THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER VOLUME 99 MAY 2015

Dear Children, Family, and Friends,

Spring burst forth this year with gloriously sunny days interspersed with frequent rain showers causing my garden to blossom long before usual. I don't think I have ever seen daffodils, columbines and clematis blooming simultaneously. Everything from milk weed to cleome has emerged from the dirt weeks before it would usually. I hope my garden won't be all bloomed out by the end of June though!

As mentioned in my last letter , I went ahead with my latest home improvement project: a stamped, neutral toned patio, with a stone sitting wall and a section of fencing which incorporated a five foot wide gate which improves access to the backyard for garden equipment. I had the contractor who did my kitchen and bathroom projects last year head this one up too as he undertook to find some good bids for me and I am very happy with the result.

Growing up in Bedhampton, southern England, I spent hours every summer day in my garden house – a converted shed. I decided that a play house for Ava Claire on my new, safe and level patio would be just the thing to mark her second birthday. Fortuitously it arrived on a day she was here with me so I excitedly explained that the huge cardboard box contained something very special for her. Ava Claire looked at the box and announced she was going to see her frogs. I assured myself that once I had the pieces out of the box she would understand that a real little house was soon to be part of her backyard paradise at Grandma's. I managed to drag her away from her frogs – a set of four ceramic garden frogs that her mother gave me many years ago – and exclaimed “ Boy oh Boy” as I showed her the door, walls, roof, and windows. She repeated “Boy oh Boy” with gusto as I handed her the bag of fake food to carry over to the patio as I hefted a wall. Ava Claire asked me to open her bag so she could play with the contents. She immediately set the food and dishes up on the stone sitting wall and when asked if she would like to help Grandma bring more of the house around to the patio, she announced that she was staying put with her plastic food. I hustled and after about six round trips from the driveway to the patio I had all the house pieces in place ready to assemble. Again I asked Ava Claire if she would like to help Grandma but she informed me that she was playing. I rationalized she would be more excited once the house was assembled because she probably didn't comprehend that a pile of plastic bits and pieces was going to turn into a playhouse. I managed to get the actual house assembled fairly quickly but the biggest problem was installing the doorbell – I had to scrunch into the house hold the back and front doorbell pieces in place whilst I drilled through the wall. Ava Claire was far more interested in my drill than her house and would try to grab it every time I set it down - further delaying the process. The doorbell makes six different sounds that I thought she would enjoy but the only sound she likes is that of the barking dogs, which probably reminds her of her real home. I mounted the stove top into the wall, added the adjoining picnic table and stools and looked around for Ava Claire who had wondered off back to her frogs. She bought them over to check out the house briefly but soon returned them to their usual spot in my circular bed of the lily of the valleys where she played happily. Coryn said she would probably have been more enthused over another set of ceramic garden ornaments and that I should have just turned a cardboard box into a playhouse but I am sure that Elena and Lola Rose will be more excited about it and maybe this will influence Ava Claire.

Elena has certainly had a very positive effect on Ava Claire's potty training. The last time the girls were all together at my house Elena demonstrated every step of the procedure to Ava Claire who practically pushed Elena off the potty to see her poo poo! Elena explained that she had to take toilet paper and “pat pat” until she was dry. Ava Claire has this part down pat, unfortunately she still has problems getting to the potty before she wets but for her age she is doing well I think. She does best when she goes commando and then always gets herself on the potty in time to poo and pee. She has been dry through the night for quite a while.

In the middle of April I drove to Iowa City for the wedding of Lauren Clarke , the youngest daughter of my good friends, Dave and Jane Clarke. It was great to see the other kids, Katie and her twin boys, Dan and John. John is very excited about the prospect of being able to visit Sean in London – let's hope Sean's budget will be big enough to afford space for visitors. The wedding and reception took place at The Celebration Farm : a beautiful round wooden barn which perfectly suited the rustic themed wedding. A shuttle bus service was offered between the hotel and venue so at check in I signed up for that: glad to be relieved of the responsibility of finding my way from one place to another- especially late at night in the dark. However once I boarded the bus I was soon surrounded by twenty year olds who clearly saw this as the party bus: grateful that they could drink without having to worry about driving themselves back to the hotel. I had to admit to myself that I was probably a tad too mature to fit in with this raucous group and decided that I would try to nab a more sedate ride home. Fortunately I was seated with some very nice couples and was offered a ride back to the hotel with one of them: and thank goodness I didn't choose to drive myself as we were caught in a torrential downpour on the drive back with zero visibility on I80!

I am happy to report that Josh is back in Bolivia volunteering with the big cats who hopefully are well fed and not tempted to snack on my son! I cannot imagine running through the rainforest with a puma tied to a leash around my waist being eaten alive by mosquitoes and wading into rivers with the possibility of becoming fish food! But Joshua seems to thrive on the challenges.

Sean is now working for his former company Cerner in their London office. In early April I dropped him off at the airport for his first flight of three to Manchester airport where he was met by cousin Ethan. He spent about three weeks with my brother Trevor, his wife Angela and of course Ethan in Huddersfield taking trips to local places of interest and a weekend was spent in Scotland. Then Cerner flew him back to the states at the end of April for three days of meetings before returning him to London where he is currently being housed in a hotel at their expense while he looks for an affordable flat – which will be a challenge.

We were able to see Sean for dinner on Friday night before he returned to London which was great - we all got together at the Logues as Sean had some stuff he had stored at their house that he was taking the opportunity to retrieve and take back with him. He also had had some electronic stuff shipped there as apparently it is much cheaper to buy it in this country. Unfortunately Ava Claire threw up at dinner time but she felt well enough to demand pizza and proceeded to demand that Sean play with her, take her to the potty and read books to her. Jeremy had been ill with diarrhea earlier in the week and unfortunately Coryn and I succumbed in the next few days. I was greatly concerned that Sean would be affected while traveling but fortunately he stayed healthy. The Tuckers sent some cute clothes over for Ava Claire and her new brother to be and some classic English sweets for the rest of us. They also included a tea bell which is perfect for Ava Claire and her beloved tea times.

Kay and Jeff had picked Sean up at his hotel so he got to meet Theodore , their rescue dog who looks a lot like Buster with a tail. I bet the neighbors were very worried when they saw five dogs running around the Logues back yard - not another one! Unfortunately Theodore is estimated to be about two years old but he is not potty trained so Kay and Jeff are trying to crate train him but it is a challenge with an older dog. He is adorable but a lot of work - I did try to talk them out of it until they at least had a house and a doggie door but as usual no-one listens to me! He is a very cute,nice dog and surprisingly my cats seem quite comfortable with him.

I completed all my nursery sewing for my newest grandson, crib panels, bumper pads, changing table pad, valances , and a pillow for the rocking chair which thankfully I did not have to reupholster as it worked with the new nursery colors. I am now concentrating on Ava Claire's summer wardrobe.

The last couple of times that I have talked to Bryn he has been at Marc's condo instead of his house in downtown LA. Apparently there is no air conditioning and Bryn claims it's not his thing to sit and sweat. He would rather drive to Marc's, and take his brother's towels and snacks to spend the day at the nearby Redondo Beach! He is actively seeking a sub- leaser with thoughts of joining Josh and or Sean. Frankly I am bewildered that he thinks he could survive in the hot and humid rainforest when he finds LA a challenge! I can see Bryn happily drinking his way through England's pubs as he contemplates future employment opportunities.

Mother's Day weekend was a social whirl on the Plaza. Becky Dickinson invited Coryn and me to lunch at Andres as a belated celebration of my birthday on Saturday – a feast for the eyes and stomach as one has to walk pass display cases filled with handmade specialty chocolates to reach the cafe where I enjoyed a delicious chicken vol- au- vent with salad and a raspberry pastry for dessert. The following day I met Kay and Jeff and his mother Barb,(for the first time) for brunch at Brio's. It was so sweet of the kids to do this for us. I am so blessed to have these young people in my life.

Today I was meant to be helping Kay with her class field trip but it was canceled due to rain so hopefully the weather will co-operate for a make up day. I think we are going to have rain all through the weekend yet again. This has certainly be a wet spring. Fortunately my basement has stayed dry.

Ming and Lori have put their lake house in Crawfordsville, up for sale after coming to the conclusion that it was no longer practical or enjoyable to maintain two properties, especially with Blake in high school and both kids activities. Ming Lee certainly put a lot of time and energy into updating and improving the property with his extensive handy man skills. Now they will have more time to visit all that I have to offer in my wonderfully located fun in the sun paradise of a home.

Coryn and Jeremy will soon be introducing us to our their son and my next newsletter will be a birth announcement! Ava Claire's 2^nd birthday will be on May 25^th and the plan is to incorporate the two events if possible! Coryn is counting on delivering early again this time! She actually made Ava Claire's birthday dress herself from yards of tulle with no sew construction! I am so proud of her! I was hoping that she might be motivated to learn to sew but she quickly squelched that hope.

Mother is now a lady in waiting, waiting for the arrival of Owen, waiting for the rain to stop and waiting for one of many unmarried sons to call with news of at least a date. Love to you all from your mother who always penetrates like a ray of sunshine into your lives no matter how thick the clouds that surround you.

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER: VOLUME 98 MARCH 2015

Dear Readers,

Mother has been relentlessly attacking so many projects that I have not found time to write about it all!

February kicked off with my Super Bowl party attended by my Kansas City family and adopted Dickinson family. Watching Elena, Lola Rose and Ava Claire was as entertaining as the game - especially when the two oldest girls tackled the issue of just who's Grandma I am! Elena declared I was hers -Ava Claire insisted I was her Grandma and neither girl seemed to think it was possible that I was the other's Grandma if I was hers! They would be totally confused if they came with me to Kay's school where the entire class calls me Grandma Lowe! Frankly I am happy to be a Grandma to all the kids in my life and have never dreaded hearing the word as so many people seem to. I am constantly amazed at the names women dream up to avoid being addressed as “ Grandma”. I have been Grandma Lowe since I was thirty nine years old ! My only complaint is that I don't have any grandchildren from five of my offspring!

My Florida bedroom has undergone a transformation since Coryn and Jeremy decided to switch Ava Claire into a toddler bed freeing up her crib for the new baby. The queen bed that was in the new nursery was moved to my house in exchange for two of my twin beds that will be better suited for the kids future needs. This meant that I needed new bedding, matching bed-side tables, and some refinishing of existing furniture to match my new color scheme. My garage floor is now blood red since I spray painted two wicker chairs there – despite putting down large sheets of cardboard to protect it!

I am now giving serious consideration to painting all the dark woodwork upstairs the same creamy color as most of the first floor doors and trim. It will be a very time consuming project but I think it will be a positive change.

The weekend before last Coryn took me to see the ballet Giselle at the Kauffman Center which is touted as one of the best performance auditoriums in the country. It was a Christmas gift from her and Jeremy and was much anticipated and greatly enjoyed. We used a gift certificate from some of my sons for dinner on the Country Club Plaza and had a fabulous seafood dinner with a novel desert - fresh berries and mousse in a chocolate bag - reminded me of the chocolate swans filled with raspberry mousse that Coryn and Jeremy served at their wedding reception. We both thought how much Ava Claire would have loved the dessert and will definitely have to repeat the experience with her when she is a little older.

We had some time between dinner and the ballet to walk around the plaza shops – the streets were jammed with crowds of people in town for the Big Twelve Basketball games at the nearby Sprint Center. I was concerned that the short drive to the theater might be a traffic jam but it was fine. Coryn happily teetered through the stores and along the sidewalks in her five inch heels with her baby bump seemingly defying gravity. By the time we reached our theater seats her feet were swollen, throbbing masses which led her to sit barefoot( thank goodness she didn't have smelly feet) through the performance while she hoped she wouldn't need any runs to the rest room before intermission. Today's dress standards have become so relaxed that one can almost roll out of bed in grungy sweats and an old t-shirt and go anywhere. I am rather old school on this issue – I loved my English days of wearing beautiful dresses and hats to weddings, dark respectful clothes to funerals and changing to go out to lunch or dinner.

Ming-Jon visited us the last weekend in February to spend some time with Kay Jeff and the rest of us before his planned departure in early March to teach English for a year in China. However things fell through at the last minute so now his trip has been postponed indefinitely. Fortuitously his arrival coincided with Josh's 35^th birthday so he was part of our celebration and got to enjoy two birthday cakes! I'm afraid I started making my cake too early in the morning. Josh had requested a strawberry cake with cream cheese frosting – from yet another web site which claimed the recipe tasted great but was difficult to get to the right consistency- I decided to make an early start in case my first batch of frosting was so bad that I would have to start another. Unfortunately I grabbed a box of cake mix from the pantry, dumped in the other ingredients and started my mixer. A few spins later and I noticed that my cake was chocolate and not strawberry. I had no idea that I had more than one cake mix in my pantry. So I decided to bake the chocolate cake and the strawberry cake. Fortunately I had enough whipping cream to make two different kinds of frosting. Actually the chocolate cake seemed more popular with my guests – many of whom had a slice of each – including Ava Claire of course along with strawberries and ice cream.

Ming Jon's Sunday return flight was canceled due to bad weather and the earliest flight available was for late afternoon the next day so he got to spend an extra day with me and Ava Claire on Monday. Coryn left work a little early so that I could take Ming-Jon to the airport. I know he was pleased to see Kay happily settled into her life in Kansas City with Jeff, her extended family, her work, great apartment and new car.

Ming- Lee, Lori, Blake and Claudia are spending the kids Spring break in Pheonix, Arizona with Lori's mom and step- dad. Coryn and Jeremy went to Chicago for a few days to visit with Amber Scott and her fiancee whilst Ava Claire stayed with me. Sean stayed at Coryns with the four dogs and I had some help from Josh at my house with a very demanding Ava Claire. The cat became her great playmate again, enduring having her fur coat tugged out with my hairbrush, fake food rammed in her mouth and being poked with a plastic medicine dropper when Ava decided to play doctor – over and over again. At least she didn't try to put a diaper on the cat this time although she did make her wear a hat! It is amazing that the cat tolerates her so well and actively seeks her out. The only time Delilah has scratched her was when Ava Claire rolled over the cat while she was sleeping.

Josh and Sean are both planning to leave next month, Josh will be headed to Texas to help build another hydroponic greenhouse and will return to Bolivia to volunteer at at an animal reserve again. Sean is planning on using his British citizenship to move to London and work for an extended time. Being interesting to see how he feels about the weather and high cost of living there.

My friend Becky Clay had some great news recently: her home in Fort Madison has sold. This means that she can now explore the possibility of finding a place of her own in Savannah. I hope she finds something with lots of character and some outdoor space for at least a few pots of flowers. I will be visiting her once she is settled and will enjoy seeing Lysander and Merovy too.

I have been hoping to remove my cracked and heaving concrete patio and replace it with something else for years- I didn't want to subject Norm to the noise of a jack hammer. I have decided to attack the job this Spring and am currently getting bids. I just hope it can be transformed before all my plants get trampled to death by the workers. Masses of my bulbs are blooming and green shoots are poking up through the dirt in all my flower beds. We have had a relatively mild winter here – some sub freezing temperatures but a lot of above normal ones and very little snow.

I have painted the walls in my sewing room – each one a different color to use up paint that has been sitting in the storage room since we moved into this house. It is very bold, bright green, terracotta, turquoise and sunshine yellow. It seems to have stimulated my creativity as I have been sewing for weeks! Some of my children seemed dubious about my paint job – Josh said it was so distracting that he found it hard to concentrate on ironing his work pants and shirts whilst Coryn said it suggested a Mexican themed restaurant. I am very pleased with my handiwork and have decided to put laying carpet squares in it on my to do list – maybe a rainbow of colors. If I have to sew with my sunglasses on so be it.

Coryn recently met me at a going out of business fabric sale in Belton, a town between our homes. She was hoping to find some fabrics for the new nursery but we only found pink glitter tulle which Coryn wanted me to make into a many layered table skirt for Ava Claire's room. We had lunch but eating with Ava Claire these days is no longer a pleasant experience. She has become a picky eater. She will announce loudly “I don't like it” and toss it on the floor if one does not remove it from her grasp fast enough. However she likes to order hot tea and desert of course. We all hope that this will be a short stage.

Coryn eventually found fabric on the web which she ordered – fortunately Jeremy liked it after the fact. Now I have yards of four complimentary fabrics waiting to be turned into crib panels, bumper pads, pillows, changing table pads, basket liners and valances. I have learned that when Coryn has plans for a custom anything it means I will be doing all the work! Good job I find my sewing room such a happy place to be slaving away in.

Bryn is now contemplating working as a consultants as he feels it would give him more flexibility to take extended vacations and possibly be more lucrative. Marc is just glad to have his space back to himself and muttering about his brothers laid back approach to life.

Easter will be soon be upon us and this cute chick will be preening in the garden for all my neighbors to enjoy and hopping around the kitchen chasing my tail preparing an Easter ham if I have dinner guests. In the meantime I will continue to wish that many of my chicks will breed like rabbits when their soul mates finally hop into their lives. Love to you all from the best bred mother of all!

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER VOLUME 97 JANUARY 2015

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I almost blew my own fuse over the lights on my pre-lit Christmas tree this year. Josh helped me haul it up from the basement storage room and assemble it. I connected the many power cords and said “let there be light.” My mood turned dark. There was very little light – one or two strands on a nine foot tree is essentially a power outage. I jiggled the branches and managed to get another strand or two to work. Josh assured me that once the tree was decorated a few hundred light bulbs would not be missed. Knowing that anything less than a tree bedecked with blazing lights was going to be a Christmas downer for me I did some research and discovered that after a few years of use most pre-lit Christmas trees failed. I could either either try to remove all the very firmly wrapped and clipped onto each branch lights or I could buy some thing which looks like a glue gun that apparently shocks your lights back to life. I opted for the later and bought one up the street at my local Ace Hardware store. I read the instructions, pulled out a bulb, inserted the nozzle and pulled the trigger and hit a bulls- eye. The entire strand was lit up! I was on fire to tackle the rest of my tree. Unfortunately it proved to be shooting duds from then on. I pulled the trigger until I was to the point of shooting myself. Josh tried and managed to get a few more lights on but I ended up adding some strands to it. I was on the verge of running to Hobby Lobby for a new tree! Once it came time to take the tree down I contemplated removing all the lights to save me the task next year but after spending an hour just cutting a strand off the top tree section I decided to wait until next year. Maybe the cost of several new strands of lights will equal purchasing a brand new pre- lit tree!

Ava Claire helping Grandma decorate the tree.

Christmas was quiet again this year but Josh and I enjoyed Christmas dinner with Coryn, Jeremy and of course Ava Claire in their dinning room. Amazingly I only had to make a dessert picked out by Coryn - a four layered red velvet cake with cheesecake sandwiched between the layers covered in cream cheese frosting. Fortunately my cheesecake did not crack in the oven or fall to pieces when I had to slice it horizontally. I was sure that Jeremy would be cooking our dinner but amazingly Coryn made the whole meal – even the roast beef!

On December 29^th I made a quick overnight trip to Fort Madison, staying with Sherry and Rocky Aschbrenner. Becky, David and the children had returned to spend the holiday with his family - actually Becky was with her family in Hannibal and a friend in Fort Madison. Her house there is still for sale but completely bare as her things are all in storage. I knew that the holidays would be very hard for Becky so I wanted to be able to give her a big hug and whatever support I could. Despite sub zero temperatures the weather was fine driving to and from. I avoid driving in snowy or icy conditions if at all possible in my Ford Focus.

Evelyn was already at Sherry's when I arrived early Monday afternoon and Becky soon joined us. They witnessed a very important phone call I had with Coryn that day. She and Jeremy had been at her doctor's office that morning for an ultra sound and this time they decided to find out the sex of the baby ahead of the birth. Of course Coryn made me suffer claiming that they still didn't know as the baby had it's legs crossed the whole time. I immediately shrieked that the doctor should have shoved his hand up and uncrossed them! I was so disappointed but then she told me that they would be having a BOY this time. I was beside myself with joy : my friends probably wished they had ear plugs and I bet Sherry was worried about her floor joists as I jumped for joy.

Lysander and Merovy joined us for awhile and the baby seemed to be at least twice as big as she was the last time I set eyes on her. She looks very much like Lysander who was as cute as ever. But like most young children he requires a lot of attention and I am in awe of Becky's ability to cope with his demands and Merovy's.

Unfortunately once Becky, David and the children returned to Savanna they had to deal with another devastating tragedy compounding the one they had so recently suffered. Gretchen's friend Katie had been a tremendous help to the family – even taking on the care of their ailing dog. She and Gretchen even worked together and their boys played together so it was an unbelievable coincidence when her her husband arrived at their home to let them know that Katie -a young mother in her thirties, like Gretchen,- had died of a heart attack at home. Heartbreaking for all of them.

In early December Coryn and Jeremy flew to Arizona for a four day stay which included attending the Chiefs game. Ava Claire was staying with me, while Josh stayed at their home to take care of the four dogs. Ava Claire quickly put herself on Grandma's sleep schedule when she realized that I was up for midnight feasts in bed – she was happy to sleep until at least eight in the morning rather than her usual six O'clock time. She is at a truly delightful stage showing a very assertive but so cute personality. I think she will be very empathetic with her new baby brother judging by how she treats her doll. She will throw it to the floor, make a few boo- hoo noises, declare the baby sad, pick it up, hug it and pat it's back and declare that the baby is happy. She will probably be a great help with her brother when he reaches the point of eating solids as she loves to feed her dolls. I was watching her trying to feed Buzz Light Year through his helmet one day and realized that she was ready for a doll which was not in Grandma's toy box so the next day I went to Toysurus to buy her a baby doll with a bag of accessories to care for it.

Josh is still staying with me. He accepted the temporary position he was offered last month and will start next commuting up I35( so conveniently close to my house) next week. He claims that he will move closer to his new job if he is constantly battling rush hour traffic. It's a twenty minute drive in general but rush hour can be easily twice as long.

Ming Jon is headed to China next month to teach English at a University there for a year. I just hope he can stomach the food – Kay said it was awful when she was there. I am sure he will have an interesting experience.

Coryn, Jeremy and Ava Claire are flying to Indianapolis over Valentines Day Weekend next month – I am sure that Claudia will thoroughly enjoy her young cousin!

Crafting with Kay's class.

I will be helping Kay with her first grade class on the Friday before Valentines Day. I am trying to come up with a craft that does not require glue - after my very sticky experience making Christmas snowmen with cotton wool and glitter paper . Some of the children were bathing their craft in Elmer’s glue. We were also challenged by a visit from Santa Claus that caused the class to erupt in excitement – especially when he handed out presents to them! Snowman lost hats, scarfs, mouths and eyes. I was down on all fours trying to peel them off the floor. Once Santa left we managed to get them back to crafting but it definitely was a day when more help would have been great. Unfortunately only one parent volunteered to help with the Christmas party so I was glad to be there with Kay.

I finally have all my kitchen cabinets painted and the hardware restored to it's finish of almost forty years ago. I tried everything from tomato juice and vinegar to Brasso and a toothbrush but Josh actually came up with the best solution after browsing the web. He said boiling them in vinegar was highly recommended. I was not anxious to try this as I detest the smell – when I clean out the coffee pot with vinegar I plug it in outside to avoid the unpleasant fumes. However after spending hours on a few sets I gave him the go ahead and it worked like magic! The hours I could have saved myself.

On Saturday my new state of the art stainless steel GE dishwasher was delivered at seven in the morning – I was told to expect it between eight and noon so of course I was dragged from my bed in the middle of the night. Josh installed it for me the very same day! Now my dishes will no longer need to be rewashed when I take them out of the dishwasher!

My kitchen redo is now complete but I have a lot of other projects to tackle. I am currently redoing my Florida themed bedroom as Coryn and Jeremy took my twin beds in exchange for their queen bed, thinking of their childrens' future needs. I immediately headed to Steinmart for new bedding in a gray, white, red, and yellow color scheme. I am planning on painting all the furniture white with the exception of a wicker chair which I sprayed red this afternoon outside as it is sixty degrees here and sunny. The room will have to be renamed – maybe Ethan's room since he has spent the most time in it! He will be delighted to hear that I am going to install a new ceiling fan in there too!

Jeremy asked if I was planning on hosting a Super Bowl Party again this year: since the demand is there I will fill it at 5pm, Sunday February 1^st when as usual I will kick off with a formidable line of up of my tried and true party recipes . Once the game starts my guests will have to fend for themselves as I will be busy coaching Tom Brady. Let's hope the balls are fully inflated this time.

Love to all my family friends and readers who mean so much to me.

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER: VOLUME 96 DECEMBER 2014

Dear Readers ,

In early November I flew to Orlando to visit Leslee-Ann, and Craig: as a bonus or booby prize, depending on your viewpoint , I also got to see my Sean who seems to be shuffling himself between them and family friends Skylar and Jaimie in Sarasota, Florida while he waits for his British passport to arrive. The later couple have a home in need of a lot of updating so Sean is currently helping them out with plans for Josh to do so in the future: maybe.

An unexpected travel perk was revealed to me at the Kansas City airport. After successfully parking my car in the economy parking lot and boarding a shuttle bus to the Southwest terminal, I was surprised to see long lines at the security check in (a first for me at this airport) on a Thursday afternoon. I congratulated myself on having the foresight to arrive at least an hour ahead of the time my children would have done. Clutching my boarding pass, driver's license and luggage I was approached by a security guard who took a quick peak at my boarding pass and hustled me over to a much shorter line – I asked why and he explained that three little letters on my boarding pass decreed that I was cleared to pass through security with no need to remove any piece of clothing or my shoes. I almost felt guilty as I passed by yards of my fellow travelers who seemed as puzzled by the rationale for this selective process as myself. I felt very important of course, convinced that my British blue blood must have put me in this elite class. Only a few months ago on my trip to New York, I was selected to have my hands tested for bomb residue with Ava Claire in my arms – both ways. Coryn even asked the security guard the second time why I was selected but he assured her that it was a strictly random procedure, nothing suspicious about my persona. I thought that perhaps the airlines were trying to rectify pulling Grandma over by giving me the all clear this time. Turns out Southwest was randomly assigning passengers this status in hopes that we would be willing to pay up to a hundred dollars for the privilege on future flights .I was selected for the same security waiver on my return flight but I would not pay for this myself!

I was picked up by all three of my children and whisked off to dinner in downtown Winter Garden before heading to their home. I was most impressed with all the renovations that had taken place since my last visit. Leslee and Craig had replaced their honey oak kitchen cabinets with custom dark maple ones , new granite counter counter-tops and stainless steel appliances. Josh had ripped up their ceramic tile floor and installed beautiful bamboo flooring, added a new tile back splash and five inch baseboards. He also replaced other flooring in the house with bamboo. Mother would be thrilled to have some bamboo flooring installed in her house, any volunteers?

Leslee and Craig informed me that since they had made all these upgrades to the inside of their home they felt their front yard needed work too – my work of course. So on Friday morning after rushing out to pick up coffee and and a muffin for my breakfast Leslee-Ann explained that she wanted full color perennials for her sunny front yard. I was so excited to think that one of my children might be inheriting my green thumb that I could hardly wait to start digging in the dirt. Leslee quelled my enthusiasm by reminding me that in her domain Craig digs the holes under her supervision. We shopped for plants at Lowes, loaded up Craig' s cargo space in his new van and ate lunch before heading back to tackle the yard. I had suggested that we buy an edging tool to dig out defined beds, so I got the project started then handed the tool to Craig who was a tad too enthusiastic in his trenching around the borders, making them deep and wide enough for infantrymen to take refuge in. Leslee-Ann was not pleased. I assured her that a little back filling and a few trailing plants would rectify all the faults she was finding. I was actually far more concerned about the non- appearance of the sun. It was shaded when I looked the project over at breakfast time , still in shade when we returned from lunch and after edging out the border, moving some existing plants around , and placing our new ones I again questioned how this could be a full sun situation with only three more hours of daylight left? Craig ran around the house using his camera man skills to assess the lighting issue concluding that there was a minimal chance that the sun might shine on the garden bed in late light of day - if it wasn't blocked by their neighbors towering homes. I asked how they could possibly believe this garden bed was in full sun when every day they work from their desks in their home office overlooking the very spot we were working in? They were as baffled as I. We decided to have Craig and Sean plant all the sun perennials in the back yard where I placed them whilst Leslee-Ann and I made another trip to a nursery. Finding shade perennials in Florida was not easy and we ended up driving to three garden centers before we had enough plants to fill the space.

That evening we ate at a Greek restaurant, Opa, which was filled with belly dancers, fire eaters and waiters who periodically threw hundreds of paper napkins in the air. I was glad your dad was not there as he would have been stuffing handfuls of the napkins in all his pockets complaining about the waste and probably trying to stuff them into my purse too! The patrons ranged from young children (some of whom gyrated right alongside the belly dancer which I found rather disturbing , especially considering all the people capturing the scene with their cell phones) to the very aged who were hoisted onto table tops to dance. As their enthusiastic relatives raised their glasses to them in encouragement, I wondered if an ambulance was permanently parked out back in case of nasty falls with all those senior's osteoporosis riddled bones and doubtless highly medicated bodies precariously attempting to relive their glory years back in the old country. I dread to think what the liability insurance must be on that place. The food and service was very good though but I have to say I much preferred the BB King Jazz Club that we moved onto later for a drink, they had an outstanding young singer and guitar player performing for an enthusiastic crowd. We moved to a third venue for the night before finally heading for home. I was definitely getting my party on with the kids.

The next day Craig had to work so Leslee-Ann, Sean and I headed to the Magic Animal Kingdom which is only a short distance from their house. Through her connections Leslee had hooked us up with some free tickets which was great because otherwise it's about a hundred dollars a ticket. The park is enormous of course and beautifully kept with enchanting scenes everywhere you look and we were able to see many of the animals at close quarters especially on the Safari ride through the park. W e ate lunch there finding it a challenge to find a place to sit. The Kingdom was jam packed as soon as it opened for the day. We also managed to squeeze into a performance paying homage to the Lion King which was very entertaining. Once done with the park we made another stop for mulch and a hose nozzle and headed home. Leslee was attending a toddler's birthday party across the street – I elected to work on the front yard in peace for awhile while Sean spread the mulch in the back yard around the new plantings there. Then he joined Leslee while I toiled on.

.At some point while I was hauling dirt, moving rocks and lugging plants around the yard Leslee -Ann happened to remark that that when Craig's parents visit they love to relax in their screened in porch, basking in the sun with a cocktail in hand - maybe watching a movie on their outdoor big scree TV. I wiped the sweat from my brow, and muttered something about how I always seem to be toiling rather than lolling when I visit my children and was informed that I loved to help with their projects being more of a doer than a sitter.

Sean and Leslee returned home laden with food from their party hosts so we ate supper at home with Craig joining us and spent the evening playing games with plans for me to head back home the next day.

I returned home and decided to start work on refinishing my kitchen cabinets: doubtless I was motivated by Leslee and Craig's renovation. I decided to remove all the hardware and give it a good cleaning and discovered that my almost oil rubbed bronzed handles were actually shiny brass under all the tarnish and dirt. I think brass is going to make a comeback soon so I am going to forge ahead even though it takes an hour to clean each door's hardware. I have painted some of my cupboards several shades lighter than before to better contrast with my new gray tile floor. All work on this project came to a halt on November 21^st when Marc and Bryn arrived to spend just over a week with their mother .Josh arrived the following day. I have hopes of getting back to this task next week.

I picked Marc and Bryn up at the airport – having to circle five times while they were retrieving their enormous amounts of luggage from baggage claim. I reminded them that I had flown to this country with less luggage for my life time stay. Once home, Marc immediately took the bedroom closest to the bathroom of course, with his bladder issues, while Bryn nabbed my Florida room with the television, so Josh was left with my English Country Garden room. I made pork chops for dinner with pumpkin cake for dessert and was later talked into making a few batches of cookies.I was overwhelmed by all the cooking and cleaning after so many months of being a household of one tidy person content to eat a cheese sandwich and a frozen dinner.Josh and Bryn actually spent time visiting their old haunts in Kansas City while Marc kept me company with tales of life with his many brothers in his compact condo.

He was very happy when he learned that Bryn had accepted a job in downtown LA working for a commercial real estate company specializing in high end hotel developments: and would probably be moving into the Beverly Hills area to be closer to work as it would be quite a commute from Marc's condo in Torrance. Since Bryn's transfer to LA , Marc has been spending a lot of time in close quarters with brothers Sean and Josh - who both spent several weeks mooching off their big brother's largesse. It is a sad reflection on Marc's desperately in need of a makeover condo that his brothers were all compelled to shower in flip flops to avoid contaminating their feet during their stay and they even offered to help him redo the place making it into a two bedroom, two bath condo but Marc wasn't keen on having more disruption in his world.

We had the biggest crowd around my Thanksgiving table in sometime. Coryn , Jeremy, and Ava Claire along with Marc, Josh and Bryn made for quite a festive crowd and I was to learn later that we had an unexpected guest at the table. Ava Claire was debuting a dressy outfit that I had made her but shortly before we sat down to lunch Coryn removed her dress and matching jacket set and pulled a tee shirt over her head saying she didn't want Ava Claire to spill food all over her new outfit. I put a bib on her and said I could have just thrown it in the washing machine as she always insists on feeding herself and gets as much food on her clothes as she does into her mouth. I was busy stirring my gravy, checking my ham and turkey which my sons were fretting about being dry instead of juicy and moist: I was on the verge of drowning it in my bath tub to ensure it was moist. Coryn had baked a deliciously rich chocolate pie for dessert, and also contributed a sweet potato casserole and cranberry pepper relish. Bryn whipped up a batch of mashed potatoes and I made the stuffing. After gobbling everything down, including our very moist turkey, thanks to the aluminum foil I wrapped it in for the first hour of roasting (despite my sons misgivings )and cleaning up the kitchen we settled in the family room. Coryn asked me if I had noticed Ava Claire's shirt. “Sure it's purple, very girly”I replied. Then she asked if I had read what it said, well - I had seen the first word “cutest” and not paid any attention to the rest so to appease Coryn I read it and went ballistic. Ava Claire was going to be the cutest big sister! Our newest family member will arrive next May. Once again Coryn and Jeremy kept this pregnancy a secret until they were into the fourth month. I could not believe that I had not noticed it when I put her bib on! My mind was fixated on what was cooking in my oven not Coryn's tummy!

Ming-Lee has successfully finished his months of training in a new plane and will now be officially based in Indianapolis instead of Memphis. Blake and Claudia are very involved in the Indianapolis Children's Choir and keep their parents very busy with all the practices and performances. They will be spending Christmas with Lori's mom and husband.

Ming-Jon has been able to find some temporary legal work and will hopefully be able to find something permanent soon.

Kay and Jeff are spending Christmas in Mexico, Sean will be in Florida, and Bryn and Marc will be in LA. Coryn , Jeremy and Ava Claire will spend some time with me and maybe Josh – he may return to Florida or he may accept a temporary position with a legal firm here and still do his other job. Leslee-Ann and Craig will be at home with his parents spending the holiday with them.

My next newsletter will detail my time with Ava Claire while her parents took a few days break in Arizona in early December, my less than HO HO Christmas lighting this year and my holiday crafting project with Kay's first graders.

I have a new cell phone and plan with Republic which only costs ten dollars a month! It even has a person I can talk to like Suri! I have different sounds for calling, texting and emailing and have even figured out how to take photos – I'll admit finding them later is a bit tricky but I'm sure I will be able to use all the many features by next year. I was able to keep the same number so feel free to text me anytime children. You all know how much I love to stay in touch with you!

I wish all of my family and friends the happiest of holidays, I will probably still be tweaking my lights, trying to light a fire under Josh to clean up after himself, and doing my sugar plum fairy dance around the Christmas tree to entertain Ava Claire for the next couple of weeks. With visions of sugar plums dancing in your heads I'm sure I wish you all the best of Holiday Cheer! Love Mother

Ava Claire was not as excited to meet Santa in person as one would have hoped!
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volume 95

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER VOLUME 95 OCTOBER 2014

Dear Readers,

On Tuesday September 2^nd I flew to Savannah and was met at the airport by Becky and her adorable grandson, Lysander. It was a such a relief to finally be able to hug Becky after so many difficult weeks and to see with my own eyes how well she was coping with such great loss. David's mother, April,was also flying into Savannah that afternoon: arriving an hour or so after me. As we awaited her arrival, I quickly made friends with Lysander. Within about half an hour he felt comfortable enough to make a visit to the gift shop with me while Becky enjoyed a few minutes to herself.

Once April arrived we headed to the historical downtown of Savannah where I was staying at a hotel suggested to me by my sons Josh and Sean. It had a most unusual name, 17hundred 90 Inn and concept. One can actually choose a room based on it's décor! On checking in I was amazed to find I not only had a bedroom but a separate sitting room and an enormous bathroom with a whirlpool tub! Breakfast was also included so it was a great deal. However I was not expecting to have to walk a block or so from the check in desk to my room! They did not mention that the hotel was actually housed in three separate buildings on the web site! Once Becky and I had finished admiring all the period details we drove to David's and I met tiny Merovy Juniper. After supper Becky returned me to my hotel and planned to pick me up en route for Macon, Georgia in the morning. David's work boss and some coworkers had suggested meeting there for lunch. We were driving two cars back to Fort Madison, each equipped with two car seats so that Lysander and Merovy could travel in either vehicle. The trunks were packed with clothes, toys and baby paraphernalia with all the spare seat and floor space stuffed with the overflow. David would drive one vehicle and I the other.

As soon as I sat in the driver's seat of Becky's new Ford Focus I realized that it was definitely more sophisticated than my 2005 model. Computerized screens streaming information lit up the dashboard. I wondered if perhaps I should reconsider my plan to drive my old Focus until it needed repairs – perhaps I should upgrade now while I still have hopes of learning to use a new set of controls? I must say that I do prefer my gear stick to hers which seemed to be in the wrong slot every time I touched it – Becky said she had found it to be an issue too.

Once we arrived in Macon- sometime after David and April because we had both children in the back seat and had to stop for potty and feeding breaks- we met up with David's boss and coworkers who were all very welcoming .One very sweet Georgia peach of a grandmother asked how I came to be involved in this tragedy so I explained my long friendship with Becky who is like a sister to me, despite the fact that she is the Singing Nun to my Lady Gaga.

It was almost three in the afternoon when we got back into our cars. Lunch lasted so long that we were driving through downtown Atlanta in rush hour traffic when a torrential thunderstorm made driving virtually impossible, I could barely see the tail lights of the car in front of me as we inched along. Unfortunately during this time Merovy decided to have a fussy spell and despite Becky's numerous attempts to quiet her with a pacifier which involved unbuckling herself and leaning over the back of her seat to reach the baby while I searched for an exit sign but quickly realized that I was not going to be able to change lanes anyway as we were completely hemmed in by several lanes of traffic on either side of us. As Merovy's wails became more insistent Becky managed to contort herself to maneuver into the back seat, wiggling past me and wedging herself between the two car seats. We found the whole episode more amusing than frightening: thankfully no-one could see what was going on in the torrential rain so we didn't have to worry about being ticketed for reckless movement inside the car! I was just glad that Merovy stopped crying, that Becky didn't put her back out or bump into me causing a pile up on the interstate.

As we all know Mother is not a leisurely driver. I like to get from my starting point to my destination the shortest and fastest way possible. I do not enjoy rest stops, potty stops, or fuel stops for myself or the car. I invariably do it all in one (and only one )stop. I realized when I volunteered that I was going to have to pull of the interstate at least every three hours so that Merovy could be fed and diapered. Becky has a tendency to enjoy frequent excursions off the interstate at all times, thus we ended up taking Merovy on her first of what I am sure will be many trips to a fabric store. We pulled off to shop at an enormous barn of a fabric store : Hancock's of Paducah in Kentucky where Becky and I both found fabric for our grandchildren. We fortuitously combined this stop with feeding and diapering Merovy and using the restroom ourselves. Once back in the car I successfully headed out of the parking lot towards the ramp that would hopefully have us back on the interstate but Becky dared to ask me to go through a McDonald's drive thru so she could get a milk shake! I of course got nothing as I keep my liquid intake to a minimum on the road. I expected that we'd be pulling off again a couple of exits later for another potty break but she did manage to make it to the next scheduled stop! I hope she wasn't too uncomfortable.

We did go through a lot of tissues enroute, especially at a dinner stop where a woman came over to take a peak at Merovy whom she recognized as a preemie. She identified herself as a nurse working with high risk pregnancies and I think she was intrigued to see two Grandma's but no mother with such a tiny baby. Becky told her the sad story and soon she was in need of a tissue. Becky often found herself in the strange position of comforting those who learned of her awful loss! Becky and I did wonder if some of the people who came over to peak at the baby during our numerous stops wondered if we had abducted the baby or perhaps thought we were lesbians with a sperm donor baby!

By far the hardest and most emotional day was Friday , when we arrived at Becky's mother's house and I witnessed their first heart wrenching hug since Gretchen's death. Two lovely, kind women who have both suffered too many tough times but as Becky's mother reassured her - they would get through this together. I joined in their hugs and tears thinking how much they were going to need their families and friends to hold them up during the difficult times yet to come.

David and his mother arrived later with the children. They had taken them both the night before in hopes that freed of Merovy's night times feedings, Becky would be able to sleep better: to help her cope with what they knew would be a very emotional day We checked out of the hotel quite some time before them and once Becky had managed to guide me out of the hotel parking lot (she witnessed many times how challenging I find exiting sprawling parking lots as I have no sense of direction) we headed to Hannibal. We stopped at her her sister's Cindy 's house for lunch and to pick up a toddler bed for Lysander before heading to her mothers.

After three days on the road we arrived at Becky's house and thanks to Sherry we had milk for “ a nice cup of tea”. Later that evening I dashed to HyVee for some groceries. Once everything was under control at Becky's house I left for Mike and Mary Brockman's where I was going to sleep for a couple of nights before returning home by train Sunday evening.

Coryn and I returned the following Saturday for Gretchen's memorial service. Coryn spent the previous night at my house as we had planned to take the train up and back the same day as she wanted to minimize her time away from Ava Claire. Unfortunately when I checked my messages shortly after six in the morning I saw that our train was delayed by nearly three hours meaning that we would not arrive in time for the service so we had to drive. Coryn wasn't thrilled about the prospect of making the round trip driving but I volunteered to drive until it grew dark on the way home, plus I pointed out that we would actually be home a couple of hours ahead of the the scheduled train time.

We arrived in plenty of time to have lunch, and entertain Lysander before heading over to the Barr Memorial Chapel. Later we we met up with several friends at the luncheon served at Roling Hall. I hope that Becky and David felt all the love and support that surrounded them that day.

Josh was staying at my house while I was helping Becky, whilst Sean was at Coryn and Jeremy's where they dubbed him their Manny as he was helping care for Ava Claire, cooking dinner on the nights Coryn worked and running the dogs. I had hopes that by the time of my return all my painting projects would be done for me but alas the boys had only been able to get to the kitchen and one bathroom- that Josh told me needed a second coat- as he headed out of the door bound for Texas. I did manage to persuade Sean to help me paint my bedroom and bathroom one weekend but he baled on me before all the new fixtures and closet system were installed so I had to tackle that myself. Lining up five toggle bolts, whilst holding a drill and balancing on a step stool was not easy but I finally managed to do so and so far the poles and shelves are still attached to the wall supports. During this time Sean was at my house with a virus that included a sore throat and a need to sleep nineteen hours a day. He did manage to find the energy to cut a metal shelf in half for me with bolt cutters which saved me from an hour of hack sawing.

Coryn, Ava Claire and I had lunch together earlier this week and we did some shopping, I finally found two matching mirrors for my new double vanity after having no luck at numerous other stores. We also shopped for Ava Claire as she will need more clothes for the fall. I have made her a new coat and matching hat and am working on a three piece ensemble at the moment with plans for others in my head but there is so much to do around the house and garden still.

Yesterday I attended Elena's third birthday party, with all the girls in tutu's and the lone male in top hat and bow-tie. Ava Claire out ate the others easily – she was the only one to eat her entire cupcake! Then today I took Kay and Jeff to lunch to celebrate his passing his clinical sociology licensing exam.

Becky and David, along with the children, will be headed to Atlanta for a week soon and then on to Savannah where I hope they will be able to move forward as a family without their beloved Gretchen. I know that Lysander and Merovy will be their light.

Time for me to make a nice cup of tea and settle in to watch the Royals win another game in the playoffs which will take us to the World Series. I don't enjoy baseball at all but am swept up in the euphoria of Kansas City. Love to you all, Mother.

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER: VOLUME 94 AUGUST 2014

Dear Children, Family, and Friends,

This has been the most difficult month. My close friend of many decades, Becky Clay, lost her daughter, Gretchen, to a massive stroke: she was thirty four weeks pregnant at the time of this tragedy. Thanks to Becky's timely arrival in Savannah she was able to summon help so that the baby could be saved. As you may recall Becky had put her Fort Madison home on the market in the spring, retired from work and decided that she would possibly move to Savannah to be closer to Gretchen and her husband David and grandchildren.

Becky had driven down to stay with Gretchen and Lysander because David was working in Atlanta that week and having a high risk pregnancy it was deemed wise to have someone with Gretchen just in case of a problem. Gretchen had not had an easy first pregnancy and had been confined to bed rest for the last couple of months of it but this time the doctors were trying to manage her situation without keeping her in bed. Becky was able to spend part of a day with Gretchen before she was lost to her. How precious that time will be in Becky's memories.

Merovy Juniper was born prematurely but after a few weeks in the hospital she is now now home with her father, big brother and Grammy. I am flying to Savannah on Tuesday to be with them as we drive back to Fort Madison for Gretchen's Memorial Service which is set for Saturday, September 13^th .It may take a few days as we are driving two vehicles back with David's mother's help too and our young passengers will need potty stops, diaper changes and feeding – it will be a challenge but I am so glad that I can be of some help in this very difficult, painful and stressful time.

Here at home things have been stressful too but not on the same devastating scale. The morning I learned of Becky's loss contractors were in my house tearing out my kitchen floor. I felt as though I should be flying to Savannah but quickly realized that Becky and David's family members were on their way and that this should be a private family time. I spent the day at various home improvement stores trying to concentrate on picking out new bathroom vanities, counter-tops, tile and accessories. I had never expected my project to start so soon but the contractor had called the night before and said he had a delay in the start of another job so he could squeeze me in sooner. I found it difficult to think of anything but the awful news as I shopped in a daze.

I must say that on my recent visit to Ming-Lee and Lori's home I was very impressed with their latest bathroom remodels. I loved the new higher vanities and all the tile work which Ming did himself. The only feature I wasn't anxious to incorporate into my new master bathroom was the timer on Claudia's shower which is also used by guests. Lori warned me that I had eight minutes to beat the clock otherwise I would be showering in cold water. Apparently Ming-Lee had added the timer device after he noted that Claudia was spending more time showering than he thought necessary. I had assured Lori that this was not going to be an issue as I am not into long showers - only hours soaking in the tub. However I felt I wasted at least a precious minute of my time just waiting for a trickle of hot water so I could get under the shower. Once my hair was wet I reached for the shampoo bottle but without my glasses I couldn't figure out which of the many bottles was what so I had to dash out, grab my glasses from the vanity and try to read the labels through my steamed up glasses. I didn't dare to turn off the water in case I had to waste another minute waiting for hot water again. I finally found the shampoo and decided to just wash everything with it to save time reading labels in hopes of finding bodywash. I scrambled out of the shower feeling as though I had run a four minute mile. Later I wondered if turning off the shower would actually reset the timer but I guess Claudia will have to figure that one out!

The last four weeks of construction have been long, noisy, dusty and dirty. I have to say that I will no longer believe in HGTV and their month long whole house remodels. I had a porcelain tile floor laid in my kitchen, laundry room, guest bathroom off the kitchen and my master bathroom. I had a large vanity with a make up area outside of the bathroom removed and had a closet built in the space so that now I have two closets in my bedroom. The existing single vanity in the main bathroom area was removed along with a linen closet which made room for a double vanity in the bathroom. Two other bathrooms got new vanities too. Now there is a lot of painting to do but as luck would have it Sean and Josh are both home and may be able to help with this project whilst I am away. Of course now the kitchen cabinets look worse than ever so they will have to be redone, maybe I can refinish them over the winter. Once you spruce up one area of the house you suddenly seem aware of all the projects needed through out the rest of the house. I escape to my garden so I don't rashly commit myself to more projects. Unfortunately while painting trim to try and hurry the contractors crew I started slapping paint on doors and thus am committed to giving them a second coat plus repainting all the others to match.

Unfortunately my kitchen floor proved quite a challenge as they had to tear out two layers of sub-floor before they could install the concrete board to lay the tile down. The lead tiler was Hispanic and unfortunately had very little English language ability so I resorted to playing charades in order to communicate with him. I was very concerned when I realized it had taken him hours to set a dozen tiles and I had chosen large 12x24 ones! The boss showed up and assured me that the worker had lots of experience. He urged him to move things along but unfortunately increasing his output led to a decline in the quality of the work. I was not pleased when the boss showed up the next day and started ripping tile out that was poorly laid. Glad that the problem was rectified but not happy that the kitchen floor alone was turning into a full weeks project I suggested that more workers were needed. Another crew showed up to complete the job. Everything looks great but unfortunately I had water running over the pipes instead of into them the first time I used my master bath sinks. The contractor had a plumber there within ten minutes of my late night phone call - doubtless terrified that the water damage to the inside of my cabinet was going to cost him a replacement double vanity. Since the project had run twice as long as expected and involved a lot of overtime, even Sundays the contractor probably (as he claims) lost money on this job.

I slept upstairs for weeks as my bedroom and bathroom were filled with dry wall dust , saw dust and of course all the dust I had done nothing about in the days before my remodel seeing no point in cleaning what would be a demolition site. It will certainly be awhile before I have the energy to cope with all the mess and disruption of another home improvement project but I do love the end result.

This is Labor Day Weekend and once again my children are scattered. Coryn, Jeremy and Ava Claire are in Florida with Leslee (who has a birthday on Monday) and Craig, Kay is in Boston visiting friends, Josh is in Omaha with plans to visit friends in Des Moines. Sean is dog sitting in Lee's Summit. I expect that Bryn and Marc are on a beach near LA, Ming-Jon is probably spending the holiday in DC and Ming-Lee and family are at their lake house.

Ava Claire was not bothered by all the noise and mess of my renovation at all, she seemed very pleased with all the male attention as she toddled about swinging her sippy cup in one hand and a snack in the other.I did manage to sew another outfit or two for her and kept up with my watering of the garden but found the construction quite wearing. As we all know I love quiet days filled with classical music, a good book , my garden and and a few hunks of cheese and chocolate with a glass of wine. Hasn't happened in months!

I was able to spend a couple of afternoons helping Kay set up her classroom – the principal asked if I was a teacher because she said I looked like one! I confessed that I had taught high school in England and been a preschool teacher here. I do enjoy spending time with Kay's class and look forward to meeting the new one.

I'm off to dust my suitcase for my long trip to Savannah and back to Fort Madison. I know that Gretchen will be with us on this journey in spirit and I promise not to rock the heavens with my language when Lysander wails every thirty minutes that he wants to get out of the car seat, Merovy develops colic as we drive through a major city or Becky reminds me of the speed limit which I always exceed.

Love from your running on empty but gassed up for the trip Mother.

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER: VOLUME 94 AUGUST 2014

Dear Children, Family, and Friends,

This has been the most difficult month. My close friend of many decades, Becky Clay, lost her daughter, Gretchen, to a massive stroke: she was thirty four weeks pregnant at the time of this tragedy. Thanks to Becky's timely arrival in Savannah she was able to summon help so that the baby could be saved. As you may recall Becky had put her Fort Madison home on the market in the spring, retired from work and decided that she would possibly move to Savannah to be closer to Gretchen and her husband David and grandchildren.

Becky had driven down to stay with Gretchen and Lysander because David was working in Atlanta that week and having a high risk pregnancy it was deemed wise to have someone with Gretchen just in case of a problem. Gretchen had not had an easy first pregnancy and had been confined to bed rest for the last couple of months of it but this time the doctors were trying to manage her situation without keeping her in bed. Becky was able to spend part of a day with Gretchen before she was lost to her. How precious that time will be in Becky's memories.

Merovy Juniper was born prematurely but after a few weeks in the hospital she is now now home with her father, big brother and Grammy. I am flying to Savannah on Tuesday to be with them as we drive back to Fort Madison for Gretchen's Memorial Service which is set for Saturday, September 13^th .It may take a few days as we are driving two vehicles back with David's mother's help too and our young passengers will need potty stops, diaper changes and feeding – it will be a challenge but I am so glad that I can be of some help in this very difficult, painful and stressful time.

Here at home things have been stressful too but not on the same devastating scale. The morning I learned of Becky's loss contractors were in my house tearing out my kitchen floor. I felt as though I should be flying to Savannah but quickly realized that Becky and David's family members were on their way and that this should be a private family time. I spent the day at various home improvement stores trying to concentrate on picking out new bathroom vanities, counter-tops, tile and accessories. I had never expected my project to start so soon but the contractor had called the night before and said he had a delay in the start of another job so he could squeeze me in sooner. I found it difficult to think of anything but the awful news as I shopped in a daze.

I must say that on my recent visit to Ming-Lee and Lori's home I was very impressed with their latest bathroom remodels. I loved the new higher vanities and all the tile work which Ming did himself. The only feature I wasn't anxious to incorporate into my new master bathroom was the timer on Claudia's shower which is also used by guests. Lori warned me that I had eight minutes to beat the clock otherwise I would be showering in cold water. Apparently Ming-Lee had added the timer device after he noted that Claudia was spending more time showering than he thought necessary. I had assured Lori that this was not going to be an issue as I am not into long showers - only hours soaking in the tub. However I felt I wasted at least a precious minute of my time just waiting for a trickle of hot water so I could get under the shower. Once my hair was wet I reached for the shampoo bottle but without my glasses I couldn't figure out which of the many bottles was what so I had to dash out, grab my glasses from the vanity and try to read the labels through my steamed up glasses. I didn't dare to turn off the water in case I had to waste another minute waiting for hot water again. I finally found the shampoo and decided to just wash everything with it to save time reading labels in hopes of finding bodywash. I scrambled out of the shower feeling as though I had run a four minute mile. Later I wondered if turning off the shower would actually reset the timer but I guess Claudia will have to figure that one out!

The last four weeks of construction have been long, noisy, dusty and dirty. I have to say that I will no longer believe in HGTV and their month long whole house remodels. I had a porcelain tile floor laid in my kitchen, laundry room, guest bathroom off the kitchen and my master bathroom. I had a large vanity with a make up area outside of the bathroom removed and had a closet built in the space so that now I have two closets in my bedroom. The existing single vanity in the main bathroom area was removed along with a linen closet which made room for a double vanity in the bathroom. Two other bathrooms got new vanities too. Now there is a lot of painting to do but as luck would have it Sean and Josh are both home and may be able to help with this project whilst I am away. Of course now the kitchen cabinets look worse than ever so they will have to be redone, maybe I can refinish them over the winter. Once you spruce up one area of the house you suddenly seem aware of all the projects needed through out the rest of the house. I escape to my garden so I don't rashly commit myself to more

projects. Unfortunately while painting trim to try and hurry the contractors crew I started slapping paint on doors and thus am committed to giving them a second coat plus repainting all the others to match.

Unfortunately my kitchen floor proved quite a challenge as they had to tear out two layers of sub-floor before they could install the concrete board to lay the tile down. The lead tiler was Hispanic and unfortunately had very little English language ability so I resorted to playing charades in order to communicate with him. I was very concerned when I realized it had taken him hours to set a dozen tiles and I had chosen large 12x24 ones! The boss showed up and assured me that the worker had lots of experience. He urged him to move things along but unfortunately increasing his output led to a decline in the quality of the work. I was not pleased when the boss showed up the next day and started ripping tile out that was poorly laid. Glad that the problem was rectified but not happy that the kitchen floor alone was turning into a full weeks project I suggested that more workers were needed. Another crew showed up to complete the job. Everything looks great but unfortunately I had water running over the pipes instead of into them the first time I used my master bath sinks. The contractor had a plumber there within ten minutes of my late night phone call - doubtless terrified that the water damage to the inside of my cabinet was going to cost him a replacement double vanity. Since the project had run twice as long as expected and involved a lot of overtime, even Sundays the contractor probably (as he claims) lost money on this job.

I slept upstairs for weeks as my bedroom and bathroom were filled with dry wall dust , saw dust and of course all the dust I had done nothing about in the days before my remodel seeing no point in cleaning what would be a demolition site. It will certainly be awhile before I have the energy to cope with all the mess and disruption of another home improvement project but I do love the end result.

This is Labor Day Weekend and once again my children are scattered. Coryn, Jeremy and Ava Claire are in Florida with Leslee (who has a birthday on Monday) and Craig, Kay is in Boston visiting friends, Josh is in Omaha with plans to visit friends in Des Moines. Sean is dog sitting in Lee's Summit. I expect that Bryn and Marc are on a beach near LA, Ming-Jon is probably spending the holiday in DC and Ming-Lee and family are at their lake house.

Ava Claire was not bothered by all the noise and mess of my renovation at all, she seemed very pleased with all the male attention as she toddled about swinging her sippy cup in one hand and a snack in the other.I did manage to sew another outfit or two for her and kept up with my watering of the garden but found the construction quite wearing. As we all know I love quiet days filled with classical music, a good book , my garden and and a few hunks of cheese and chocolate with a glass of wine. Hasn't happened in months!

I was able to spend a couple of afternoons helping Kay set up her classroom – the principal asked if I was a teacher because she said I looked like one! I confessed that I had taught high school in England and been a preschool teacher here. I do enjoy spending time with Kay's class and look forward to meeting the new one.

I'm off to dust my suitcase for my long trip to Savannah and back to Fort Madison. I know that Gretchen will be with us on this journey in spirit and I promise not to rock the heavens with my language when Lysander wails every thirty minutes that he wants to get out of the car seat, Merovy develops colic as we drive through a major city or Becky reminds me of the speed limit which I always exceed.

Love from your running on empty but gassed up for the trip Mother.