LN #6a Tell about proud moments as a mother/grandmother

Has it really been two weeks already?????

Program for Bart's Graduation

Sarai & I after her baptism

I had a GREAT vacation two weeks ago!  I was able to go to Kentucky to attend Bart's graduation from the University of Kentucky Dental School and so that more family was able to attend, Sarai was baptized over the weekend too!  It made for the typical Sloan family get together chaos, but as usual, it was well worth it!

I flew in on a red-eye at 6:00 AM on May 3rd.  Meg picked me up and transported me to her house to catch a few hours of sleep before the fun began!  That afternoon we ran errands all over Florence until the kids got home from school and then we were on our way to Lexington.  Brandon and Brooks had already arrived with their families, so we checked into the hotel and headed over to Bart's for the evening.  

Fortunately, Meg's kids have spent a lot of weekends with Bart & Emily over the past four years, so the bishop of their ward knew Sarai and was willing to let them hold her baptism there.  So, Saturday morning the family all met with  a lot of their friends at the chapel in Lexington and Sarai's daddy, Samuel, baptized her with a lot of her cousins and uncles to witness it!  She was so beautiful and so excited to have everyone there for her special day.  Sarai has grown up a lot in the past year and I'm so proud of her.

Meg planned refreshments for everyone there around a pink and white theme, including different flavors of popcorn and jelly bellies from "PaPa's" popcorn shop!  Other than Samuel getting lost on the way to the chapel, everything else was flawless and "a good time was had by all!" (I haven't gotten a picture of Sarai with her family yet; Emily's dad was the "official" weekend photographer!)

[The week was enhanced with multiple additional celebrations.  Sunday was Diedre's birthday.  Tuesday was Mason's (even though he was gone by then...) Wednesday was Brandon's & Barton's 29th birthday and we celebrated by going to watch the new Iron Man movie (be still my heart)!]

Can you believe they didn't want cake?
We had 2 separate birthday dinners
and a birthday breakfast though!

After the baptism, it was on to Bart's for a cookout, swimming at the hotel and games galore!  Sunday morning we attended Stake Conference with Bart & Emily and then we all got ready for Bart's big day!  How on earth did we go from this:

Kindergarten Bart
1989

to this, so doggone fast???

Dr. Bawty
May 5, 2013

My Bawty.  My fun-loving, goofy little boy who could always make me smile, could always make me laugh and was practically always in the middle of any chaos in the house has gone and grown up and become a responsible adult on me.  There are times I miss my baby boy.  Oh, I don't mean I miss Barton; that's a given.  I miss having all my kids at home.  No. I mean I miss MY baby boy!  I miss the teasing. I miss the singing.  I miss the corny pick-up lines that he'd practice on his sisters and their friends.  I miss the boy with the afro.  I miss the drawings and maybe I even miss some of the stupid fights. I miss hearing Brooks complain when he or Brandon tried to crawl into her bed to sleep because they didn't want to go upstairs to their cold bedroom.  I miss going to plays and HiLites concerts.  I miss 4 White Guys and a Korean. I miss being coerced into going to midnight movie releases. I miss the "old" jokes and I miss having my baby crawl into my bed before going to his own to tell me about his day or his date.  I miss listening to hymns in stereo at church. And I miss the big hugs and the kisses on the cheek.

Love the kisses on the cheek!

But, most of all I think I miss my boys being together.  I can never pass up a picture of my boys together for important times in their lives:

Yep!  No matter what one of my kids accomplishes, no matter how proud I am of them, I can't help but long for the "good old days" when I had them all under my roof and knew what they were doing (well, thought I knew) every day of their lives.

One short; Bart, Meg, Brand & Brooks

I've actually been quite worried for Barton for the past year and a half.  He lost the enthusiasm in his voice; the teasing went away; in it's place was seriousness and stress and the 1-2 times weekly calls decreased to 1-2 month.  I know he had a lot on his mind; going after this dream that has become a reality, but I was quite relieved to see his old smile back at graduation.

It's been fun to see how his personality has transformed so that he brings some of himself into his work.  He's always loved being around kids; I think it gives him an excuse to still act like a kid himself.  So, it's not surprising that he's decided to specialize in pediatric dentistry.  He participated in a volunteer program all through dental school taking annual trips to the impoverished areas of Kentucky, offering free dental care to the kids.  It was always exciting and heart-warming to hear how he talked (or sang) with the kids to help them relax and understand what he was going to do.  And he even wrote & illustrated a book for kids about a visit to the dentist! And the dentist bears a striking resemblance to Dr. Bawty....  (I tried to figure out how to insert it here, but I only have it as a PowerPoint and couldn't do it!)

So, he and Emily are on to their next adventure, actually moving into Zielke territory, where he'll serve his residency in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. He'll be a short drive from my brother and multiple cousins, nieces and nephews.  I'm hoping they'll be able to use these next two years to get to know more of my family.

But for now as he is packing up and getting ready to head for the Badger State and on to becoming a Cheesehead, I know they leave with mixed emotions.  They've made a lot of good friends in Kentucky and have been blessed to be within driving distance of siblings and nieces and nephews.  I know they'll all miss him as much as he'll miss them.  But, that's what life's about.  We make our choices and we go where those choices take us.  I know the future is bright for Barton and I know he has great things yet to accomplish.  For now, one more time, I just want to say I'm proud of you, Bawty Boy--oh, excuse me--- DOCTOR Bawty Boy.  Congratulations! I love you!

The Cheering Section
We did a splendid job of letting the other graduates
know that Bart had Fam-i-lee!

A YouTube Reminder of Your Days at UK

"My Old Kentucky Home"

(You might recognize a few scenes...)