A Kickball Christmas

Last Friday, I was able to kick-off the weekend before Christmas with my second family, the Crazy Kickers. Preston and Karen were kind enough to invite the entire team over for a pre-Christmas celebration. It was great to see everyone. Since the kickball season ended in October, I haven't seen some of my teammates in a few months. We were all asked to bring a side dish/appetizer to go along with the ham provided by Dude and Ma. I brought Baked Hashbrowns (an Iowa recipe), which I thought tasted pretty good considering the fact that it was the first time I had ever made them (and the fact that I mess up everything I ever attempt in the kitchen). The food was all delicious! We also were asked to bring a $10 gift to use in a Yankee (Dirty Santa) gift swap. I am proud to say that the Best Buy gift card I provided was quite popular (the most stolen gift of the night). I was impressed by all of the creative gifts that people brought: games, lottery tickets, beer kegs, gift cards, cookie jars, etc. It was a lot of fun, but I must say that the best part was just talking to and spending time with friends. It was especially cool that Ben had come in from Florida, where he has been living since he got married in August. Also great was seeing Cattina, who is more than ready to welcome little Cali into the world any day now (so exciting)! It amazes me that all of us are soooo different but that we can get along so well. It may sound cliche, but I really do feel like we are family.