What Did You Give?

joasis

I love Christmas...I like to give great presents and see the smiles....and I am one of the toughest people to buy a gift for, and it doesn't help, since I am probably like most guys here...if there is something we want, we usually already have it. I do not like to see money wastyed on cheap stuff for me.....I bet we all have a place this stuff ends up,. out of sight, so no one gets their feelings hurt.

So anyway...what did you guys give your close ones this year?

My wife's B/D was the 5th, and so her big present was already here, so she got what she wanted...a Gibson Electric Guitar....

My oldest daugher got a hand crafted cedar chest, made by dad, from cutting the tree down, to milling the lumber, to joinery and finish.

My son got an ultimate "plinking rifle", a new, in the box, civilian version of the AK47 amd a 1000 rounds to go blow cans away.

My son in law, and now a crew leader for me, is getting a Remington 710 with scope.....he discovered deer hunting this year. Next year, I will craft a walnut stock for it for the custom look.

Mu baby girl is getting a miniture cedar chest for her precious keep sakes....and her very own digital camara.....bet my printer will always be out of ink.....

So...there was my Christmas list.....and how I filled it...what did the rest of you do?

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K2

My gifts are simple but I'd like to get on J's list.

For any kids on the list I like to keep the spirit of Christmas alive and give them cash. I also like to keep the the spirit of the "The Birth of Christ" alive so along with cash they get a gold coin. The coin is likely to be saved and the kids can track their investment which are good lessons especially when gold is going up.

I really love when the kids open the gold coin. They usually make some kind of face and say something like "Another coin?". They are generally pleased to see the cash.

For Family and friends I take everyone to a 5 star brunch.

that's Christmas shopping for me. No malls.

Richard

we didn't skimp this year...we're giving some great gift cards, clothes, toys and gadgets for the kids, my wife (pastry chef with a degree)baked some chocolate's for everyone...
--we love to give so much more than recieve--it's so rewarding

have a great day everyone

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Rich

mdshunk

Both my boys got their bicycles stolen during the summer, so that was an obvious choice for them. Daughter's TV crapped out a short while back, so that was another obvious choice for her. Those were the main things for each of them. Got the wife this rocking chair thing she's been wanting from a local furniture store. (I shoulda got her some granny glasses too... darnit, just thought of that).

dumplin1078

Merry Christmas everyone.

I got my wife a undercabinet raido/cd player she has been wanting for years. Some pj's, and from the kids two of those teddy bears you build yourself.

For the kids they got new bikes and some other toys and stuff they have been wanting.

But the coolest thing is the trailer and hitch for my oldest boy for his bike. I told him he is probably the only kid in the world with a trailer hitch on his bike. He loves trailers and is facinated when I pull a trailer. My dad built a hitch that attaches to the rear axle and goes out past the rear wheel, and I bought a little dump cart from Tractor Supply for him to pull around. He loves to work (he gets that from me) and he is always trimming bushes and stuff in the back yard so he can haul them around to the front now behind his bike. He loves it, but it's raining pretty hard right now so he can't try it out yet.

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"I hate to tell you this, but you're a man. You're going to spend your life gettin' up one more time than you get knocked down." John Wayne

joasis

I hope someone didn't think I was bragging....far from it...I am guessing we all get just a little extravegant at Christmas....I love seeing the smiles....it makes it all worth while, and I hope none of us ever loose the true meaning of Christmas......Merry Christmas everone!

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Bone Saw

Jo I like your style, reading your post sent pins and needles up my spine. You are the man Took a walk up to the park with my boy and his 4 wheeler (little 50cc). I put the key in a box wrapped up and another box wrapped up with his helmet. He was allitle bewildered as to these gifts, and continued tearing into other gifts. Then I asked him about what the key and the helmet was for and He just kinda looked at me like a deer in the headlights. Then I asked him to get in his wheelchair and come outside with me. When We opened the door it was there in the yard and the look on his face was priceless... Had to salvage some old wheelchair parts to make up some latteral support since his seating is somewhat auckward when straddling something. I'm ready for some teqila shots now

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joasis

I think you hit the nail on the head Bone.....it is what makes being a dad worthwhile.....it reminds me of the bumper sticker I had on a truck a long time ago...any guy can father a kid, it takes a MAN to be a daddy! Merry Christmas to you all.

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reveivl

Right on, Bonesaw, I can only imagine the look on your boys face!!

Joasis, I too, got my little guy a digital camera, and more Lego and stuff.

I spent a bunch of time at the forge and made some coat hooks for handing out to people over the next day or two, no money involved there, just some effort for a gift that never wears out!

Merry Ho ho, everyone, Rich.

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POOLMANinCT

sweety -- jamaica vacation (yup im tagging along ) & a mask & snorkel for her to unwrapp

brother --- leatherman wave

8month twin nephews -- cool outfits

neice 3yr old- kid video games called leapster
sister in law expresso/cap machine -- flavors etc

parents (impossible to buy for & seem to never use thier gifts) - three cases of hard to find wine & about a years worth if gift certificates for their favaorite pizza joint. -- they gotta use this one

me- 52" tv & surrounnd sound xbox 360 ( a combo birthday house warming & xmass gift from me to me)

btw i like to give tax deductable gifts tools, snorkels, masks

needthingsdone?

Well, the boys got bikes and assorted other clothes, toys, money, etc.
The wife got a diamond ring, diamond stud earrings and a book about a dog (Marley and Me). So many Christmas' we sacrificed ourselves so that we could spoil the kids, this year I was financially able to buy her the things she wanted and deserves!
My brother got tools and books about construction. He just went into business for himself, and I am trying to help him through the startup by passing on the pitfalls and such.
The wife was in charge of everyone else!

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"It's not the first freakin' time I've done this you know!"

DecksEtc

Admittedly, my girlfriend did the lion's share of the shopping again this year. She was born to shop so I pretty much stay the heck out of the way. The major things I was responsible for were:

- Baby Alive & accessories for my 8 yr. old. There's too long a story to this one but suffice it to say, I was "informed" by her a week before Christmas that she "didn't want anything else for Christmas except a Baby Alive doll". For anyone else that had to face this dilemma, I feel for you as I went to over 20 different stores and countless hours of frustration before luckily finding one 2 days before Christmas. The look on her face Christmas morning made it all worth it though.

- digital camera & accessories for my 11 yr. old. She'll be going through my printer cartridges way too often too!

- my girlfriend is a pretty easy one to buy for as I'm able get her assorted gift cards, spa gift certificates and the like. I know it doesn't sound too romantic but it's what she wants and it feeds her shopping habits!

- my Mom's favorite gift was a picture frame that I had been working on by collecting pictures of her and my daughters throughout the year. I can bring a tear to my Mom's eye easier than anyone I know!

This isn't quite a complete list but a highlight of the major things I was responsible for this year.

I hope everyone had as an enjoyable a Christmas as my family and I did.

Woz the Painter

Ya that's a great Christmas gift, an AK47 for your son. Peace on earth ,good will to men...

POOLMANinCT

that AK will keep the peace for good men

Woz the Painter

Real men don't need an AK...

joasis

No woz, real men don't need anything except a stick and a rock....if you wish to critisize, you are certainly entitled to your opinion. You took the AK47 as the shock, not the idea it is just a gun....had I said I bought my son a civilian Thompson 45, would you have cared? I doubt it...since we have no evil associated with the Thompson...just visions of Bonnie and Clyde. Andre Kalishnokov [?], designer of the AK, was saddened at the association his design led to....as was John Browning....

My point to Christmas presents and fun was simply to see if others enjoy what I do. Now Woz, I don't hunt, my son rarely hunts, but we both enjoy burning up ammo killing innocent tin cans or targets....I am a real man...and I still like to remain proficient with firearms...but if I don't have a gun around, I will find a stick, or a rock, or my bare hands.

We live in a dangerous world, and while you may say it is because we give guns for gifts, that would be a liberal slant for sure...I live in gun country, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with exercising my 2nd Ammendment rights.

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joasis

And Ray wonders why I can't afford him to install my pool!

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JasontheMason

I have been waiting to get a 700r Raptor. And my girlfriend wanted one too, so after year and a half of saveing its is in my garage!!!

I built a whole different room for it, solid 8'' block and steel doors so NO one could steal it lol. And I got my Mom gift cards she loves to read, and my sister a box of cole! Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas.

EDIT- You can come to my house next year lol.

Right on the name, made in 1947. But the A in AK means auto kalishnokove.

POOLMANinCT

xmass is my 1x year spending binge..

now i slip the mousetrap in my wallet...

joasis... ill send you a quote when i do my kitchen over

dougchips

Speaking of guns....A few years ago my wife came home early from a trip. I awoke to the sounds of footsteps in my house and my two loyal dogs would not wake up. I kept an unloaded Glock under my bed for for these types of occasions. As I slammed the clip into the gun, released the slide and pointed the gun towards the entrance to the kitchen my wife rounded the corner. It took us both about 1/2 hour to calm down enough to talk to each other. Now the Glock is locked in a safe and the ammo is in the basement. My new black powder revolver will have to defend my family, I am practicing the art of pistol whipping.