THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER : VOLUME 155                                                     MAY 2024

Dear Readers,

Since my last newsletter, I have spent months painting twelve doors, about fifty spindles, yards of baseboard, acres of walls and even my front porch furniture. I was fortunate to have help with painting two upstairs bedrooms and the upstairs hallway - Sean volunteered   in exchange for childcare: keeping his children out of his way while he painted!  Coryn and Jeremy came  to help me paint the upper half of my bedroom which was made necessary because they gifted me a new bedding ensemble for Christmas that looked awful with the color scheme I had previously painted in my room to compliment the bedding set gifted to me by Lori and her mom after Norm passed away. Instead of painting,  Jeremy actually ended up fixing my upstairs shower’s plumbing after Sean used it and  noticed it was making horrendous banging sounds and leaking too! I had been quoted a thousand dollars to fix it by a professional! So thankful for my handy and always willing to help sons, son-in-laws and grandson-in-law who all make my life so much easier!

Once most of the painting was completed I decided it was time to replace all the mismatched carpeting in the dining room,  family room , the upstairs bedrooms,  and on the stairs. And since I have never liked the tile in the entryway I decided to go for broke and replace it too!

Knowing that many flooring companies require your rooms to be emptied of furniture before they will remove your old floor coverings and install your new ones I decided to go with Home Depot who will help move your furniture into another space in your house- rather than having to use pods  and a furniture van like one of my neighbors who picked a different company!

I knew that I wanted to go with lighter and brighter flooring to complement all my new wall colors so I picked out a cream plush carpet for the entire upstairs, a more adventurous textured cream carpet for the stairs and luxury vinyl wide plank flooring for the family room, dining room and hallway.

 

I was fully expecting to wait a month or more for installation but to my amazement Home Depot  informed me that once my new flooring arrived - within two weeks  - I would be scheduled immediately! I was still painting my downstairs two storey vaulted hallway at this point and  knew I needed to get it finished !  I had to call in Sean when I realized that I was too short to edge the top of the wall that meets the ceiling - even standing on the top rung of my tallest ladder!  Kay also volunteered Richard for the job since he is well over six feet! Sean climbed to the top of the ladder and couldn’t reach it either - I had woefully underestimated how much taller I needed to be to get the job done! Sean had to return to his house to fetch his ladder that expanded to twenty feet or so! Sean saw my inability to judge the height needed as a  definite shortcoming!

Once I had accepted the bid from Home Depot , a call came from one of the two installation companies that were going to be working at my house. He had noticed in the photos  taken by their job cost estimator that I had a heating vent installed in my hallway tile floor and that could complicate things so he asked if he could come over and inspect it for himself. He came and said it was probably going to cost me another thousand dollars as pulling up the tile would likely pull up chunks of the underlying concrete subfloor necessitating putting in a new one. I looked as horrified as I possibly could at this news and said I would have to think it over as this was a significant cost for such a small space The next day he called again and said he had someone on their four man installation team who was willing to try  prying the tiles up one by one ahead of the installation day if I was agreeable ! This was a no brainer of course so I said he could come whenever was convenient for him! One crisis solved but more to come!

We all know that Mother is not a morning person so imagine my horror when I got a phone call from some freight service at six o’clock in the morning to inform me that within twenty minutes they would be delivering a pallet with my plank flooring. This was days ahead of my installation date so I rushed out in my nightie and backed my car out onto the driveway so the pallet could fit inside the garage -  protected from the weather and do-it-your-selfer’s cruising my cul- de- sac for free construction materials!

A three man crew installed my new carpet in about three hours - they were working with great speed but unfortunately not skill. They opened a bedroom window and threw the carpet down onto my plants below - it may have saved them time by not carrying three bedrooms and a hallway's worth of carpet and padding down the stairs but it didn’t save my window sill or plants from damage! In their frantic rush to complete their job they scratched my newly painted baseboards in two bedrooms and broke a spindle on the balcony overlooking my family room.When I was  summoned to inspect their work I was floored - not in a good way. The carpet was fine except for the stair installation but there was a lot of damage to my newly painted woodwork!. Mother had contorted herself into positions not even depicted in the Kama Sutra in order to get a paintbrush into the nooks and crevices of all those spindles while hanging over a bannister! !  

When I asked how they had managed to leave one bedroom and the hallway without damage to the paintwork I was told that a professional painter must have painted those spaces! I let him know that I had painted every single scrap of wood in my home!

Just as they left, the supervisor of the plank flooring crew arrived and could see that I was not happy as we toured the other crew’s handiwork and as I touched the broken spindle that they claimed to have fixed it broke in two and fell onto the sofa below. We were both shocked and I said thank goodness that wasn’t one of my many toddler grandchildren flying through the gap - a lawsuit waiting to happen. He immediately called Home Depot to let them know about all the issues and I soon took a call from the manager of the carpet installers who committed to being at my house to inspect the issues the next day.

Sean and his three youngest children fortuitously arrived at my house shortly before the manager  so she was immediately aware of how dangerous the broken spindle situation was: they could all easily fall through the gap in the balcony ! She toured all the rooms, took numerous photos of all the damage and deficiencies, including to the window sill that they had pushed the old carpet out of. I asked her if this was normal practice and she admitted that it wasn’t but she thought they might have been trying to avoid getting more dust in the house by not carrying it down the stairs! I rolled my eyes. She agreed that the stair carpet installation was a do over - thankfully I had a whole roll of carpeting left over. She also undertook to repair or replace the spindle and said that they would provide and pay for a professional painter to fix the issues. I requested a different installer for the stair redo as I did not want any of the previous installers in my home again. I am pleased to report that all the repairs were carried out and now I am thrilled with the results!

The family room needed a lot of leveling!

The dining room ony needed a patch in one corner

The hallway after tile removal and leveling

I hoped my plank flooring installation would be less stressful but  once the old flooring was removed it revealed  uneven sub- floors which would have to be leveled before installation was possible. I frankly thought that one of the great advantages of vinyl plank flooring was its flexibility but I was informed that the boards could not flex enough to be installed as the height difference was too great. I had two options: find a carpenter to pull up the subfloor and shave down the joists or use self leveling cement. Since most of my living room furniture was in my bedroom I didn’t feel that I could wait weeks to find a carpenter to do this - I certainly did not have one  on speed dial that would be available that day so I took the other option which cost me  another twelve hundred dollars!  I mentioned that  I was having some foundation work done soon so they had me check that this would not involve lifting the house at all as they feared my concrete patches would crack. I called the fondation company who assured the installers that they were placing piers to support, not lift my foundation! By this point Mother felt like she needed a lift - more than just a cup of tea - to deal with all the stress. Fortunately the floors went in without a hitch and as I had pre painted all the quarter round needed for installation ahead of time the four guys had the floors installed very quickly and seem to have done a fine job. I love everything about them! Of course Lochlan who is potty training - christened them on his first visit - but they are so much easier to clean than carpet!

It’s amazing to think that all this remodeling came about because two of my children commented on my dark , dated wall paneling during their last visit and in a couple of days they will be here to see all the changes their chance comments caused. Of course since one of them lives on the East Coast and the other on the West Coast they were not available to help with any of it!

The updated look from the front door into the family room

From the hallway into the dinning room!

 Last week I  had four guys armed with jackhammers drilling under my double fireplace bricked chimneys - through my concrete steps - in hopes of sinking two piers many feet down under the original foundation to support the weight of the bricks which the foundation expert believes is causing my dry wall cracks.This was horrendously noisy and messy so hopefully it works! I am hoping for a break from home improvement projects for a while!

Four guys alternated shovelling to dig two holes to bedrock - took three days!

This Memorial Day weekend we are having a family reunion of sorts, only Blake and Josh will be missing. I am not going to be out done this year as I was last. I have a huge inflatable  bounce house with a pool, slide, climbing wall, and a play cafe that takes up most of my front yard! I also have a splash pad, slip n’slide, and a spare pool.! Sean has volunteered to man the grill and I will be serving food all day Saturday and Sunday, with the Logues hosting us all on Monday!

Ava Claire and Owen recently spent a weekend with me as Coryn and Jeremy were on an adults only trip to New Orleans. We experienced very heavy rains virtually the entire time they were here and late one night we found ourselves down in the basement furiously mopping up water and rolling virtually every towel I possessed to dam the flood along my baseboard! It was about 11;30 at night when Ava Claire announced that she thought we needed a nice cup of tea! I was greatly amused at her coming up with the British  solution to everything! I put the kettle on and found some European style chocolate biscuits! I didn’t worry about the late hour and caffeine as I knew we were all exhausted from our labors and would sleep well - which we did! Another lovely memory of the treasured time I spend with my grandchildren!   Love Mother

 THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER: VOLUME 154         FEBRUARY 2024

Dear Readers.

2024 is off to a very busy start! Sarah and Sean have had difficulty in finding a reliable babysitter for months  so I have been helping out more than usual. To further strain an already stressful situation  they have been sick with coughs, runny noses, stomach upsets and ear infections for weeks. Sean unfortunately developed tonsillitis, and an  ear infection  which rendered him useless for a few days as he slept as much as possible battling a high fever, chills and a lot of discomfort. This coincided with  a planned family outing to a performance of Disney on Ice at the T Mobile Center in Kansas City ‘s Power and Light District where parking and traffic can be a nightmare! Sarah valiantly took Emmy Lou, Liam and Lochlan without back- up! Try squeezing into a potty stall with three kids; leave alone getting them in and out of car seats in a tight parking space, then grasping all those little hands as you dash across packed streets to reach the TMobile Center. Fortunately all three kids were very well behaved and loved the show!. I looked after Cilian at my house so Sean could rest in peace in his own bed at home, using two thermometers to check (frequently) the accuracy of his temperature reading to keep us  updated!

Liam 3, Emmy Lou 5, and Lochlan 2 enjoying a pre-show snack!

I have had less time to devote to my ongoing home improvement plans since many extra hours weekly have been consumed by caring for my  grandchildren but I have managed to paint all of the spindles around the stairwell upstairs and have painted all the dark woodwork in one bedroom cream too!

Before he fell sick Sean had inspected my walls for cracks and patched them for me so I have also been painting over these repairs to render them virtually invisible to the naked eye - well mine at least , cataracts and bifocals perhaps blinding me to the reality of my painting skills! 

Unfortunately while putting away Christmas decorations in early January  I noticed a crack in my concrete foundation wall in the storage room and promptly called a foundation expert out to inspect the issue. I spent days re-organizing the mass of mess stored in my basement to ensure that there were no more cracks. I was advised to fill the crack with caulk to see if that cracked : a method  to determine if the crack was old or new apparently. The inspector will return in Spring to decide whether or not I need about  ten thousand dollars worth of steel piers sunk fifteen feet into the ground under my house! Unfortunately I think this may well be necessary! The drought has caused the clay my house sits on to pull away from the foundation - just like thousands of others in our area .Thus all the cracks in my drywall.

For a few days between Christmas and New Year’s Day we greatly enjoyed having the Indy Lowes with us! Lori, Blake and Claudia arrived at my house for a welcome supper with all the Kansas City family in attendance. It turned into a major celebration for the kids as their aunt and cousins showered them with presents! There was a lot of family togetherness over the next few days - Lori especially enjoyed snuggling with her nieces and nephews while Blake and Claudia had cousins glued to them for their entire stay! We really loved having this time with them and feel sure that Ming Lee was with us in spirit, knowing how much he would love all the noise and chaos of our family get together.

Claudia and Lori snugling with Liam

Claudia reading with Emmy Lou and Liam

Lori and Blake only had about a week back in Indianapolis before they left on a trip to New Zealand to celebrate Blake’s graduation! They posted some amazing photos of their trip on facebook documenting whale watching, hiking, stargazing, wine tasting, enjoying delicious cuisine and  their visits to  the Waikato glowworm caves and Hobbiton of Lord of the Rings movie fame. Blake's favorite experience was flying in a small plane over Mount Cook National Park and landing on a glacier. No way would I emulate this feat and kudos to Lori for doing it with Blake!

Mimosa time! 

Blake landing on the Glacier with Lori in that tiny plane!

Shortly after their return they flew to Seattle and Blake is now settled into his own apartment  - fully furnished with his mother’s help- and he is adjusting to his new surroundings and job at SpaceX very well! I am sure a visit from Uncle Marc and Uncle Bryn is imminent.

Marc is actually extremely busy with two substantial  court cases - one of which is already underway in downtown LA where Marc is staying in  a hotel to avoid the daily commute from his condo. Marc called me one night before his trial began to admit that his new electric car was not exactly fitting his needs like his old  BMW  -recently totaled by a drunken, uninsured, illegal alien - into which he  could load many file boxes and a handcart to transfer all the boxes into the courthouse. I questioned the need for all this paperwork since everything is seemingly computerized these days but Marc said all his associates would be bringing numerous boxes too as they still needed the paper copies! I asked if his hand cart folded down -that was the problem - it didn’t and thus hung out of the trunk. I thought I had the whole problem solved when I suggested that he might want to order a folding one on Amazon but that was only one issue.

Marc was also having to drive a considerable distance a couple of days weekly to work on another case and his car was barely able to make the round trip on one  charge. I reminded Marc that I had suggested a hybrid vehicle might work better for him than an electric one but as usual he did not heed mothers advice.He was contemplating buying a second vehicle. I suggested  that he might want to trade his virtually brand new electric car in for a hybrid and thus save himself the cost of owning two cars - one of which would have to be parked at his law office as he only has one garage space at his condo which he needs to charge his electric car.

Marc’s next phone call to me was to let me know that he was now the proud owner of a 2003 gas guzzling Saab with over 100,000 miles on the odometer and it apparently needed some minor repairs! I asked Marc if he had consulted Bryn before making this rash purchase but apparently Byn was too busy with his girlfriend, Gaby, to steer Marc away from this accident waiting to happen. But Marc assured me that it fit all his boxes and handcart. I later learned that the repairs needed cost half the car’s purchase price - but Marc is no longer worried about  transporting  his legal paperwork to the LA courthouse. It seems to me that he has one vehicle that runs on batteries for limited mileage  and another car that’s mileage suggests it may well stall out on an LA freeway at any moment!

The Remsburgs have been busy hosting family members recently.. Josh spent several weeks with them in December and January and his visit overlapped with Ming-Jon’s and the weather was warm enough in Orlando to enjoy the pool. This month the Logues went for a few days but unfortunately they did not have pool weather for their visit. Craig was working in Saudi Arabia so I am sure that Lesle Ann was glad to have Coryn and Jeremy to  help out with Ray and Callie whom I am sure were delighted to have Ava Claire and Owen to do things with like exploring a Safari Park!

Josh and Ray watching Craig, Callie and Ming-Jon in the pool

Unfortunately we recently lost two very aged furry family members shortly before Christmas. Ollie was a beautiful red haired miniature poodle puppy when I  first met him. We still lived in Fort Madison at the time and Coryn had driven from Kansas City to show off her new love. He was a very sweet dog but definitely had “issues”. Olie would not cross streets, walk over a manhole cover or walk across a bridge. He would hit the ground  with all four limbs spread eagled and refuse to move- he would have to be carried across the obstacle! Such a very high strung dog was fortunate to have had a psychologist for his owner! Despite his nervous disposition Ollie lived for nineteen years which is very old for a dog!

Coryn with a very young Ollie!

Butterscotch was a starving stray that was rescued by Ming, Lori, Blake and Claudia over sixteen years ago at their lake house in Crawfordsville. They deided to bring her back to their Indy house and in a vey short time she went from being a strictly outdoor cat, to a cat with a heated bed in the garage to the queen of the household where she ruled every nook and cranny of the house.In her later years she developed diabetes and Lori devotedly gave her daily insulin injections. These pets were definitely beloved family members!

I am still in shock over the Chiefs win at the Superbowl this year. I have to confess that earlier in the season I doubted my team would even qualify for the playoffs - but we did and suddenly the team upped their game and our receivers were catching balls they had missed, dropped or fumbled all season long! It was an amazing accomplishment and something so positive for our entire Chief’s Kingdom - until the day of the victory parade and the senseless gun fire that caused the death of an innocent bystander and injuries to twenty two others. Thankfully the teenage perpetrators were immediately arrested and hopefully their parent’s will be charged for allowing their children  to carry guns and shoot at will in our city. I will never understand this country’s gun laws.

I have daffodils and crocus blooming  in my garden and  see that many of my trees are budding! I just hope we do not have another polar plunge back into sub zero temperatures like we did a few weeks ago.I had my faucets dripping for days to avoid frozen pipes. Today we almost hit eighty degrees! 

Thanks to the generosity of my children I realized that I never have a moment of feeling lonely like so many senior citizens. Alexa and my cell phone wake me up every morning;  Alexa beeps and flashes lights at  me throughout the day with updates about my Chiefs, national news and the weather. Sometimes she will randomly ask if I would like her to add anything to my Amazon shopping list  or sign up for another service. She also turns  some lights on and off for me, plays music and connects with my television.. My Ring doorbell sends alerts to my phone which makes a sound like a steam train, my phone and smartwatch vibrate and beep with every text. Sometimes I find myself pressing buttons on all my devices in a frantic effort to silence all the noise! 

Love to you all from your hi-tech Mother!

 

                     

 

Lochlan, Liam and Alex riding the train at Union station on a family outing

Lochlan with Sarah and Alex with Kay

Lori with Cillian

Kay, Jeremy, Richard , Sarah and Cillian serving themselves

Sean, Owen and Blake playing a card game at Grandma's

Blake's Graduation

Kay's Graduation

 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!

 THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER: VOLUME 152                                  SEPTEMBER 2023

Dear Reader, 

Josh returned to Kansas City just in time for Labour Day after spending a year traveling  the world. He is so fortunate to have a job that allows him to set his own schedule and work anywhere with an internet connection. Ava Claire and Owen insisted on picking up their beloved Uncle Josh at the airport so he could spend his first night back with them. The next day he arrived  at my house where Sarah, Sean and their four children along with Kay ,Richard and Alex gave him a very warm welcome!  He had nieces and nephews competing for his attention most of the day!

Ming- Jon  and Marc came out earlier in August  and we had a family supper of crab legs and shrimp tacos to celebrate their visit - of course I had to make chicken noodle soup for the kids! I didn’t see much of either one of these boys as Marc worked every day of his week's stay - only being able to fly here on a moment's notice when one of his cases settled out of court. I thought one of the attractions of  Los Angeles was the laid back lifestyle but Marc and Bryn seem to be working extremely long hours seven days a week. Ming-Jon arrived on a Thursday evening and departed around lunchtime Saturday so was barely here at all! But he got to spend time with his adorable grandson!

Ming-Jon with Alex  in KC

We have had some exciting news from the Indy Lowes in recent months. In July Lori was notified of the following:

“We are pleased to inform you that Republic Airways, in partnership with Purdue University, has established a scholarship to support students of Asian descent pursuing studies in Aviation technology and Transportation at the Purdue Polytechnic Institute. In an effort to advance diversity in the aviation field Republic Airways wanted to name the scholarship after a notable alum who exemplifies the purpose of this scholarship.

After careful review and consideration, Purdue University has identified Captain Ming-Lee as the ideal honoree for this scholarship due to his extraordinary impact on the aviation community and his enduring legacy with the program. His dedication to aviation and unwavering commitment to excellence have left an indelible mark on the industry making him an inspiration for aspiring aviation professionals.

In recognition of Captain Lowe’s remarkable achievements, Republic Airways will be administering a scholarship of $2,500 annually for the next five years. This scholarship aims to support and encourage deserving students who share Captain Lowe’s passion for aviation and as well as advancing diversity in the field. 

We believe that this scholarship is a meaningful way to celebrate Captain Lowe’s legacy and to support the education of talented and deserving students. It is with great honor and respect that we extend this information to you and your family. We understand that Captain Lowe’s legacy is deeply cherished by his loved ones, and we are committed to preserving and honoring his memory through this scholarship program”.

It means a lot to all of us that Ming-Lee’s impactful life is still being acknowledged.

Lori, Blake and Claudia have initiated a Virtual Memorial Walk in memory for Ming-Lee on October 15th. She states  that she came up with the idea “ because we all know that he would not want us just sitting around talking about how much we miss him! Ming made friends far and wide and his circle extends around the world.With everyone who might wish to participate we decided that this was the most practical way to get the most people involved. His favorite time of the year was the fall, and we are hoping for pleasant temperatures!”

The Kansas City Lowes will be walking in Unity village, Lees Summit, enjoying the beauty of the trails, water features and play areas for the children. Coryn and Jeremy are hosting us all for breakfast beforehand so we will be fueled for our walk with Mng -Lee in our hearts and  minds! Ming of course loved all outdoor pastimes from running, biking and swimming in triathlons to backyard games - which he could create out of nothing  -to building fires to toast marshmallows for S’mores. His energy was boundless and whenever he was around sitting and doing nothing was never tolerated. We were always busy when we visited with Ming - at his home or ours!

Lori has also set up a personal  donation page at :https://acgtfoundation.org/ming-lowe-walk/

This will enable you to make a donation in Ming’s memory, if you would like, to the Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy, an innovative organization that is focusing on using the immune system to treat cancer. They have several teams working in brain cancer research. A hundred percent of their donations go to fighting cancer.

As we all know Mother does not usually brag about her children, being more inclined to find humor in a situation that has befallen them but Blake has achieved something so impressive that I must share it with you all! He will graduate from Purdue in December and in January will start working for SpaceX in Redmond ,Washington!  Apparently being hired by SpaceX is harder than being accepted to Harvard, Princeton. or Stanford as according to the web it only accepts 0.2%of applicants! Blake is guaranteed a high flying career!

Claudia is also doing very well in her chosen field of forensic criminology having completed her first summer internship and earning an offer to return next summer! And then there is Kay: not only has she battled breast cancer this year, but she has also continued to pursue her second Master’s degree without missing a class, working full time, raising Alex and managing to land her first job as a Vice Principal at one of Kansas City, Missouri’s Montessori grade schools. I am one very proud grandma and most importantly they- like all my children and extended family - are  great people!

While the Remsburgs headed to Maine to vacation this summer, the Logues headed to Orlando and stayed in the Remsburgs house which is so conveniently close to Universal Studios and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It’s great that Ava Claire and Owen enjoy the Harry Potter books as much as Sean and I did many years ago. Corym made a family project out of it by reading the books aloud with her children and not allowing them to watch the movie until they had read the books!

August was a very busy month for me as Sean, Kay and Coryn returned to work  and Emmy Lou and Liam were no longer in daily summer camp so Grandma had all seven grandchildren here at times! My pools, splash pad,  and slip and  slide saw a lot of usage as it has been so hot and humid this summer! Ava Claie and Owen are a huge help with the little ones - makes it easier to run in and change a diaper with one rather than having to haul five kids four and under into the house and then back out again! I especially enjoy listening to Ava Claire trying to explain to one of her younger cousins why their behavior is less than desirable! They listen to her with rapt attention and nod their little heads in agreement with whatever she is telling them whereas they pay as much attention to me as my children did. Remember how Coryn kept you all in line when you were little children and complained about my lax discipline? Ava Claire is just like her mother in that regard!

Cillian finger painting with ice-cream! 

From left Lochlan, Cillian and Alex!

Alex pushing Lochlan!

Lochlan and Alex playing with Emmy Lou's Fairy Garden

Alex and Lochlan are now binky free except for sleeping and having those plugs out of their mouths has definitely helped their speechI Alex is stringing words together and Lochlan who has long relied on signing and pointing to get his needs met is now emulating his cousin by repeating whatever Alex says! But we do have to hope that Alex’s pronunciation of truck is not copied by Lochlan - he drops the tr and uses the f word instead!

Cillian is now ten months old and still an adorable, strawberry blond, blue eyed energetic crawler who is already pulling himself up on everything and is obviously very anxious to run with his siblings and cousins.He has to be the easiest baby ever.

Alex, and Lochlan with Cillian having a picnic lunch on my deck

In late August,Emmy Lou and Liam  started   pre-kindergarten and pre-school respectively four days a week and love it. Lochlan goes two days a week and is slowly adjusting ! I still watch the three youngest boys on Tuesdays and Thursdays and  have Cillian and Lochlan  on Fridays with Emmy Lou and Liam in the afternoon  so that they get some Grandma time! 

I am so glad that we are heading into fall and hopefully cooler weather.This summer has been brutally hot and humid and my plants have wilted every day under the searing sun despite daily watering. Sadly I have lost several plants this year due to the adverse growing conditions. I still love the English country cottage garden style and can muster no enthusiasm for desert landscaping which may be the only option in the years to come if climate change rages on unabated.

Time for me to rummage in the basement for  Halloween decorations to put on my porch as l my grandchildren love this holiday and this Grandma always wants to bewitch them! 

Love Mother

           

 

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