And so that was Christmas!

And wishing you a very Happy New Year!

We had a quiet Christmas Day this year, although Christmas Eve afternoon was spent at my sister's. Penny and I worked in the morning and then came home, collected Hugh, Ben and Amy and drove the hour over to Hemel. My Mum and Dad were also over there, and so was Henry's girlfriend, so it was a full house! I didn't manage to get any photos of Del and Pippa, or Henry, so am hoping that my Mum has!

Penny and Emily

Ben and Amy

Penny and Grandma

Grandad and Ben

Olivia and Penny

Mum and Me

Hugh and Dad

We returned home around 8pm and collapsed, watching some tv and looking at our tree.

Christmas morning I was downstairs putting the turkey in the oven at 8am! Santa had visited me and Hugh again, so once Penny woke up, she and Ben came and sat on our bed and we all opened our stocking presents. Lots of silliness ensued!

After breakfast of fresh bread (we always put the breadmaker on to cook bread overnight on Christmas Eve) we showered and dressed and then it was present opening time.

This contained a 'Lush' voucher from Ben!

Whilst I was cooking the dinner I had my Christmas snowball...

and Hugh and I had our dance round the kitchen

Even though I say it myself, Christmas dinner was yummy! (Hugh prepared all the veg - I ought to mention that!)

After dinner, Ben went over to Amy's house for a while and we watched television and let our meal digest!

When Ben returned, he brought Amy with him and Father Christmas turned up too!

Boxing Day was quiet and just the four of us. Ben had an old school friend round for the afternoon and Hugh, Penny and I went for a walk in our local park.

Saturday saw us all (including Amy) travelling to Cornwall to visit Hugh's family. It was the first time we had been down since Hugh's father had passed away, so it was quite strange. Although Hugh and I both felt that he was still there in a way - it just seemed as if he was in another room. His presence there is so strong that it was quite comforting to be there. We had booked into the Premier Inn for the night and after breakfast on Sunday all popped back to see the family before returning Ben and Amy to Reading and us to Wickford.

Today I have my parents coming over to have New Year's Day dinner with us. Dad doesn't like driving in the dark any more, so they will arrive about midday and leave us about 3.30pm to be home before the light goes completely.

We have quite a few plans in place for 2015, which I will share as the year goes on. I hope that you have had a great Christmas and wish all my lovely blog readers a very Happy New Year.