Joy of Christmas

Merry Christmas from the Schei Family!

Christmas Eve, after early church service...

We opened our home to family and friends.

There was plenty of food. Velda wanted a picture before people started eating however with good food and hungry people...

And some presents under the tree.

And of course James being a good little boy received some nice presents...

It took James a while before he got into the swing of opening presents

And received his first Lego set... The Elf from Delaware worked on that.

And a Thomas train set that the Elves from St. Louis worked on. Uncle Chris showed James how to be a good draw bridge with his train set.

And the head Elf was glad he was happy with his presents...

Chris and James

Chris came home late Tuesday night. Wednesday morning, Chris was trying to play with James, but James was too shy to look at him. Chris needed a way to quickly break the ice with James. He tried a ball without much success...

But food was a winner...

After that he warmed up.

In the afternoon, Velda, Chris, and Meghann took James back home. They walked on the ferry. James wanted to pull his suitcase....

He was going a little slow so Uncle Chris gave him a hand. Obviously, James refused to remove his hands from the handle. As long as his hands were touching it, it didn't matter where his body was.

James looking for birds and whales. Nope, didn't see any.

A little quiet reflection time.

And even got some good outside pictures.

Allison was waiting on the other side to pick up James.

This was a perfect ending after a couple of days of babysitting.

Another Day of Babysitting

James is one busy boy. Po Po started the day off with running errands at several stores. The one that James liked the most was Molbak's Nursery.

Molbaks has beautiful holiday displays and arrangements. Thought it might be fun to see what James thought. James turned into Mr. Action and went on overdrive...

James spies some wide aisles to run through... Po Po trying to catch him and take pictures at the same time.

Another almost shot...

Here's a different chair to try..

So many chairs to climb and so limited time...

Another attempt at the pointsetia display....

Another off to the races...

Velda said after all that, she was very tired. She needed a coffee and James needed some juice.

He stayed barely awake on the way home. He had a great 2 hour nap minus a binky.

A Day of Babysitting

Sunday we picked up James in Gig Harbor at 5 and took him to the church Christmas concert at 7. James was very good and clapped after each song and gave a little exclamation of approval which made the congregation all laugh.

Monday was a really busy day. Po Po and James started the day going to the Salvation Army stand and putting money into the can. This is something that Po Po's Mom always did even though they didn't have much money. She said it is always good to help others. She could not pass a bell ringer without putting in money and Po Po has always done the same thing. So we are showing James how to do this.

However, James saw the shopping cart with a car attached to it and he took off. Velda said he did not want to come out.

She took him to visit the neighbor’s nativity scene and then went around the neighborhood in the wagon.

We went to Sleep Country and dropped off some coats for the Foster Kids coat drive.

Grandpa wanted to eat at Frankie’s Pizza. James liked the crayons.

He thought the marinara sauce was yummy-he said so and also liked the black olives and mushrooms. He really wasn't interested at all in the bread sticks. Probably was looking for Great Harvest Bread or Dave's Killer bread instead of white bread.

Let's hope James has a better night. He was up at least 5 times last night but he did take his nap without a binky so we'll try it binkyless tonight.

AHOY

AHOY MATE! Time for a new boat picture. I know it's not an oar but

James won't let go of something he wants to play with.

Hi Grandpa! We're going for a ride.

Why aren't we moving?

Let's back her up. I need lots of practice to park the boat as good as Uncle Chris.

So sad, have to get off the boat.

Pre-Holiday Activities

Last Saturday, we had packed in lots of activities.

First, we went to Seattle for Scott and Allison’s yearly picture in Seattle.

James walks hand in hand with Po Po and Grandpa.

In the afternoon, we head to Stanwood for the annual Schei family Christmas party. James did not particularly like sitting on Santa's lap. Is that terror in his face?

However James did like the present.

Early evening is back to Redmond for the Redmond Lights Festival.

The Redmond Fire Department decorated a 1949 GMC. The fireman was very surprised that I guessed the year correctly.

James got to sit on a police motorcycle. The officer even turned the lights on for James.