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Coming up with Christmas gift ideas for 2010

December 2nd, 2010

Christmas 2010 gift ideasUsually during Christmas time I have a very hard time buying gifts.

As you get older and your friends and family get older many of them pretty much have everything they want already.

And I sure ain’t going to be buying no one a big screen TV or something like that unless its my wife. I already know she doesn’t want that so not going to be doing that.

Here are a few ideas both local to Tyler and a couple on the internet that work out great for finding gifts.

Tuesday Morning in the shopping strip that you find Cotton Patch restaurant has great affordable gifts to choose from. They are right across from Robert E Lee highschool and may be just the shopping store your looking for.

Don’s TV and appliances is a locally owned TV and appliance store by a good family in Tyler Texas. You have likely seen most of them on their corny TV commercials. If you run in to them in town try to not bring up the commercial, they may have heard that one a time or two. They have good deals on their TV’s and kitchen appliances and if your buying a lot they might drop that price a little more for ya.

Regarding buying Christmas gifts online the neat thing to do this year is buy a unique hand made gift online from a website called Etsy (etsy.com). Some people in my family did this and you may come away with a cheap price tag but a cool gift. Also a website called thinkgeek (thinkgeek.com) offers really off the wall Christmas 2010 gifts like the fresh water fish training kit I bought for my father n’ law last year. For some reason it’s still boxed up.

For a really cool gift idea or two that is kinda pricey you could buy an Ipad for a toddler and spouse. Make it a combo. The stuff adults can do on an Ipad are endless but kids and toddler games are only about $3 each and they are extremely intuitive and educational. In fact I would go so far to say the Ipad will stomp on any of those fake looking toddler laptop games you see at the Tyler Target and Walmart.

Well I hope this has given you a little food for thought regarding this 2010 Christmas gift idea solution here in little old Tyler Texas. And without sounding too holy be sure to support a Christian missionary this Christmas season working in a muslim country.

Ipad Demonstration Video Showing a Toddler Playing Games

Ipad Good Toy For Toddlers to Play With Video

KVNE Radio Station in Tyler

February 24th, 2010

KVNE Radio

2721 East Erwin
Post Office Box 8525
Tyler, Texas 75711
Office: 903-593-5863
Fax: 903-593-2663

Broadcasting on 89.5FM, every day, is KVNE ‘the voice of encouragement’ – a local Christian radio station based in Tyler. It is a non-profit organization and raises money from donations and sponsorship from local businesses rather than airing commercials. The aim of KVNE is to encourage local Christians through music, plus promote Christian events and local ministry initiatives in the area.

KVNE has a great breakfast show, featuring a family friendly couple called Mike and Carrie who keep you smiling with their jokes, phone-ins and topical discussions plus contemporary Christian music. I love ‘What the survey says’ and my kids love to listen to ‘Kid’s karaoke’ on a Thursday when kids phone in and sing their favorite song on air! It’s not as cheesy as it sounds – actually, it’s quite cute. They often have guests on the show and as East Texas has a fair share of Christian musicians – Paul Baloche and Chris Tomlin to name a few – there is quite a local flavor. KVNE is very community focused – they collect backpacks for underprivileged kids in Tyler and valentines for patients in the local hospitals. Better still is their concern with the poor worldwide. Each Christmas they promote Operation Christmas Child – a project to send shoeboxes of Christmas gifts to poor children overseas and they also support Mercy Ships and other mission organizations working in the developing world.

What is not so good about KVNE? In a word, the repetition! The music comes from The Scroll Christian bookstore and in my opinion, they don’t give this radio station nearly enough variety. I guess for The Scroll it’s partly about getting airplay to sell their latest CDs (clever marketing) but we get tired of hearing the same old tunes, occasionally remixed, day after day. I wish KVNE would not limit itself in this way and play music from other places in the world – Hillsongs Australia, Vineyard Canada and some of the excellent contemporary bands coming out of England have so much to offer. Christians are hungry for new Spirit-filled worship songs. Stuff that has been reproduced from the original raw stuff by an American artist seems to lose something. KVNE is not insular in its outlook in general so why should it have such a restrictive playlist?

The very, very worse time of year is Christmas. I know I am not alone in turning off the radio for the entire month of December! The repetition is completely unbearable and even for an evangelical Christian who thinks the world of Christmas, there is only so many times and ways you can listen to a limited repertoire of carols and Christmas songs without feeling sick! Luckily my friends and I discovered Pandora.com in December this year – it saved the day for us!

‘Praise Share’ week (in March) is also to be avoided. During this week – the radio presenters tout for donations and there are some unconvincing and in my opinion, undignified, ploys to increase donations by ringing a bell and saying that a mystery benefactor will double any donations given over the next hour. I feel sure that the people of East Texas value KVNE enough not to have this awful week of fundraising and I wish they would just trust the Lord to provide the finances they need through long-term regular giving.

Enough negative things said. There is a lot of good stuff about KVNE. I do enjoy Mike and Carrie. The news in the morning is a bonus, I like the weather updates and enjoy the Focus on the Family spot. Tune in sometime from Jan – November, you’ll probably like it, and as they tell us in their tag line – it is safe for the whole family to listen to.

Santa Land in Tyler Texas Actually Lindale

December 3rd, 2009

Santa Land

11518 Interstate 20 W
Tyler, TX 75706-4842
(903) 882-1518

Last year we went to Santa Land and I was not expecting much having never been to one of these outdoor Christmas Light trails. What I discovered is that this particular place went through a lot of trouble to put together a pretty spectacular lights show. There are some 2D moving aspects of the light show where a motorcycle jumps over a creek and other interesting things. The kids in the car really had a great time and for the most part everyone came away with a good experience. The Santa Land light show doesn’t end there as they also have a really big gift shop called Santa’s Wish Shop

You can buy handmade Christmas ornaments, jewelry, jams, candles, paintings, and other Christmas gifts. They open on November 1st and Santa will be there starting on Thanksgiving day up until Christmas but the light show goes all the way until January 4th.

Santa Land boasts over 2 million Christmas  lights to drive through. The cost is $25 per car or $35 per 15 passenger van and you can have a trailer ride for $7 – $10 per person. The Santa Land location is opened from now until Christmas. .