The holidays haven't always been bright for many of the young people who now live at Boys Town. But within the West Omaha community Sunday, they celebrated an early Christmas.

Some of Boys Town’s teenagers say the real gifts were not under the tree, but in the lessons they’ve learned from their new extended families.

“We want to make this day for you guys as special as we can," family teacher Tony Jones announced in his living room.

He wasn’t just talking to his wife, Simone, or their three small children, 19 months, 6 and 9. Jones was addressing the nine teenagers who have become part of their household off 141st and Walsh.

Isaac Wescott, 18, comes from Chicago, Illinois and has been living with the Jones family for nearly four years. "I wasn't doing very well in school and getting in trouble with kids in the neighborhood and stuff," he says.

Neo Wilkins, 17, from West Palm Beach, Florida, came to Boys Town and into the Jones’ lives nearly three years ago. "The background I'm coming from,” he says, “you don't really don't get to sit down and open presents as a family and eat as a family."

That in itself is a gift, one Tony Jones understands. It’s why he went to work for Boys Town.

"I grew up here at Boys Town. I came here when I was twelve years old after losing my mom to cancer,” Jones says.

Boys Town raised Tony and his brother. The family there “helped me to be a better person,” he says, “a better husband, a better father and a role model for these young men that you see here today."

Those young men share a roof with the Jones, though they have their own private residence within the house.

"I always tell people that I've learned more just personally than I could have ever taught any of my boys," says Simone Jones.

She and her husband have been family teachers for 14 years, nearly their entire married life. It’s the only life her kids have ever known, and it’s been a good one, Simone says. "They learn how to live with others and get along with others and accept differences, and learn how to give back."

The lessons are abundant in their household. "They taught me how to deal with my anger instead of not going to school and taking it out on the people that I love. They taught me how to do the right thing,” Wilkins says.

Adds Wescott, “They’ve really taught me a lot about like in terms of how to interact with my family back home and stuff and how to just get along in an environment where everybody’s different, to accept everyone as they are.”

Wescott emphasizes those lessons have come not only from the Jones family, but from teachers and the entire Boys Town staff.

But there’s one thing, he says, which rises above everything as they celebrate the holiday.

"Christmas is about being with a family and giving and being generous. It's not just about the presents. The presents are a bonus." His favorite “bonus” was a Chicago Bears t-shirt. For Wilkins, it was a Florida Gators hoodie.

Slippers, Snuggie blankets, CD’s and games were highlights for some of the other teens.

The early Christmas celebration throughout Boys Town Saturday, enables residents to travel back to their home towns for the actual holiday.