Christmas Eve and Forgotten Children

It starts early in the morning as we rise and prepare for a day of helping Santa deliver toys, food and blankets to folks who have much less than us.

Zach and I headed out to the Sunbreak Cafe in Auburn for breakfast leaving the house just before 6 am. We had a great meal and then headed down to the North Pole. This year it was a large warehouse in Renton, Washington. We were one of the first folks to arrive for the long day of the most enjoyable work you'll do all year.

There are lots of packages, boxes of food and other items staged to be loaded into small box trucks by volunteers. You could call it controlled chaos.

Once all the trucks are loaded we are given a short speech, orientation and we hit the road with our route in hand. We drove around 110 miles from Renton to Woodinville, Kenmore, Beacon Hill, Burien and SeaTac. All areas in and around the Puget Sound region. We are using rental type vans to carry the presents and Santa and his helpers ride in the comfort of Microsoft donated Connection Vans complete with driver and GPS. All I had to do was jump in the rental van with Zach and follow the green and white van.

Our head translator and Santa at work.


Our Head Elf at work.

Our crew at work

The must have self shot of Zach and I


We had fun even though it got dicey once or twice. While our neighborhood visits are intended for a specific family, certain types of complexes can cause issues for us as people see us and realize that Santa it with us. Many young children will show up while we are waiting for Santa to return to the van. Luckily the organization has thought of this and provides us with extra toys to give out as well as some treats. We make an effort to meet those children and give some token even though they are not the primary reason we are there. If you stay out too long, you end up with hordes of kids so we have to be pretty quick.

A good time was had by all and it certainly gives you an appreciation for all the family, friends and things that you have and makes you less willing to wish for meaningless stuff. We all had smiles on our faces as we returned but wonder what will become of the families we visited.

I hope each and everyone of you are having a Joyous Holiday season and unlike so many politically correct folks....I will wish you a very Merry Christmas and may God Bless you in your travels this coming year.