Immediately after Ben’s stag do in London, I whisked myself off to Wales to spend just two days with my family before heading over to Ireland for Ben’s wedding preparations. I hadn’t seen my family for about five months and it was really great to catch-up with them — including my sister (who is in Abu Dhabi, UAE) via Skype.

This year will be the first time that I’m away for Christmas day, which is an important family day for us. As such, we held an early “mock Christmas” instead — all the decorations were out (including 8 various sized Christmas trees) and my dear mother even cooked the traditional meal with all the trimmings! (Thanks Mum, it was delicious as always!)