THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER : VOLUME 144                                                 JANUARY2022

Dear Readers,

Thanksgiving was bitter sweet this year as Lori, Blake and Claudia came to Kansas City to share in the experience of our first Thanksgiving without Ming Lee. There is so much comfort to be found in creating new family memories.

Lori and Claudia were very much looking forward to meeting Alex and Lochlan who had not been born on their last visit to Kansas City in June. Blake had not been here at that time as he was doing a summer internship in Los Angeles and had not even met Liam yet!

Once the Indy Lowes parked in my driveway they were greeted by thirteen of our Kansas City family members! We welcomed them into the family room which as you can see from the pictures looks like a bona fide day care center! It is hard for the adults to reach a seat without stepping over and around heaps of toys, books, play mats and jumparoos – not to mention babies!! Later in the evening I think a lot of the guys elected to play video games downstairs to escape the chaos!

That first evening we had a lasagna supper and I sat eight adults in relative comfort in the dinning room whilst Claudia volunteered to sit with me in the kitchen with Ava Claire, Owen, Emmy Lou and Liam. Of course I had to make chicken noodle soup for the kids who would not touch my lasagna! No salad either but they did manage a garlic breadstick! I had home made apple cake and pumpkin bread for dessert with ice cream of course!

Sarah and Sean had offered to host Thanksgiving this year as Sean was planning on preparing a range of meats on his smoker. This was the first Thanksgiving in many years that I did not have to deal with the stress of roasting a turkey – usually with a lot of unwanted suggestions from my boys who have talked me into everything from sea salting the bird and soaking it in cranberry juice for twenty four hours; cooking it breast side down with a very dangerous flip to breast side up midway through roasting; cramming into an oven bag or partially wrapping it in foil and stuffing it with herbs or a can of beer! And of course to further add to my stress they always question how juicy my turkey will be!

The Indy Lowes had wisely elected to stay in my home to give themselves a reprieve from kids if needed- of which I suspect Blake was especially appreciative! I think he might have preferred Sarah and Sean’s cat, Mochi, to the babies!

Blake enjoying Mochi

After breakfast on Thanksgiving morning we all drove to Sean and Sarah’s with our contributions to the meal! Everything from Kay’s green bean casserole to Jeremy’s sweet potato casserole, and Lori’s homemade apple pie and hot mulled cider which was very popular! We drank mimosa’s and nibbled a vast array of appetizers for a few hours before sitting down to our Thanksgiving feast!

Blake meeting Lochlan

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Left to right: Liam, Emmy Lou, Lochlan, Ava Claire and Claudia

Ava Claire with Claudia and Alex

Alex with Claudia

Blake and Claudia

Lori with Lochlan!

Once it became dark outside Sean suggested we bundle up and head out for a short walk to see some neighborhood Christmas lights. I knew that Ming Lee would approve of our sight seeing as he loved any activity that got us all up and moving – although as Lori said he would have added a few more blocks to our outing! Richard volunteered to stay home with Alex and Lochlan as we thought it too chilly for the babies to be out – we arrived home to baby cries but a calm Richard! I think it actually took us longer to find warm gear for everyone that it did to see the lights – which are amazing in their neighborhood! They even have annual bus tours drive through!

Claudia spent a lot of time playing with her six younger cousins – she has the energy to keep up with them and a natural talent for relating to them. We would love to have her help anytime! But she is a busy girl, the Indy Lowes had to make the long drive back to Indianapolis the very next day as Claudia was teaching Saturday classes at her Martial Arts school! At least Blake got a day or so to recover before his trip back to Purdue!

This year Bryn came for Christmas and the Remsbergs planned on coming out a few days after Christmas so their visit would overlap with Bryn’s. We were all excited to have a large gathering for the New Years festivities! But unfortunately we all got the same Christmas present and it was the gift that kept on giving – Covid!

On the 23^rd of December Sean informed us that Covid had breached our vaccines, boosters, masking and sanitizing. Their nanny Elaine’s husband had tested positive – after a business trip to the West Coast. Elaine went into quarantine although she tested negative at that point. Sean’s family all tested negative too so we decided to go ahead with our family gathering at my house for Christmas Eve. Frankly I was not very concerned about catching Covid knowing that I was fully vaccinated, boosted and it fine fettle healthwise. Far more upsetting to me was the possibility of not being with as many of my grandchildren as possible over the holidays! Besides most of the kids had had colds recently and I had survived two sleepovers : one with Ava Claire and another with Emmy Lou where both girls had coughed and sneezed over me all night long.

Sean had assured me that Bryn and the Rembsurgs were going to be staying with his family - implying that his house was more his siblings cup of tea than mother’s peaceful retreat. However the very day of his arrival Bryn announced that he would be spending the night at my house. Apparently Bryn thought he might spend his nights in our four different Kansas City family homes! I had just spent the previous few days preparing my bedrooms for the Remsbergs after Leslee-Ann had called to see if one of my twin beds would fit into one of the bedrooms with a queen sized bed – I assured her that it was doable but mentioned that Sean seemed to think she was staying with him. It was a possibility she allowed but she thought my house with the three vacant bedrooms might work out better than Sean’s basement bedroom and sofa bed in the family room for the kids. Ray was not used to sharing a bedroom and Callie was not sleeping well - frequently coming into her parents room at night to sleep on the sofa in there.

Now I was going to have rewash the sheets of which ever bedroom Bryn chose and scrub the bathroom again! And of course ensure that Bryn was banished from my house for the duration of their stay! Of course my children do not see the necessity of planning ahead like I do as they probably don’t care about clean sheets, scrubbed bathrooms or inch thick dust bunnies everywhere!

Since the Logues and Flaigs were going to be spending Christmas day with their families this year we elected to have our present exchange with them on Christmas Eve at my house and soon my floor was covered in wrapping paper, boxes and lots of new toys and clothes. The day was unseasonably warm which turned out to be extremely fortuitous! We opened windows and doors and had the ceiling fan circulating- it was over 70 degree’s and I was literally melting in my snowman sweater as I slaved in the kitchen preparing appetizers and toppings for my shrimp and loaded baked potato do it yourself buffet I was hosting!

I had given Ava Claire and Owen the Amazon gift catalog I received in the mail a few weeks ago suggesting that they circle items they would like for Christmas – in my price range! I had gifted her an LOL bubble kit. I thought it was like a bath bomb but fortunately Jeremy knew that it would cause a very big explosion and took her out onto my deck so that it would be covered in bursts of color instead of my family room! Thank goodness it was so warm outside that day! I actually thought about eating outside but had all ready put all the seat cushions away for the season! Who expects Florida like weather in Kansas City at Christmas time? I was so happy that I didn’t have to listen to Bryn complain about the excessive heat or cold for once!

On Christmas Day I went to Sean and Sarah’s house with gifts for them, their children and Bryn! Sean had smoked salmon and grilled steaks for our dinner which was delicious!

I had noticed the previous evening that Lochlan was not his usual happy self, and was suffering from goopy eyes and a runny nose. However since many of the kids had had similar ills over the last few weeks we attributed it to that rather than Covid.

On the 27^th of December the Remsburgs informed us that they were going to cancel their trip as Ray had been sick since Christmas Eve and now Leslee-Ann was sick too. She spent five days in bed, one night in the Emergency room for IV fluids and a confirmed diagnosis of flu – testing negative for Covid like the rest of the Remsburgs. Thank goodness Craig was able to take care of them all!

On the 28^th of December I was babysitting Liam and Lochlan. Later that morning Sean took Lochlan for his four month check up and about an hour later he came rushing into my kitchen, wearing a mask but not carrying Lochlan. He told me that Lochlan had tested positive for Covid at the doctor’s office and thus he was going to take Liam and head to Emmy Lou’s daycare to pick her up too and quarantine at home. I suggested that he just bring the baby in and let me feed Liam lunch – it was already cooked – while he picked up Emmy Lou but Sean was adamant that I not be exposed a second longer than necessary – despite the face that I had just spent two days with them and had been holding them, changing their diapers and feeding them all morning! I knew I was almost certainly infected by now! Once Sean peeled out of my driveway with his boys, Bryn applied himself to the search for at home Covid tests and a couple of hours later found a store that actually had a number in stock. We all tested negative I think on that day except for Liam . Bryn decided that it would be better to fly back in Los Angeles that evening while he was symptom free and had a negative test. Much to my amazement he was able to book a seat out that night despite all the horror stories about all the flight cancellations on the news. I dread to think how much it cost him!

On New Year’s Eve Bryn let us know that he had tested positive and suggested we should all test again which we did. I still tested negative but had a scratchy throat, congestion and a cough. Interestingly enough we realized that the at home tests were not as effective in diagnosing Covid as a lab test- several family members tested positive on a lab test after testing negative on the in home test! Probably why the government is giving them to us for free!

Kay, Richard and Alexis gifted Richard’s parents with Covid and the Logues became infected a week or so after the rest of us somehow! Fortunately no one had any serious effects and it was definitely harder on the unvaccinated babies, especially Liam – probably because the two younger nursing babies had some protection from their vaccinated and boosted mothers!

Some of you may have realized that there has once again been a long delay in getting this newsletter out to you: the reason being I have had very little time to do so lately due to the needs of my grand children. I have recently spent eight days in a row babysitting and four nights hosting sleepovers! My neighbors must be amazed at the traffic one house can generate as an endless stream of cars seem to be dropping off and picking up kids here every day!

But as we all know I am so grateful that I have the energy and good health needed to be such an active Grandma whose greatest happiness is being with her grandchildren – even when they tattle tale on me! Richard was highly amused yesterday when he was picking up Alex and witnessed Ava Claire and Owen telling Coryn that Grandma had said three bad words that day! Trust me they were not that bad – the British word for a donkey was one of them!

Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2022! Love Mother