trooper face

there's something serious about that hat... ;)

the graduate

"hail hail state police... i'm the king of the road, so follow me. nothing in this world is free... a trooper's life is made for me."

the cadence rang out as the 39 recruits in class b-2010 marched into the lbj library auditorium at ut on thursday morning. 18 weeks ago, brad left home to pursue his dream. today he's standing proud in his uniform.

with mentions of black and whites (trooper cars), red and blues (the lights you don't want to see behind you), and of course, texas tan (the trooper uniform), the graduation ceremony was classy, reverent, and touching for all.

it's a long time coming, but we officially have a state trooper in the family. congratulations brad!

chillin' with a snack and grammy before the ceremony begins...

after the grand entrance, the soon-to-be-troopers are addressed by the dps director

taking the oath

brad crossing the stage 

(clearly i need a telephoto lens)

saluting the director and receiving his badge

trooper reece

mason was very glad to see daddy

sadly, this was our best family photo :(

the reece clan

grammy was instrumental in wrangling mason.

believe it or not, 2-year-olds get very wiggly 

during 1.5 hour graduation ceremonies

my handsome boys

wanna ride my pony?

a month old photo, but too cute not to post. mason's friend avery came over for dinner and a pony ride. we figure this will be a good photo to show at their wedding in 25 years. ;)

a badge to show for it

while many things in life take hard work, dedication, and lots of prayer, most of them don't result in a badge. this one did.

way to go, brad! we are so proud of you and can't wait to bring you home with us on thursday! not to brag, but mason's daddy scored a 90 on the tcleos exam today. woo hoo!

gotta wear shades

i told mason if he let me take his picture, i would show him what his shades look like...

this is the first time i've taken 3 photos in a row where he is looking at the camera and smiling. too bad we have leftover dinner on our face!

mommy's lunch

most days, i bring my lunch to work. to save time, i make it the night before and then place in on the counter so i can easily grab it on the way out the door. apparently it is easy for mason to grab too.

after he ate my peanut butter sandwich friday morning, i had to make a new lunch. i guess somethings (particularly peanut butter) are irresistible!

last week!

we're almost there! after 18 long weeks, brad graduates from the dps state trooper academy on thursday! he passed the last physical test last week (and wound up with a concussion), and he takes the TCLEOS exam on monday. please pray for a clear head, peace, confidence, and for his test score to reflect the effort he has put into this program.

stay tuned for photos of our trooper later in the week!