A day in the life of the Steffen Sisters!: Coasting through

Our Christmas dresses make us want to daance

We are coasting through the last few days till Santa comes. We have our sock advent calendar, so I can always tell you how many days till the big day. Only THREE! Along with our sock countdown, and reading the story of Jesus' birth (that I can totally tell you if you don't know it), we have a new elf friend we named Angel that reports to Santa every night. We love finding her every morning!! Now Santa himself is a different story. I have had multiple opportunities to give the guy a chance to not be scary....but he does not give up. And I don't care if he doesn't bring me a present.

Visit 1: We spent another weekend down in Branson. We went down to a new area and shopped around, watched some cool fountains, but then we met up with Zach & Evan and went on the Polar Express Train! That's right. We rode a real train. We wore our jammies, we got golden tickets, they read us the story, sang down the aisles, gave us cookies and hot chocolate. I had 3 cookies! You can never tell by this video. Sugar high!

Yes, it was all fun. We went to the North Pole and saw Santa and his dancing elves out the window. But then.....we stopped. It was suspect. Next thing I know....Santa showed up in our car. I may have started shaking uncontrollably. Needless to say, I refused to get near him. I did! I gave him a hug. He was so soft, I could sleep on him! He told Heidi he was going to stay unless she said goodbye, obviously she was quick to say see ya!

Our weekend wasn't finished....only beginning. We braved Silver Dollar City (with apparently the rest of Missouri) on Saturday. I didn't care...because I am finally 42"!! That means I get to ride the big roller coasters. So I went with Evan (& dads) to go ride the Thunderation. Only to find out it was closed, so they decided we should go ride the Powder Keg. I was so excited. Not scared at all. We had to wait in line for a while, but we eventually made it to the front. I sat next to dad and was ready for some fun. What dad didn't inform me of is that it goes from 0 to 53mph in 2.8 seconds. Or that it goes SO high. It was scary!! I think I cried a little, but dad said it was probably just the wind in my eyes. He said I was so brave. I am glad I did it, but you are not getting me on it again - for a while at least.

We met up with our friends Ava & Vivian there again ....so Ava talked me into going on Thunderation (the smaller of the big roller coasters). I definitely liked it better.

So, my turn sis. I measured up too, but was still an inch too short to ride most of the kids rides. So not fair. Mom & dad decided I could wear my stocking cap when we got in lines so they would let me on some of the rides, so I finally got to ride the kiddie roller coaster! I loved it, I said wheee...the whole time. But I still had a lot of fun on the old rides. Where I rode with Vivian & Zach on the froggies and butterflies.

sending our letters to Santa

When it got dark out the Christmas lights turned on and it was SO beautiful. I loved all of the lights. And they even had a lighted parade!

Visit #2 - we went to the mall where they had a Shrek ride where we rode in a sleigh to the North Pole. I thought it was awesome. But mom got a little motion sick (shocker) and Heidi was scared. So needless to say, she was not all that excited when the doors opened to find Santa waiting for us. I was ready to tell him what I wanted, but Heidi only got near him when mom threw her on his lap. She only said hi once he gave her a candy cane. Then she went running out. Come on sis!

Visit #3 - today we had our Christmas party at school and guess who visited! I didn't cry. That is because I went up with her...and she didn't have to sit on his lap. Maybe we can give it a 4th shot, Heidi. Don't even think about it Amelia.

And before I sign off and wish everybody a great holiday, a few updates since last post - which was a LONG time ago.

We had our annual Thanksgiving show and dinner at school and this year Nana & Papa even joined! Feel free to enjoy our extreme talent in the videos below. If anyone wants to hear my Mr. Turkey song, just let me know. I belt it out multiple times a day. Mom had no problems picking out the centerpiece I made....

We also had parent watch day at dance.

We also tell you about Heidi's love of babies....well this is just a snippet of her playing with them.

A few short days later, we headed to Lincoln where we ate another yummy Thanksgiving meal at Elmo's. We got to spend the entire next day with her too while mom and dad went and froze and watched the Huskers lose at football. Side note: while the football team may have had a rough year...we had a lot of fun watching the volleyball win a national championship the other night! Anyway, the weather there was C-O-L-D....and we were housebound for the 3 days we were there. Needless to say, we got a bit antsy to get some fresh air, so it was nice to come home to the warmer weather. I did however inform mom this morning that today is now the official 1st day of winter, and we are feeling it. Had to pull out those winter coats again!