The Grinch Who "Stroll" Christmas

One of my passions is wrapped up tight in the Georgetown Christmas Stroll. I LOVE planning the kids area each year. I think it's funny though, because 6 years ago I'm absolutely certain I NEVER would have said that. Organizing, planning and implementing something that is on such a large scale terrified me. I can still vividly remember when Pastor Lee asked me to take on as the Champion for the Christmas Stroll. I immediately said "No Way". We still lived in Temple, had an 8 month old, and I knew "no one" in Georgetown, and I'm horrible at speaking in front of people I don't know. He said "OK, well just thought I'd ask." When I hung up the phone I felt horrid, and knew that I had made the wrong decision. But I tried pushing it aside and went about my day. I remember talking to Chris about it that evening and him saying there isn't any reason why you can't do this. So, I called Lee back. And I'm pretty sure he said something like "I knew you'd call back" ;)

I have to say I am soooo glad I followed God's prompting and called back. I won't lie, the Stroll is a lot of work and stress. But it is a pure joy every year to stand back and watch faces of children and families play all day.

This year was especially fun and different for me. This event has gotten to the point where I can't do it all on my own. I had to delegate. This was incredibly hard, but so rewarding. I had the pleasure of working with a fabulously talented group of people. They made the whole day possible. I can't wait to get started on Stroll 2011 because of them. I know they will come up with something super fun, new, and exciting ideas for our community.

This year we added a lot of new entertainment. Our theme has been Whoo-Ville for several years. But this year it really came alive. Friday night we kicked it off with Desserts with the Grinch. Our local cupcake bakery, Galaxy Cupcakes, donated 500 cupcakes. We gave them out for free and had the kids decorate them and share their evening with the Grinch. The Grinch had a great time handing out cupcakes to kiddos. Saturday morning we kicked it off early with set up. We added Kid Fish.

They brought in 500 pounds of catfish and had the kids catch release. It was so fun to watch these little kids catch a huge fish and try to pull it up out of the tank. Our biggest draw of the day was a real snow hill. One of our team members found the company Mireles Party Ice. They make a hill that you can sled down. It had a line all the way down the block. Another addition was Whoo Hair. Families lined up to have their hair made like a Whoo, then they'd go wait in line for a picture with the Grinch.

Here are a few of our Happy Whoo's

We brought in a super talented makeup artist named Tara Cooper. She's from Austin and was so wonderful to work with. I can't wait to work with her again. Here she is the middle of transformation of the Green Guy.

All Done!!!




Here is the Green Guy with one of his favorite Whoo's

As you can see this was super fun day. God has really blessed NewChurch with the ability to take part in this community event. I can't wait to see what else He'll throw our way through this event. You'll have to stay tuned to find out!!! =)