He survived!

Last Tuesday, after 19 weeks of classes, mock scenes, pepper spray, and lots of testing and physical training, Steve graduated from the Basic Law Enforcement Academy! I'm so proud of him! We had a great day...in the morning, we left the kids with grandma so I could go early with Steve to watch the final inspection and attend a final class with him on transitioning into his new career. I enjoyed meeting his classmates, the people he's been training so hard with and about whom he's told me many stories. The rest of the family joined us around noon, and then we attended Steve's official commissioning for him and the other guy from his department. Then came the actual graduation ceremony for the whole class, which involved a few speeches, awards, and pinning of the badges. I have to tell you now (because Steve never will) that in the award category of "Best Overall Performance" (which is measured by written test scores, scores on mock scenes, shooting range...basically, every type of test given)...Steve was third in his class! (and it was a class of 30, not 5:) Anyway, we capped off the day with a pizza dinner with everyone...really a fun day! Steve was super glad to be done with that step. He then had a good 6 days off before he went back to work this week. For the next 6 weeks or so, he'll be doing more training at the station, and then he'll start patrolling (with a training officer) in December. There really is a ton of training involved, but that's a good thing. Congratulations, Steve!

Final inspection. The guy to the right of Steve was his partner throughout the academy...the one he did all the mock scenes, etc. with.

Dang, he looks good in uniform:) I just realized I should have had him put his badge on.

Family who attended...Steve's dad and his wife, my sister, my grandparents, and Steve's mom and sister. A few of our friends made it up, too...Steve felt everyone's support!

The commissioning ceremony. The guy with his hand raised is the chief of police for Steve's dept.

Steve's whole class at the end of the ceremony. He's the one in the center, in the dark uniform.