Sunny and 55 degrees

The view of the mountains and sea around Yalta. It was overcast but absolutely beautiful! Me and Angelina along the Black Sea in Yalta. Nothing makes you feel short and round like standing next to a 22 year old Ukrainian!!

Angelina and I outside of the Palace that hosted the Yalta conference in 1945 and was the home of Nicholas the second - Anastasia's dad.

Eric and I looking like the tourists we are!

It is a beautiful Monday morning here in Ukraine. I'm loving the this weather. I just looked at the forecast and it's supposed to be in the high 50's and low 60's through Saturday. Eric and I left our coats at home today! It's kind of nice to be in the warmer weather. I can usually forget that Christmas is approaching and I'm not at home to enjoy it! : ) Yesterday Eric and I went to Yalta for the day with Angelina (our translator). We walked along the sea and she told us about the history of Yalta. We then visited the palace where they held the Crimean Conference in 1945 with Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin. It was also the vacation home of Nicholas the II and so there were tons of pictures of his family. The palace is wonerful and the grounds are beautiful. We also visited a winery in the area before heading home. This winery is one of the biggest in Crimea. Today it is back to work. Angelina is running around finishing up paperwork for us and later we will go visit the boys. We spent several hours with the older one on Friday and Saturday. He seems to be excited about coming home with us. I assume he'll get a little more nervous about it as the time approaches. The 4 year old is still very shy around us. We haven't been able to spend a lot of time with him because his orphanage is on the other side of the city but the plan is to be there for longer today. Pray that he begins to get comfortable around us. His heart has been broken a few times before and even though he is young I think he's afraid to trust that we really want to take him home. It breaks my heart!