THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER: VOLUME 127 MAY 2019

Dear Family and Friends,

On Thursday, April 4^th after dropping Owen at preschool, I left for Kansas City Airport to fly to Orlando to be there that evening for Ray's 3^rd Birthday! Leslee-Ann picked me up curbside as usual at the airport and drove us home to a houseful of senior citizens feasting on pizza and ice-cream cake. Craig's parents , Judy and Roger were there, along with Leslee-Ann and Craig's former neighbor Eileen and her sister Linda. Ray was in his element surrounded by doting adults and piles of presents! Eventually the party moved poolside and I got my first live look at the gorgeous renovation their backyard has undergone. I wondered if I would even have the opportunity to enjoy the pool jets, the sun ledge, the buoyancy of the salt water and the time to stretch out on one of the new cushy recliners for a little sun to warm my old bones. I knew I was going to be busy shopping for fabrics for the new baby's nursery and I suspected that Leslee-Ann would have me set up with the sewing machine, needle flying as I whipped up her Llama themed nursery in the next two days of my stay. Amazingly she was quite happy for me to return with the fabric to Kansas City and work on it at my leisure! Obviously she is much more relaxed with this pregnancy as she is not demanding a completely finished nursery months ahead of the birth as she did with Ray.

On Friday morning we shopped for fabrics to co-ordinate with the crib sheets she had already chosen and since Leslee-Ann has never been a girly girl I was pleasantly surprised by her bright color choices in hues of peach, pink, turquoise, gold , green and red. Quit a contrast to the pale hues of gray, cream and yellow that she chose for Ray! Now I am planning out a large play mat with a Llama applique, coordinating crib storage and pillows, all to be trimmed in tassels and pompoms!

Leslee-Ann is once again into airing out her belly as she paraded around the pool in her minuscule bikini with her already very prominent baby bump! I am happy to report that I was not sporting a bigger belly in my conservative granny one piece swim suit.

Like Owen, Ray is very much into super heroes so he was delighted when I chased him around the pool with my claws (long nails) and tail – a pool noodle stuffed down the back of my swimsuit -you might want to avoid handling the blue one children. I found myself having to stay in character indoors too as I chased him around trying to catch him in my slimy, extra sticky gooey web - I grabbed Leslee-Ann's cream cashmere throw for this prop - so necessary for our fun!

I love watching Ray play the drums – he has definitely inherited his mother's musical ability and can rock out with all the great bands, right on the beat! He knows the lyrics to many of these iconic rock songs too! He has his own miniature drum set and Craig had picked him up a larger set for his birthday but when Leslee-Ann found out how much Craig had paid for them he was forced to return them to the store as Leslee-Ann declared it a ridiculous amount to spend on a three year old! I suspect that the drum set will be in the house for his next birthday!

When I arrived Leslee-Ann was still suffering from nasal congestion and heartburn, as she had been for most of this pregnancy so I was surprised that she chose to eat at two different Mexican restaurants in one day Not the blandest of diets! It seems that that she is also into eating out more and cooking in less!

Craigs parents invited us all over to their nearby new home for lunch : a brand new Condo in a sprawling 55 plus community with lots of amenities. They found downsizing quite a challenge and still have a few pieces of extra furniture around. Personally I would prefer to live in a more youth orientated community as I am much more in tune with the younger generation – which probably explains why I enjoy my grandchildren so much – and no I am not coming into my second childhood children.

A couple of weeks after my visit, the Logues spent a couple of days with the Remsburgs before heading to the beach for the rest of their Spring break. Owen was very excited to be experiencing his first airplane trip – no-one was brave enough to take him before as sitting still is not his thing but he was good on the plane. Ray and Owen now play well together so their visit was a success and Ray loves girls (he always talks about the girls in his class at school) so he loves Ava Claire. Just as the Logues left, Josh arrived and this week Sean and Sarah took Emmy Lou on her first flight and Ray is apparently smitten with her! This certainly bodes well for the arrival of his baby sister in August. I doubt that he will be echoing the words that Leslee-Ann used when she saw Bryn for the first time -declaring that he was ugly and should be left at the hospital!I have to say that the Remsburgs seems to be the family hot spot for vacations this year. I am thinking that perhaps I need to start digging a big hole in the backyard to put my own pool in!Mother nature would fill it with water for me!

We have had much too much rain lately, the ground is so saturated that water is running down the hills of our neighborhood and creating all kinds of problems for us. Just before my bedtime one night, after listening to the torrential rain pelting my house, I thought it wise to check the basement and thank goodness I did as water had seeped from one side to the other. I immediately thought my sump pump had malfunctioned but it was working fine, but feeling around the wall right behind it I found water dripping from the main water line. I turned various valves off to no avail so I realized that I needed to place something under the drip to catch the water. Unfortunately I couldn't find anything that was small enough to fit into the four inch gap between the leak and sump pump so I MacGyvered it by using a pliable paint tray liner. I punched a hole in the fat end and put a string through so I could tie it around the pipe under the leak and with some towels to hold it in place I angled it to drain directly into the sump pump well. The next morning I called my plumber and he came right over and immediately saw that it was not the pipe that was leaking but the site of an epoxy injection that I had had a contractor shoot into the wall to seal it up – permanently I thought- only to realize that the force of the water had shot it out of the wall! I was seriously considering moving to a maintenance free condo at this point until I heard the tales of woe from my neighbors. One had water pouring through his garage floor into his fully finished basement and had to stay up all night with his shop vacuum sucking up water, another couple had their basement wall bow in and they are having to put steel girders in to support it and another had his water main burst and has water everywhere. Within hours I realized that I was one of the lucky ones as I heard more and more stories about water issues.

Unfortunately the very same week this happened Ava Claire came home from school and was unusually quiet and said she had a headache and so I suggested she lay down and take a nap. Twenty minutes later she woke up vomiting her lunch all over the cream sofa, carpet and pillows and as I raced to grab her and carry into the bathroom she vomited all over me! I sent Owen to find a barf bucket, stuck Ava Claire in the bathtub and tried to rinse all the vomit from her hair, terrified that she would throw up in the tub but I managed to get her cleaned up and in pajamas and tucked up in a clean blanket on another sofa (also cream unfortunately) I then took a wet soapy towel to myself and clothes, knowing that there was no chance I would fit into Coryn's clothes! I then tackled the vomit in the living room and the most disgusting part of the cleanup was witnessing Ollie eating puke up off the carpet! I had to put him outside to stop him. Then Owen informed me that Ollie had peed downstairs in Ava Claire's bedroom at some point! I did my best with it all and when Coryn came home Ava started feeling sick again but fortunately she made it to the bathroom and was essentially dry heaving. Coryn planned to spend the evening with her carpet shampooer and ministering to Ava Claires needs while I headed home with Owen to my shower and clean clothes. Fortunately the rest of us were spared this virus and a very good thing that was as Coryn and I were signed up to do our 5K in support of Ming-Lee and his fight against brain cancer in a few days.

Sean and Sarah were signed up for this too and they elected to spend Saturday night at my house with Emmy Lou to save time in the morning as we had to be ready to take on the trails through Corporate Woods (close to my house – location children) at seven thirty Sunday morning. We feasted on dinner at the Red Lobster to fuel ourselves for the race! I did suggest stopping for breakfast rolls but the fitness fanatics said they never ate anything like that before running! Coryn came over early in the morning and off we all went in Sarah's car. With Emmy Lou in the jogging stroller we headed over to get our official race numbers and free Tee shirts although we were all wearing our shirts created by Craig and Leslee-Ann for the entire family to show our support for Ming-Lee. I was amazed at the huge turnout for the event and was thrilled and relieved to see so many senior citizens participating. There were also quite a few children too – Ava Claire and Owen were home with dad as they are not distance walkers/runners. Frankly when we hit the first mile marker I was sure we were almost to the finish line and I was bitterly lamenting my lean yogurt breakfast. Coryn informed me that we had miles to go and needed to pick up the pace as she streaked ahead of me urging me to “ come along Mother” The crowds in front of us began to thin out so Sean and Sarah seized the chance to run off with their jogging stroller- that I wouldn't have minded hitching a ride on! Coryn and I were left way behind them despite our fast paced walk - I actually had to jog at times to keep up with her! I am thrilled to say that we probably finished in the middle of the pack of thousands and I was just grateful that I did not have a medical emergency en route! And yes Ming-Lee I did see the SAG wagons that you assured me would be there to drag my ass of the trail if I collapsed! Thank goodness we had a perfect weather day! I would definitely do this again! Maybe I 'll have to get together with Lori and Roger Griswold and join one of their teams

Mother's Day was a great celebration this year, hosted by Kay and Richard at their home. His mother Lisa , and brother Robert were there as well as Sean, Sarah and Emmy Lou . We were welcomed with mimosa's, cheese and crackers followed by delicious shrimp and chicken shish kabobs on on the grill and assorted desserts. Coryn and Jeremy had house guests so couldn't join us but came over later in the day with Ava Claire and Owen for a couple of hours. Thank you for all my calls, cards and gifts children!

I am now going to gather my gardening tools and hopefully pull hundreds of weeds out of my muddy bog of a garden! I really need to mow and weed wack but the hill on Quivera is like a mudslide : I would risk sliding into the path of a car and if not that I would probably electrocute myself with my extension cords strung across the puddles all over the yard! I know you shudder at the very thought children but Mother always survives! Love Mother

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER : VOLUME 126 APRIL 2019

Dear Readers,

On March 8^th - Marc's birthday, not something to be a considered a good omen perhaps – Coryn, Kay, Ava Claire and I flew to Indianapolis to see Ming-Lee, Lori, Blake and Claudia. Coryn had booked her flight first and then invited Kay and I to join her so we booked ourselves on the same flights to make our pick up and drop off as easy as possible on our hosts. We decided to drive to the airport separately since we had an early morning flight,scheduled to board at 9:25am. I decided to leave my house two hours ahead of time to allow for rush hour traffic which meant I had to wake up at 6:30 am! Some how I managed to get my clothes on, fix my hair, apply minimal makeup, drink a cup of coffee, eat a yogurt and let the cat in before I had time to notice that it was foggy outside. I quickly checked road conditions and flight tracker to see how traffic was or was not moving and whether our flight was delayed. I doubted that my travel companions would bother to do so. Traffic was congested and moving slowly so I jumped into my car and headed north to the airport a little ahead of schedule. As usual it was a stop and go situation on I 35 until I reached I 635 and I began to berate myself for not leaving even earlier but I relaxed as I pulled into the economy parking lot and drove through acres of cars to find a spot close to a shuttle bus pickup spot. The last time I had used the shuttle service I had had to wait a longer time than previously but this time was far worse! Fifteen minutes passed and not a bus to be seen. In the good old days there was always a bus within five minutes. My bowels signaled they were ready for their usual morning workout which I had not had time to fit into my tight schedule. A couple joined me and asked if I had been waiting long and were horrified to learn that I had not even seen a bus since parking. It was at least ten more minutes before one appeared and it was standing room only! Fortunately a few people got off at the next stop so I was able to sit and take deep breaths and assure myself that once inside the terminal I would definitely make my flight.

Once off the bus I made a potty stop, then went straight to security which was not busy at all so after about ten minutes of taking things off and putting them back on and taking things out of my bag and back in I was finally able to collapse into a seat at my gate. I looked around for the girls but they were nowhere to be seen. I wondered if I should have called them before I left to warn them about the fog situation but assured myself that they still had time to appear before I needed to bring my full weight to bear on the flight crew to keep the plane grounded until we were all aboard.

Coryn and Ava Claire finally showed up and Kay texted me to assure me that she had made it to the security line. Coryn said they had waited about forty minutes to get on a shuttle because three buses had been too full to accommodate them. They hustled off to the bathroom as Kay emerged – she had got on a bus very quickly which was most fortunate as the fog and traffic had caused her trip to the airport to take longer than she had thought. Grandma hoped she would allow an extra hour next time and sent her off to the restroom. Kay has a very weak bladder, sometimes I wonder how she will make it down the aisle to Richard without a potty break!

Once we landed in Indianapolis we texted Ming Lee, who was picking us up, to let him know that we were heading out to meet him – after another potty stop of course! I was very anxious to see my son in the flesh and apart from being very thin he looks fantastic! His energy levels and appetite were amazing for someone undergoing chemotherapy and fighting the battle of his life!

Knowing that Ming-Lee has been adhering to a Keto diet I was expecting that many of our meals would be drowning in butter and oils but in actuality we enjoyed some marvelous meals – cheese being a Keto approved food helped of course. Even though Ming-Lee was just coming off a week of intensive chemotherapy he was still enjoying cooking for all of us. He made the salmon recipe from the Ivy Bake Shoppe cook book one night, grilled hamburgers another and he and Lori had a wealth of side dishes and desserts! Ava Claire loved the Keto chocolate cake which Lori bakes for Ming ! The rest of us opted for blueberry pie and cream!

Our first evening there Blake and Claudia were both going to be at school for an informal coffee house evening where a number of talented school students were performing. Ming said he and Lori were planning on attending and we were more than welcome to join them so of course we did, all wanting to support Blake and his amazing musical talent. Claudia was selling tickets at the door and Blake was performing, both singing and playing the piano to accompany other students. As we walked in I was amazed to hear a girl singing so beautifully that she rivaled any contestant on The Voice or American Idol ! In fact Coryn, Kay and I were blown away by the talent of these students and their enthusiastic and mostly teenage audience. I was on my feet cheering quite a few outstanding performances.

As always we spent a lot of time playing games and Ava Claire now reads so well that she was able to play a lot of them with us . Blake and Claudia were both busy with rehearsals for their school's spring musical that weekend so they played various games with us when they were around and Blake frequently seated himself at the piano to entertain us all.

Late Saturday morning Ming-Lee, Lori and I ventured out for a walk leaving the others to entertain themselves in the warm house. It was a little chilly outside but Mother wrapped her sweater coat around her and assured my fellow exercisers that I would be perfectly warm enough – I come with a very generous layer of insulation! Frankly looking back to my days of battling cancer I can truthfully say that I did not have the energy for a daily walk and work outs with a personal trainer – just getting to and from Iowa City for seven weeks was a major feat. Yes, Ming-Lee does take naps sometimes but his energy levels are off the charts for someone in his situation. He is so strong in mind and body that I believe he can conquer anything

On Saturday afternoon Ming and I enjoyed each others company for a few hours while the girls all went to the mall, Claudia to check out prom dresses and Ava Claire for a solid colored dress for her Spring recital. Both came back without a dress. While the girls were out and about Ming called and asked Lori to pick up some tile samples on their way home. They had picked out some tiles for a new kitchen back-splash and thought to get our opinions on their choices. This brings me to another example of Ming and his laser sharp focus and determination to conquer anything he sets his mind too. Over the years he has tackled so many home improvement projects with no professional training yet every job is meticulously planned out and executed! His skills are on display in every single room of the house: from the sun room he added on to the kitchen to an actual airplane cockpit instrument panel that he incorporated into a desk that he designed and built for himself to the amazing walnut dinning room table he crafted with live edges and a glass river insert with handmade butterfly joints. When Ming-Lee sets his mind to a project he gives it his all and the result is always amazing ! Even now while doing chemotherapy and having his skull covered in electrodes powered by a battery pack he must cart around eighteen hours a day he is still creating ! A beautiful tile mosaic now sits above their large commercial stove and more tile will soon complete their new kitchen back-splash. Ming-Lee does not just dream about doing things , he realizes those dreams no matter how much time, energy and work is involved .No one will ever have worked harder to beat brain cancer than Ming-Lee. I truly believe that if anyone can do the impossible it is my second son of whom I am so very proud for so many reasons.

Bryn is back in Los Angeles after barely spending a year in Long Beach. Apparently he was recruited by another firm of architects who made him an offer too good to refuse so he has moved into the Korea town area. Josh is still in Columbia and will be heading back to Florida next month for a few weeks before he flies back to Kansas City with Sean, Sarah and Emmy Lou who are also visiting the Remsburgs later in the same month. Three adults to keep the baby entertained on the flight home and hopefully they will not need to toss her around the plane from seat to seat to do so!

Earlier this month I flew to Orlando to celebrate Ray's 3^rd birthday ( details of this trip will be in my next newsletter) and the Logues are going to spend Easter there followed by a few days at the beach. I guess all my home improvements are not quite the draw that the Remsburgs new swimming pool is.

I have another piece of family news that just broke this week:Blake has decided to attend Purdue University and has earned a Trustees scholarship which gives him a full ride for four years based on his academic performance, leadership and service to others. CONGRATULATIONS BLAKE!!!!!

I know Lori especially is very happy that Blake will be so close to home!

I may no longer be a spring chicken, or have a hop in my step but having just celebrated my 67^th birthday I am happy to be a tough old bird that can still play with her grandchildren, and I still have a full set of teeth to enjoy my hot cross buns and chocolate Easter bunny!

Happy Easter from your mother who always has her ears cocked for family gossip and her feet ready to scamper to you if needed!

Emmy Lou enjoying tummy time on her rag quilt!

The last woodland creature I created, my Foxy Fox!

The tree that Josh made for me to display all the woodland creatures I made for Emmy Lou!

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER VOLUME 125 MARCH 2019

Dear Family and Friends,

I thought last month's newsletter contained lots of great family happenings but another totally unexpected announcement from the Remsburgs was a true surprise. For years Leslee-Ann's mantra has been “ one and done” so I fully expected Ray to be an only child thus I was amazed to face time with them one day and see Ray wearing a Big Brother shirt!

LESLEE-ANN AND CRAIG ARE EXPECTING A SISTER FOR RAY IN AUGUST

I have just delivered a woodland themed nursery for Emmy Lou and now I am expecting another labor of love to deliver a Llama themed one for my newest granddaughter. I was surprised that Leslee-Ann had conceived of this idea until I checked it out on Pinterest and Etsy and realized that it is trending at the moment. Apparently Leslee-Ann has been inspired by a crib sheet and wants cacti, pompoms, tassels and rainbows incorporated into the theme. She has also requested that I make a huge play floor mat with a large Llama applique, and build in sensory experiences for the baby! She certainly has high expectations of her mother's abilities to deliver!

I am going to visit the Remsburgs in early April to celebrate Ray's third birthday and to shop for fabric to hopefully create the nursery my daughter envisions. I doubt that Craig has been allowed to voice any opinions on the decor! I was hoping that my next visit to Orlando would be the one where the sewing machine stayed in the closet while I floated in their new pool enjoying a few of Craig's cocktails! Oh well hopefully I will live long enough for that trip to happen!

KAY SAID “YES” TO THE DRESS!

On Saturday, February 9^th Kay pulled into my driveway with her friends from her college days at Tufts, Mckenzie from San Francisco and Jen from Boston. They had flown in the night before to spend the weekend shopping for Kay's bridal gown and bridesmaid dresses for themselves and the other girls. One more bridesmaid, Missy, who lives in North Kansas City met us at our first appointment and whilst there Kay had a change of mind about her wedding colors. She had been thinking cream, silver and rose pink but was much more taken by the darker wine shade of dresses aptly called merlot and so the colors were switched to cream, gold, rose pink and burgundy which I think will be well suited to an almost Fall wedding. Being a couple of generations removed from these girls I wasn't sure that we would see eye to eye on styles but despite being willing to put on my rose colored glasses if need be I was surprised that we we were all so in sync. I had told Kay beforehand that if she absolutely loved a dress that she should go with her heart and not our opinions but we were all pretty much in agreement at our first appointment. There was one dress that we all considered acceptable for Kay but it didn't really “wow” us so we decided to keep looking. However after trying on numerous dresses the three girls were unanimous in their bridesmaid dress choice and didn't feel it necessary to look any more so with their dress orders placed we headed off to Twisted Fresh, just up the street from my house, for lunch. Our first Bridal appointment was North on Quivera and the second was South on Quivera and of course my house is located right off Quivera. Location, Location! Is there a better address in the Kansas City area children?

Our second appointment was in a very rustic, almost dilapidated looking building and I was very dubious as we picked our way through the snow to the entrance . Once inside the barn like space we were surprised by the vast array of dresses at a price point that was definitely well north of our budget. Kay had told me that we could find sample dresses from many designers for a fraction of the original cost. We were led to a room at the back of the building that looked as if it might collapse at any moment. I looked around and questioned how they had ever passed a building inspection but we were soon settled in, offered Mimosa's, soft drinks etc as we sat on the distressed sofa and chairs. Kay was whisked behind a curtain in the room and helped into an assortment of beautiful gowns that I feared well exceeded our budget and finally we were down to the last two dresses that we all agreed were stunning on Kay and they were completely different styles, one being all lace and the other yards of tulle and bead-work, very much like Coryn's wedding dress. Initially Kay had wanted a lace dress with a sleeve of some length, definitely nothing strapless. However the dress she fell in love with was the strapless beaded gown and we knew that this was her dress. Our bridal assistant was a pleasure to work with, happily putting Kay back into and out of our top two contenders a couple of times and once the decision was made we were amazed to learn that the dress was under our top dollar because it was so heavily discounted! Since we were buying a sample dress we did not have to place an order and wait months to see it again. It went home with us and is safely hanging in one of my upstairs closets like Coryn and Leslee -Ann's wedding dresses. I am sure their daughters will all love dressing up in them one day!I was amazed that we had accomplished so much in one day !

Josh was babysitting Owen and Ava Claire who had been dropped off that afternoon by their parents who were spending the weekend in Excelsior Springs. Jeremy had called me early in the week to see if I could have the kids that weekend so he could surprise Coryn with a romantic getaway. Since I had already committed myself to dress shopping that weekend I said sure but I would need Josh to be free to pitch in while I was shopping and fortunately he felt his schedule could accommodate that request so it all worked out. Kay's friends were attractive, fun loving and adventurous spirits that would all be good matches for one of my bachelor sons but unfortunately they were all in serious committed relationships! I fear my boys are all getting too old to to reel in much of a catch now!

The weather has been brutal this year and we are into week two of school cancellations! There will be a lot of make-up school days. As you may recall Josh arrived back in Kansas City in December and I think he was very anxious to escape the arctic temperatures, ice and snow. So in mid February I took him to the airport so that he could fly to the Remsburgs to spend some time with them before heading to Columbia. Who knows how long he will be gone but I certainly hope he returns this summer as I have some wood rot and tuck pointing jobs that need to be tackled! I don't think mother should be twenty feet up in the air on a ladder at my advanced age children!

In January my furnace died. Fortunately it was not during one of our coldest spells and my heating, cooling and plumbing guy, Radi, came right over the evening I called and was able to temporarily get it going again so that at least it would put out some heat for a couple of hours to warm the house up a bit for the night. It died again the next morning and I was grateful that he was able to install a whole new heating and cooling system that day. What service! He had kept my 1993 furnace and ancient air conditioner running for years with small repairs but I knew the units were terminal. I added a humidifier to my new system as the static electricity and dry air in the house is not very enjoyable. The first night after the installation I kept hearing running water and eventually traced the source to the furnace room where I saw water trickling out of a large pipe into my floor drain..I immediately thought of all the money I was flushing down the drain with this new system I called Radi to let him know that I had trouble sleeping because I could hear the constant sound of water dripping. He assured me that it was normal,that I would get use to it in a few days probably and it really wasn't wasting that much water. Radi suggested that I could switch the humidifier off but as we all know your hi tech mother likes to be on the cutting edge so I decided to build up my tolerance of the waterfall that runs on and off at all times of the day and night. I will not open my water bill unless someone is with me in case I go into cardiac arrest and need to go to the ER .

In January Josh informed me that he was going to have two wisdom teeth removed. My blood ran cold. I had no idea that at the advanced age of almost thirty-nine that he still had them in his mouth. Josh thought it astounding that his own mother could not recall which of her children had or had not had their wisdom teeth extracted. I offered to drive him to his appointment but he said that would not be necessary as he was going to the dentist's office just a block from my house. I asked if he was going to be anesthetized for the procedure but being Josh he was going the cheap route and opting for a local anesthetic. He seemed very unfazed by the prospect of the whole operation while I was noticing my bowels churning, my blood pressure rising and fears of dry sockets, infections and weeks of complaints being part of his recovery. Having been through this procedure myself and with many of his siblings I was preparing myself for the worst. Ahead of his surgery I loaded up my fridge with jello and yogurt. Josh was not thrilled about some of my choices of soft foods which he deemed unhealthy but I noticed they were eaten! I suggested soup and he looked horrified. Was I trying to give him dry sockets he questioned waving his sheets of aftercare instructions in my face! No hot foods, no sucking motions! How could I possibly suggest slurping hot soup from a spoon? Since he didn't want to look like a chipmunk getting ready for hibernation he needed ice-packs for his face which fortunately I had in the freezer but none of them suited Josh. They were not conforming to the shape of his jaw so I had to crush ice and put it in zip-lock bags for him to shape to fit the contours of his jaws! Fortunately for me (and him too of course) Josh was very fortunate to have a trouble free recovery, strictly adhering to all the instructions on his aftercare sheets. I have heard from anonymous sources that one of the reasons that Josh is going to Columbia is to have his two remaining wisdom teeth pulled as it is of course much cheaper there! Frankly I believe that Josh would extract them himself with a pair of pliers but apparently he learned it was a two person job as the dentist had to enlist his help to hold his jaw open while he pulled and cut!

The second weekend in March I am going to fly to Indy with Coryn, Kay and Ava Claire so that we can spend time with Ming-Lee, Lori, Blake and Claudia. Since we are in the path of another snow storm today I am hoping that we will be able to make the trip safely next weekend with no delays, cancellations or bad road conditions to get to and from the airport.

Since I am helping Kay and Richard with their wedding decorations I was thinking back to other family weddings and this is one of my favorite memories from Leslee-Ann and Craig's wedding in Iowa City on Saturday, May 3^rd 2008 that perfectly illustrates Ming-Lee's determination to conquer any challenge that befalls him. The following is taken from my June 7^th newsletter, volume 40, page three for those of you who might want to read the original which I am sure is carefully stored somewhere in a binder or hard drive by all my children!

“It was decided months ago that Leslee-Ann would be walked down the aisle by her brothers because Norm was going to be in his wheelchair so that he didn't steal the scene at the wedding by keeling over during one of his spells. Besides as I was elected to push him down the aisle in his wheelchair everyone would get a chance to see what a dedicated wife looked like! Leslee-Ann had decreed that her brothers should all wear black suits, white shirts, and matching gray ties. Leslee gave each of her brothers their tie as as a present and presented her dad with a darker gray one to wear as an option to his bow-tie. Naturally he chose Leslee's tie! Family photos were set for 3:30 Saturday afternoon so about forty minutes ahead of time the boys began to get ready. We had a crisis: Ming Lee had a suit jacket but no pants! Lori was doing a great imitation of me as she vented her disbelieve that anyone would pack without checking to make sure that they had the suit pants hanging under the jacket. Of course, being male, Ming Lee just assumed that was where they would be..... However Ming Lee showed impressive resourcefulness under tremendous pressure. Having ascertained that none of his brothers had a pair of dress pants that would fit or come close to the shade of his jacket he grabbed the phone book, found a men's clothing shop within a block or so of the hotel, and with jacket in hand raced to it. He was back in no time having found a great match that the shop agreed to hem in fifteen minutes. While his pants were being hemmed Ming got his top half ready for the family pictures, ran back to the shop for his new pants, returned breathless and sweaty but perfectly attired for our family photos. I have to say that I was so in awe of Ming's save of the day that for once I didn't need to pop an extra Zoloft to keep me from freaking out!”

Ming -Lee always rises to a challenge and so far has always come out on top and I have no doubt that he will do so again in his ongoing battle with cancer. He does not waste time fretting about problems, he quickly weighs his options and comes up with a plan of action and follows through! He perfectly demonstrates the power of positive thinking, the PMA that you dad was so fond of talking about.

Coryn and Kay have both been nominated by their schools for recognition as Teacher of the Year – very interesting as neither of them are classroom teachers! The former being a part-time school psychologist and the later an ESL -English as a second language- teacher! So proud of them both for the positive impact they are making!

Owen has suddenly developed a fondness for singing and even enjoys coming up with his own lyrics. One of his favorites is the little ditty “ I am going to pee in my underwear” which he was singing in full voice one morning as one of the grandma's was helping him out his car seat. She asked if he had made up the song, which I assured her he had, this Grandma did not encourage those sort of lyrics! As Coryn noted though Norm would have roared with delight and probably have joined in with his bathroom sense of humor!

One of the highlights of my week was spending three hours cuddling my youngest grand daughter for whom I have just made my first rag quilt and I enjoyed the process so much that I know I will be making more!I love every minute that I get to spend with my grandchildren! Blake and Claudia next week and Ray next month, such a lucky Grandma! Love to you all, Mother.

Mother nature created this perfect cupids bow mouth on Valentines day!

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER VOLUME #124 JANUARY 2019

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL MY READERS

Apologies for taking so long, yet again, to post a newsletter but I seem to be frantically busy all the time lately. In November we had a large family gathering for Sean and Sarah's baby shower, followed by Thanksgiving days later. In December I was busy Christmas decorating, and shopping when an early Christmas present unexpectedly arrived!

EMELIA LOUISE aka EMMY LOU

DECEMBER 18TH 2018 6LBS 1OZ 18” LONG

On a routine doctor's visit in early December, Sarah had high blood pressure and was hospitalized overnight with suspected pre-eclapsia. The next day she was sent home with strict instructions to remain at home for the remainder of her pregnancy, about six weeks. She was only to venture out for doctor's appointments. Fortunately her company was very understanding and let her work from home. I thought it odd that her doctors had taken her off her blood pressure medication midway through her pregnancy as they felt she no longer needed it – despite the fact that she had been on medication for some time prior to her pregnancy as she had such high blood pressure that it was causing daily headaches!

In the coming weeks her doctor made the decision to induce her after Christmas, despite the fact that she was not retaining fluid, gaining significant weight or having episodes of alarmingly high blood pressure on home rest. Sarah was given a steroid shot to help her baby's lung development for the planned early delivery. Not looking forward to having an induced labor , Sarah and Sean were delighted when she spontaneously went into labor a month early and after a short labor for a first birth, they became parents to a perfect baby girl named Emelia Louise .She was declared a preemie as she was less than thirty seven weeks at birth - (despite being well over five pounds) and sent to the NICU.

Thus began the most stressful week of Sarah and Sean's lives. After a couple of nights in the hospital they were no longer covered by insurance but the hospital very kindly made a room available to them in a section of the hospital that was being remodeled. They spent every moment they could with their baby and every day hoped she would be released but alas their hopes were dashed day after day. She developed jaundice - like most newborns- and had to be kept under special lights. One of the requirements to break out of the NICU was that the baby had to be to be seated in a car- seat for ninety minutes with no issues. Unfortunately the first and second time she had dips in her vitals that caused her to fail. A kind nurse said that sometimes trying another style of car-seat worked so Josh and I hauled another one to the hospital and handed it over to an exhausted Sean in the hospital lobby. Visitors were not allowed in the NICU so I couldn't see the baby.

The next day she passed the car seat test and we were all elated! The baby could come home the next day! But unfortunately that night she set off alarms as she had a spell of apnea and low blood pressure. The exhausted parents were told the next day not to expect to be able to take their baby home for Christmas as she would have to stay for a few more days to see if she had anymore episodes. Fortunately a social worker worked with them and the medical staff and arranged to borrow a portable baby monitor from Children's Mercy Hospital that allowed them all to come home on Christmas Eve. I was so happy I cried!

Christmas day I offered to bring them lunch as I had some lobster cakes and egg rolls leftover from my Christmas Eve feast that I had hosted the night before for Josh and the Logues. I loaded my car up the night before with all the gifts from myself and other family members and a milk crate of food ! As soon as I walked in their door Sean demanded I sanitize every square inch of visible skin so that I would be deemed germ free enough to hold his daughter! I found this interesting as I spent several hours a couple of days earlier cleaning their house as they had not done so before rushing off to the hospital and Sean asked me to clean before they brought Emmy Lou home. I even took my steam clean swiffer and vacuum to ensure a thorough job. I can assure you that I found enough germs lurking in their house to fell an elephant!

Holding my newest granddaughter on Christmas morning was truly the best gift ever! I fell in love with her at once of course! She definitely has the Asian genes, even sporting a Mongolian birthmark on her beautiful butt. She has the Lowe baby signature receding hairline too! As soon as I heard that Sarah was in labor I rushed to the stores fearing that the shelves would be bare of newborn Christmas outfits if I waited a day or so. I raced from store to store in search of a cute newborn outfit which proved hard to find but Mother was determined to do so, and have it washed and delivered as fast as Sarah delivered the wearer!

She is still on the portable monitor and will be until at least the 24^th of this month. Hopefully she will then be able to be unhooked ! Fortunately she seems totally unaware of it and the wires strapped to her chest! She is nursing well and has gained weight and a couple of inches in length! Hopefully as time progresses her parents will recover from the stress - Sean has a stomach ulcer as a result! Of course I am happy to do anything I can to alleviate their stress and am very grateful to have been trusted enough to babysit her a couple of times already!

The new parents have decided to allow very few visitors to their home until Emelia reaches her due date as they are concerned that she might contract an illness and end up back in the NICU. Ava Claire and Owen are very keen to meet their new cousin but I am sure this story about Ming-Lee's enthusiasm to see his new baby brother Marc back in 1977 has added to their stress! As promised in my last letter I will be incorporating a memory o f Ming's life that emphasizes his strength of will.

Many years ago when Marc was born, siblings were not allowed to visit their mother's in the hospital leave alone see their new brother or sister so when I was back home I decided that I did not want to be holding the baby when they came through the door from school because I did not want them to think that they were any less important or loved since Marc's arrival. So I left the baby upstairs and as soon as they came home they frantically asked where the baby was, not interested in me at all and before you could wink Ming-Lee tore up the stairs and shortly appeared down the stairs dangling his baby brother by his arm pits. How seven year old Ming-Lee lifted him up and managed to carry him down the stairs or how I managed to stay calm I shall never know! They both had wanted a baby sister so their excitement over the birth of a brother was an unexpected surprise and they were both not in the least jealous of him! He became their favorite playmate immediately!

Just about a month before Emelia was born Leslee-Ann and Craig came to throw a baby shower for their brother and Sarah, so the day before we were running around picking up balloons, flowers and food from a couple of Kansas City's best Barbecue restaurants places and desserts from a local bakery. Leslee-Ann was so well organized, she had bought all the paraphernalia for her planned games – one of which cost me five of my diapers as she had this crappy game where you had to guess what kind of mushed up chocolate candy bar was in each diaper! We never played games like that in my day! Heck they were usually strictly all female but now it's a family affair!

Sarah's parents and her sister were in town for the baby shower and the Thanksgiving holiday and our family was well represented by our hosts, the Remsburgs, the Logue family, and Kay and Richard. Then there were quite a few friends too, most of whom I already knew.

Craig was instructed to entertain Ray at the shower by Leslee-Ann as she said she needed to be free to organize things. Craig announced that he was planning on taking pictures. I was sure that Ray would be happy to play with Ava and Owen and the other kids at the shower but that was not so. He poured cold water over any idea that he might be able to function without clinging to Craig and whimpering! Poor Craig became so exasperated that he was on the brink of going back to my place with him but I persuaded him to tough it out and towards the end of the event he warmed up to eating and playing!

On this visit he and Owen actually got along pretty well and he always enjoys Ava Claire who loves having someone else to boss around!

On the night before the baby shower we went over to Coryn and Jeremy's new house which the Remsburgs had not yet seen and for supper we headed to Paradise Park, in Lees Summit, a children's indoor play center with restaurant. Ray loved this activity! He and Ava Claire spent ages playing in the grocery store! Ray was very into using the old fashioned play phone! Unfortunately Owen had fallen asleep on the car ride over so I volunteered to watch him while the others chased the kids from one activity to another. Just as we had about finished eating he woke up and was able to enjoy playing in the fire truck for awhile and putting makeup on with his sister.

Ray and Owen got to spend most of Monday together as that is the day he spends with me . We took the boys to lunch at McDonalds , one with an indoor play area but Ray was not into that activity either! The boys had a good time with their Happy Meals, wearing their french fry containers as hats! .Now we come to one of those strange arrangements that my children make among themselves that makes no logical sense to their mother.

The Remsburgs were returning to Orlando on the evening of Monday, November 19^th to spend Thanksgiving with Craig's parents who recently moved to a retirement community near them. They didn't want Judy and Roger to spend their first Thanksgiving in Florida alone. Marc and Bryn were flying in that night from LA but not due to arrive until about one the next morning. Obviously no one was prepared to pick them up at that hour so I just assumed that they would take an Uber to my house but once again I had underestimated the complications my children will endure to save a dollar. I had offered to drop the Remsbergs off at the airport even though Owen would have had to ride along too but they had decided that they would borrow my Ford Focus back from Sarah and Sean, drive themselves to the airport, park in the covered garage and leave the keys in a magnetic box under the car. Then when the boys arrived they would go to the garage and miraculously find the car and hidden keys and drive themselves to my house in the wee hours of the morning. I had visions of Marc and Bryn spending fruitless hours walking up and down the endless rows of cars but I guess they must have given them GPS co-ordinates or something as this was not an issue! And they sent them a picture of the location of the hidden keys. I was also worried that some-one might steal my old car but my kids always roll their exasperated eyes at a comment like this and assure me that they could probably leave the car unlocked with the keys in the ignition, the engine running with a full tank of gas and still no one would want my car!

On Thanksgiving eve Coryn invited Sarah and her family along with ours to diner at her house and she had an Italian themed meal: appetizers, salad, and two pasta entrees plus an assortment of desserts! Five years ago I would have never believed it possible that she could put such a sumptuous feast together all by herself after years of complaining that she didn't even like to boil water!

I was hosting Thanksgiving for everyone at my house and stuck to my traditional roast turkey and baked ham. Marc said he wanted to try a new technique with my turkey, using course salt to brine it in and then soaking the whole thing in Cranberry juice for a day before cooking. I was very dubious about this idea, as I am about any idea that Marc has, but Bryn seemed convinced that we should try it so I finally agreed although my other children questioned my sanity and said I should do it my usual way. Once I had removed all the nasty innards and rinsed and patted dry my turkey( Marc is too chicken for this step) Marc buried it in salt and stuffed it back into the fridge. I tried not to think what this high sodium bird was going to do for my already elevated blood pressure. The next morning he announced that it was time to add the cranberry juice. Unfortunately all the liquid needed to drown the bird could not be contained in my extra deep roasting pan so we elected to put the turkey in a roasting bag with all the liquid – Marc poured a can of cherry coke into the mix seeming to think it was going to be the guarantee of success. I was terrified that all the weight inside the bag between the liquid and the turkey was going to explode all over my fridge at some point but fortunately the bag held. The morning of Thanksgiving we drained the salty juice and coke from out turkey and I looked at one very wrinkled, and frighteningly pink turkey. It bore no resemblance to the beautiful bird I had selected at the Hen House. I asked if it was going to be pink all the way through when cooked , thinking that Sarah's family would believe I was serving them raw meat! Marc did not know. I thanked heavens that I had bought an extra large ham this year! Plus Kay was arriving with Ming Jon (who had just flown in that morning) and she was preparing some appetizers whilst Sean and Sarah and her family were working on desserts and sides in their kitchen. Who would miss the turkey if it was the disaster I expected!

There were so many of us that I had to set up two tables and we didn't even have the Logues with us as they were spending the holiday with Jeremy's family! Unfortunately Ming-Lee decided that he wasn't up to the trip out here so he, Lori and the kids spent the holiday with Lori's family who live closer to them.

Once the turkey was out of the oven, and rested, no longer wrinkled and pink but sporting a gorgeous brown glaze, I grabbed a carving knife and was expecting to see pink meat but it was beautifully white and everyone declared it the best turkey they had ever eaten! I have to admit that having seen what a can of coke can do to a toilet on those television commercials I was very nervous about the effect on my bird but it truly was very moist and tasty!

On Friday I drove Marc and Bryn back to the airport late in the afternoon leaving Ava and Owen with Ming-Jon, Richard and Kay. Coryn had been invited to some event so the kids were with me. Owen fell asleep just before I left so I was thankful that they would only have to entertain Ava Claire. Unfortunately I had to make the round trip in rush hour traffic so I was gone for some time and Owen woke up much earlier than he usually does from a nap and he was not happy that neither his Mommy nor Grandma were there and so despite their best efforts they had to cope with a fussy Owen.

Josh returned from Bolivia in early December, and spent a week in Orlando with the Remsburgs, enjoying his time with them and especially Ray of course! I picked him up at the airport on December 12^th with a mental list of things for him to do around my house pulsating through my brain! Of course almost as soon as he was home he was off to Sean and Sarah's to work on his car which he succeeded in bringing back to life after a few other family members had declared it fit only for the junk yard. Once again it is parked in my driveway! Of course he soon set to work helping Sean build and design a tree for all the woodland themed creatures that I have sewn so far for Emmy Lou's nursery. There is talk of adding a bedroom and bathroom in their basement. I mentioned my long list of issues over here but was informed that patching dry wall cracks was pointless until it was time to sell the house and nothing else was deemed urgent. Fortunately Josh did fix a broken window blind and install a new ceramic soap dish in the upstairs bathroom after Coryn broke the old built in one using it to prop her leg on while shaving this summer!

Christmas was a smaller event this year for sure. Josh and I drove over to Coryn's for the afternoon so we could exchange gifts with them and have dinner together. It seemed that we were all on the same meal planning page this year as I presented shrimp and lobster cakes for Christmas Eve dinner , while for Christmas dinner, Jeremy grilled steaks and Coryn prepared one of my favorite foods, crab legs.

So you see the holidays were very busy for me this year and two other events were memorable for me too. Ava Claire invited me to a dinner being held at her school for Grandparents and I was expecting it to be a Fort Madison sized building - her school is bigger than the high school! The turnout was enormous. I had to drive across a very muddy field to park ( just like Rodeo parking) and was thinking how fortuitous it was that I was not driving my Ford Focus as I am sure it would have been stuck in the mud. Once parked we had to walk some distance to get into the school – Ava Claire berating me the whole time for not leaving earlier to get a better parking spot. How was I suppose to know that half the population of Lee's Summit was going to show up? She escorted me to her classroom and introduced me to her teacher and then being Ava Claire (a drama queen) she announced that she was sad because it was Grandparents day and she only had her Grandma with her as her Grandpa had gone to heaven when she was a baby. The teacher and I were on the verge of reaching for tissues! I quickly suggested she show me her table and displayed work before she squeezed out a few Oscar winning tears.

Grandma and Ava Claire enjoying a visit to her school with dinner too!

The school was serving a catered dinner from the Olive Garden and I had to dig deep for the fortitude needed to stand in a line that snaked through the building for at least a mile in my estimation! I was tempted to suggest we stop by McDonald's instead but my granddaughter was thoroughly enjoying calling out “Hi” to everybody that she recognized and explaining what was behind every closed door! After eating I had to tour the cafeteria, music room and school office.

Eventually we headed back out side to tromp through the mud in search of my car, hard to find in the dark as the improvised parking lot was a sea of dark SUV's, mini vans and crossovers that looked just like mine! Once safely in my mud spattered car I crawled out of the mud to the road and heard the most appalling noise. I was convinced that the wheels were falling off at first and then I realized that it was mud and gravel falling off my big, beautiful tires. This lasted until we reached Coryn's house! Mother had never experienced this before in all her decades of driving!

Coryn, Jeremy and I attended Owen's Christmas pre-school program not expecting that he would participate much as he told us that the only song they were singing was Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and he would put his fingers on top of his head to resemble antlers. He was sitting front and center and to our amazement he sat in his chair and sung song after song with actions! We had no idea he knew so many songs and amazingly Rudolph wasn't even one of them! He had fooled us much to his delight! Coryn and Jeremy had to leave for work after the program so I stayed with for juice and cookies afterwards where his teacher found us and gave Owen a congratulatory hug on his performance and said that after a rough start he was now about the best behaved kid in class! I looked appalled and offered her my deepest sympathies trying to comprehend dealing with kids more difficult than Owen! She also said it was impossible to be mad with him when that adorable dimpled face smiled at you!

Now I come to another momentous event in our family history:

CONGRATULATIONS TO KAY AND RICHARD ON THEIR

ENGAGEMENT!

They became engaged over the Christmas holidays in Washington DC and have already set their wedding date for September 21^st of this year in Kansas City! Another great reason for a big family gathering! As you can imagine I am thrilled to be involved in the wedding preparations and look forward to meeting Richard's family, seeing the wedding venue to plan decorations, and bridal gown shopping! I am so blessed to be so actively involved in my children's and grandchildren's lives!

Love Mother

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER

VOLUME: 123

OCTOBER 2018

Dear Readers,

Once again cancer is an unwelcome guest in our family, this time choosing Ming-Lee's brain as his host. Once his presence was detected he was quickly evicted by a neurosurgeon: all traces of this uninvited guest will be eradicated by chemotherapy and radiation treatments along with physical rehabilitation to repair the damage to Ming-Lee's left leg. Ming-Lee will kick him to the curb and send him packing, never to return again. I know my son, he can do anything he sets his mind too! Even as a young child his strong will and determination were evident. I shall never forget the time he begged to be allowed outside to play in the snow when he was about five years old so I stuffed him into his snowsuit, boots and gloves and let him out to play with Gypsy(the family dog). I was just getting ready to see what he was up too, thinking it strange that he hadn't came back within minutes wanting me to build a snowman or have a snowball fight with him when he returned and asked me to come and see what he had done. I grabbed my coat and headed out with him fully expecting to see a snow barrier built across the road or the neighbor's trash can buried under a mound of snow. Dreading the view I was to be met with I took his little hand in mine and trudged past the garage and was amazed to see that he had cleared a path about thirteen feet long from the garage to the road with a snow shovel as big as himself so that I could get my car out. I was thrilled, I just picked him up and gave him a great big hug. That took great effort and determination which he has demonstrated time and time again! Thankfully I have been a letter writer since I was a child so I still have the letters I wrote to my mother detailing my early days with the Mings. Every newsletter will feature a story about his exploits until he is declared cancer free!

Ava Claire and Owen playing in the rain at Grandma's

This summer the Logue family moved in with me for a few weeks after selling their home quickly with a short closing date leaving them homeless until they could find another house to buy – a challenge in our very competitive market. Homes in my neighborhood were selling within three days for amazingly high prices.

Sheba was most unhappy about Ollie invading her domain. Initially she refused to even come into the house, then she hid in the basement and only appeared late at night when every-one was in bed except Jeremy who frequently did not get home from work until eleven. He would eat a very late dinner and head downstairs to watch television for awhile. Sheba took to jumping up on his lap - which is amazing considering how skittish she is around people – and Jeremy is not a cat lover but he was very tolerant of her affections!

Ava Claire and Owen thoroughly enjoyed the idea of spending weeks at Grandma's house until it was explained that Mummy and Daddy's rules would be in place instead of Grandma's – which are pretty much non-existent apart from no fighting and screaming! Whenever Ava Claire was told it was bedtime she would tell me that she couldn't wait to move into her new house so that she could stay up as late as she wanted again when she visited me. For the first few weeks the kids slept with me as usual but then Coryn decided that they needed to get back into a schedule more suited to the upcoming start of school, so they had to sleep upstairs with their parents. This did not make them happy campers and they eventually crawled back into my room.

If I complained about the mess all over my house Ava Claire would inform me that I shouldn't have invited them to move in as I already knew they were messy kids! Then I would get a lecture about how you were suppose to treat guests in your home and how if you couldn't say something nice you should say nothing at all!

One Sunday, Coryn, Kay and I got together for lunch and toured a couple of homes in a multi million dollar neighborhood for a charity event – of course I still think my location is much better- and then we swung by an open house in an area closer to mine to see a house that Coryn and Jeremy had just put a bid on the day before .Unfortunately they lost the house but soon found another back in Lee's Summit but much closer to the state line than their previous home much to the delight of the rest of us who reside in Johnson County, Kansas! It has significantly shortened our drive to visit the Logues. Once they had an accepted bid on this house they scheduled a home inspection and invited me to come and check it out at that time.

Their new house has an interesting layout and very nice finishing details, the kitchen is very upgraded and there are lots of custom built- ins throughout. However the master suite is much smaller so Coryn had to significantly downsize her wardrobe! Once I had checked out the house I headed home on the interstate .The sky looked ominous and soon torrential rain fell, with thunder and lightening and forceful winds. Along with all the other vehicles I slowed to a crawl, put on my hazard lights and fervently hoped that I would not be rear ended or sideswiped .Eventually traffic came to a standstill as it was impossible to see anything and there was so much water rushing over the road that hydroplaning was a real possibility. Eventually it let up and I made it safely home. I looked out onto my backyard and saw that the straight line winds had lifted my outdoor metal dinning table over the deck rail and tossed it to the ground, snapping the umbrella (which was closed thankfully or who knows to where it may have flown ) into many pieces. An entire section of fencing was down and a big tree branch had snapped off. The fence was my main concern: there was no barrier between Owen and Ollie and eight lanes of traffic. I grabbed some bungee cords and summoned the chi to lift the downed five foot tall section of fence back in place and temporarily secured it with numerous cords. Jeremy spent hours the following weekend re-stabilizing the fence panels on either side of the collapsed one. I thought it was going to be a quick fix but Jeremy is meticulous when it comes to construction work. I think he found his brothers fence building to be an unusual design! The next weekend he was on my deck and noticed that one of the the boards across the top rail was bowing so he drove to the store for a new board and had it installed in no time, even having me help drill it in – I asked Coryn if she had ever been invited to help out on a home improvement project. She rolled her eyes. But she did surprise me with a new outdoor umbrella that was a great match with my seat cushions!

In late July Claudia flew from Indianapolis to Kansas City by herself on Southwest - her first time flying alone and of course she did fine as she has probably flown more miles than I have with her adventurous family. I picked her up at the airport with Ava Claire in tow as Coryn had a speech pathology appointment for Owen at that time. Once we were back at my house Coryn immediately suggested that she and Claudia check out the amazing buys on teenage clothing available at Plato's Closet, oh so conveniently situated a few blocks up the road from me. Ava Claire and Owen were not happy about being left behind with Grandma, they wanted to be with Claudia. Once they were back from a successful shopping trip we had a quick supper as we four girls were planning on attending a live musical performance of 'The Adams Family' at the Shawnee Mission Amphitheater. Jeremy was planning on being home by the time we left so that we did not have to bring Owen with us- he would have doubtless staged a very embarrassing side show.

As always the production was very well done and Ava Claire held up well – especially when I decided to splurge on a gigantic bucket of popcorn which Coryn declared excessive for three people since I rarely eat it.We were home by eleven that night and ready for another hectic day! I felt that we had kept up with the break neck pace of life that a visit to Claudia's home entails!

It just so happened that Claudia's visit coincided with Coryn and Jeremy's house closing and move into their new home. So on Friday morning - whilst their parents were signing all their documents at the house closing - Claudia helped entertain her little cousins by playing haunted house - which meant shutting herself up with them in my small walk in closet with the door closed and the lights off.

Kay rescued her by taking her to lunch at some middle eastern cafe and to a gaming cafe afterwards which has an enormous selection of board games which all Lowes love to play!

That evening everybody came over to my house for supper , pizza delivered to my door, Claudia said she had never seen so much pizza! I said Jeremy alone could eat an entire one and a few more pieces besides! Claudia asked me at one point if the kids ever ate anything healthy as she had accompanied us on an early morning grocery store run for breakfast donuts, washed down with chocolate milk. I think I sliced up some fruit later that day which took a dollop of peanut butter to dip it in to entice my picky grandchildren!

After everyone was full of various pizza toppings and breadsticks they decided to go on an evening stroll together so Claudia found herself on the nearby wooded trail with Sarah, Sean, Kay, Richard, Coryn, Jeremy, Ava Claire, Owen and the dogs Ollie and Theo. Bet the neighbor's thought they were organizing a protest or something as they took over the sidewalks! I took this opportunity to water my parched yard as I had been too busy all day to get out there. The kids only enjoy being outside when the heat and humidity are not too high , the bugs are not biting and they can find lots of Japanese beetles on my plants to pick off and drown in soapy water. Ava Claire enjoys this so much that she volunteered to help my neighbor who is terrified of the things and is only willing to shake the stems over a bucket to rid her plants of them.

Claudia and Kay 

On Saturday Coryn headed over to the house to meet a couple of guys they had hired to help unpack their two pods which had been stored for a few weeks. All the stuff that should have been stored in a third pod was packed into Sean and Sarah's basement, and the overflow was in mine and Richards! For a house their size contents I would have ordered four pods but Coryn insisted the pod company said two large ones would suffice! Jeremy, Sean and Richard loaded a trailer Jeremy had a few times to move everything over to the new house – a few round trips and then we all met up that afternoon with our cars loaded down with their stuff to help them get settled in. Jeremy even summoned the energy to fire up the barbecue grill for supper! Claudia did a great job of entertaining the kids as Kay, Coryn and I pulled weeds while the exhausted guys talked football over a few beers. At least the move in went much better than the move out where not only did they have too little help, too few moving pods but they were also working around a roofing crew as the home inspection revealed storm damage to their roof and the new owners wanted it replaced by the time they moved in, a day or so later. Good thing Jeremy is in the roofing business!

Luckily the Logues were able to move into their new house before school started. Ava Claire was already anxious about kindergarten and having to attend a different school to the one she was signed up for in their old neighborhood made her worry even more. Fortunately she has moved into a cul-de-sac with many children and one of them is in her class at school! Her new friend, Josie, is thrilled to have a playmate and the girls have quickly become friends. This helped Ava Claire get over her fear of riding the school bus – at first she wanted her parents to take and pick her up. Coryn said they would do that for the first week or so. Amazingly after the first day, she announced she was going to ride the bus with her friend from then on and she also decided that she would order school lunch rather than taking a lunch box. She loves socializing with all the kids on the bus and in the cafeteria. She has adjusted very well to being in school five full days a week after only attending for three partial days in preschool before.

Mother has also had some changes in her life. On a routine doctors visit my blood pressure was so alarmingly high that even I knew I needed medication and have been taking it and my blood pressure daily ever-since. That's what six weeks of living with Owen has done to me!

I have been debating the advisability of buying a new car for sometime and after my harrowing driving experience in my Ford Focus (as detailed above) I was convinced a new vehicle with today's bells and whistles was a necessity. Driving on I435 is daunting under normal circumstances but this last year has been especially challenging. Lanes are either closed down or narrowed to allow for resurfacing or the building of new lanes, and every week traffic patterns are changed to accommodate this work confusing drivers. Accidents seem to be a daily event and since there are few optional routes which don't involve adding a few hours to one's commute it has to be endured. I decided that lane assist, blind spot monitoring, and a back up camera were essential to my safety and others. All these features were lacking in my 2005 fully loaded Ford Focus with just under 60,000 miles on it's odometer. Thus I decided to go with Leslee-Ann's advice and buy a 2018 Mazda CX5 which is also fully loaded and one of the safest vehicles you can drive. She had bought one the previous year after doing a lot of car research and having been a passenger in hers I knew it was comfortable too. Jeremy volunteered to take me car shopping shortly after they had moved out of my house and so my driveway finally had room to accommodate a new car. I chose to go to the closest dealership as it would be the handiest for service visits. We ventured out on a hot and humid Saturday to the Mazda car lot and after looking at the sedan, crossover and touring models I decided to go with the crossover. Its amazing how quickly one can come to a decision when the sun is beating down on you and every car you sit in feels like an oven. Jeremy wondered if we shouldn't go to another dealership to check out their selection but I was ready to do business right then and there so we headed inside and cooled down while our salesman found a model for me to test drive. Once he deemed the air conditioner had done it's work in the car we set off. Within a few blocks I knew the crossover was going to be my car.

As we returned to the showroom Jeremy said we we were not paying sticker price and he let the salesman know this right away. Frankly I thought the sticker price was very reasonable and was definitely not keen to have to walk away and endure another hour of cooking in a car lot. Jeremy low balled a price, the dealer came back with another number which was still less than the lowest offer I would have dared make and so Jeremy saved me a couple of thousand dollars. If I was willing to wait a few days I could have my choice of color or I could pick from the existing selection. I went with the dark mica blue with black leather interior that I had test driven as I could take it home that day and be done with it!

Unfortunately I am still trying to figure out all it's new systems and spend more time than I would like with the drivers manual in my lap trying to use the navigation system, blue tooth options and Bosz ten speaker surround system. Of course I do this parked in my driveway children, not when I am driving – unless it's a real emergency!

I am tickled pink to announce that I am now sewing woodland creatures in girly colors for Sarah and Sean's baby girl who is due in early January. The three of us spent hours picking out lots of coordinating prints in bright colors with some gray to compliment the very comfortable reclining gray rocking chair which already sits in one corner of the nursery along with a beautiful white crib from Sarah's parents.

Sean and Sarah were in Europe for about two and a half weeks in late summer and surprised us all by becoming engaged in London! Who knows where and when they will eventually marry! Of course I am thrilled that they chose my birth country for this momentous event. They met up with Josh in Bulgaria where they filmed a video to support their brother in his cancer battle : his siblings, their partners and offspring are making videos of themselves, forwarding them to Leslee-Ann who turns them into one supportive movie. They came home via Iceland as KCI offers direct flights there three times a week during certain times at a very reasonable price.

Josh recently returned to the US for a brief visit with the Remsbergs before heading off to Bolivia to volunteer with the big cats again at the animal refuge. Apparently he will be returning here in December which means he will be missing our big family get together which extends from the weekend before Thanksgiving to the weekend after. Leslee-Ann is organizing a baby shower for Sarah and Sean the first weekend, and then we will have Ming-Jon, Ming-Lee and his family, (health depending of course), Marc Andrew, Bryn and all the Kansas City family. Plus Sarah's parents and her sister Candace and Eric. Lots of trips to the airport coming up!Fortunately we have more space since Kay has moved into Richards house just about ten minuets away from me in Overland Park.

This move has kept me busy too as I have been helping Kay turn Richard's home into a couples place rather than a bachelor pad. We have been shopping for bedding, pillows, drapes,a TV cabinet, shower curtain, towels and decorator accents for the living room. Coryn donated a lot of wall art that she no longer has space for to them so it is all looking much more pulled together.

Leslee-Ann was recently in Los Angeles on a work trip so she elected to stay with Marc, a decision I think she regretted when she realized how filthy his place is! I bet he swore he had cleaned the whole place before she came just like he told me!I shall never forget the hours I spent with a bottle of bleach and a toothbrush scrubbing mold off his bathroom grout! Too bad Bryn is now living in Long Beach rather than downtown LA as I am sure his place is much better! At least Leslee-Ann got to spend some time with her brothers! Of course she had just seen Bryn when he was on a work trip to Orlando a few weeks ago.

I have adjusted to my new routine: Coryn drops Owen off at seven in the morning on Monday. We stay at my house until about two in the afternoon then we drive to Lees Summit to meet Ava Claire off the school bus. Coryn arrives an hour or so later as she has to deal with rush hour traffic. I stay there until after six to avoid the same traffic situation and usually drive back to my home with Owen who elects to spend the night at Grandma's. He has school the next day just up the street from my house so it saves Coryn having to wake him up at the crack of down to drop him off with me. So Tuesdays and Thursdays I get Owen ready for school, take him and Coryn picks him up at 2:30 and heads home to be there for Ava Claire.

Well I can guarantee that when you arrive next month children you will have your pick of family vehicles to borrow. Sarah and Sean currently have four cars to offer you: my donated Ford Focus with so few miles that it made sense to keep it as a back up vehicle for us all as it's monetary value is so low, an F150 truck, their Mazda and Joshua's car which is currently stuck in their third garage and only fit to be hauled off for scrap at this point. The car will not even turn over, the trunk does not close properly, and if after charging the battery, cleaning the spark plugs etc you do manage to get it going you will discover that the lights do not turn off thus running down the battery, the windshield wipers are useless and if the car gets overheated it stalls, not a great thing to have happen on the interstate! The car is a death trap but Josh seems to think that all these issues are minor and easily fixable upon his return! You definitely don't want to pick this vehicle!

Well it is time for mother to rev her engine up, still ticking along nicely despite my age children ! Coryn told me on Monday evening as we were leaving a restaurant that by” letting me” babysit her children she was keeping me from developing Alzheimer's ! I was running after Owen at the time who was about to play chicken with the cars so I huffed and puffed back that I was much more worried about having a heart attack!

My heart is full of love for you all and my thoughts are very much with Ming-lee, Lori, Blake and Claudia. Ming will conquer the mountain! Mother is always right as your dad used to say!