Spending Christmas on the road

This morning while you sip eggnog and show off that new Frosty the Snowman sweater, the Nyman and Peterson families will be crossing Missouri in a coach bus -- all 28 of them, ages 68 years old to five months.

There are no Christmas gifts on board. The few televisions only play videotapes.

There is, thankfully, a bathroom.

"Good thing, otherwise we'd be stopping every mile," said Margaret Nyman.

Margaret and her sister, Mary Peterson, are the trip's organizers -- and they had a lot to organize. Both Nyman and Peterson are married and have seven kids each. Most of the kids are in their teens, 20s and 30s.

Some are married and have kids of their own.

Everyone is on the bus. They're going to Greensburg, Kansas, a town of 1,374 people that was leveled by a tornado in May. The storm killed nine people and seriously injured more than 60 who were trapped under rubble.

Greensburg continues to recover and many people have still not returned to their homes so the Nyman and Peterson families decided to help.

"We just want to help people who really need help, since none of us need anything," said Margaret from her Prospect Heights home on Christmas Eve. Around her, a flurry of kids rushed to pack for the bus, which left the Chicago suburbs at 11 p.m. on Christmas Eve.

The Nymans heard about Greensburg's plight from Pastor Dave Williams at the Arlington Heights Evangelical Free Church.

"He said they needed plenty of help and that was good enough for us," Margaret said.

The families left for the 850-mile trip on Christmas Eve after a light dinner of soup at Mary Peterson's Northbrook home. They're only stopping for gas -- although some family members checked to see if some Starbucks are open on Christmas Day "just in case," said Margaret with a smile.

Once they arrive in Greensburg, they'll spent five days rebuilding the town. Their list includes dry-walling homes, cleaning up yards and painting any wall that may need a fresh coat. Everyone will sleep on the floor of a local Quaker church for an $80 per-person fee.

Planning for the trip started this fall. Margaret admits not everyone was on board in the beginning.

"One son -- who shall remain nameless -- even said at breakfast this morning, 'I just don't understand what's wrong with spending Christmas right here,' " Margaret said.

"There have been varying degrees of enthusiasm," added Margaret's husband, Nate.

But no one opted out. Family members from Michigan, Minnesota, Tennessee, Florida, California and even England are all on board the rented coach bus.

Everyone used money they'd usually spend on Christmas gifts to fund the trip, which cost almost $10,000 for bus rental, gas, food, and everyone's fee to sleep at the church.

They also doled out jobs and committee assignments. There are roles for nurse, videographer, food prep, budget chief, child care, construction and more.

The food committee made sure there was a case of peanut butter and countless loaves of bread on the bus for lunches. The entertainment committee packed board games and guitars.

Karl Peterson is in charge of collecting cell phones so the teens don't text message the trip away. Hannah and Erika Lever - Mary Peterson's six-year-old twin granddaughters -- are in charge of snacks.

The cell phones will be returned each night, Nate said.

"We just want to make sure work actually gets done," he said. "We are giving them back each night though. We don't want a mutiny."

For the months leading up to the trip, Margaret mailed out four family newsletters, called "The Kansas Chronicle" to keep people updated on the trip's latest news. The pages of the newsletters were filled with practical information such as packing lists, weather reports and a breakdown of the trip's budget. But just like any good newsletter, there was also some lighthearted jokes and riddles.

"Why can't a man living in Chicago be buried in Greensburg, Kansas? Because he's not dead," read one riddle in the newsletter dated Dec. 13.

The families held a contest to see who could pick the best name for the trip. Nate liked the "Yellow Brick Road" since they're going to Kansas. But the favorite was "Kan-Do," which will be on two poster boards on the bus windows.

At 17-years-old, Birgitta is the youngest of Nate and Margaret Nyman's children. If anyone would have a problem with this "no-presents-in-exchange-for-volunteering" project, you'd think it would be her.

But it's not.

"I'm just looking forward to being with everyone," Birgitta said. "I mean, we just don't get to be together -- I mean like, everyone together -- very often."