Thankful

This feels like the first quiet lie-in I have had for months, but in fact it's been less than two weeks. We had a wonderful Christmas Day at Wendy's mother's house, which backs onto a lake, 65 miles north of Boulder. Look at that fabulous sky over the frozen lake...

There was a lot of noise, excitement and fun. Here is Lux with the large panda she asked Father Christmas to bring.

It was sweet to share a Christmas with people who are still believers, Tate and Gil having long grown out of this. Did you know you can even track Santa's progress round the world on your iPhone?

We even had snow yesterday...

It's quiet here in Boulder because the children stayed over for a sleepover with their cousins, while Isaac, Wendy and I drove home to a quiet house. So this morning I have been lying in bed listening to BBC Radio's The Listening Project undisturbed, fetching mugs of tea, coming back to bed to write emails, and now I even have time to blog. This will not last. Lux and Cece arrive home later (with delicious leftover turkey - hooray!) and normal activities and energy levels will resume, theirs and mine. This week Isaac isn't out at work: a huge boon for everyone.

All photographs by Isaac.