Staff Favorites: Silly Christmas Gifts

The holidays are full of surprises, and so are the boxes wrapped under the tree! This month, our staff is sharing their most hilariously silly Christmas gifts. Whether it’s a gerbil in a wheel or a VHS tape with a twist, these stories are sure to bring a little holiday cheer (and maybe a few ideas for your next White Elephant exchange).

One year my family decided to draw names from a hat and fill the stocking of the person whose name we got. For the most part all of the gifts were pretty straight forward. However, somewhere along the way, my younger brother missed the fact that we were exchanging normal gifts, and thought they were supposed to be JOKE presents. And that’s the story of how my older sister pulled a toilet plunger out of her stocking on Christmas morning.
– Valerie “Ouch Potato”  Morby, Social Media and Copy Manager

For pretty much every White Elephant gift exchange for the last 15 years or so, the gift I bring is always Little Debbie Snack cakes. I’ll get 10-15 boxes of them so that it’s a little overboard! What’s funny is that it is usually one of the first gifts “frozen” because all of the guys usually want it! Also, when I was in college I was known to plow through Dr Pepper,and one of my best friends at the time asked me to come over for him to give me a Christmas gift. When I showed up he had stacked cases of Dr Pepper in the shape of a Christmas tree at least five feet tall. It was probably 20-30 cases of Dr Pepper!
– Rob “Change Up” Harris, CPA, Senior Director of Finance and Accounting

My older brother asked for a big trampoline for years. One year, he finally got one—but it was a tiny exercise trampoline. I asked for a big trampoline once. And I got A HUGE ONE the same year.
– Taylor “Fish Face” Jervis, Vice President of Youth Camping 

For a White Elephant gift, I put a $50 bill inside a VHS of “Muppet Treasure Island.” When my cousin picked that as his gift, he was so upset and bummed that my uncle stole it from him so my cousin could pick a different gift. My cousin ended up getting makeup sponges and just gave them to his wife. When it was all over, I told my uncle to break open the VHS, and he found the $50. My cousin was once again so bummed. There’s a life lesson in there somewhere. I enjoyed the entire ordeal.
– Lance “Socks” Gilliland, Pine Cove City Site Director

Michael Moore (ETX Ops Director and my older brother) once gave me a gift during our childhood that was in a giant, heavy bag! I was so excited to open this massive gift from my beloved older brother, and on Christmas morning, I opened the bag to find two gallons of water and a tiny air pump. Needless to say, I was disappointed, and he was amused!
– JD “Rambus” Moore, Ranch Camp Director

At a White Elephant Christmas party one year I got an actual white elephant! It was a little teapot and the tea came out of its trunk!
– Chloe “Barnaby” Baker, Marketing Manager

I once brought a gerbil in a gerbil wheel to a White Elephant gift exchange!
– Erin “Funny Girl” Aspegren, City Church Relationship Manager