Snow in Athens! A Christmas miracle. Adrian has never before seen snow.

Christmas morning was pleasant. Adrian, as the youngest, distributed the stockings and we took the things out of them. Much candy, some soap and other small items were appreciated. Molli was still very tired and spent some of the morning dozing on the couch. Vanessa made scrambled eggs, what we usually eat on Christmas morning, together with a pastry treat, stollen from the Vermont Country Store that she had ordered and kept in the fridge. Amelia took a quick shower and got dressed, but most of us stayed in our pajamas to open the rest of our gifts under the tree. All enjoyed; my favorites include a new pair of slippers and a jigsaw puzzle of Paris. As usual, it was over too soon.

Amelia, Molli, and Adrian went to Kevin's house to exchange gifts a little before 1. Amelia was madly knitting right up until then, working on hats for Kevin and his aunt. The O'Rileys gave all three of them more presents and more expensive presents than we did, something we have had to accept over the years. While they were gone, I baked rolls (that I had made and frozen) and rosemary crackers for the party. The crackers were too crumbly and will not be able to be served, I don't believe. Amelia suggested using them as the topping on macaroni and cheese. So sad.

The four of us ate leftover soup and quiche when they weren't back by 2:15. They joined us when they got home. Then Molli and Amelia and I spent some time looking at Molli's clothes and deciding what she should wear, as well as what I should wear. She looks great; the only problem with any of her awesome dresses is that some are too big for her. In the end, I wore my velvet Christmas dress and Molli and Amelia wore jeans.

We piled into two cars and headed to Janna's about 5. It was raining and cold, just above freezing, but the driving was fine. We had a lovely meal at Janna's. She made roast beef for us, for the first time ever. There were four courses and 17 people. She was in the kitchen a lot, with a variety of helpers at various times. We had place cards with two names on them, one for the first half of the dinner and one for the second. Kevin came for a while, but was not anticipating a four-hour extravaganza. There was squash and leek soup, spinach with poached shallots and pears (and two dressings). There was roast beef, green beans, Yorkshire pudding and pasta with five cheeses. There were three desserts: cranberry tart, chocolate tart, and sweet potato cake with caramel-nut sauce. And lots of whipped cream. There was lots of wine, but we ran out. I had meant to bring a couple bottles of our favorite red, Aconga from Argentina. But we forgot.

My parents left before dessert and called when they got home. "Tt's snowing." Sure enough, it looked like it had already been snowing for a while. Adrian went out and watched for a long while, joined briefly by Molli and Amelia. They would have stayed and talked with Francesca and Mark all night I think. But I was ready to leave and Ray was dozing a little too. It was midnight before I went to sleep and woke up much too early, with a lot to do today and a lot on my mind.