Abi & Izzy - the next 5 years

Phew, sneeze and it's all over, all but the final few days of 2015 that is. Izzy and I had a lovely time in Lapland, despite agreeing it probably wasn't our thing. The reality is that we are not a Christmassy family, and so Santa hunting isn't going to cut it, and we prefer a more balanced holiday than this. The cold weather meant that you are either out doing something organised, or inside eating or vegging. Given we weren't doing enough of the first to deserve the second, it didn't feel like the best use of time for me, but we did enjoy the proper snow, we loved the big wide expanses of snow covered forests and the Reindeer racing was great fun. I'm still stunned but how quickly you can knock up a proper snowman when you have proper snow, and it was great to have one on one time, albeit for Izzy this meant watching reruns on Animal Planet mostly. It's also a long way, and eye wateringly expensive. I'm glad we went, it didn't make me wish I'd

4 more days to go - almost there! This weekend we have mostly been drinking tea and catching up with family. On Friday we snuck the girls out early from school and headed to Taunton for Christmas Part 1. Of course the girls couldn't imagine seeing Christmas presents with their names on them without asking in a range of endearing ways if they could open "just one". And of course, when one is opened it's fair game and they want to do the lot. As far as I'm concerned I would rather they open presents over the course of a few occasions - at least this way there is a small chance they pause and reflect on what they've been give and by whom. The theme was very appropriately a mox of babies and horses - perfect for our two. While we concentrated on catching up with everyone and quick site visits to see what home improvements have been completed in the last 6 months (all looking very smart), Glenn ventured out on the Tri Ride which we used to do every Saturday mor

We are definitely into the final dash to Christmas and it's getting busier by the day. Why is it that at this time of year, regardless of your line of work or activity, everything needs to be packed into the last few days of December? I was reflecting last week (as I tried to fit yet another meeting into an already rammed diary) that at no other time of the year do we do this. There's something about the turn of the year that stops people from putting time into the diary post new year - it's as though it's invisible! At least this should mean I have a few quiet days before next year starts to rev up and disappear before our eyes. The last week or so has been overshadowed by all things four legged. Amanda, Alex and the boys spent a lovely, if brief, 24 hours with us last weekend. They are currently feeling a bit sore after making the incredibly difficult decision to take Lily back to the rescue home she came from, a decision made after a long series of events of dete