in the day to meet Callie! I was so relieved that there had been no complications and totally in awe over the size of my newest grand daughter!

Later that morning Sean, Sarah and Emmy Lou came to my house and announced that they were now :

MR. AND MRS.SEAN LOWE!

As of AUGUST 13TH 2019

They had been on vacation in Arkansas with Sarah's sister, Candace and her husband Eric. Apparently they had planned this for awhile as Eric became an ordained minister so he could legally marry them! The five of them stood by a pond in a scenic location and a short ceremony later they were officially married! I am ecstatic to have Sarah as an official member of our family - although she has always had a special place in my heart! I am so grateful to her for taking on Sean and his moods, hypochondria and enormous ego!Thank goodness she can laugh at it all! Now if I could just see Ming Jon, Marc, Josh and Bryn happily settled with a life partner before I am in my dotage! I will be making an announcement at Kay and Richard's wedding that I have four eligible bachelor sons in the room just before the bridal bouquet toss!

This really has been a banner year with two new baby girls and two weddings all happening within nine months!I have never felt more needed! I have completed two nurseries, and made a lot of wedding decorations for Kay and Richard, including tiny matching flower girl outfits for Emmy Lou and Callie!I have altered one bridesmaid dress, two more to go!

Last month Ava Claire and Owen came to stay with me for a few days while their parents took a vacation and of course the weather did not co-operate, lots of rain, heat and humidity! Emmy Lou joined us one day as she was banned from daycare with a fever. She was perfectly fine and a bought out the best in her cousins who were both so entertained by her that they didn't even bicker all day as usual! Every meal they insisted on eating the same things as Emmy Lou because they love feeding her parts of their meals and frankly she eats almost anything and lots of it! She had five scoops of chicken noodle soup to their one!The next day Sarah, Sean and Emmy-Lou went with us to Deanna Rose, the petting zoo. We drove separately because of all the car seats and I pulled into the parking lot to realize that it was totally full, so I followed other cars across the street to the soccer fields parking lots, where I parked, and let Sean know where to go. When we got to the entrance we saw a Fire Truck and a Police tactical vehicle and a big sign about it being a free community event day! No wonder the place was packed. While waiting for the other's to arrive Ava Claire and Owen got in line to climb aboard the fire truck and to get their plastic fireman hats. Once this was done with we all headed into the farmstead and just like Ava Claire before her Emmy was not impressed by the chickens, goats, rabbits, cows or fish. But once we reached the butterfly garden and found some benches to sit on and pulled out some snacks she became very animated!

Ava Claire and Owen  playing with slime on front porch!

You know the old adage about bad things come in threes? Well unfortunately I became a perfect example of that truism when I came into contact with poison ivy, a bee and a glue gun. I was enjoying a meal at Sean and Sarah's house one Sunday and decided to work off a few calories by volunteering my services in their garden. While pulling bushels of weeds in their sadly neglected garden I uncovered a poison ivy plant. Knowing my fingers had brushed against it I ran into the house to wash my hands, Sean sprung into action, rushing down to the basement to grab some magic cleanser that he had bought just for the purpose after suffering poison ivy himself .Unfortunately he failed to read the directions and I washed it off long before I should have and since he insisted that I wash not only my hands but my arms too I ended up with a nasty rash on those body parts as well as my neck somehow!

By the following Tuesday my hands, arms and neck were covered in swollen , red bumpy oozing patches of blistered skin. It was a horrific sight. That morning I was roused from my bed by the sound of the front door crashing open. I raced out to see what was going on to be met with Sean holding Emmy in one hand and talking into his cell phone with the other. He hurriedly passed the baby to me and mouthed “conference call”. But then he saw the rash on my arms and grabbed the baby back and dumped her on the floor and put his call on hold. What on earth was that rash ,why was I still in bed and why hadn't I responded to his text earlier that morning? Apparently he had had the stomach flu the day before, now Sarah had it and thus she could not take Emmy Lou to daycare. Sean didn't want to drive Emmy Lou there as it was out of his way so he decided to work from home – my home so could be available for several conference calls scheduled that day - knowing Grandma would be thrilled to spend a day with Emmy Lou. Josh was promptly summoned from his make shift office in one of my bedrooms but he was too busy with his job to help out immediately so I assured Sean that Emmy Lou could not contact poison ivy from me and besides I was going to have to touch her to change diapers and feed her! Never once did he express sympathy for my suffering! And to think that since he is so terrified of getting the rash again himself that he calls me over to rid his yard of every poison ivy plant he sees!

When Coryn saw my rash she insisted I needed to see a doctor for a prescription of Prednisone to make sure it was gone by the time wedding photo's would be taken! Kay, the bride was about the only family member to offer me sympathy! Not a word from her about Grandms's rash ruining the pictures. But I decided that since it was still spreading and looking worse that I would go to the Minute Clinic up the street. I was amazed to find the waiting area filled and a wait time of at least an hour on a Sunday morning. Mother did not have time for this so I went over to the lotion and potion aisle and picked up a $50.00 tube of Zanfel. I figured at that price it had to work and although it took repeated applications it made a noticeable difference and eliminated the oozing and itching.! I would highly recommend it!

Another day I was watering my yard and dragging the hose down my mulched path with a lot of hibiscus flowers filled with nectar thirsty bees and unfortunately as I pushed a branch aside I startled one and experienced my first bee sting, which I found to be less painful than a wasp one!

Of course I have been working on wedding decorations for quite some time and my glue gun has been hard at work fixing bows and flowers to everything from candles to birdcages!Unfortunately I was so focused on getting things glued perfectly in place that I failed to notice that I was gluing two fingers in place too! The burns were horrific and blistered badly despite plunging my hands in cold water for a prolonged period of time!

Ming- Lee has two more rounds of chemo to complete and then will be carefully monitored. This will be a huge milestone and an amazing accomplishment. Ming has shown true grit in battling his cancer, and I know his faith and the faithful prayers of his huge circle of friends has been a positive force in this fight. I remember when Ming-Lee first broached the subject of joining the Catholic church as a student at Aquinas. Feeling that he was sincere in his belief your dad and I agreed that he would be baptized into the faith in 1983. I explained to him that he would be expected to live as a practicing catholic and attend church every week, not just on Christmas and Easter! And truly I believe that Ming as a devout Catholic, has attended church faithfully wherever in the world he find's himself. He chose Sue and Carl Saunders as his god parents and is especially close to Sue to this day - I think she reached out to every priest, friend and acquaintance to ask for their prayers for Ming's cure! His belief and that of his family and friends has been a positive force of strength in battling his cancer and I know he feels empowered by all the positive energy flowing his way.

My next newsletter (which will hopefully be coming very soon) will detail all the events of the Lowe/Flaig wedding, where we grow our family yet again! Mother is now off to her garden which has been so neglected these past few weeks as I have been so busy sewing, making wedding decorations and of course babysitting! Mother loves to be involved in her children's lives – perhaps more so than some of you would like!