My Favorite Christmas Gift
Well, my favorite Christmas present this year came from my in-laws who gave me a clay target thrower.
I don’t know if you’ve ever been skeet shooting but it’s a blast. Skeet is a “recreational and competitive activity where participants attempt to break clay disks flung into the air at high speed.”
Just in case you think I’m a redneck you need to know this sport has had Olympic status since 1968 and until 1992, was open to both sexes. After that year, for reasons I don’t understand, females were disallowed to compete in the Olympic skeet competitions. It may have had something to do with the fact that the 1992 Olympic Champion was a woman, Zhang Shan of China.
While I don’t understand the politics behind Olympic skeet shooting I do know my sweet and very beautiful wife, Brandi, is no Zhang Shan.
And I’ve got video to prove it.
In her defense she did hit the very first skeet she shot at. She wouldn’t hit another one the rest of the day but she did get the first one.
So, what was your favorite Christmas gift this year?
Two observations: Your need to justify not being redneck made you redneck
Secondly, between this and the tackle video, you are developing your own Wii Sports Resort type thing: WithoutWax Sports Resort?
I have that same skeet thrower! I love it, just don’t get the time to go out and do it much anymore. The best part is that it’s a fairly inexpensive way for a family to spend a day together.
Hoping we have many more of those days to come.
Corn hole…fireworks…4-wheelers…skeet shooting…
The writing is on the wall Pete!
I do look a bit guilty at this point.
Cshell, ask Pete about bull riding.
Getting to go back to Ohio and spending time with both my girls, my son-in-law, my sister-in-law and my grandson. He is 4 and kept us in stitches most of the time.
What an awesome gift Bill.
I used my bonus to buy a new Panisonic Lumix G2 camera… so as far as material things go it’s my favorite “toy” I received this Christmas.
More than that though, I loved having a longer trip to Dallas to be with my family. I wasn’t expecting to get much time off so to have my boss tell me I could double the length of my trip was a huge gift.
My wife gave me a new laptop. My old one was over 4 years old.
Two gifts, actually. Amazon Kindle and ipod nano. Reading and music always go well together
Nice.
Not a redneck — may I point out Exhibit A … your hat.
busted!
Have to totally agree with this observation from Tony. Skeet does not a redneck make. A gaint fur hat with ear flaps equals redneck.
My teenaged son gave me a very tiny shadowbox with a picture of one of my favorite places (which has since been basically destroyed by “progess”), two quarters–minted in each of our birth years which I was amazed to pull out of my purse at the same moment several months ago, and a Chinese fortune from a fortune cookie I ate back in March or April, which I had told him he should hang on to because it contained wisdom I wanted him to cling to even after I was long gone.
It was the most personal, meaningful and best gift ever. Every time I look at it, I am (and will be) reminded that time with our children–talking about important and goofy things with them, sharing our real selves with them, and most importantly, loving them–is time we can’t afford to fritter away doing something else.
This made me cry! My son is only two and a half and this makes me hopeful for his teenage years!
Very cool. My Pastor has a skeet as well in Fla. Glad you had a wonderful Christmas! I got my first pair of specks!
Favorite gift: tie between a black fleece jacket and house shoes. I am a simple man.
My favorite gift was Snow on Christmas Day!!!! Thank you Jesus. lol
When I was growing up my family used to skeet shoot all the time. I loved it.
My favorite gift was a ticket to see Rush in April.
My daughter made me a cook book. She downloaded several recipes that we have both admired and some that she thought would be fun for us to make together. She then put them in a wonderful notebook with artwork and pictures. We look forward to cooking these recipes together during the upcoming year.
Special note – she doesn’t cook. Boiling water has been a triumph for her, so her wanting to learn to cook and spending time with her mom doing it is the major BONUS to this gift!
Wow, that is an incredibly thoughtful gift! How sweet of her! I may have to copy your brilliant daughter’s idea for my Mom too….
Great idea-thanks for sharing!
Do it! I’m sure it will bring a tear to her eye too! I love the home made gifts the BEST!It always means someone has taken time and real effort for just me.
Got to spend time with both Jason and Erin along with their great spouses and kids. We had a blast. The kids got me a Blue-Ray player with a bunch of guy movies and the Blue-Ray player has Pandora built in which means I can listen to great music on my surround sound system. I love it and them.
All of our kids, plus mates(wife has three kids, I have three), got together Thanksgiving morning and had pictures taken of all of them. As I was unwrapping my Bob’s Big Boy coin bank, all the kids said there was one more gift. My wife took the paper off a giant frame with all the pics they chose to add. The look on her face made it all worthwhile. I love when she sheds tears of love and happiness.
I want one! And i know my duck hunting husband will want this too.
My fave gift: ipad from my Mom. I’m addicted.
This year for some reason my girls demanded their gifts they have never done this before. One day a friend told me about the gift her daughter wanted the only gift a webkinz raccoon. I decided to get her thus gift and make it from my kids. I decided to make this a learning experience I list explained What I was doing ans never once told them of the gift. Then they got it the real reason we give not because we want but to help others. That was my gift my girls learning to be wholehearted givers. My oldest came to me to tell me she learned she was content with what she had. For her she received the best gift from God. Even my 5 yo son was more concerned about his sisters than his gifts.
Did you know that my Dad owns a trap shooting club in Wisconsin? Your family would have a blast.
I have never shot a gun but that looks fun.
I think Brandi’s accent gets a little more pronounced when she’s at home. Hilarious.
The book Snow Day, by Billy Coffey!
Favorite Christmas gift: a brass-knuckle coffee mug http://twitpic.com/3ir2m6
It’s a weapon/beverage holder combo!
I love shooting skeet too Pete!
Best Christmas gift this year: Dee and I gave each other an Amtrak visit to see our daughter’s first Rock ‘n Roll Christmas Concert at her worship arts college in Memphis, Visible School. We had an awesome time!
http://us1.campaign-archive.com/?u=471963f0161daed5cfeb281c4&id=a6be07a117
Don’t your worry, buddy, it ain’t red neck unless you start putting moon pies in that thrower and other various n sundry items from Cracker Barrell Country store in there.
My favorite Christmas Gift was my sister flew in from across the country for 4 days
Nothing wrong with being a redneck. You are in Tennesee for crying out loud.
I won the XBox Kinect from Burger King in November…got the codes online so I didn’t spend a penny for it!!! In 22 yrs of marriage and 20 yrs of parenting, this is our first actual game system and to see my girls light up was HUGE!!!
I told them they didn’t get a gift from us, their gift came from God!!!
Best gift – Being able to Skype with the kids in Korea and share Christmas day with them even though they are on the other side of the world.
BTW – LOVE skeet shooting. Did it once in Colorado Springs at the Garden of the Gods and was shocked just how much I loved it. Who knew? So fun to see you having a great time doing it. (Go Brandi!)
Wow I really want to shoot those now! Brandi is an inspiration to all!
My favorite gift was waking up Christmas morning with crazy bed head and stumbling into a living room filled with family that had adopted me. I sat half awake with the other kids on the couch, content to simply be there with snow falling outside, and my friends Grandmother began piling gifts in front of me as she handed them out to everyone else in the family. I was near tears at the love and thoughtfulness they displayed towards me. Greatest gift ever.
Skeet shooting is a blast!
My favorite gift came from my siblings. I have four siblings, all married, with kids. We only buy gifts for the kiddos now but since I don’t have kids my siblings decided they wanted to get me a gift for all the times I bought gifts for their kids and took care of them. I am moving to Dallas next summer so they bought me a GPS for my car! They knew I wanted one and all pitched in to get me one
. It was a great surprise!
A coffeemaker that can make drip-coffee and espressos (and anything else like that, like cappucinos and lattes) and has a timer so it can be set the night before to brew in the morning for breakfast…awesome! Haven’t used it yet ’cause I am currently living with the parentals and they have a coffeemaker but as soon as I get my own place…coffee and lattes and cappucinos galore!
btw I’ve only ever done target practice with my bro and dad but that skeet shooting looks like fun!!!
G
I’m still waiting on one gift. We’re only a small family now and money’s tight, so I didn’t get a lot – which is fine by me. I didn’t really want anything this year. One of the books I got is one recommended to me to help me with my writing. Hoping it will help!
Confession: Up until a few years ago I thought clay shooting meant people went out and shot handmade clay ducks. Now I know differently.
This year I loved seeing my little cousins but in terms of actual gift, I got a copy of “I Am The Central Park Jogger.”
Syllogism: Skeet is an Olympic sport. Pete shoots skeet. Therefore, Pete is not a redneck.
What’s missing here? *g*
Gift: Literati reader. Battery now dead, and charger cord AWOL; and I’m only on chapter seven of “Anna Karenina.”
I am such technoidiot redneck.
My parents got me, my brother, and my fiance each a road bike. My dad made up a puzzle with Christmas clues and cute hints to figure out the gift! It was a total surprise that we were all thrilled to get!
Wow, I love it.
Perhaps I’ll bring my shotgun when Holly and I bring the kiddos down in March.
Pete, I have to know…
What brand is that thrower?
That is a GREAT gift idea for my husband. He LOVES to shoot skeet, but he always has to go to a club to do it.
Dang, had no idea I could buy him his very own!!
Love skeet shooting.
That reminds me of that game on old school Nintendo that had duck hunt on it?? haha.
Pastor Wilson, just wanted you to know that I posted a list of my favorite books this year . . . Plan B was at the top of the list . . . you’ll never know how much that book will bless the lives of God’s people. I pray He leads you to write MORE!
God bless you and yours abundantly in the New Year!
In Him,
Cherie
Best present: my friends drove all the way from Knoxville so I wouldn’t be alone on Christmas.
That one is never going to be topped. Unless they come back next year
Yes! Skeet shooting was actually an activity at our youth ministry leadership retreat this year. My favorite gift: definitely date night gift cards from my mom so my wife and I can enjoy dinner together; something we definitely spend very little of our own money doing.
i just saw this post….this brings back memories when I was a kid….the days were usually freezing outside.
My grandparents farm…all the grownups were outside in the back “40″ on a cold hard already cut down cornfield…sending clay pigeons to meet their maker.
Grandma would have the food acookin’ to warm the hands frozen from shooting those nasty ole clay pigeons LOL…
Thanks for the memories..I can almost see my breath and hear the release of the skeet shooter..