What's the best Christmas gift you ever got?

[catherine]

We've shared a few Christmas gift threads, and we've done some gift-bashing, but I'm wondering--what is the best gift you've every gotten for Christmas? Or one of the best ones? At least one or two that you remember fondly?

[rosarugosa]

I have probably told this before, but when DH & I were dating, his mom gave me a fancy piece of lingerie for xmas. I figured that was a pretty clear message that she approved of me for her son! ;)

[iris lilies]

When I was a kid or maybe I was 12-13 something like that, My parents bought a piano for me. This was a big deal because I had already taken piano lessons for years, and then somewhere along the way my mother decided that I would play the organ which I did not really take to, and then somewhere along the way we got rid of our original piano and I don’t remember why. So I had an organ that I thought was somewhat stupid, and my parents understood at that point that I really wanted to play piano so they bought a low-end kind of cheap piano. And it was a surprise! So that was great. It was later replaced with a grand piano, but that one surprise piano was really nice.

DH made something great for a present once that I’m still using and I don’t remember if it was Christmas or birthday, but he made special wood props for the dumpster lids. I can hang them on the fence because they have a custom made hole for the nail, and then I can grab them when I need them to prop open dumpster lids when I’m throwing in yard waste. It is a very useful tool.

[Yppej]

A tablet.

[Chicken lady]

When dh and I were first married we were broke. I found a $20 bill blowing across a motel parking lot on my way home from work in early December (I was walking home in the dark in subfreezing weather and there was literally not another human in sight.) we spent it on a little tree, two strings of lights at the store that was having a huge going out of buisines sale, a plastic pitcher for him for cheap frozen juice once a week - to replace the used milk jug, and shoes for me that I needed for work (also at the going out of business store). We put the pitcher and the shoes under the tree Christmas morning along with some little things we had made. I felt like a princess in those shoes.

[Gardnr]

The best? Well, the most romantic and amazing..................... I have a May birthday. In our poor minimum wage years I said "someday I will have an emerald". I only said it once. Advance 19 years......DH remembered that. He gave me an emerald necklace for our 20th Christmas.

This is amazing because, DH is not a romantic and we often do not do gifts. The fact that he remembered that was so so sweet. To this day (39th Christmas this year), it is the only jewelry I wear. I love it still because he remembered.

[razz]

My best Christmas present was going to Grand Bahama Island for Christmas and skipping any gift exchange. We had never been anywhere outside Canada and it was wonderfully warm and sunny and I discovered Ricardo Coconut Rum mixed with pineapple juice was a heavenly drink. Haven't had one of those in years now that I think of it.

[JaneV2.0]

A small band with diamonds from my beloved, some months after we met. The worst was a lighted makeup mirror with one broken bulb.

[frugalone]

The best Christmas present was a hedgehog. I had seen them in the pet store, and really wanted one. Had picked one up and held it. My husband bought one for me for Christmas and somehow kept him hidden till Christmas Day.

[rosarugosa]

The best Christmas present was a hedgehog. I had seen them in the pet store, and really wanted one. Had picked one up and held it. My husband bought one for me for Christmas and somehow kept him hidden till Christmas Day.

What a great gift! I love hedgehogs!

[rosarugosa]

This is one of the neatest gifts I ever got in terms of being an unexpected pleasure that I use all the time. I got it from a former manager who was a fellow book lover. It's great for multitasking while I read.
https://www.amazon.com/Bookweight-Grain-Leather-Black-black/dp/B00I4VUWX2/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1544655804&sr=8-2-spons&keywords=book+weight&psc=1

[iris lilies]

This is one of the neatest gifts I ever got in terms of being an unexpected pleasure that I use all the time. I got it from a former manager who was a fellow book lover. It's great for multitasking while I read.
https://www.amazon.com/Bookweight-Grain-Leather-Black-black/dp/B00I4VUWX2/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1544655804&sr=8-2-spons&keywords=book+weight&psc=1

My cataloging staff at the library used book weights.

[catherine]

These are great stories. IL, I didn't know you're a pianist! Do you have a piano in your home?

Such touching stories, from emeralds to hedgehogs!

I'm having a hard time picking a favorite myself: When I was 12, my stepfather gave me The Diary of Anne Frank which was life changing for me at that time. I've been an Anne Frankophile ever since. My DH gave me a sewing machine the first Christmas we were married. My kids have given me so many unique gifts--one of my favorites was a little scrapbook in which each page had a picture of a family member and a funny poem about that person. Two of my kids collaborated on them, staying up until the wee hours to finish, and they made enough scrapbooks for everyone in the family.

[iris lilies]

I didnt play piano for around 40 years. A few years ago I got the bug to play again after I retired, and bought one of those weighted keyboards. I had always turned up my nose at electronic keyboards but of course they had improved over the decades since I last touched one, doh! So it was cheap and easy to scratch that itch, and this keyboard is light to carry around.

i havent played in recent months but likely will take it up again.

[Simplemind]

2623
When I was in grade school I was a book freak, still am. I had fallen in love with The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe, illustrations and all. One night it started to snow after we had gone to bed. My mom was always a terrible night owl. She came in after midnight and woke me up, wrapped me in my blanket with her finger to her lips and took me to see a light pole in the snow in our wooded neighborhood. The scene looked exactly like the one the illustration conjured. We said nothing but looked at it and watched it snow for quite some time. She then took me back to bed. It is one of my strongest and most loving memories of a mother who was not demonstrative or affectionate. It was magical.

[iris lilies]

2623
When I was in grade school I was a book freak, still am. I had fallen in love with The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe, illustrations and all. One night it started to snow after we had gone to bed. My mom was always a terrible night owl. She came in after midnight and woke me up, wrapped me in my blanket with her finger to her lips and took me to see a light pole in the snow in our wooded neighborhood. The scene looked exactly like the one the illustration conjured. We said nothing but looked at it and watched it snow for quite some time. She then took me back to bed. It is one of my strongest and most loving memories of a mother who was not demonstrative or affectionate. It was magical.

i love this so much! Really! Love it! It IS ToTALY magical!

I was a fan of LWW book and all of the religious allegory went over my head as a kid. How cool is it to find an entire world in the back of a wardrobe!!???

there is a section of a public park here in my city that is less traveled. Some years ago on a foggy evening I was walking thru it having those same kind of feelings at the images that appeared. It was Magical!

[catherine]

i love this so much! Really! Love it! It IS ToTALY magical!

I was a fan of LWW book and all of the religious allegory went over my head as a kid. How cool is it to find an entire world in the back of a wardrobe!!???

there is a section of a public park jere in my city that is less traveled. Some years agoon a foggy evening I was walking theu it having those same kind of feelings at the images that appeared. Magical!

It was also my favorite book as a child! Yes--the whole idea of that magical winter world just past the fur coats in the War Drobe... how compelling! What a wonderful memory, Simplemind!

[goldensmom]

Thumbelina, when I was in second grade and back when Christmas was magical and gifts were few. I still have her. I saw a Thumbelina selling on ebay for $415.00 but she will stay with me.

[razz]

Thumbelina, when I was in second grade and back when Christmas was magical and gifts were few. I still have her. I saw a Thumbelina selling on ebay for $415.00 but she will stay with me.
Could you share a photo of her please?

[goldensmom]

Could you share a photo of her please?

Here's Thumbelina. Lookin' good for being 57 years old.

2624

[iris lilies]

Here's Thumbelina. Lookin' good for being 57 years old.

2624

Nice baby. She is like my Baby Dear doll. But unlike you,
I sold my Baby Dear doll a few years ago to the head of the local Doll Collectors’ Society. I dont regret it, yet I do look for Baby Dear dolls at antique shows just to get my hands on them and I look them up on Ebay. I miss her.

Yes, I am one of those shameful women who sold their baby for cash money. I am a terrible person!

[Float On]

Best ever was Christmas Gift trip to Banff to ski. Favorite part of that was cross country skiing as well as the horse drawn sleigh ride around Lake Louise.
I too got a piano for Christmas when I was in 3rd grade. I'd been taking lessons and dad had a piano salesman stop by with 4 pianos in his delivery truck for me to pick from. I still have the same piano....and should play it more often than I do.

[frugalone]

What a great gift! I love hedgehogs!

I do too. Unfortunately, they were made illegal in my state years ago. S/thing to do with hoof and mouth disease (which I think was just an excuse). I'd love to get another someday.

[Gardenarian]

Schwinn Stingray bike, 1964.

[razz]

Here's Thumbelina. Lookin' good for being 57 years old.

2624.
Cute baby that looks like a cuddly baby