Today was a really fun day, even though it was rainy and cold. Daddy had the day off, so he came to watch my swimming lesson. After that, we all went to Pizza Sam's to meet my friends, Allie and Haley, and their moms for lunch. After lunch, we walked around downtown a little bit, looking in some of the store windows. We even got to go into the bakery and get a cookie. We walked down past the courthouse and looked at all the decorations. And then we went to the Santa House. It wasn't open yet, so we played around in the pretend igloo that was outside and peeked in through the windows to see all the fun stuff inside. We went across the street to my church and went inside for a little bit to get warm. I showed my friends my school classroom and the pictures on the windows that the senior high youth group painted. We left the church and went back outside and got back to the Santa House just as the clock was ringing 1:30. It was time for it to be open! We went inside and Santa was there waiting for us. He said "Ho, ho, ho! Welcome to my house!" While my friends were taking their turns sitting on Santa's lap and talking to him, I went around and looked at all the really neat things in the house. I got my picture taken in a sleigh. I got my picture taken standing next to a big stuffed reindeer. There was a great big huge nutcracker there, and he really worked. I got my picture taken next to him, too. When it was finally my turn, I ran right up to Santa and sat on his lap. I talked to him for a little bit and we posed for a picture. Then he gave me a handful of candy. I wanted it to snow, and he was going to try and make it snow on Mommy and Daddy, but the snow machine wasn't working. :( I was kind of disappointed, but it was ok. We spent some more time looking at all of the things there were to see. My friends and I all sat in the sleigh together for more pictures. We found some jingle bells to play with. We played at the train table. When we had seen everything there was to see, it was time to go home. We made one more trip through the igloo and then walked back to our cars. I said goodbye to my friends and came home for a nap. It was a very busy day!

Tonight we went, with mommy and daddy's church group, to the Holy Walk. We got to ride on a real school bus from the parking lot to the church! That was a lot of fun. When we got to the church, we went inside to sing some Christmas hymns and watch "Mary" tell us about why they were going to Bethlehem while we waited for our groups turn to take the walk.

When it was finally our turn, our "family" went out into the cold and ran into some angels while we were on our way to Bethlehem. They were talking about a very special baby being born that night. As we kept going, Roman soldiers kept jumping out at us and yelling at us. Since our "family" were goat herders, they kept telling us that we stunk. One of the soldiers asked me what my goat's name was and I told him I didn't have a goat. That wasn't the right answer! Luckily, they let me stay with my "family" anyway.

We kept going and eventually came to the city. We had to show our papers to lot of different soldiers. That was hard for me because I kept dropping mine. Luckily mommy was paying attention and kept picking them up for me. We paid our taxes and got our papers stamped and then went into the city. That was kind of scary! It was really loud. People kept trying to sell us things, people were yelling, there was a lot of music being played. It was crazy. I held on to mommy's leg most of the time, so I wouldn't get lost.

We kept going through the city, following the star we saw until we got to the stable where the special baby was. It was Baby Jesus!! (Not a real baby, because it was really, really cold, just a doll baby) There were also some real donkeys there too. I got to pet them!

Afterwards, we went back in to the church for a little bit to have some cookies and some hot chocolate. Then we took a van back to the parking lot and back to our car.

We got to go to Pizza Sam's for supper. I'd never been there before, so it was kind of exciting. They have a place where little kids like me can stand at a window and watch them make the pizzas! The man that was making pizzas threw flour at my friend Andrew and me and he threw some pizza dough at us, too! It's a good thing there was a window there. The pizza was really good.....so good that I ate two whole pieces!

Tonight mommy and daddy took me to the Christmas Walk at Dow Gardens. It was fun. I like to go to Dow Gardens during the summer, so it was neat to see it in the wintertime. The paths were all lit by candles, and I stopped to get a closer look at one.
We went past a whole area that was filled with more of these candles. I wanted to walk around and look at them, too, but mommy and daddy thought it would be better if I just stayed on the path. I guess they were right, but those candles sure were pretty.
There were some choirs there, too, to sing for us. This one was singing songs that I could dance to.
Here I am leading us down the path. The trees were really pretty with all their lights.
We got to go into the conservatory, which is where the butterflies are in the springtime, and listen to a guy playing the saxaphone and a guy playing piano. Mommy said that they go to our church, but I don't think I know who they are. I really liked looking at the decorations in here. They were from "The Nutcracker!"
I'm glad we got to go on this walk. It snowed some last night and this morning and even though the lights and candles would have been pretty by theymselves, they were even prettier with the snow. It was really cold though, so the new coat and snowpants that mommy and I bought this morning came in really handy!