Forget the holiday gift. You can't do genealogy quickly. (or do it for next year, or 20 years after that).
Ancestry is very useful, but it's not genealogy software - they're much more useful for the information in their databases. But the info in their databases will cover your great grandfather, not your recent relatives..
If you want open source, then GRAMPS is pretty good, but falls flat on large files. It's rather complicated, too.
If you want free, then PAF from familysearch.com is OK, but legacy free version is better.
If you want to do genealogy seriously, then pay some money. Rootsmagic is way better than all the above, and only costs 30 dollars, worth every cent. Legacy paid version is pretty good too.