These pronunciations are commonly used in Latin America.

Thanks for the help guys. Reading through this was interesting and helpful and helped me learn something new.

Here is a really cool link for Por vs Para

http://www.colby.edu/~bknelson/SLC/por_para1.php

It actually has a paragraph in Spanish using por and para and it explains the use of para and por in context of the paragraph.

Siendo el invierno y los días festivos aquí en Minnesota...

¿Como se dice en español?:

"I am going to give Sophie a gift for Christmas."
Voy a darle a Sophie un regalo para la navidad.

"I took medicine for the cough."
Tomé medicina para la tos.

I alway use PARA in examples like these. Is that correct?

Yes, it's correct in both sentences.

"Para" expresses a destination both literally and figuratively, so "para (la) Navidad" is right.

You will find some people who say (joking or not) that "medicina para la tos" should be "medicina contra la tos", because otherwise you'd be saying that the medication is meant to make your cough worse. However the significance of "medicina/medicamento" (some substance that relieves sickness) is enough to express what you mean. :)

Thanks again Angelica.

Hola Tony:
Por and para both mean for, amoung other things. Learn one or two uses at a time and nunca, nunca nunca use para after gracias.
Para is used to indicate destination, purpose, use, or goal.
Por is used to indicate through, along, around, & by.

Siga este sendero para las montañas y entonces continue siguiéndolo por las montañas.