father's day: 2015

what the boys say about their dad:

Finn Oliver Gerber, age 11

1.     What is something dad always says to you?  He loves me

2.     What makes dad happy? Being around family

3.     What makes dad sad?  Not always getting to be with family

4.     How does your dad make you laugh? He says funny things

5.     What was your dad like as a child? he liked hockey and tennis

6.     How old is your dad? 43

7.     How tall is your dad?  5 foot something

8.     What is his favorite thing to do? Surfing, tennis

9.     What does your dad do when you’re not around? He works

10.   If your dad becomes famous, what will it be for?  Best treehouse maker ever

11.  What is your dad really good at?  Building, sports and making me feel comfortable when things seem weird

12.   What is your dad not very good at?  At advanced cooking

13.   What does your dad do for a job?  He is a Project Manager

14.   What is your dad’s favorite food? A veggie burrito

15.  What makes your dad proud? A lot of things.

16.    If your dad were a character who would he be? He’d be himself. He’s unique in a good way

17.   What do you and your dad do together?  We clean the pool together, go surfing and a bunch of stuff

18.    How are you and your dad the same?  We both love to build things

19.   How are you and your dad different?  He’s grown up.

20.  How do you know your dad loves you? He tells me, and he says goodnight to me every night

21.  What does your mom love most about your dad?  She loves when he talks with her and takes her on dates

22.  What is your dad’s favorite place to go? Mexico

23.  How old was your Dad when you were born?  probably 34

Scout Gerber, age 7:

1.      What is something dad always says to you?  He gives me soccer tips

2.      What makes dad happy? When I tell him he did a good job on a project

3.      What makes dad sad? I don’t know, nothing really.

4.      How does your dad make you laugh?  When Finn and me tell him jokes

5.      What was your dad like as a child? he had lots of brothers and he liked snowball flights and snowmobiling

6.      How old is your dad?  43

7.      How tall is your dad?  i think he’s like 4’ something, I don't know?

8.      What is his favorite thing to do?  Play tennis or surf

9.      What does your dad do when you’re not around?  work

10.   If your dad becomes famous, what will it be for?  Best handyman ever

11.   What is your dad really good at?  Tennis, building

12.   What is your dad not very good at?  cook

13.   What does your dad do for a job?  he’s an Architect

14.   What is your dad’s favorite food?   Mexican food

15.   What makes your dad proud? When we tell him he did a good job

16.    If your dad were a character who would he be?  maybe the guy from The Treehouse Masters show

17.   What do you and your dad do together?  Go to Taco Surf, play tennis, and go to the beach

18.    How are you and your dad the same?  We both like tennis

19.   How are you and your dad different?  Dad likes surfing a lot and I like soccer

20.  How do you know your dad loves you?  He tells me he loves me

21.  What does your mom love most about your dad?  That he makes great cakes for our birthdays

22.  What is your dad’s favorite place to go?  Taco Surf

23. How old was your Dad when you were born? 36?

 

emery june arrives

christi, who will forever be known as the 'world's best nanny' to
the gerber family and her husband tyler and big sister elsie welcomed
baby #2 to their bunch 2 weeks ago.

here's the deets:

emery june harris
born june 12, 2015 at 9:37pm
weighed 8 lbs.7 ounces, 21" long

she is perfect and so beautiful.
life is good for the mac family.

someday i hope to meet these sweet babies of hers...

 
 

he's on his way

for the weeks leading up to 5th grade promotion,
parents of these 5th graders were busy uploading photos of
our kids from their years in elementary school.  these photos
were sent in and used for a slides created for the promotion ceremony.

since this mom had already spent hours gathering photos and
creating folders for them for every grade, it was easy for me
to create my own slideshow as a keepsake for finn and of course
his parents.

once I figured out the software, the fun began.
i'd sit at the kitchen counter on my laptop deciding what photos
to pull in and I'd remember and almost relive those moments in finn's life
all over again.  i was especially happy when i found the perfect song to
accompany the slideshow.

the song is on my way by phil collins.
i first heard in the walt disney film, brother bear,
and the whole family grew to love it. we'd turn up the tv and sing
along with finn who was just a preschoolerer then.

the song is fun with a catchy tune, but it's the lyrics that won me over.
they represent finn so well - his passion for life, his inquisitiveness, and his kind heart.
when i finished synching the music to the slideshow, i gathered the family around to watch.
finn smiled from ear to ear, while c and i smiled and held back happy tears.

one of life's greatest gifts is watching our children grow and become the
person they are meant to be. finn still has lots of growing to do, but he's on
his way....

 

 

 

 

 

gerber gathering at uncle chads

after chad's ceremony and the time in the simulator,
we had a few hours to relax and go back to the hotel
before the evening festivities began. 

anissa and chad invited the family back over for dinner
as well as all the officers {all the pilots} in his squadron.
we enjoyed some delicious bbq, a few cocktails,
{my s-i-l taught me how to make a mule drink}, and
meeting his lots of peeps. we were up late but not as late as
chad and his buddies. i think the party ended at 2am?

the next day was filled with lots of family time including
an event to see who would take home The Gerber Cup.

i'm pretty sure i've written about the gerber cup in the past,
but just in case, i'll give a brief description.  the gerber cup is
basically the gerber family trophy, which is passed from family
to family upon winning some kind of 'challenge' {always physical,
as this is a family that has 5 brothers almost a year apart}.

silly me forgot to take a photo of the cup {i must ask my s-i-l if she can
shoot it so i can post}. basically, it is a men's athletic cup, painted gold,
and is mounted on a trophy based and has an inscribed nameplate that says
Gerber Family Cup.  it's really pretty hideous, which is part of it's charm.
the gerbers are a competitive bunch and the drive to bring the gerber cup
home is strong....very strong.

this year, maya and finn chose the event and they selected an obstacle course
in uncle chad's backyard.  it included running {fire drills}, climbing up an
inflatable jump castle, and siding into a pool of water, pushups, a bit of ping pong,
climbing up a child's enclosed slide, a jump down and then tagging a tire swing.
the event was timed and the winner would be the family who completed it in the
shortest time. 

because we have such a diverse age range, families divided up the events based on
what adult/child would be best at it.  in our family, c did the running, scout did the climb
and water slide, i did the pushups, c and finn did the ping pong and scout did the final leg.
we did very well, but uncle trevor and his family beat us. 
{big t did just run a half ironman, a bit hard to compete with that}.

because chad's daughter {chloe} is a bit too young to really compete,
he basically ran the entire gauntlet by himself, minus the ping pong.
his wife joined him for that. he was a competitor but in the end his time
still didn't beat his little brothers.  since he'd never had the cup, the boys agreed
to play a game of darts to see who would bring it home. chad won. 

for the first time in maybe 15 years, uncle chad and his family have the gerber cup!
the rule is it's supposed to be displayed publicly somewhere in a prominent spot which
wives just love. *grin*  {i'd sometimes hide it and c would pull it back out....it was
a little game too}. i will admit, the cup is a great conversation piece.

i smile when i think about this tradition. my hope is it will continue when our kids
are our age and have families of their own.

it was a wonderful weekend..full of fun and family!
gosh, i know I've said it a thousand times, but i feel pretty blessed to be part
of the gerber clan.  they are all amazing people...cousins, auntie, uncles and
of course grandma and grandpa.

i'm looking forward to the next gerber reunion which might take
place in minnesota this fall when my niece jordan gets married!
{her big brother luke got married last october}. it's her turn.

~ finn's big 5th grade promotion took place last week and
it couldn't have been more wonderful.  we are all excited for his
next step. more to come...

uncle chad's change of command ceremony

i'm so far behind in posting but there's so much to share.
it's the end of the school year which means it's busier than normal.
{especially since we have a promoting 5th grader}.

first things first, i wanted to share about chad's ceremony
we attended a few weekend ago in lemoore, ca.

it was amazing! 

i can't share all the details but it was very special,
and likely something we will never see again in our lives.
we are so grateful chad included in his special day.

here's how the day went:
the family was escorted onto the base by military personnel,
and lead to an jet hangar where the were rows of white chairs
lined up for guests. the change of command ceremony took place
right here in the hangar, right along side of an f-18 super hornet.

the ceremony began with a short welcome and the national anthem was played,
after we were instructed to put in our earplugs {a tiny package sat on every chair
when we arrived}, and to direct our attention to the skies.

we watched (3) f-18 super hornets fly in formation and then come back around
and land...one at a time.  the current commander led the way with chad, and
another behind him.

the commanding officer spoke about his time in his command and publicly welcomed
chad to his new position as commanding officer.  uncle chad gave a short speech,
and after, photos was taken, and food was served. after lunch, chad took us all to
a special building which housed flight simulators for the pilots to train.
these typically aren't open to the public, but chad made special arrangements
for the family to do it. 

finn and scout were beyond excited! {the big boys too}
they all go a turn in a REAL simulator and isaac proved to be a natural.
finn said it sure beats the simulator at the san diego air and space museum.

photos were not allowed to be taken anywhere in the building where the simulators
were but between the photos I took and my s-i-l took, we've got a couple:

top left: chad's squadron is the VFA-25, also known as the 'fist of the fleet'
top right: chad gerber {far left} and his colleagues walking into the hangar after landing their jets.
bottom left: chad and his lovely wife, anissa and daughter chloe {5}
bottom right: chad's call name is 'decaf' because he loves his coffee and even without is very high energy.

more to post later. I have to be up early to get finn ready for his BIG day {5th grade promotion}.
i decided to take the entire day off work so attend attend his promotion and the picnic and party afterwards! it's exciting yet a bit strange to think he'll no longer be at explorer elementary next year.
i'm guessing finn is feeling a bit sentimental about leaving the school he's loved so much over the
last 6 years.

tonight at bedtime, he dug out several old picture books from his early years,
and asked me to read them. i couldn't help notice his big grin as i read the books.
he was thoroughly enjoying them {me too}. so many of my memories of finn's childhood
days revolve around books and bedtime. we started with board books, then moved to picture books,
to chapter books. it's always been our routine and special time.

my hope is his moving to middle school doesn't mean it is coming to an end. 
with the right book, i don't think it will. {at least not for a little while longer}