Our first New Years' Eve away from home since 1999! We were invited to Titanic Mills near Slaithwaite, the new home of Ruth and Brian. There we met with our cousins and toasted the new year in on the balcony, watching fireworks from Huddersfield on one side and Marsden on the other!

We couldn't be bothered to cook, so took the children to Nando's for some yummy chicken and then went for a walk to Sandal Castle. Had a great walk around the ruins, the kids climbed on some rocks and then back to the visitor centre to make a cut out of their hands to add to the wall Christmas tree.

We invited Dad round to see the children's presents, and got a lovely surprise when Grandma and Rachel turned up at the door. We ended up doing tea for everyone and had a really smashing evening.

Our first practice session for about 4 weeks, joined by brass player James. Not a bad session - not many photos either because we were too busy making noise.

A couple of pictures of Ben looking very spotty, while he drools over my Christmas cake!

The kids have got bikes, Ben's got his Thomas set, and I tried out my new ice-cream maker. Success all round!

Santa's been! Despite Ben's chicken pox making him look like he'd got leprosy, the kids enjoyed their bikes and Tim enjoyed Joel's Nintendo Wii before we all collapsed in a rather drunken heap on the sofa.

Better late than never, Nicky decorates her Christmas cake.

There's a champagne bar in Leeds - me and Neal decided to go visit it only to find it full of city boys and menopausal desperados. Still, nice champagne...

Ben was a shepherd - he had a teatowel on his head and everything!

A bit of a round trip to Lille to the Carrefour, then off to Vanuxeem at Ploegsteerte (where we took photos of the war memorial and cemetary). Finally we tried to get food in Oosteende and dithered a lot, before getting back on the 'Pride of Bruges' ferry and getting told off by the entertainments manager for taking a photo on the boat .

The outward journey of Joel and Lee's annual booze cruise, mostly comprising photos of Hull docks and some nice b+w shots on the boat.

The annual staff Christmas party in Wakefield, with Fotopic staff from far and wide! We started at Henry Boon's, went on to Louie's Cajun restaurant and then ended up in Fernandes Bierkeller until about 1ish. Nairn brought out a pile of glowsticks halfway through the dinner, which provided some rather amusing diversions before most of them ended up round Richie's neck.

A wander through the Christmas-decorated West End, and a photo of Battersea Power Station on the 30th anniversary of the release of the Pink Floyd album 'Animals'.

A few pics of the server racks powering Fotopic, primarily for our own reference but interesting nontheless.

While refilling one of the bulk ink systems, I managed to fire magenta ink at the ceiling leaving a nice blotch and most of us covered in spots of ink. These photos are from *after* we cleaned - not all the spots on my face are zits...

Our last day before Christmas really starts kicking in - a trip to York to look round the Castle Museum. Rather expensive, not really worth it, but it got us out of the house.

Nicky was helping out on the Toddler Group fundraising stand, and Ellie got her face painted.

The frame of the building on the site of the old Union Street bus station - the market hall is due to open in 2008. Photos aren't great because I only had the 50mm lens with me, but I'll go back and do more over the course of the next week.

Ellie's meditation, brushing teeth, and getting a story.

Another practice, we're gradually getting better. We actually managed to get through five songs this time!

Not often we get a pub night out nowadays! Since we had Mark stopping with us we managed to arrange a babysitter and hared off to Fernandes Brewery Tap and Bierkeller which opened a few weeks ago. We were joined by Lee and Jerry, and presently Ryan and Alice - a good night out, with lots of continental beer and a sore head the following morning.

Celebrating our briefest of appearances on 'Never Mind The Buzzcocks' at Harry's Bar in Wakefield.

Some bits and bobs from London work, including a couple of a night out in Fulham with friends.

A brief meet-up of some London geeks including Howard, Justin, Will, Kyrian, Tim, Jodi and Sarah. Plenty of nice beer and things to try, and discussions before heading our separate ways.

A couple of random pics of the kids having breakfast while I checked the camera.

An Autumnal walk through Wrenthorpe park, and up to the site of Wrenthorpe Junction where the track of the East Coast Main Line split off to head out towards Dewsbury. There's nothing there now, but you can stand on the site of the junction and follow the old track alignment.

Our annual trip to the KWVR Beer Festival - with music by the Bluekings and Welsh-T Band. Joel had far too much beer - 17 glasses - and took lots of photos while we were drinking in the Oxenhope shed. A fantastic day, with many friends and lots of beer.