Trunk or Treat

Tonight was our Ward's Trunk or Treat. We only took pictures before we headed down to the church for Halloween fun.

Here are my boys. Jacob wouldn't say what he was. Tyler was the Black Spiderman. Aaron was Bumblebee from Transformers. And Jared Buzz Lightyear.

The Trunk or Treat was really fun. Everyone dressed up, parents and kids. This year they had a sponge throwing board that the Bishop and Elder's Quorum Pres got it. It was a total hit.
Mom the Witch with the boys.

Joe was supposed to be a lumberjack. He left his red suspenders at his school office. That would have completed the look.
Happy Halloween!

Walk to Cure Diabetes

This morning we went down to Tempe Town Lake for the Walk to Cure Diabetes. The Asay family came to walk with us. There were so many people there, it was crazy. We started out walking and were planning on going on the short 1.5 mile walk. Quickly we realized we were on the longer 3.5 mile walk. So we took a short cut and went over the bridge with the big group and then doubled back over the other side of the bridge back to the park. It was better that way for us. The kids enjoyed looking out at the lake at all the kayak and boaters.

This is us getting started on the walk.Here is the Asay Family.
Tons of people. You can see them going up and around the hill.

And there were still tons of people still coming over the bridge and looping under the bridge.

They announced that over 1 million dollars was raised for research. I was able to raise $135. Thank you to all that donated. We are hoping that research can find better treatments for Type 1 Diabetics.

Pumpkin Carving

Pumpkin Carving 2010

Of course they all said they wanted to help....but eventually it was just me carving the pumpkins. Tyler and Aaron did a great job cleaning out the pumpkins. Jacob said the smell was too bad for him to endure being near the pumpkins. Jared just said gross and went to watch Charlie Brown the Great Pumpkin. Always a good choice to have on the TV when carving.

Here we are getting started.Yeah, says Jared. Pumpkins!
Bring on the GUTS!

Ready to scoop out guts.

The pile of GUTS!

Jacob did help put the stencil on his pumpkin. I think next year he is going to be ready to carve his all by himself. That is if he can stand the smell of pumpkin.

Mom hard at work.

This year I decided to only get 2 pumpkins. Of course this meant that 1 pumpkin has 2 faces because Aaron & Tyler couldn't agree on a face. This is Aaron's choice.

The finished product. On the left is Aaron's choice. On the right is Jacob's.

On the left is Tyler's choice. This is on the back of Aaron's choice. It worked out pretty well.

My happy boys.

The happy carver.

This was much easier this year. Having the right tools makes all the difference.

Happy Halloween!

Retake #1

Jacob's retake came back....& I have to say it is great. That is what I want from a school picture! Way to go Jacob.

Halloween Spider Hat

I just couldn't resist. He is just so darn cute. The bus drivers said Jared was one of the few kids that kept his spider hat on the entire ride home. He is so proud of it. And again, just so darn cute!

Cub Scout Day Camp

On Saturday Tyler went to his first Cub Scout Day Camp. He had a great time. Tyler brought home his puddle jumpers that he made while at camp. They are a new fun toy that everyone takes a turn on. Tyler also loved going across the rope bridge. He said he climbed up on to it by himself but had to have help getting down. It was a total success in Tyler's eyes.

Our Stake has been putting on this Day Camp for the past 6 years or so. This is the first year I did not attend. Kinda missed it....kinda didn't. Next year I'm sure I will get to attend with Tyler as a Bear.

Shooting Range Day

Today I went to Mesa Police Department Shooting Range for my range day. We learned about hazardous devices, SWAT and firearms. The bomb guys and SWAT gave a demonstration on their range. They blew up a cap in a can and then they detonated a bigger device. The 2nd detonation was so loud. And you could feel the heat and pressure as it exploded. After the bomb guys were done the SWAT team demonstrated all the different guns, rifles and beanbag rifles. They were really amazing. They even did a sniper shot, hidden away in the bushes. It was quite the surprise. After they were done the bomb guys and SWAT demonstrated an explosive entry through a door. They had installed a old steel school door onto their make shift wall. Then they went through the exercise. They treated it like a real situation. We stood really far back. They loaded the door with a water bomb, got into position and on the command, blew open the door then moved in in formation and took down all the "bad guys". We were then able to inspect their damage. It was fun.

Once the demonstrations were done we had lunch and then the firearms course started. We learned all about how police officers are trained to use their weapons. Once the presenter was done we went back out on the range and took turns shooting a pistol and a rifle. Below is my target from my pistol shots. We used a simulated bullet that had a paint filled rubber end. The offices said these are what they use in training. They won't kill you, but will hurt you. At least more than just a normal paint gun. Anyways, we got 5 shots with the pistol. My shots are all over the heart. The SWAT guys were pretty impressed because out of the 10 people in my group, my shots were the closest together. They even took a picture of me by my target for the DVD slide show at the end of the course. I was very proud. It is hanging on the back of my bedroom door. Joe was impressed and my boys were surprised.

Now the rifle was a different story. I was not a great shot but I got better as I went. They didn't let us bring home those targets. But needless to say my beginning shots hit the target very low and still would have injured the suspect. As I got more confident with the gun I was able to place my last shots in the chest.

It was quite a day. I am very impressed with what our Police Officers do and have to learn. This class has shown me just how involved this job is and just how many different aspects there are to being on the Mesa Police Department. I have 3 classes left and I can say my expectations have been exceeded greatly.