The best gifts of 2011

So, all of the gifts have been given and all of the presents opened.  All of the paper is in trash bags and the cardboard boxes are in the recycle bin (or fire).  After thinking about all that took place this weekend and all of the gifts I had this curious thought: what is the best gift of 2011?

With that thought in mind, here is my short list.

1. Christ!  Well, hands down the best gift given in 2011 and every year since the birth of Christ has been and will be Christ.  Duh!  That is a no-brainer!  Christ as the best gift year after year seems so obvious.  Yet, it seems to cost us all no shortage of problems receiving it, accepting it and living in the confidence of that list.  I even add myself on the list of being thankful and yet sometimes in so much awe that I can hardly take it all in.  All that said, dear God thank you for our Savior and our Lord. 
2. Time with family!  The second best gift I received in 2011 is time with my family.  This year my wife planned a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner for us all and we had dinner together at the table.  All of us sat down together for at least 20 minutes of eating a great dinner prepared by my awesome wife (www.trhuegifts.blogspot.com).  After I got home from Christmas Eve service, we spent time with the girls doing Santa cookies and the other traditions we have made up over the years.  My wife and I spent Christmas morning together video taping the girls as they opened their stuff.  
3. Time with my dad!  One of the best gifts I was given in 2011 was time with my dad.  On Christmas day Daddy put together some seats in the back of a trailer and created a "hay ride" through the woods.  He called it the Christmas adventure.  We bounced and bounded our way through the woods in the back of the trailer as he showed us the family property lines.  It was fun with all the kids, but especially because it was time with dad.  After the Christmas adventure Trish and Dad combined to give me another day of time with dad.  I got to tag along with Daddy as he worked on hanging barbed wire around the new pasture.  I am grateful to my dad for letting me tag along and my wife for giving me the time to hang with him.
4. Time with my mom!  As always I find time with my mom to be fun and full of laughter.  It is cool just to hang out with her and listen to her retell our stories and her stories of growing up.  We laughed about her grandchildren and our children.  We talked about times when I was an explorer and tried to take apart nearly everything in sight.  Between dinner and snacks we caught up, and strolled down memory lane.  It was good to eat dinner at the house and have her spend time with our kids.
5. RC Mustang!  Yes, I said it.  I still collect and play with toy cars and nothing is prettier, hotter, sweeter or badder than the new and classic mustangs.  Each year for at least five years I have been collecting  RC cars and this year my wife gave me another gem for my collection.  This one is red with tinted windows and I'm sure it flies.  The car has tinted windows and the shiny plastic rims.  It will go well with the 18 wheeler, blue mustang, red and white mustang, and die cast cars.  Next year I'll be looking to add another one to the collection too!

So, those are my top gifts received.  The top gifts given in my mind are:

1. Time.  I think this year I got a lot of time off from work and spent it with the girls and Trish before Christmas. 
2. Love notes.  I think the best gift I gave was a series of love notes and cards with each of my wife's gifts.  The gifts themselves were probably not award winners, but I hope the thought and extra notes made it special.