The Best Christmas Present I Ever Gave

This one kind of has me stumped. I mean, it’s not like I don’t give Christmas presents on a yearly basis… I just can’t really think of anything very extraordinary to share. My husband, hands down, out gives me. It’s really not my fault though. We come up with a “budget” and I break it a little. He breaks it a lot. I consider him a cheater. Or at least, the worst cheater out of the two of us.

I wish I had cute elementary school memory, but I guess I only save the bad ones. There’s no room left in my head for anything sweet or cute from those days {okay, exaggerating a lot}. After much thought, I guess that I will recount the best experience of gift giving that my poor memory will allow.

The Best Christmas Present I Ever Gave: Rocky the Crane {from Thomas & Friends}

It’s no secret that my son has had an obsession with Thomas since his second birthday. It started out innocent enough, a little train came in the mail from Toys R Us. Then he wanted all of them. To be clear, there are about five hundred.

He has accumulated quite a bit over the last two years, and one that we had set our sights on was Rocky the Crane. Mostly because it’s my husband’s nickname {one he’s had since a toddler}. When my husband was deployed, the original Rocky, I was shopping with my sister and happened to come across this evasive Rocky the Crane. For once, I didn’t rush to a computer & e-mail him that I found it. Kevin wasn’t with me either, so I was giddy about my little secret purchase.

We had planned on having a nice web chat on Christmas, but for some reason, his commander planned an exercise at 4 am the day after Christmas, so he had to go to bed early. We settled for a brief “hello, I love you, goodbye.” December 26th, our spirits were a little low but we decided to go ahead & do one gift. I really wanted Kevin to open something in front of him so he felt a little bit of Christmas in Afghanistan. I knew which one to select.

I had tears in my eyes as Kevin pulled open the pine tree wrapping paper and yelled “ROCKY!” I did my best to position them in front of the web cam so that my Rocky wouldn’t miss a moment. They discussed this new toy & I watched as father & son shared a conversation with each other that could only be possible due to the miracle of technology. Daddy felt so close to us.

So it wasn’t the biggest toy, the most expensive, or even the most heartfelt. However, it’s the one I’ll never forget. We waited until February to celebrate the rest of Christmas and it was wonderful. I just don’t remember all the other presents as clearly, because I was a little distracted with staring at my husband.
Thankful that the one gift I wanted was home safe.

Unfortunately, soon after Rock came home, Rocky the Crane suffered a severed wire. Daddy tried to solder them together, but Kevin broke it again after that. He is beyond repair & will someday be replaced. They were working on it in this picture.

Interesting enough, a new crane debuted this fall: Kevin. So now we have Rocky the Crane & Helping Hook Kevin :]

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