Pre-Christmas Christmas

About a week before Christmas, we learned that Brad's parents - commonly referred to in both the P house and our house as Nana and PopPop - were coming down to the Cities on Friday to spend the holidays with their [actual] kids. Since we weren't leaving until Saturday and we are their adopted children (especially Mike, who spent as much time at their house as his own growing up), we "casually" asked where they were staying so we could "casually" drop by to wish them a Merry Christmas and get some hugs.

Brad's sister doubted our "casual" ability and decided to throw a "pre-Pilcher Christmas" pizza party on Friday night - and just save time by inviting us (she's so smart!). We are so grateful that both B and C include us in their family events. We happily claim Vannestes, Johnsons, Collers, and Pilchers!

The girls were off school on Friday, and I worked from home. My office closed early, so the girls and I also used the time to get us packed up for the trip North the next day. I gave them a list in the morning of things they needed to accomplish. They weren't too happy about it until they read the line "if you can agree on a place, I'll take you out to lunch." Spoiler alert: they agreed - and we had a delightful girls lunch out at Perkins. They were so well-behaved and happily smiled and said "Merry Christmas" to other diners. When I went to pay, we found that a gentleman had left $5 to help cover our bill. So kind and made their day. 

I picked Dec up a little early and got everyone run through the shower before we headed over to Terra's house for pizza. The kids had a blast playing with their buddies and we had the best time visiting with the full P family. I had tried to explain to the girls how we were "adopted Pilchers," which somehow ended with them thinking that Brad was adopted. They eventually decided an explanation was unnecessary as long as our status continues to mean that we get Nana's fresh-baked banana bread. 

We slept in a bit Saturday morning, finished packing up (while Mike muttered a lot about how much stuff we were bringing), and hit the road late morning. Everyone was in a holly jolly mood and we got about an hour of driving in before we decided to stop at Denny's for lunch. We often grab drive thru food to keep moving when we go up, so a full stop at a sit-down restaurant was a big treat. We enjoyed the extra time out of the car, filled our bellies, got Newsies rolling in the DVD player, and pointed the car north. 

The drive was uneventful (hallelujah!), we arrived at Gma and Gpa's mid-afternoon, and ... best of all ... there was SNOW in Rapids! Christmas could officially begin.