My best gift was an evening with the neighbors, their daughter, and her two little girls (5 and 7). It was so much fun to spend time with the little ones, and they loved opening and playing with the gifts we gave them. Lots of art stuff, including markers and huge tablets of art paper that they could clamp to their easels. We got some BIG pictures - way too big for the refrigerator door. Duke got to visit with his gay buddy, Max, and they gave Duke a very large mesh bag of tennis balls and a cute 12-days-of-Christmas card (all dog-themed) packed in a nice gift-bag with dog/Christmas graphics.
I have spent countless hours helping mill out lumber on the saw-mill and building an addition for the daughter and her girls last summer and fall, so the family went kind of overboard with gifts for us, including gift certificates to a garden shop, the artisan butcher shop/deli, and the health-food store. A very nice Christmas. Still, the best part of the holiday was friendship and hanging out with people we are close to. Al doesn't drink any more, but he must have spent at least $50 or so making a large bowl of fruit punch loaded with fruits, berries, and liquors for the rest of the adults.
Our card was inscribed in part "to the best neighbors and greatest friends" and Duke's card was inscribed "to our favorite 4-legged friend". Hard to beat that.
