Best and Worst Christmas Gifts

Kari had the distinct privilege of welcoming her best and worst Christmas gifts during the exact same year: "When I was 15 my parents got up a hot tub for Christmas. Which was sweet awesome. Because of this big gift, we knew ahead of time that we would only be getting one gift under the Christmas tree. I got a framed state quarter and I hated it. I don't even remember what state it was. This was, of course, right when they started issuing the state quarters and my parents thought maybe I would like to start collecting them, so they got me one of the collectable ones and one of those maps where you can put all of the quarters from each state. I really did not care anything about the state quarters and subsequently did not care at all for my one present under the tree that year." Kids these days...

Andy Hoefer, a salesman at Townsquare Media in Laramie, said nothing about the best gift he ever received, but he clearly remembers his worst. It was a "...large ceramic dog statue." Andy said it was a nice thought, but it was "...really really ugly." As for what the dog is doing nowadays? That's anyone's guess... Andy says he re-gifted it at the first chance he got. Talk about a dog-eat-dog world.

With little to no hesitation, David can recall his best gifts. The first he says was a Tennessee Orange wind suit (David is a child of the 90s) and the second was an Aiwa Stereo System. As for the worst, ironically enough, it was a bunch of "Wyoming stuff." When David was in 7th grade, he put "Wyoming stuff" on his Christmas list. What he wanted was UW apparel, what he received was "...maps, cups, pins, artifacts and more, but no UW Cowboy athletics apparel." Don't worry though- he has since acquired his share of Pokes gear.

Adam is in charge of all web content at Townsquare Media in Laramie, and his worst Christmas gifts came from White Elephant gift exchanges... One year he received a "wire head massager," which he has no use for, and another year he got an "ugly Christmas Wreath." When looking back at his best gifts of all time, Adam remembers a Lego train set as a kid, and he fondly looks back on the year he received power tools. Ladies, pay attention: Men love power tools.

If you listen to 95.1 FM in Laramie on weekday mornings, you're familiar with the voice of Lance Cook. He is a calming presence through most everyone's radio; and based on his response, it seems that Lance's good nature isn't just for show. When asked about his worst gift though, Lance epitomized the goodness of holiday spirit, "I can honestly say that I can't think of a single gift I ever received that was "worst". I accept every gift I get with love and gratitude." When asked about his best gift, here's how he responded, "My best gift ever didn't start out that way. My mom and dad gave me my first reel to reel tape recorder when I was like 12. I didn't know what to do with it, so I started recording passages from my favorite books. That turned into a LIFETIME of recording my own voice." Talk about the gift that keeps on giving!