THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER: VOLUME 153                                 NOVEMBER 2023 

Dear Readers,  

The highlight of October was our virtual walk in memory of Ming Lee   organized by Lori. Our entire Kansas City family participated on a chilly, damp, overcast October Sunday. We fueled ourselves for our late morning walk by enjoying brunch at the Logues before heading over to nearby Unity Village in Lees Summit to explore the scenic trails.

 Kay and Richard had arrived with Alex but forgotten to bring his stroller - I knew I should have thrown one in my trunk beforehand but … Coryn called her neighbors who seem to have everything in life you could ever have a need for stored in their home and fortunately they had a stroller and a wagon available despite their youngest child being seven years old! That crisis was solved so we headed out in three cars to our destination.Once we pulled into the parking lot and had all the kids out of their car seats. bundled up to withstand the weather, and with the three youngest in strollers we headed out: only to discover that a flight of steps had to be climbed  to get out of the parking lot. The guys tried carrying the strollers with the kids up the steps but ultimately took the kids out and carried them up separately. I wondered how Coryn had failed to anticipate this problem since she was familiar with the place but of course realized that being some years away from negotiating life with a stroller she had probably not realized that this venue was not stroller friendly!   Despite this slight annoyance for some we all enjoyed the amazing Versailles-like rose garden with an expanse of water fountains. This is  where we managed to get our group together for the photo needed for Lori’s facebook page showing all the friends and family from  around the world walking in memory of Ming that day! I think he would have been amazed to see how many people participated - his life touched so many others  

From Left: Jeremy, Coryn, Josh, Me, Sean wih Lochlan, Richard with Alex. Sarah with Cillan
In front: Owen with Liam, Ava Claire with Emmy Lou and Kay

Jermey was like the Pied Piper of Hamelin on this outing as all the kids flocked to him and followed his lead as they excitedly discussed whether they would see a gruffalo in the caves he promised to show them! Lochlan and Alex were soon out of their strollers and keeping up with the bigger kids! Cillian needed frequent breaks from his stroller too and seemed to prefer being carried for the most part! By this time it seemed that the strollers were more of a nuisance as they were very difficult to push over the rocky pathways! Once Jeremy had led us to the cave I decided to stay on higher ground as it looked like a muddy stream bed was rolling through it - but of course the kids were very enthused on their monster hunt though the cave! It started drizzling at this point but quickly stopped and the decision to have Jeremy lead us to the Echo Bridge was made! The children loved shouting loud enough to hear their voice echo - how often do we encourage them to make noise! I think we may have to make this an annual event! 

Coryn and Jeremy leading our line of straglers

Emerging from the cave

Some of my Grandchildren!

When the Remsbergs and Bryn were visiting earlier this year they suggested that I might want to do something about the wood paneling in my family room - declaring it very dated and dark. I myself couldn't disagree with this observation - having thought about painting it many times myself but never quite finding the  motivation to gather my paint and rollers and start the transformation. But the state of my carpet was the impetus I needed to start painting. After having seven small children spitting up, spilling drinks and dropping food on  my carpet for many years it is in desperate need of replacing. I have shampooed it as frequently as some people wash their hair! I have decided that a hard surface floor would be much easier to clean so am considering vinyl plank or laminate - wood not being in my budget .However I felt that so much wood in one room would feel very coffin like and thus Leslee-Ann and Bryn’s suggestion to paint the walls the same cream as the cabinets finally came to fruition. They even suggested painting the brick cream too but I thought it might give the impression that one was living in a milk bottle.

I discussed my thoughts on the project with Josh who concurred that painting the fireplace might be too much and suggested that I might want to consider the turquoise /teal shade of my pillows as an accent color - maybe for the bookshelves, doors and trim. I thought that might be too much excitement and decided to paint everything cream and then decide if an accent color was necessary. Sean became involved and told me I would need a five gallon paint pail to cover all my wood and offered to pick it up for me from Home Depot as I wouldn’t be able to carry it. He also insisted on paying for it too! It took three coats of paint for me to cover the wood - Josh showed up to help one afternoon and was able to cover his sections of wall in one coat!  A couple of days later as I was just about done with the room and was painting the wood paneling on the staircase Josh showed up with two paint cans in hand and stated that we might try them out as an accent color - mother was panic stricken thinking that he might come up with some very artsy usage of the colors. My fears increased when I realized that  his $7:00 bargain priced paint cans  contained other peoples rejects!  However I knew that if I did not embrace his ideas wholeheartedly I would never have Joshua’s help with another project again. Fortunately one of the colors was a very close match with several of my accent pieces - I  watched with bated breath as Josh applied it to one window’s trim. We both agreed it was perfect  and with that he completed two windows and promptly left, leaving me hanging as to what else would be “accented”. It was a couple of days before he returned to complete his transformation of several doorways, room openings and my stairs. I had already painted the stair spindles up to the second floor and am now determined to paint all the dark woodwork in the upstairs bedrooms too! I will be very busy this winter!

Josh helping me out!

I got a lot of steps in on this job!

I mentioned to Josh when we were talking about the family room redo that I wanted to remove the very dated track lights and replace them with some more updated pendant fixtures. Josh surprised me  with two such lights and even installed them for me as an early Christmas gift! Our family is so lucky to have Josh! He also helped Sara and Sean out with their latest remodeling venture - turning an open loft area into a sixth bedroom! Now Cillian is out of the master bedroom and in his own room! Josh could make a fortune house flipping but he prefers his technical writing and nomad lifestyle. I took him to the airport earlier this month as he is spending a month in Orlando with the Remsburgs until he heads to another country again.

We have two graduates this month Kay and Blake! They have both made us so very proud! Kay has found her new role as Vice Principal at a Montessori school in Brookside to be much less stressful than her previous position which is such a blessing. Blake will of course be moving to Redmond, near Seattle for his job next month after a trip to New Zealand with Lori. The Indy Lowes will also be visiting us between Christmas and New Years! Wll be great to have some family gatherings with them! Let the roads  be snow and ice  free!

Back in October all the children were able to go Trick or Treating this year -  Marc actually flew to Orlando and went trick or treating with Callie and Ray And we also enjoyed a sick free Thanksgiving ! Craig was working in Washington DC for that week so when Ray and Callie were off from school Lesle-Ann flew with them to join Craig. They met up with Ming Jon briefly as he was leaving town and then did a lot of sightseeing and had a really great time. Craig joined them when he could. 

Liam, Lochlan, Emmy Lou with Cillian!

Richard and Kay with Alex

The Remsurgs with Uncle Marc for Halloween

Bryn visited this past weekend.Jeremy had invited him to watch the Chiefs game this past Sunday and had a spare ticket so Bryn invited his friend, James, who lives in Mexico City to join them. They arrived on Saturday afternoon and I had a brief visit with Bryn on Saturday afternoon at the Logues house where he and his friend were staying. Coryn and Jeremy had already signed up for a charity pub crawl that day so I had driven over to their house to pick Owen and Ava Claire up for an overnighter at my house.Since the cousins love being together I invited Sarah and Sean to drop their four off at my house too so that they could enjoy a quiet restaurant dinner date - knowing full well how much help Ava Claire would be for me in entertaining them! We sent all four kids home with their parents in clean diapers and pajamas so the two youngest were ready for bed when they got home!

Parents night out! Grandkids party at Grandma's

The next morning we treated ourselves to donuts for breakfast and then I  drove the children back  home as Owen was attending the Chiefs game too that day and the guys were planning on tailgating ahead of the kick off time of three- thirty that afternoon. Unfortunately my Chiefs lost!  Their season has definitely not been as promising this year - I will be amazed if we make it to the superbowl again!

 My house is finally decorated for the season - using a new color theme inspired by my  newly painted trim color! No red Christmas balls this year! With my Christmas shopping finished - just the wrapping to do - I can concentrate on preparations for my Christmas Eve feast and gift exchange. I can guarantee that I will greet you with wine in one hand and pigs in blankets in the other! You know that I will be playing Christmas music, bringing forth all kinds of holiday delights out of  the freezer and into the oven and making chicken noodle soup for all the kids who refuse to eat anything else at Grandma's House !

Merry Christmas to all of you, love your mother who will probably feel like she has been run over by a reindeer by the time Christmas is over!

New wreath to match new decor

Another new wreath with grandchildrens Xmas toys

Aqua , Gold and White tree this year!