1) The weirdest Christmas day ever, in which I didn’t receive a single present (by choice, I hasten to add!). The children opened their presents, but I chose to wait until K returned to open mine.

2) A lovely walk up at Beecraigs, with the kids, my dad and my brother. Then Dad took M home in the car, and the remainder of us explored the new path down through the fields and back to the house.

3) Reunion: a trip to the airport on Boxing Day to pick K up 🙂 .

4) An afternoon spent playing with the pipes and valves trying to figure out why we had no hot water. This also included two trips to the local DIY shop. And, while we correctly diagnosed the problem, we still couldn’t fix it.

5) Family arrived, and a meal for 17 followed in the evening. Great fun, and so lovely to see everyone again.

6) A morning of present opening with the extended family (although poor jet-lagged K slept through most of it).  Lots of very excited and happy children 🙂 .

7) A lovely relaxed, games-filled, visit from friends at the weekend.

8) Sunday School wasn’t on on Sunday, so a friend and I took all the kids out during the sermon, and spent half-an-hour running games in the hall.

9) A couple of days of catching up, teaching the kids to play Cluedo, and generally relaxing.

10) Hogmanay celebrations – a wonderful Rajasthani white curry and accompaniments (tarka naan, rose and raisin chutney, and Gobi Aloo) as our last meal of 2012.

11) As the New Year arrived, so did sad news. Our thoughts and prayers are with our family on the other side of the world.

12) A walk along the canal on New Year’s Day, followed by a feast of a meal with friends.

13) A play date, followed by a family dinner at another friend’s place on the 2nd.

And now, back to normality, time to relax, catch up, and get ready for 2013.