So, full disclosure -- I'm a Reddit Admin -- I've been working here as an engineer for nearly 3 years, and I participate in RedditGifts because it's awesome, you're all awesome for participating in it and because I want to make sure that some Redditor out there has a good experience. I try to put effort into being a good Santa without any hope or expectation things work out the other way, which is why when my original Santa was a no-show, I kind of shrugged it off and casually clicked to get rematched... ehh, why not?

What I ended up getting was a master class in Santaing from my Rematch Santa. My Santa is phenomenal and inspiring. From the start, there was great correspondence and care ... a fair bit of back-and-forth of us getting to know each other ... and frankly that alone makes a good Santa almost regardless of what is sent (as long as what is sent in in good spirit). Santa is a genuine and wonderful person who is fun to message with and comes with good advice as well. What showed up was above and beyond...

My family and I love the outdoors, love hiking, camping, etc. My daughters (ages 10 and 8) are into it and hold their own waaaay better than then I was their age (super proud of them). For example, the older one did the Half Dome hike when she was 8, which is no small feat -- it's a brutal (but rewarding) hike. I enjoy nature, photography, the exercise and the adventure of it all. In the past few years, we've been to Yosemite (several times -- we go there a bunch), Denali, Grand Canyon, Joshua Tree, Sequoia, Kings Canyon, and Petrified Forest... and next on the list are Death Valley, Lassen, Yellowstone and the Utah parks.

When Santa first contacted me, we were planning on making a trip to Death Valley for 4 days of hiking and camping when the government shutdown happened (I'm saying my vacation got furloughed) ... most of the campgrounds were going to be closed, the visitor centers, the bathrooms -- not the experience I wanted the little ones to have. Santa got to hear about my plans and then the downfall of those plans, which I imagine weighed in on this result... and what an amazing one:

For starters, the "America The Beautiful" pass which will grant me and my family entry to the national parks for the year. I'm already planning another go at visiting Death Valley in April (which hopefully gives Trump and Congress enough time to figure things out) ... this is great incentive to plan more -- much more. I love Yosemite in the winter.

The National Parks Edition of Monopoly. We do play games with the kids and oddly enough, we didn't have a Monopoly ... this is waaaaaay better, and probably how we'll be spending our upcoming Sunday evening.

Two "Password To Your National Parks Junior Ranger Edition" books, one for each kid. The kids tend to do the junior ranger activities when we're at the parks -- and I have some adorable photos of rangers really getting into it with the kids. The fact that there's one for each kid is exceptionally thoughtful.

A "Passport To Your National Parks" book in which we can get stamps when we visit a park. Makes me a little sad that we didn't do this before, but thrilled that we will be... and heck, good incentive to revisit some of the parks we've already been to to make it "official".

These gifts are all so amazingly thoughtful and wonderful -- not to mention from a stranger on the internet (whom I intend to keep in touch with) -- quite frankly, I'm in awe... humbled and thankful. Santa, you are the real deal.