burke's baptism

Burke was baptized yesterday. It was a great day for all of us. This may sound strange, but when I first knew we were going to be moving to Arizona, one of the things that really concerned me (emotionally) was that we wouldn't have any family or friends at Burke's baptism (especially with both sets of our parents serving missions). This concern was quite ironic really since we had so much extended family present at Burke's baby blessing that I was almost embarrassed at the time... Anyway, we felt very fortunate that it worked out for Rob's parents to be able to attend before they head back out on their mission to Armenia. (They arrived here from California on Thursday and drive home to Utah on Tuesday for more medical tests. Thanks again for the visit, Rog and Patti).

For weeks I have been thinking about inviting Burke's school teacher to the baptism. Burke gets quite shy/embarrassed when he has to get in front of a big group, and kept telling me that he didn't want to invite anyone to come besides family. I have talked a lot to Burke about how a baptism is a great thing to invite friends to, because they will feel the spirit there and may want to learn more about our church. I also reminded him that eveyone in attendance would be people that care about him very much. Well, I sent his teacher (Mrs. Pichardo) an e-mail about the baptism, and told her that it would be a small gathering and I'd be happy to send her directions if she was interested/able to attend. She replied that she would try to make it. I also invited Burke's primary teacher, and just mentioned it to a couple of friends. I was very touched that we had a few friends come to support us (just so I don't forget who was there: Brooke, Scout and Tag Curtis, Melinda and Lexus Lindahl, Dennis and Brooke Cunningham, Marianne and Briel Garner, Christy Brereton, and Kent and Hayden Warner). When I stood up to conduct the music at the beginning of the meeting, I realized that Burke's teacher had arrived and was sitting in the back row! At that moment, I had an overwhelming feeling of gratitude for the new friends we have made here, and the support and love they have shown to Burke--this was one of those "tender mercies" for sure.

The service included a talk on baptism by Grandma Pete, our family singing "I am a Child of God" with Rob on guitar, I (Tamsen) gave a talk on the gift of the Holy Ghost, and Brother Warner (in our bishopric and our home teacher) gave some closing remarks. Hewitt did a great job on the opening prayer, and Grandpa Pete gave the closing prayer. Rob both baptized and confirmed Burke a member of the church. I thought that everything went well and I managed to only shed a few tears even though Burke said, "Mom, I want you to give a talk, but only if you promise not to cry."

I have to say that I feel very lucky to be Burke's mom. I'm really impressed with Burke's desire to follow our Savior. He already has such a good understanding of the gospel, and a love for the scriptures. I learn so much from him and appreciate his good example. I love Burke very much.

Now for the photos. Before the baptism:

Post event. The newest member of the McQueen 2nd ward:

Have I ever mentioned how difficult it is to get a good family photo of everyone? See for yourself:

(I had to put this last one in because of how cute Liv and Hewitt look.)

My cute guys (and a tired Tosh):

After the baptism we had pizza and spent the afternoon swimming and playing. The boys made some different obstacle courses for cars to drive on, and also put our little roller coaster on the stairs to see how far they could get cars to drive up it. They were having a blast!

It was really a great day, and I hope that Burke will always remember how special his baptism was.